[Hospital antimicrobial stewardship].

HOSPITAL ANTIMICROBIAL STEWARDSHIP. Hospital antimicrobial stewardship programs have been thought to preserve the efficacy of antimicrobials for the treatment of human and animal bacterial infections. They must apply for every patient regardless of the type of healthcare facility- large or small, urban or rural, academic or community. Better and less prescribing antimicrobials is mandatory and must follow well established rules including a right diagnosis, effort to document infection, appropriate choice of the drug and shorter duration of therapy. In France, hospital programs have been in place for more than 20 years and met some success, but they remain insufficient regarding some other European countries. Notably, educative strategies including better diagnosis and improvement of antimicrobial use has been facilitated by the implementation of multidisciplinary teams. However, the success of these programs needs more involvement of other hospital practictioners, who must understand and adhere to these principles.