Medics at Kenyatta National Hospital will follow new guidelines to stop infections becoming resistant to antibiotics.
All antibiotic treatment at KNH has now been limited to a maximum of five days, except for patients with meningitis, certain blood infections and five other conditions. The guidelines also indicate antibiotic treatment should be reviewed every 48 hours and stopped immediately the infection clears.
It also requires medics to profile patients according to risk, and provide specific medicines for each category of patient. “Incision and drainage is sufficient for patients with small abscesses less than five centimetres,” the guidelines say on use of antibiotics on soft tissue injuries.
The guidelines are based on data collected at the hospital and are exclusive to KNH.
However, infectious disease specialist and chair of the KNH anti-microbial stewardship team Dr Loice Ombanjo said they can be adapted for other facilities.
The guidelines target doctors, pharmacists and nurses. “KNH is now well positioned to standardise clinical operations relating to antibiotics administration. Such standardisation remains a critical component towards improving patients’ outcomes and reducing the incidences of antibiotic resistance,” Ombanjo said.
Review every 48 hours
The guidelines were developed by infectious disease experts at KNH and supported by global pharmaceutical firm MSD. MSD country lead Kenya Hezbone Ayimba said the firm’s local AMS programme is an attempt to rationalise the use of anti-microbials in the hospital setup.
“Antibiotic resistance occurs even with proper use of antibiotics, but widespread, inappropriate use accelerates resistance,” Ayimba said.
Scottish antibiotic specialist Dr Andrew Seaton, who contributed to the guidelines alongside 15 Kenyans, said similar guidelines have worked well in Scotland for the last decade.
“The main objective for formulating and updating these guidelines is to reduce variation in practice and get everyone doing the right thing,” Seaton said.
The Kenya National Policy on Prevention and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance said cases of anti-microbial resistance are a global concern for both the public health and agriculture sectors. The AMR policy was developed last year.