Activity Overview
This online activity is based on the continuing education symposium which was held following the official programming at the 47th Annual Meeting of IDSA in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Clinical Jeopardy: Addressing the MRSA Challenge! Webcast is an educational activity that incorporates the Clinical Jeopardy format to fully engage participants and enhance learning.

This activity consists of an Introduction on the MRSA challenge with a patient case presented by Dr. Nicolau. Following Dr. Nicolau's introduction, participant can choose to participate in three Clinical Jeopardy categories. Within each category, participant can choose 3 different MRSA topics:

• MRSA Epidemiology and Mechanisms of Resistance - Donald Low, MD.
• MRSA Evolving Epidemiology
• Community-Associated MRSA
• Isolates with Decreased Susceptibility to Vancomycin: VRSA, VISA, hVISA

• Treatment Strategies for MRSA Infections - Vance Fowler, MD
• MRSA Skin Infections
• Bloodstream Infections
• Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia

• Importance of an Interdisciplinary Approach - David Nicolau, PharmD
• Antimicrobial Stewardship
• Optimizing Vancomycin Use
• Identifying the Right Patient for OPAT

Practice Gap and Educational Need
MRSA now accounts for approximately 50% of all S. aureus infections and is becoming more prevalent in the community and hospital settings. Recent evidence suggests a blurring distinction between community-associated and healthcare-associated MRSA strains, a finding that can have major implications for epidemiology, infection control, and antimicrobial selection.

Vancomycin remains a common first-line choice for these infections. However, a growing prevalence of strains with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin has emphasized the necessity for optimal dosing of this agent or utilization of alternative agents. A better understanding of these issues by clinicians can lead to optimal clinical outcomes while minimizing the economic burden of these infections.

An important first step has been taken with a steep rise in MRSA awareness among physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, but uncertainty continues to exist regarding:

• What are the new and evolving mechanisms of resistance and how do these impact therapeutic choices?
• What constitutes appropriate therapy in the face of blurring distinction between community-associated and healthcare-associated MRSA infections?
• What is the appropriate role for ID physician, ID pharmacist, microbiologist, and epidemiologist in managing infections due to MRSA?
• How can we best utilize outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in treating MRSA infections?

Target Audience
This activity has been designed to meet the needs of ID physicians, epidemiologists, ID surgeons, ER physicians, clinical pharmacists, and all healthcare professionals who care for patients with serious infections and who may be involved in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of patients with infections caused by MRSA.

Learning Objectives
Those healthcare professionals participating in this educational activity will be able at its conclusion to:

1. Provide an update on epidemiology associated with infections due to MRSA.
2. Differentiate the clinical spectrum of infections associated with CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA.
3. Discuss effective treatment strategies for infections caused by MRSA.
4. Identify patients who are likely to benefit from outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy.

Clinical Jeopardy Faculty
Host
David P. Nicolau, PharmD, FCCP, FIDSA
Director, Center for Anti-Infective Research and Development
Hartford Hospital
Hartford, Connecticut

Facilitators
Donald E. Low, MD, FRCPC
Microbiologist-in-Chief
University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital
Medical Director, Public Health Laboratories
Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
Toronto, Ontario

Vance G. Fowler, Jr., MD, MHS
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina

Accreditation
Physicians
Accreditation Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through joint sponsorship of Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation: Center designates for this activity a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants
American Academy of Physician Assistants accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ from organizations accredited by ACCME. Physician assistants may receive a maximum of 2.0 hours of Category I credit for completing this activity.

Pharmacists
Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Center has assigned 2.0 contact hours (0.2 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credit for participation in this activity.

ACPE Universal Activity Number: 0473-9999-10-001-H01-P
Type of Activity: Knowledge-based

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact Center at info@jointsponsor.com.

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit
Review the entire CME information including target audience, learning objectives, and disclosures.

1. Review the four learning modules in their entirety.
2. Print and complete the Self-Assessment, Evaluation, and Credit Application form.
3. Mail the completed Self-Assessment, Evaluation, and Credit Application form to Vemco MedEd, 245 US Highway 22, Suite 304, Bridgewater, NJ 08807 or fax to (908) 450-3300.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
Center for Independent Healthcare Education requires faculty, planners, and others who are in a position to control the content of continuing education activities to disclose to the audience any real or apparent conflict of interest related to the activity. All identified conflicts of interest are reviewed to ensure fair balance, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all activities. The faculty is further required to disclose discussion of off-label uses in their presentations.

Disclosures
Faculty
David P. Nicolau, PharmD, FCCP, FIDSA serves on the advisory board for AstraZeneca, Cubist, Wyeth, Pfizer, Ortho-McNeil, and Merck. He receives grant/research support and serves in the speakers bureaus of AstraZeneca, Ortho-McNeil, Cubist, Wyeth, Merck, Pfizer, and Theravance.

Donald E. Low, MD, FRCPC serves on the advisory board as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation. He receives grant/research support from Bayer Healthcare AG, Cerexa, and GlaxoSmithKline as Principal Investigator.

Vance G. Fowler, Jr., MD, MHS serves as a consultant for Inhibitex, Arpida, Inimex, Cubist, and Merck. He has received research/grant support from Astellas, Merck, Cerexa and Theravance.

Planning Committee Members
Employees of Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Disclosure of Off-label Use
During this activity, the following off-label uses of the following antimicrobial agents will be discussed: tigecycline (for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia); telavancin (for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia); dalbavancin, oritavancin, iclaprim, ceftobiprole, and ceftaroline (for the treatment of skin infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

Joint Sponsorship
This activity is jointly sponsored by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support
This activity is supported by an educational grant from Astellas Pharma US, Inc.

Fee
There is no fee associated with this activity.

Hardware/Software Requirements
Software
Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox
Note: Please disable any “pop-up blocker” features.

Adobe® Flash® Player to view the presentations (If you do not have Adobe® Flash® Player, you can download it for free from get.adobe.com/flashplayer)
Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4 or above to view PDF files (If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from get.adobe.com/reader)

Connection Speed
Cable, DSL, or better of at least 300 kbps

Hardware
PC or Macintosh to view the presentations
Audio Speakers

System Check
Please e-mail any questions or concerns to info@vemcomeded.com.

Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2010 Vemco MedEd, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Permission for accreditation use granted to Center for Independent Healthcare Education.

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not reflect the views of Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. This educational activity may discuss off-label and/or investigational uses and dosages for therapeutic products/procedures that have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Center and Vemco MedEd do not recommend the use of any product/procedure outside of the labeled indications. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product/procedure discussed. Clinicians should verify all information and data before treating patients or employing any therapies described in this continuing education activity. Please refer to the prescribing information for each product/procedure for approved indication, contraindications, and warnings.

Privacy Policy
http://www.vemcomeded.com/privacy.asp

Contact Information
For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact Center for Independent Healthcare Education at info@jointsponsor.com