bThe implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) is a promising strategy to help address the problem of antimicrobial resistance. We sought to determine the efficacy of ASPs and their effect on clinical and economic parameters. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar looking for studies on the efficacy of ASPs in hospitals. Based on 26 studies (extracted from 24,917 citations) with pre-and postimplementation periods from 6 months to 3 years, the pooled percentage change of total antimicrobial consumption after the implementation of ASPs was ؊19.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] ‫؍‬ ؊30.1 to ؊7.5), and the use of restricted antimicrobial agents decreased by ؊26.6% (95% CI ‫؍‬ ؊52.3 to ؊0.8). Interestingly, in intensive care units, the decrease in antimicrobial consumption was ؊39.5% (95% CI ‫؍‬ ؊72.5 to ؊6.4). ). Hospital ASPs result in significant decreases in antimicrobial consumption and cost, and the benefit is higher in the critical care setting. Infections due to specific antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and the overall hospital length of stay are improved as well. Future studies should focus on the sustainability of these outcomes and evaluate potential beneficial long-term effects of ASPs in mortality and infection rates.A bout one-third of the hospitalized patients and more than two-thirds of critically ill patients are on antimicrobial therapy at any time (1, 2), and up to half of antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate or not necessary (3). In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that about 2 million patients are infected yearly with antimicrobialresistant organisms in the United States, and about 23,000 deaths are directly attributed to these infections (3). This resulted in a call to action for acute care hospitals to implement antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) (4, 5), a term that is used to describe the integrated strategy of improving antimicrobial use in order to enhance patient outcomes, reduce antimicrobial cost, and minimize the side effects associated with antimicrobial use, including drug resistance and nosocomial infections (4, 6, 7). Although there are studies that have already presented data on the efficacy of ASPs in the inpatient setting (8-10), limitations compromise their generalization (i.e., the studies were only conducted in the United States [8], age and study design limitations [9], a lack of clinical outcomes [10], etc.). The purpose of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to measure the efficacy of the implementation of an ASP expressed in daily defined doses (DDD) per 1,000 patient days in the hospital setting independently of the age and study design and to assess the subsequent clinical and economic outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODSThis systematic review and meta-analysis followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol (11).Search strategy. A systematic electronic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases was performed for pertinent studies up t...

Several factors including antibiotic use, immunosuppression and frequent hospitalizations make solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients vulnerable to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies from 1991-2014 to estimate the prevalence of CDI in this patient population. We searched PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases. Among the 75,940 retrieved citations, we found 30 studies coded from 35 articles that were relevant to our study. Based on these studies, we estimated the prevalence of CDI among 21,683 patients who underwent transplantation of kidney, liver, lungs, heart, pancreas, intestine or more than one organ and stratified each study based on the type of transplanted organ, place of the study conduction, and size of patient population. The overall estimated prevalence in SOT recipients was 7.4% [95%CI, (5.6-9.5%)] and it varied based on the type of organ transplant. The prevalence was 12.7% [95%CI, (6.4%-20.9%)] among patients who underwent transplantation for more than one organ. The prevalence among other SOT recipients was: lung 10.8% [95% CI, (5.5%-17.7%)], liver 9.1 % [95%CI, (5.8%-13.2%)], intestine 8% [95% CI, (2.6%-15.9%)], heart 5.2% [95%CI, (1.8%-10.2%)], kidney 4.7% [95% CI, (2.6%-7.3%)], and pancreas 3.2% [95% CI, (0.5%-7.9%)]. Among the studies that reported relevant data, the estimated prevalence of severe CDI was 5.3% [95% CI (2.3%-9.3%)] and the overall recurrence rate was 19.7% [95% CI, (13.7%-26.6%)]. In summary, CDI is a significant complication after SOT and preventive strategies are important in order to reduce the CDI related morbidity and mortality.

We found that ICU setting is associated with higher Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) prevalence than general hospital population and 25% among CDI cases in ICU develop pseudomembranous colitis. CDI also affects adversely overall hospital mortality, ICU and overall hospital stay.