Today marks the start of the start of the U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week.  Below is a list of suggests from the CDC on how to participate in this annual observance:

1. Use and share Be Antibiotic Aware educational materials
2. Join leaders worldwide and make a commitment to The AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) Challenge 
3. Register for CDC’s free webinar 5 Ways Pharmacist Can Be Antibiotics Aware on Tuesday, November 13 from 1-2 PM ET
4. Join the Global Twitter Storm on Thursday, November 15 from 9-10 am ET using #AntibioticResistance
5. Visit CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog for new stories about improving antibiotic prescribing for veterans

Locally in Nebraska, Governor Ricketts signed a proclamation declaring November 12-18, 2018 Antibiotic Awareness Week in observance of this week-long national activity.

Other upcoming events include:

1. The Nebraska DHHS Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) team along with Nebraska ASAP and other local healthcare organizations will be hosting an informational table in the Westroad Mall to educate the public about antibiotic stewardship on November 14 from 10 AM to 6 PM CT.
2. University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Division of Infectious Diseases will post blogs daily focusing on antimicrobial stewardship activities of UNMC Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and Nebraska ASAP
3. The Great Plains Quality Innovation Network (QIN) will be posting a podcast featuring Dr. Maureen Tierney, Nebraska DHHS HAI Program Manager, and Dr. M. Salman Ashraf, Co-Medical Director for Nebraska ASAP
4. The Great Plains QIN will post a video on Facebook featuring Dr. Ashraf discussing topics such as antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship

We hope you will actively participate in this week-long observance and disseminate the message of appropriate antimicrobial use for best care of patients.

Written by Phil Chung, PharmD, MS, BCPS