The Baddest Bug on the Ward: An Ongoing Debate

Medium: Vodcast (Online Activity with RSS Feed)

Release Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Credit Expiration Date: Friday, April 29, 2011

Credit Hours

Pharmacists CPE: 1.25 (0.125 CEUs)

Activity Overview

This online activity is based on the proceedings of a continuing education symposium held on December 8, 2009, during the 44th ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This Vodcast (audio with accompanying slides) has 3 episodes which will be released monthly beginning February 1, 2010.

Each episode begins with a presentation of why the particular pathogen is among the most challenging in the hospital setting. This is followed by a presentation of tactics that clinical pharmacists can use to appropriately manage infections due to that pathogen. The challenges associated with such infections are further discussed from the clinical, infection control, and microbiology perspectives.

Note: If you have received credit by attending the live symposium by the same name, you are not eligible to apply for credit for this online version.

Practice Gap and Educational Need

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately two million people develop bacterial infections in US hospitals each year, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths. In 2004, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) published the call-to-action "Bad Bugs, No Drugs" that highlighted the problem of antimicrobial resistance and the lack of new agents in development. This has since been updated to "Bad Bugs, No ESKAPE", where the IDSA identified the most problematic pathogens that are able to "escape" the effects of currently available agents. These pathogens include methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and ESBL-producing and KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae.

The lack of new antimicrobial agents limits the clinicians' ability to effectively treat hospital-acquired infections caused by these difficult pathogens. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the challenges associated with each type of infection and how to address them in the clinical setting. Positive clinical outcomes can be achieved through continued education on appropriate use of antimicrobial agents.

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the needs of pharmacists who are responsible for the management of serious infections in hospitalized patients.

Learning Objectives

Those healthcare professionals participating in this knowledge-based activity will be able at its conclusion to:

Faculty

Richard H. Drew, PharmD, MS, BCPS

Professor, Campbell University School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)

Duke University School of Medicine

Durham, North Carolina

Loren G. Miller, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Medicine,

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Division of Infectious Diseases

Director, Infection Control Program

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Torrance, California

David P. Nicolau, PharmD, FCCP, FIDSA

Director, Center for Anti-Infective Research and Development

Hartford Hospital

Hartford, Connecticut

Robert P. Rapp, PharmD, FCCP

Professor of Pharmacy Emeritus, College of Pharmacy

Professor of Surgery Emeritus, College of Medicine

University of Kentucky Medical Center

Lexington, Kentucky

George G. Zhanel, PharmD, PhD

Professor

Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Faculty of Medicine

University of Manitoba

Winnipeg, Canada

Accreditation

Pharmacists

<ACPE> Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider for continuing pharmacy education. Participants will receive 1.25 contact hours (0.125 CEUs) for this activity. No partial credit will be awarded.

ACPE UAN: 0026-9999-09-083-H01-P

Activity type: Knowledge-based

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact MCPHS at Kristin.Reitz@mcphs.edu.

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit

Documentation of credit will be mailed within 4 weeks of receipt of the completed Post Test, Evaluation, and Credit Application form.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Vemco MedEd require faculty, planners, and others who are in a position to control the content of continuing education activities to disclose to the audience any real or apparent conflict of interest related to the activity. All identified conflicts of interest are reviewed to ensure fair balance, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all activities. The faculty is further required to disclose discussion of off-label uses in their presentations.

Disclosures

Faculty

Richard H. Drew, PharmD, MS, BCPS serves on the advisory boards for Schering-Plough, Wyeth-Ayerst, and Astellas. He receives research support from Schering-Plough and Cubist. He serves on speakers bureaus for Schering-Plough, Wyeth-Ayerst, and Merck and is on the development Team for CustomID.

Loren G. Miller, MD, MPH is a consultant for Theravance and receives research/grant support from Pfizer and Cubist.

David P. Nicolau, PharmD, FCCP, FIDSA serves on the advisory boards and is a consultant for AstraZeneca, Cubist, Wyeth, Pfizer, Ortho-McNeil, and Merck. He receives grant/research support, has intellectual property/patents and serves on speakers bureaus for AstraZeneca, Ortho-McNeil, Cubist, Wyeth, Merck, and Pfizer.

Robert P. Rapp, PharmD, FCCP serves on the advisory boards for Pfizer, Ortho-McNeil, and Astellas. He serves on the speakers bureaus for Pfizer, Ortho-McNeil, and Astellas.

George G. Zhanel, PharmD, PhD serves on the advisory boards for Merck, Ortho-McNeil, and Wyeth. He receives research/grant support from Abbott, Affinium, Astellas, Wyeth, Pfizer, TaiGen, Ortho-McNeil, Bayer, Sepracor, and Advanced Life Sciences.

Planning Committee Members

Employees of Vemco MedEd and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Disclosure of Off-label Use

The following off-label uses of antimicrobial agents will be discussed during this activity: dalbavancin, oritavancin, iclaprim, ceftobiprole and ceftaroline for the treatment of MRSA infections; tigecycline for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia and A. baumannii infections; telavancin for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia; meropenem for the treatment of cystic fibrosis and administered via a 3-hour infusion; doripenem for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia and cystic fibrosis.

Joint Sponsorship

This activity is jointly sponsored by Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Ortho-McNeil, Inc., administered by Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC.

Fee

There is no fee to participate in this educational activity.

System Requirements (for viewing on mobile device)

Mobile Device

Apple iPhone, iPod touch or iPad recommended

Internet Connection

3G or WiFi recommended

System Check

Please e-mail any questions or concerns to info@vemcomeded.com.

Copyright Statement

Copyright © 2010 Vemco MedEd, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Permission for accreditation use granted to Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not reflect the views of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Vemco MedEd. This educational activity may discuss off-label and/or investigational uses and dosages for therapeutic products/procedures that have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Vemco MedEd do not recommend the use of any product/procedure outside of the labeled indications. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product/procedure discussed. Learners should verify all information and data before treating patients or employing any therapies described in this continuing education activity. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product/procedure for approved indication, contraindications, and warnings.

Privacy Policy

http://www.vemcomeded.com/privacy.asp

Contact Information

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact MCPHS at Kristin.Reitz@mcphs.edu.

Start Activity

Please note that you can participate in this activity in three ways:

  1. View each episode on this .mobi website through your mobile device
  2. View each episode on http://www.vemcomeded.com
  3. Subscribe to RSS Feed; go to http://www.vemcomeded.com to subscribe

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

By clicking on an Episode, I acknowledge that I have read the entire CPE information.