New guidelines will make a real difference in fight against hospital infections - HPSC

The HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre today (Monday) published
two sets of national expert guidelines which aim to reduce hospital
acquired infections associated with intravascular (IV) catheters and to
manage the use of antibiotics in Irish hospitals.
These recommendations will make a real difference by reducing the number of
IV line infections in Irish hospitals and by improving our ability to
successfully treat infections with antibiotics, says the chair of the
Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland (SARI),
Dr Olive Murphy.   Both sets of guidelines were published by HPSC on
behalf of the National SARI Committee.
 “The guidelines for the Prevention of intravascular Catheter-related Infection in Ireland pull
together best international practice in a single document and make
recommendations for the prevention, surveillance, diagnosis and
clinical management of infections associated with IV catheters. 
Adherence to these new guidelines can significantly reduce IV
infections in Irish hospitals.
“The Guidelines for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Hospitals in Ireland aims to promote the sensible
prescribing of antibiotics.  Antibiotics are one of the great medical
advances of the 20th century and their appropriate use is essential to
protect this precious resource.  Inappropriate use can lead to bugs
becoming resistant to drugs.  These guidelines aim to help cut
antibiotic resistance and to make sure that antibiotics work when they
are really needed,” said Dr Murphy.