A Tale of Hope and Caution: Update on Clostridium Difficile and Gram-negative Infections.

Release Date: Monday, July 16, 2018
Expiration Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Educational Overview
The prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens (such as ESBL-producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and MDR P. aeruginosa) as well as the spread of hypervirulent C. difficile continue to contribute to the national healthcare crisis. In response, the CDC and WHO have identified these priority pathogens as serious healthcare threats that continue to challenge clinicians. ID physicians and pharmacists, as an essential part of interprofessional teams and Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, must continue to spread awareness and implement the latest evidence-based strategies to minimize the burden of these infections.

With the development of several new and emerging antimicrobials that target MDR Gram-negative bacteria, ID clinicians must have a thorough understanding on how to optimally utilize these agents in a pathogen-specific manner. Additionally, the recent release of the updated IDSA guidelines on C. difficile infections provides the latest recommendations for hospital clinicians on the treatment of CDI while minimizing the risk of recurrent episodes. This program is designed to build competence, confidence, and skills in the management of serious bacterial infections while increasing the understanding of how to incorporate the latest clinical approaches into practice.

Target Audience
This activity is planned to meet the needs of pharmacists, physicians and other healthcare professionals in a variety of practice settings, including large and small healthcare systems, outpatient clinics, managed care organizations, long-term care facilities, and academia who are responsible for caring for patients with serious bacterial infections.

Learning Objectives
Upon completing this activity, participants will be able to:

Describe current epidemiological trends and resistance mechanisms of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria
Evaluate the potential role of new and emerging antimicrobial agents in the management of infections caused by MDR Gram-negative bacteria and C. difficile
Implement the latest evidence-based approaches to treat C. difficile infection and prevent recurrent episodes

Additional Resources

Please click here to view the updated IDSA CDI Guidelines

Educational Format

This Online Presentation is based on the Satellite Symposium presented at MAD-ID Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL on May 10, 2018. It is divided into 2 easy and quick to view episodes.

Episode 1:
Latest Approaches in Treating C. difficile Infection and Preventing Recurrence: The Guidelines Have Arrived!

Kevin W. Garey, PharmD

Episode 2:
MDR Gram-negative Bacteria: Practical Guidance on the Pathogen-specific Use of New Antimicrobials George H. Karam, MD

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

Faculty

Kevin W. Garey, PharmD, MS, FASHP

Chair, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research
Professor of Pharmacy Practice
College of Pharmacy
University of Houston
Houston, TX

George H. Karam, MD

Paula Garvey Manship Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans
Baton Rouge Branch Campus
Baton Rouge, LA

Accreditation

Physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Center designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Pharmacists
Center for Independent Healthcare Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider for continuing pharmacy education. Center has assigned 1.25 contact hours (0.125 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credits for participating in this activity.

ACPE UAN: 0473-9999-18-006-H01-P
Activity type: Knowledge-based

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact us at info@jointsponsor.com

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit

Review the entire CME/CPE information including target audience, learning objectives, and disclosures.
Review the activity in its entirety.
Complete the Online Post Test, Evaluation, and Credit Application form
Please note that to receive credit you must achieve a score of at least 70%.
Pharmacists: The information that you participated will be uploaded to CPEMonitor and you will be able to access your credits from the profile you set up with NABP. For more information, please visit http://www.nabp.net/.
Physicians: Certificate of Credit will be emailed to you within 4 weeks.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
In accordance with policies set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Center for Independent Healthcare Education requires all faculty members and spouses/significant others with an opportunity to affect the content of a continuing education activity to disclose any relevant financial relationships during the past 12 months with commercial interests. A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, reselling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients. Relationships with commercial interests and conflicts of interest resulting from those relationships must be revealed to the audience and resolved prior to the activity.

Relevant relationships include roles such as speaker, author, consultant, independent contractor (including research), employee, investor, advisory committee member, board member, review panelist, and investigator. If a potential speaker or author indicates a possible conflict of interest, the conflict will be resolved by choosing another speaker or author for that topical area, or the slides, handouts, and/or monograph will be reviewed and approved by a qualified commercially-disinterested peer.

Disclosures
Kevin A. Garey, PharmD has relevant financial relationships with the following commercial interests:
Research Support: Merck & Co., Inc.
Dr. Garey discusses the off-label uses of the following: Metronidazole for the treatment of C. difficile infection.

George H. Karam, MD has relevant financial relationships with the following commercial interests:
Advisory Board: Merck & Co., Inc., Tetraphase, Shionogi
Consultant: Merck & Co., Inc., Philips Healthcare, Ilum
Dr. Karam does not discuss the off-label uses of any products.

No (other) speakers, authors, planners or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Fee
There is no fee to participate in this activity.

Hardware/Software Requirements
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Google Chrome with the QuickTime Plug-in
Note: Please disable any “pop-up blocker” features.

Software/Hardware
Adobe® Reader version 7 or above to view PDF files (If you do not have Adobe® Reader, you can download it for free from Adobe.com)
Adobe Flash Player version 10 or above to view multimedia content (If you do not have Adobe Flash Player, you can download it for free from Adobe.com)

Connection Speed
Cable, DSL, or better of at least 300 kbps

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

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

Joint Providership
This activity is jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc.

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