Skip to main content
Minnesota Department of Health logo
  • Main navigation

    • Home
    • Data, Statistics, and Legislation
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Health Care Facilities, Providers, and Insurance
    • Healthy Communities, Environment, and Workplaces
    • Individual and Family Health
    • About Us
    • News and Announcements
    • Translated Materials

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Data, Statistics, and Legislation
  • Diseases and Conditions
  • Health Care Facilities, Providers, and Insurance
  • Healthy Communities, Environment, and Workplaces
  • Individual and Family Health
  • About Us
  • News and Announcements
  • Translated Materials
MDH Logo

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Healthy Communities, Environment and Workplaces
  3. Minnesota One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative
  4. Stories of Antibiotic Use and Resistance
Topic Menu

One Health Antibiotic Stewardship

  • One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Home
  • About Us
  • News and Events
  • Conferences and Presentations
  • Honor Roll
  • Stories
  • Video Contest
  • Resources and Print Materials
  • Contact Us

Related Topics

  • Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship
  • Antibiotics Only When Needed (O.W.N.)
  • Healthcare-Associated Infections
  • Infection Prevention & Control
  • Infection Control Assessment and Response Program (ICAR)
  • Hand Hygiene

One Health Antibiotic Stewardship

  • One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Home
  • About Us
  • News and Events
  • Conferences and Presentations
  • Honor Roll
  • Stories
  • Video Contest
  • Resources and Print Materials
  • Contact Us

Related Topics

  • Antimicrobial Resistance and Stewardship
  • Antibiotics Only When Needed (O.W.N.)
  • Healthcare-Associated Infections
  • Infection Prevention & Control
  • Infection Control Assessment and Response Program (ICAR)
  • Hand Hygiene
Contact Info
One Health Antibiotic Stewardship
health.stewardship@state.mn.us

Contact Info

One Health Antibiotic Stewardship
health.stewardship@state.mn.us
Caitlin Eccles-Radtke, MD

Caitlin Eccles-Radtke, MD:
Stories of Antibiotic Use and Resistance

Infectious Diseases Physician, Hennepin County Medical Center

How does your work involve antibiotic use?
I am an infectious disease physician and it is my job to help both with prescribing antibiotics, as well as helping others discern when antibiotics aren't needed.
From your perspective, what is most challenging about antibiotic prescribing and stewardship?
The most challenging thing about antibiotic prescribing and stewardship is changing the culture of providers to not prescribe antibiotics for likely viral infections when it is a patient expectation that they need antibiotics (say, for the common cold).
What is your professional experience with antibiotic resistance?
Every year we are seeing more and more resistant organisms, which is very scary as we will eventually lose all antibiotic options to treat certain infections if we aren’t good stewards of our antibiotics and drug companies don't prioritize the production of new antibiotics.
How has antibiotic resistance or antibiotic use affected your work?
It affects my work on a daily basis—I work with providers to change prescribing patterns and narrow antibiotics when able in order to decrease use and decrease risk of resistance. For example, we had a patient with a very resistant organism in his urine and he was being seen in the emergency department (ED) and they were worried that it was something that needed treatment right away. We often have to help providers take a step back to take a closer look at a case. For example, this patient had colonization [bacteria present without causing disease] and not a true infection in his urine which didn't require treatment and we had to reassure the ED providers that it was to withhold antibiotics. I think providers are more fearful of these resistant organisms than the public, as I don't think the public is as informed yet.
What worries you most about antibiotic resistance?
That we will ultimately be back in the pre-antibiotic era and not have treatments for infections if we are not more careful with our current antibiotic prescribing.
What would you like to know more about in regard to antimicrobial resistance and/or antibiotic use?
I’d like to know more about how to educate the public, more about better testing to distinguish between viral/bacterial infections, and more about how antibiotic use in the animal population may be playing a role in human resistance.
Tags
  • antibiotic stewardship
Last Updated: 10/20/2022

Get email updates


Minnesota Department of Health logo

Privacy Policy
Equal Opportunity
Translated Materials
Feedback Form
About MDH
Minnesota.gov
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota Department of health print search share facebook instagram linkedin twitter youtube