title: "Ten Commandments" for the Appropriate use of Antibiotics by the Practicing Physician in an Outpatient Setting.
abstract: A multi-national working group on antibiotic stewardship, from the International Society of Chemotherapy, put together ten recommendations to physicians prescribing antibiotics to outpatients. These recommendations are: (1) use antibiotics only when needed; teach the patient how to manage symptoms of non-bacterial infections; (2) select the adequate ATB; precise targeting is better than shotgun therapy; (3) consider pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics when selecting an ATB; use the shortest ATB course that has proven clinical efficacy; (4) encourage patients' compliance; (5) use antibiotic combinations only in specific situations; (6) avoid low quality and sub-standard drugs; prevent prescription changes at the drugstore; (7) discourage self-prescription; (8) follow only evidence-based guidelines; beware those sponsored by drug companies; (9) rely (rationally) upon the clinical microbiology lab; and (10) prescribe ATB empirically - but intelligently; know local susceptibility trends, and also surveillance limitations.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Carlos Durand, University of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Levy-Hara
authors.forename: Carlos F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Amábile-Cuevas
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abbo
authors.forename: Lynora
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saxynger
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vlieghe
authors.forename: Fernando L Lopes
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Shaheen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Methar
authors.forename: Souha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanj
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohmagari
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harbarth