Antibiotic Stewardship Across Common Pediatric and Adult Infections

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Select guideline-supported diagnostic, observation, and antibiotic strategies for pediatric acute otitis media.

2. Differentiate initial, recurrent, and fulminant Clostridioides difficile infection and select evidence-based treatment and recurrence-prevention strategies.

3. Distinguish Lyme disease prophylaxis from treatment and select therapy according to exposure risk and clinical manifestation.

4. Evaluate the approved role, dosing, safety considerations, and stewardship limitations of omadacycline in adults with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia or acute bacterial skin and skin structure infection.

5. Integrate patient-specific antibiotic stewardship principles to common adult respiratory, skin and soft-tissue, and urinary tract infections.

Antibiotic Stewardship reviews the appropriate use of antibiotics for common and clinically important infections across pediatric and adult care. The course covers recommended antibiotic regimens for acute otitis media in children, management of initial and recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, prophylaxis and treatment decisions after high-risk tick bites and Lyme disease, the efficacy and safety of omadacycline for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, and antibiotic decision-making for common respiratory tract, skin and soft tissue, and urinary tract infections in adults.

Antibiotic resistance, unnecessary antibiotic use, and inappropriate selection, dosing, or duration of therapy remain major patient-safety and public-health concerns. This course addresses the need for healthcare professionals to apply current antibiotic stewardship principles, distinguish infections that require antibiotic treatment from those that do not, select appropriate therapies based on patient and infection factors, and reduce avoidable harms associated with antibiotic overuse.