Afghanistan: Hospital antibiotic use can put patients at risk, study says --- Doctors in some hospitals prescribe up to three times as many antibiotics as doctors at other hospitals, putting patients at greater risk for deadly superbug infections, according to a federal study released Tuesday. -- In addition, about one-third of the time, prescriptions to treat urinary tract infections and prescriptions for the critical and common drug vancomycin were given without proper testing or evaluation, or given for too long, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. -- Over the past year, CDC officials have been raising the alarm about health threats from antibiotic resistance. Last fall, they warned that the nation faces “potentially catastrophic consequences” if it doesn’t act quickly to combat the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, which kill an estimated 23,000 Americans each year. -- Tuesday’s report focuses on the practices at hospitals, where proper prescribing can have a direct and immediate impact on medical care and reduce infections, said CDC Director Thomas Frieden. -- “We have to protect our antibiotics before our medicine chests run empty,” Frieden said in a teleconference with reporters. “Today, we’re getting specific about what hospitals can do.” -- The CDC is strongly recommending that all hospitals, no matter their size, develop a seven-step antibiotic prescribing program that includes greater accountability and monitoring of antibiotic prescription and use, he said. Key among those steps is an automatic reassessment within 48 hours of prescribing to make sure the drug choice is appropriate, he said.