CDC Kicks Off U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week 2019

Antibiotics are powerful tools for treating life-threatening bacterial infections, like those that can lead to sepsis. However, anytime antibiotics are used, they can cause side effects and can lead to antibiotic resistance. Today kicks off U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week 2019!

US Antibiotic Awareness Week November 18-24, 2019

During this annual one-week observance, CDC encourages you to help spread the word about the importance of improving antibiotic prescribing and use to:

effectively treat infections, such as those that can lead to sepsis,
protect patients from harms caused by unnecessary use, and
combat antibiotic resistance

6 Ways to Participate in U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week

1. Join TODAY’s Global Twitter Storm from 9-10 a.m. ET using the hashtag #AntibioticResistance. Use social media to spark conversation throughout the week using #USAAW19 and #BeAntibioticsAware.

2. Use and share Be Antibiotics Aware educational materials, including graphics for print and social media from CDC’s national educational effort.

3. Read and share the updated Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs, which incorporates recent literature and best practices to improve antibiotic prescribing in hospitals.

4. Register for CDC and HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s FREE continuing education webinar: Improving Antibiotic Stewardship in Critical Access Hospitals: Strategies and Success Stories on Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 1-2 p.m. ET. Leading experts will discuss evidence-based strategies to improve antibiotic prescribing in rural hospitals and share stewardship success stories in critical access hospitals.

5. Check out CDC's recently released report, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019, which lists 18 bacteria and fungi based on level of concern to human health.

6. Visit CDC’s new Antibiotic Resistance & Patient Safety Portal to find new 2017 U.S. outpatient antibiotic prescription data and 2018 U.S. hospital uptake of CDC’s Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs data.