CONCLUSION
In this study, we performed surveillance of antibiotic prescribing
practices in hospitalized children with cancer and HSCT recipients in
Greece. Our surveillance data allowed comparisons among units,
identified areas necessitating improvement and provided useful
information on antibiotic prescribing to physicians in each PHO unit. As
a next step, an active intervention with designated antibiotic
stewardship physicians and prospective audit and feedback
recommendations at each Greek PHO unit is needed. Ideally, future
accurate capturing of unit-specific antibiotic susceptibility data for
all bacterial pathogens is needed along with more dedicated personnel
exclusively involved with antibiotic stewardship. Finally, further
research in this area is required to reduce the use of broad-spectrum
antimicrobials and antifungals safely and substantially in this
susceptible patient population.