Evaluating academic detailing as an antibiotic stewardship intervention in primary healthcare settings in Croatia.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections are common in primary healthcare care settings and frequently result in antibiotic prescriptions, despite being primarily viral. There is scarcity of research examining impact of academic detailing (AD) intervention on prescribing practices for these infections in resource-constrained healthcare settings like southeastern Europe. Therefore aim of this study was to evaluate impact of AD intervention as an antimicrobial stewardship measure on antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in primary setting in Croatia which is located in southeastern Europe.

Healthcare-Associated Bloodstream Infections Due to Multidrug-Resistant in COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit: A Single-Center Retrospective Study.

Healthcare-associated infections are an emerging cause of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs) worldwide, especially those caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. The objectives of this study were to assess the incidence of bloodstream infections (BSIs) among critically ill COVID-19 patients and to analyze the characteristics of healthcare-associated BSIs due to MDR in an COVID-19 ICU. A single-center retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary hospital during a 5-month period.

MRSA surveillance programmes worldwide: moving towards a harmonised international approach.

Multinational surveillance programmes for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are dependent on national structures for data collection. This study aimed to capture the diversity of national MRSA surveillance programmes and to propose a framework for harmonisation of MRSA surveillance. The International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC) MRSA Working Group conducted a structured survey on MRSA surveillance programmes and organised a webinar to discuss the programmes' strengths and challenges as well as guidelines for harmonisation.

Characterization of macrolide resistance in bacteria isolated from macrolide-polluted and unpolluted river sediments and clinical sources in Croatia.

Environments polluted with excessively high levels of antibiotics released from manufacturing sites can act as a source of transferable antibiotic resistance (AR) genes to human commensal and pathogenic bacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate AR of bacteria isolated from the Sava river sediments (Croatia) at the discharge site of effluents from azithromycin production compared to those from the upstream site and isolates collected in Croatian hospitals. A total of 228 environmental strains of azithromycin-resistant bacteria were isolated and identified, with 124 from the discharge site and 104 from the upstream site.