Infectious Disease Topics
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How Many Personnel Are Required for Antimicrobial Stewardship? More Than You Have at Your Hospital
A work group in the Veterans Administration determined that the necessary staffing of antimicrobial stewardship programs dealing with inpatients (including long-term care) is 1.0 clinical pharmacy specialist with infectious disease knowledge and 0.25 physician (preferably trained in infectious disease) per 100 occupied beds. Needs for outpatient stewardship, which is now mandated, were not included in the assessment.
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Treatment of Pulmonary Mycobacterium avium Infection: Failure Is Common
Current treatment regimens for pulmonary Mycobacterium avium infection leave a great deal to be desired.
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Immunohistochemistry and Diagnosis of Viral Diseases
Researchers reviewed five years of cases at an academic medical center’s pathology department for the use of immunohistochemistry to detect CMV, HSV-1, HSV-2, varicella zoster virus, adenovirus, or polyomavirus. Of 957 cases, 134 were positive. Viral cytopathic effect (CPE) was present on hematoxylin and eosin staining in 75% of the IHC+ cases. No changes in clinical care occurred in any of the IHC+ cases in which viral CPE was absent.
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Mice, Mutations, and Microcephaly: The Evolving Pathogenesis of Congenital Zika Syndrome
Approximately five years ago, a single gene mutation altered Zika virus, making it able to target neuronal progenitor cells and cause what we now know as congenital Zika syndrome with microcephaly and ocular abnormalities.
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Antibiotics and Adverse Events: Doctors, Do No Harm
A retrospective study found that among 1,488 hospitalized patients who received an antibiotic, 298 (20%) experienced at least one antibiotic-associated adverse drug event. Furthermore, 287 (19%) of the antibiotic regimens were not clinically indicated, and 56 (20%) of these were associated with an adverse drug event.
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Delafloxacin (Baxdela®)
Delafloxacin is a new broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2017 for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Corporate Antibiotic Stewardship; Hypervirulence Meets Antibiotic Resistance — A Lethal Combination; Glue Masquerading as an Aortic Root Abscess; Molecular Diagnostic Coup
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California and Coccidioidomycosis: Be Careful About the Air You Breathe
Cases of coccidioidomycosis significantly increased in 2016.
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Delafloxacin (Baxdela®)
Delafloxacin is a new broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June 2017 for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.
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Fungal Endophthalmitis: Another Risk Associated With Intravenous Drug Use
A retrospective cohort study found that endogenous fungal endophthalmitis is associated with intravenous drug use and frequently results in poor visual outcomes despite appropriate surgical and antifungal therapy.