title: [Practical approach to infection control and antimicrobial stewardship by medical technologists].
abstract: Since establishing an antimicrobial management team (AMT) in 2003, we have been promoting both appropriate diagnosis and treatment and improving the prognosis of hospitalized patients with infections. AMT is composed of 4 doctors, 2 nurses, 2 pharmacists and one medical technologist. AMT members meet twice a week and discuss patients with positive blood cultures, with prescribed anti-MRSA drugs and suspected infections. Antimicrobial prescription and clinical laboratory data are obtained from the database of electric medical records and microbiological data from the laboratory database system. The initial step in infection control and antimicrobial stewardship is an accurate diagnosis of infection. Clinical microbiology laboratories play a critical role in infection control and antimicrobial stewardship by reporting accurate and timely results of both bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility tests. Medical technologists are required to develop better competency and proficiency about clinical microbiology in both infection control and antimicrobial stewardship.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, University Hospital, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan. tkomori@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komori
authors.forename: Yukiji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kosaka
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujitomo
authors.forename: Naohisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D007239:Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology*; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel; D010348:Patient Care Team
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents