Antimicrobial Prescribing and Stewardship, 2nd Volume

Dear Colleagues,

The current COVID-19 pandemic is occurring amid the already ongoing global health crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Drug resistant infections/antimicrobial resistance are estimated to cause 700,000 deaths each year globally, and may complicate the care of COVID-19 patients, potentially leading to increased mortality and resulting in a significant economic burden.

Antimicrobial stewardship, as “a coherent set of actions which promote using antimicrobials in ways that ensure sustainable access to effective therapy for all who need them” (Dyar, O.J., 2017), is critical (alongside, e.g., infection prevention and control strategies) for tackling antimicrobial resistance/drug resistant infections.

“Volume 2 of the Special Edition of Antimicrobial Prescribing and Stewardship” Special Issue will consist of manuscripts, which may include original research, review articles, case series, and opinion papers. Relevant antimicrobial (antibiotic and antifungal) stewardship related topics will be considered for review; specific areas of interest include the following:

1. Antimicrobial use and stewardship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
2. Novel methods to promote appropriate antibiotic utilization
3. Disease-based/organism-based antimicrobial stewardship
4. Diagnostic stewardship
5. Antifungal stewardship
6. Influence of antimicrobial utilization changes on antimicrobial resistance
7. Impact of antimicrobial stewardship on quality performance measures and patient outcomes
8. Novel antimicrobial stewardship education and training approaches or interventions aimed at public and/or healthcare workers
9. Behavioral change approaches to antimicrobial stewardship
10. Review of specific controversial stewardship issues that have a major impact on utilization, cost, or resistance
11. Collaborative practice agreements in antimicrobial stewardship
12. Antimicrobial stewardship in special populations (e.g., pediatrics, geriatrics, emergency medicine, and hematology/oncology)
13. Tackling AMR through antimicrobial stewardship in low- and middle-income countries
14. Antimicrobial stewardship in alternative settings (e.g., community practice, long-term care, resource limited, and small and rural hospitals)
15. Risk-stratified approach to treating common infections in hospitalized patients
16. Role of antimicrobial stewardship in managing medication shortages
17. Building a business case/model for antimicrobial stewardship
18. Global collaborations to tackle AMR through antimicrobial stewardship 

Dr. Diane Ashiru-Oredope
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.