Superbugs highlight need for antibiotic protocols, doc says

Antibiotic resistance is an ongoing concern at Health Sciences North, says the hospital's chief of medical staff.

On Dec. 31, 2015, the hospital declared an outbreak of vancomycin-resistant enterococci, that infected seven patients over the holidays, including four in the hospital's south tower.

While all but one of the patients were discharged from the hospital by Jan. 12, the antibiotic-resistant bacterium has brought the issue of super-bugs to the forefront.

“It's with widespread use of antibiotics that organisms will develop resistance,” said Dr. Chris Bourdon, Health Sciences North's chief of medical staff and vice-president of medical and academic affairs.

Bourdon said the topic is especially important this time of year, when colds and the flu are more common. A lot of people are prescribed antibiotics to treat a cold or the flu, he said, when there is no medical basis they would have any effect on a virus.

“One of the things we can control is our use of antibiotics,” Bourdon said.

The hospital has an antibiotics stewardship program that ensures antibiotics are not over-prescribed, or overused for inpatients.

Hospital staff can monitor a patient's antibiotic dosage through intravenous, for example, and substitute it for a lower-dose oral antibiotic, or one with a less broad spectrum – which also costs the hospital less – as their condition improves.

Bourdon said one way to preserve antibiotics is to prevent diseases and bacterial infections in the first place.

Vaccination programs can go a long way to protect people from diseases that would require antibiotic treatments.

He said the vaccine for haemophilus influenzae – not to be confused with the influenza virus that causes the flu – wiped out sometimes fatal pediatric illnesses linked to the bacterium.

When a person does have an infection, there are sometimes alternatives to antibiotics, Bourdon said.

The high acid content of cranberry juice, for example, can offset a urinary tract infection.

“There's a whole realm of probiotics that can help restore a natural flora and help diminish any bacteria that may be flourishing in a particular environment,” Bourdon added.

And overall good health, including eating well and exercising, reduces a persons susceptibility to infections.

But certain chronic diseases, like diabetes, can increase a person's risk of infections, which would require antibiotics to treat.