Antibiotic stewardship at the MHH
The rational use of anti-infectives to ensure optimal treatment of our patients - and at the same time to contain antibiotic resistance - is the primary goal of antibiotic stewardship (ABS). In 2019, around 1.27 million deaths worldwide were directly attributed to bacterial resistance, and almost 5 million were associated with it. This makes antimicrobial resistance (AMR) one of the greatest global health threats of our time.
Systematic reviews show that ABS programs reduce overall antibiotic use in hospitals by around 19% on average and reduce the use of reserve antibiotics by around 27%. Other reviews report cost savings of up to 30% and a reduction in length of stay of 1-2 days with stable or improved treatment outcomes(Krishnamoorthy et. al, 2025)
The ABS team, which has been working at the MHH since 2018, is headed by senior physician Dr. Susanne Simon, who is a member of the Clinical Department of Pneumology and Infectious Diseases.
We, the interdisciplinary ABS team at the MHH, are always available to you and your Clinical Department as competent contacts. Together, we can strengthen the responsible use of antibiotics, ensure successful treatment and effectively contain resistance.
Our interdisciplinary ABS team
- Dr. Susanne Simon, MHBA, head of the ABS team, specialist in internal medicine, infectiology, simon.susanne@mh-hannover.de
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Jessica Rademacher, specialist in internal medicine, pneumology and infectiology, rademacher.jessica@mh-hannover.de
- Prof. Dr. Ralf-Peter Vonberg, Specialist in Hygiene and Environmental Medicine and Specialist in Microbiology, Virology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, vonberg.ralf@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Liz Kinast, specialist in internal medicine, intensive care medicine, kinast.liz@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Stefan Ziesing, specialist in microbiology and hospital hygiene, ziesing.stefan@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Gesine Picksak, specialist pharmacist for drug information, clinical pharmacy and infectiology, picksak.gesine@mh-hannover.de
- Jessica Gunia, specialist pharmacist for clinical pharmacy and infectiology, gunia.jessica@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Klaudiusz Suchodolski, Specialist in Anesthesiology, Special Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, suchodolski.klaudiusz@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Ruxandra Sabau, specialist pharmacist for drug information, prevention, geriatric and palliative pharmacy. Sabau.ruxandra@mh-hannover.de
- Dr. Christine Knuth, specialist in internal medicine and specific internal intensive care medicine, knuth.christine@mh-hannover.de
Our goals for the ABS program are
- Selection of suitable anti-infectives to optimize the clinical outcome
- Minimization of undesirable (side) effects (toxicity, development of resistance, selection for other pathogenic microorganisms such as C. difficile)
- Ensuring/optimizing the cost-effectiveness of anti-infective therapy
- Creating and Nursing internal guidelines according to local pathogen and resistance situation
- Advice on infectiological issues from an ABS consultation service
- Anti-infective visits on the ward
- Regular training and further education for physicians and nursing staff at the MHH
We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your support of the ABS program at the MHH.