Background Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health threat internationally but, particularly in India. A primary contributing factor to this rise in resistance includes unregulated access to antimicrobials. Implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in the acute hospital setting will help curb inappropriate antibiotic use in India. Currently, ASPs are rare in India but are gaining momentum. This study describes ASP implementation in a large, academic, private, tertiary care center in India. Methods An ASP was established in February 2016 consisting of an administrative champion, hospitalist, microbiologist, intensivist, and pharmacists. Antimicrobial stewardship program interventions included postprescriptive audit and establishment of institutional guidelines. The ASP tracked appropriate drug selection including loading dose, maintenance dose, frequency, route, duration of therapy, de-escalation, and compliance with ASP recommendations. Defined daily dose (DDD) of drugs and cost of antimicrobials were compared between the pre-implementation phase (February 2015–January 2016) and post-implementation phase (February 2016–January 2017). Results Of 48 555 patients admitted during the post-implementation phase, 1020 received 1326 prescriptions for restricted antibiotics. Antibiotic therapy was appropriate in 56% (742) of the total patient prescriptions. A total of 2776 instances of “inappropriate” antimicrobial prescriptions were intervened upon by the ASP. Duration (806, 29%) was the most common reason for inappropriate therapy. Compliance with ASP recommendations was 54% (318). For all major restricted drugs, the DDD/1000 patient days declined, and there was a significant reduction in mean monthly cost by 14.4% in the post-implementation phase. Conclusions Implementation of a multidisciplinary antibiotic stewardship program in this academic, large, Indian hospital demonstrated feasibility and economic benefits.

Background: Safe and effective use of colistin requires robust pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data to guide dosing. Aim: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics of colistimethate sodium and colistin in critically ill patients and correlate with clinical efficacy and renal function. Materials and Methods: Twenty critically ill adult patients with colistin-susceptible multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections and normal renal function treated with intravenous colistimethate sodiumat a 9 million units (270 mg CBA) loading dose followed by maintenance (MD) of 3 million units t.i.d, 24 hours laterwere evaluated for clinical cure (CC) at the end of therapy. Patient characteristics and plasma colistin levels at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 hours after the loading dose and at 1, 2 and 8 hours after the eighth and ninth infusion of MD were evaluated. Colistimethate sodium and colistin levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Results: Among the 20 patients who were evaluated, 60% had pneumonia. Predominant pathogens were Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. Clinical cure was 50% (10/20). Mean peak loading dose concentrations were 3 AE 1.1 mg/L (1.75-5.14) and 2.37 AE 1.2 mg/L (1.52-5.54) for 'cure' and 'failure' groups, respectively (p = 0.13), while mean steady-state (Cssavg) concentrations were 2.25 AE 1.3 mg/L and 1.78 AE 1.1 mg/L in 'cure' and 'failure' groups, respectively (p = 0.19). Nephrotoxicity was 5% on day 7 of therapy. However, bacteriological cure could not be correlated with PK/PD. Conclusions: Subtherapeutic Cssavg with clinical failure and lower efficacy without significant nephrotoxicity highlights the need for therapeutic drug monitoring to guide colistin dosing.

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A 48-year-old male patient with chronic kidney disease on haemodialysis came with complaints of worsening fever comprising maculopapular rashes and was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome- Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (SJS-TEN) with sepsis (probably catheter-associated). The patient developed rashes with skin eruptions over the abdomen, trunk, around hands, face with redness and swelling on both legs following intake of Augmentin (containing amoxicillin and clavulanic acid). His management was done with IV steroids, antibiotics and supportive treatment. Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is an immune-mediated delayed hypersensitivity reaction with a severe form of cutaneous reactions involving areas of the face, genitals and mucous membrane of GI tract and respiratory tract. These manifestations occur as a result of certain drugs or due to any infection. In 95 % of the reported cases, drugs, including penicillin, was found to be a cause. In this case, report the patient had SJS with TEN comprising >30% of body surface area (BSA).