Position statement of the Spanish Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases on the introduction, implementation and assessment of antimicrobial stewardship programmes in paediatric hospitals

In the past few years, antimicrobial resistance has increased, becoming a serious public health problem. The irrational use of antimicrobials is one of the main contributors to antimicrobial resistance. The paediatric population is not free from this problem, as antimicrobials are widely prescribed in this age group, often inappropriately. The introduction of antimicrobial stewardship programmes (ASPs) has proven crucial in curbing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. At the international level, the need to develop specific paediatric ASPs has been recognised on account of the differences between adult and paediatric patients as concerns infection and approaches to diagnosis and treatment. For this reason, paediatric ASPs should be multidisciplinary programmes led by paediatric infectious disease specialists and use specific paediatric indicators (such as days of treatment, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in the paediatric population, or clinical indicators) to help identify areas of improvement and develop effective targeted interventions. On the other hand, the support and leadership of the pertinent scientific societies are also essential. The purpose of this document is to present the position of the Sociedad Española de Infectología Pediátrica (SEIP, Spanish Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases) concerning the implementation of paediatric ASPs in hospitals in Spain and to provide tools to facilitate their application in hospitals throughout the regional health care systems in the country.