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The emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms is a major healthcare concern, with overuse of antimicrobial agents a key contributing factor. To fully understand this problem, data are needed on actual antibiotic use. Toward this end, researchers conducted 1-day point-prevalence surveys of antimicrobial prescribing in 183 acute care hospitals in 10 states between May and September 2011.
Of the 11,282 randomly selected patients included in the analysis, 49.9% had received (or were scheduled to receive) one or more antimicrobial agents on the day of — or the day before — the survey. Although 82.5% of the patients who received antimicrobial therapy were not in critical care units, the prevalence of antibiotic use was higher in such units (57.7%…