Learn Best Practices for Diagnosing and Managing Common Infectious Syndromes and Antibiotic Allergies

For information on how the materials below can be integrated into your practice's efforts to improve antibiotic use, read the Implementation Guide for Ambulatory Care Antibiotic Stewardship (PDF, 708 KB). 

Understanding the role of antibiotic therapy in managing common infectious diseases syndromes seen in ambulatory care is essential to optimize antibiotic use and patient care. The materials below address multiple types of respiratory tract infections, divided into those for which antibiotics are never indicated, sometimes indicated, and usually indicated. There are also materials covering non–respiratory tract infections and assessment of allergies. These resources are intended for the Antibiotic Stewardship Team, clinicians, pharmacists, and staff.

Each of the 10 syndromes listed below has a slide presentation with facilitator guide, a one-page summary document for clinicians, a discussion guide, and a handout for patients and families (in English and Spanish). 

The presentations are case based and focus on common scenarios in the ambulatory care setting.

The one-page documents for clinicians provide recommendations for diagnosis, management, and treatment. They can be used as a template for local antibiotic use guidelines or as posters or handouts.  

Discussion guides are to be used during clinic meetings to improve practice consensus on managing the syndrome.

The handouts for patients and families can be provided when the patient presents to the clinic with one of syndromes.