Modern science is slowly losing the battle against resistant bacteria. Roughly 23,000 people in the United States die annually because they have a bacterial infection that is no longer cured by antibiotics. Since it seems unlikely that new drugs will reverse this trend, many hospitals and clinics are taking a low-tech approach by changing the way doctors prescribe drugs. Antimicrobial stewardship, as it is known, uses better diagnostics, focused antibiotics and evidence-based prescribing as guideposts for physicians. It’s working.
