Working Group Early Web-based Anti-Infective Treatment (WG EWAIT)

Joint venture of ESICM sections PERIOPERATIVE INTENSIVE CARE (POIC) and INFECTION

In up to 30% of cases antibiotics are begun without reliable signs of infection or isolation of a pathogen. The frequency of inefficient use of antibiotics is estimated to be as high as 50%. Against this background, a computerised decision support program has been developed to assist the rational use of antibiotics in critically ill patients. Existing local, national and international guidelines have been transferred into a user-friendly electronic format. Based on the ability to merge information in dependency to relevance for special scenarios this technique has the potential to help clinicians with bedside decision making based on current evidences. The program can quickly provide information regarding diagnosis, therapy and local resistance patterns and forms a basis for individual therapy decisions (here; see below addendum 2). The program basis named “ABx” is an official project of the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI) and is currently used in more than 100 ICUs all over Germany.

 

Now, the WG EWAIT (Early Web-Based Anti-Infective Treatment) is launched to bring together experts and scientists in the field of anti-infective treatment to advocate implementation of evidence based recommendations and to act as a European response panel. Thus, further development of the computer program inhere the possibility for more ICUs in different countries to participate. The Section Chair will also involve the other sections pertinent to this topic: “Infection" and “Systemic inflammation and sepsis”.)

 

In terms of an early and safe use of antibiotics in severe infections an international research group was founded to evaluate the use of a CDSS system in an European research project:EARLY E-GUIDED USE OF ANTIBIOTICS RELATED TO RESISTANCE DATA (EGUARD) - intended for EU FP7 funding.

 

 

The minutes of the WG EWAIT/EGUARD meeting held in Brussels on 10 March 2010 are available here.

The minutes of the WG EWAIT/EGUARD meeting held in Barcelona on 11 October 2010 are available here.