Appidemic: Antimicrobial SmartVet by CVMA
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, with funding support from the Canadian Animal Health Institute, has come up with a nifty app to help companion animal vets make informed decisions in the treatment of specific bacterial diseases: the Antimicrobial SmartVet.
The main feature of Antimicrobial SmartVet is the Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Tool, the first in a suite of tools to be built into the app.
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The UTI tool is an interactive treatment algorithm that guides the user through everything from making the UTI diagnosis, to the ins and outs of management, to the end of the antibiotic therapy.
The UTI tool is accompanied by an antimicrobial treatment table for urinary tract infections, complete with drug information such as pharmacokinetics, contraindications, typical antimicrobial activity, and more.
Based on factors such as their safety and importance in human medicine, the antimicrobials are classified into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line therapies. If you are not familiar with these recommendations: 1st line drugs can be used empirically, 2nd line drugs should only be used after culture and sensitivity results have been obtained, and 3rd line drugs should only be used as a last resort after culture and sensitivity results have been obtained and an infectious disease specialist has been consulted.
The app also features some additional information on the proper collection and handling of urine samples and tips on interpreting the results of the urinalysis.
Currently, this app only offers information on the treatment of urinary tract infections, but hopefully it won’t be long until we get to see the next tools the developers have in store for us!
The app is available for free for iOS and Android devices. Members of the CVMA can also access a desktop version of the app for free.
About the Author
Dr. Marit Veeber is a small animal clinician from Estonia. Her special interests include emergency and internal medicine. In her spare time she likes to read, hike, take pictures of stuff and play around with mobile apps. She also tweets about veterinary medicine and manages social media for the European Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society.
