Recommendations and guidelines for the treatment of infections due to multidrug resistant organisms

Antimicrobial drug resistance is one of the major threats to global health. It has made common infections increasingly difficult or impossible to treat, and leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays and increased mortality. Infection rates due to multidrugresistant organisms (MDRO) are increasing globally. Active agents against MDRO are limited despite an increased in the availability of novel antibiotics in recent years. This guideline aims to assist clinicians in the management of infections due to MDRO. The 2019 Guidelines Recommendations for Evidence-based Antimicrobial agents use in Taiwan (GREAT) working group, comprising of infectious disease specialists from 14 medical centers in Taiwan, reviewed current evidences and drafted recommendations for the treatment of infections due to MDRO. A nationwide expert panel reviewed the recommendations during a consensus meeting in Aug 2020, and the guideline was endorsed by the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan (IDST). This guideline includes recommendations for selecting antimicrobial therapy for infections caused by carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. The guideline takes into consideration the local epidemiology, and includes antimicrobial agents that may not yet be available in Taiwan. It is intended to serve as a clinical guide and not to supersede the clinical judgment of physicians in the management of individual patients.Copyright (c) 2022, Taiwan Society of Microbiology. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Antimicrobial drug resistance is a major threat to global health, leading to difficulties in treating common infections and increased medical costs. The Taiwan Society of Microbiology has published the Guidelines Recommendations for Evidence-based Antimicrobial agents use in Taiwan (GREAT) to assist clinicians in managing infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO). The guidelines take into account local epidemiology and include antimicrobial agents that may not yet be available in Taiwan.