The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) is a UK-based multi-professional organisation with worldwide membership for clinicians and scientists with a specialist interest in
antibiotic
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...
management and therapy. It is headquartered in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, UK.
BSAC was founded in 1971 at a meeting in Prague.
Activities
Current BSAC activities include:
* Publishes the ''
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
The ''Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal which covers antimicrobial chemotherapy, including laboratory aspects and clinical use of antimicrobial agents. It is published by Oxford University Press on behalf o ...
''.
* Organises numerous annual educational sessions, workshops and small conferences for clinicians, researchers, clinical scientists and academics.
* Development of national standardised tests to determine micro-organism susceptibility to
antibiotics
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...
,
* Surveillance of resistance rates of organisms involved in the development of respiratory infections and bacteraemias.
*
Out-patient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) Initiative. The OPAT Initiative is involved in the development of a body of evidence that include good practice recommendations, a business case toolkit and a patient management system to support clinicians in the provision of parenteral antibiotics away from the hospital in-patient setting.
* Advocates appropriate prescribing of
antimicrobials
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals a ...
including coordinating and submitting UK data on antimicrobial consumption to the
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, ...
(ECDC).
*
Point Prevalence
In epidemiology, prevalence is the proportion of a particular population found to be affected by a medical condition (typically a disease or a risk factor such as smoking or seatbelt use) at a specific time. It is derived by comparing the number o ...
Survey (PPS) system and outcomes registry which enables UK hospital Trusts to report antibiotic point prevalence results and to compare and contrast their usage with other Trusts, regions and national administrations.
Point Prevalence Survey website
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References
External links
British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy website
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Antimicrobial resistance organizations
Biotechnology organizations
Health in Birmingham, West Midlands
Learned societies of the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands
Science and technology in the West Midlands (county)
Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom
Scientific organizations established in 1971