CDC working to curb excessive use of antibiotics

Antibiotics are critically important drugs, but very powerful antibiotics are often used when they're not absolutely necessary.

"The very most common drug overall was a drug called vancomycin,” said Dr. Shelley S. Magill of the CDC. “When we looked at the most common antibiotics that patients were getting, we did find that they tended to be what we call broad-spectrum antibiotic drugs.”

"The line has really been blurred between reserving these powerful antibiotics for patients that have health care acquired infections and those that have community-based infections,” Fridkin said.

Last March, the CDC asked every hospital in the country to implement an antibiotic stewardship program. It requires strong leadership, accountability and careful monitoring and tracking.