Infectious Diseases (all articles)
A syndrome-specific antibiotic stewardship intervention reduced antipseudomonal antibiotic use in diabetic foot infections
29 Mar, 2023 | 13:10h | UTC
M-A | Factors associated with post-treatment control of viral load in HIV-infected patients
29 Mar, 2023 | 12:56h | UTC
Plasma D-Dimer may be useful in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection
29 Mar, 2023 | 12:33h | UTCPlasma D-Dimer Is Noninferior to Serum C-Reactive Protein in the Diagnosis of Periprosthetic Joint Infection – The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
News Release: D-dimer blood test shows value in detecting prosthetic joint infections – Wolters Kluwer
CDC report reveals escalating Candida auris transmission and resistance in the US
28 Mar, 2023 | 15:10h | UTCWorsening Spread of Candida auris in the United States, 2019 to 2021 – Annals of Internal Medicine
Commentaries:
CDC reports dramatic increase in US Candida auris cases – CIDRAP
An emerging fungal threat spread at an alarming rate in US health care facilities, study says – CNN
Related:
CDC Report: Transmission of pan-resistant Candida auris in health care facilities.
Case reports: Multidrug-resistant Candida auris infections in critically ill Covid-19 patients
Candida auris: A Review of Recommendations for Detection and Control in Healthcare Settings
Global Epidemiology of Emerging Candida Auris (reviews and commentaries on the subject)
The superbug Candida auris is giving rise to warnings — and big questions – STAT
Candida Auris – “A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy” (reviews and commentaries on the subject)
Commentary on Twitter
New Annals of Internal Medicine study finds cases of deadly fungus, Candida auris, rose drastically between 2019 and 2021. Increase included treatment resistant strains: https://t.co/J3SkmfWDr5 @CDCgov pic.twitter.com/ZJBRqMIOy1
— Annals of Int Med (@AnnalsofIM) March 21, 2023
M-A | Risk factors associated with post−COVID-19 condition
28 Mar, 2023 | 15:07h | UTCCommentary:
Meta-analysis reveals risk, protective factors for long COVID – CIDRAP
Long Covid: University of East Anglia study finds women more likely affected – BBC
People who catch Omicron are less likely to get Long Covid
28 Mar, 2023 | 15:04h | UTCPeople who catch Omicron are less likely to get Long Covid – Science
Brief Review | Antifungal stewardship in critically ill patients
28 Mar, 2023 | 14:57h | UTCAntifungal stewardship in critically ill patients – Intensive Care Medicine (if the link is paywalled, try this one)
Commentary on Twitter
Antifungal stewardship in #ICU
? biomarkers
⬇️ de‑escalation
? other methods to improve AFs use
Empirical AFs commonly used (poor prognosis if inappropriate/delayed): AFS can ⬆️ performance measures/⬇️ AFs consumption, no negative impact on outcome
?️ https://t.co/eS9EJdjo2a pic.twitter.com/4FMV9NBndb— Intensive Care Medicine (@yourICM) March 24, 2023
M-A | The natural history of untreated pulmonary tuberculosis in adults
28 Mar, 2023 | 14:42h | UTCThe natural history of untreated pulmonary tuberculosis in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (free registration required)
Commentary from the author on Twitter
Very excited to have this work released into the open on #WorldTBDay in @LancetRespirMed: we used historical data to study the natural history of untreated TB https://t.co/IijrKfs13N @alexsrichards @hanifesmail_tb @Rein_Houben 1/n
— Bianca Sossen (@bianca_sossen) March 24, 2023
M-A | Examining shorter antibiotic treatment durations for community acquired pneumonia in adults
27 Mar, 2023 | 13:29h | UTCSummary: The systematic review and duration-effect meta-analysis included nine randomized trials with a total of 2,399 patients, analyzing antibiotic treatment durations for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. The primary outcome was clinical improvement on day 15, with secondary outcomes including all-cause mortality, serious adverse events, and clinical improvement on day 30.
The study found that shorter treatment durations (3–9 days) were likely to be non-inferior to the standard 10-day treatment, and no significant difference in all-cause mortality or serious adverse events was observed. The study suggests that a 3–5 day treatment duration likely offers the optimal balance between efficacy and treatment burden if patients are clinically stable. However, the results are limited by the small number of included studies, the overall moderate-to-high risk of bias, and the varying severity of CAP among patients in the studies. Therefore, further research focusing on the shorter duration range is required.
Related:
SR | Post-tuberculosis sequelae in children and adolescents
27 Mar, 2023 | 13:16h | UTCPost-tuberculosis sequelae in children and adolescents: a systematic review – The Lancet Infectious Diseases (free registration required)
M-A | Completion, safety, and efficacy of tuberculosis preventive treatment regimens containing rifampicin or rifapentine
27 Mar, 2023 | 13:14h | UTCCompletion, safety, and efficacy of tuberculosis preventive treatment regimens containing rifampicin or rifapentine: an individual patient data network meta-analysis – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (free registration required)
Invited Commentary: Shorter regimens for tuberculosis preventive treatment: piecing together the global implementation jigsaw – The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (free registration required)
Commentary on Twitter
NEW Research—3HP provided an increase in treatment completion vs 4R but was associated with a higher risk of adverse events. The trade-off between completion and safety must be considered when deciding TPT
From Prof Dick Menzies & colleagues#WorldTBDayhttps://t.co/UY7l9OuI03 pic.twitter.com/GoKnu9BXoi
— The Lancet Respiratory Medicine (@LancetRespirMed) March 24, 2023
Phase 2b RCT | Efficacy and safety of PL-5 (Peceleganan) spray for wound infections
27 Mar, 2023 | 13:08h | UTC
Brief Review | Bronchodilators or inhaled corticosteroids for postinfectious cough
27 Mar, 2023 | 13:00h | UTCBronchodilators or inhaled corticosteroids for postinfectious cough – Canadian Family Physician
Study reveals high rates of nonadherence to antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines, often due to unnecessary vancomycin use
23 Mar, 2023 | 13:13h | UTCSummary: The study evaluated adherence to surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines in 825 US hospitals for elective surgeries from 2019-2020. The study found that 41% of surgical prophylaxis regimens were nonadherent to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists guidelines.
Unnecessary vancomycin use was the most common reason for nonadherence to surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines, accounting for 77% of nonadherent regimens and occurring in 31% of all surgeries. It’s noteworthy that when vancomycin was used, it was often unnecessarily combined with cefazolin, and patients who received this combination had a 19% higher risk of acute kidney injury compared to those who received cefazolin alone.
The authors suggest that quality-improvement efforts aimed at reducing unnecessary vancomycin use and potential guideline revisions may offer impactful strategies for improving the risk-benefit profile of antimicrobial prophylaxis.
M-A | Development of treatment-decision algorithms for children evaluated for pulmonary tuberculosis
23 Mar, 2023 | 12:50h | UTCNews Release: New Algorithms Could Improve Pediatric Tuberculosis Diagnosis – Yale School of Public Health
Commentary from the author on Twitter (thread – click for more)
1/ Excited to share our #openaccess work in @LancetChildAdol where we evaluate existing algorithms and develop pragmatic, evidence-based algorithms to support evaluation for #pediatric pulmonary #tuberculosis
Link: https://t.co/tjDkk9xJm2
A summary ?
— Kenneth Gunasekera (@kennyguna) March 16, 2023
ATS Position Paper | Immunocompromised host pneumonia: definitions and diagnostic criteria
23 Mar, 2023 | 12:41h | UTC
Best practice in the use of peripheral venous catheters: a scoping review and expert consensus
23 Mar, 2023 | 12:37h | UTC
RCT | Hydrocortisone reduces mortality in severe community-acquired pneumonia
22 Mar, 2023 | 13:44h | UTCSummary: Practice-changing! In a phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial involving 800 patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia admitted to the ICU, hydrocortisone treatment was found to reduce the risk of death by day 28 compared to a placebo group. The hydrocortisone group had a 6.2% death rate, while the placebo group had an 11.9% death rate.
Hydrocortisone also led to fewer endotracheal intubations among patients not on mechanical ventilation at baseline and reduced the need for vasopressor therapy in patients not receiving it at baseline. There was no significant difference in hospital-acquired infections or gastrointestinal bleeding between the two groups, but patients in the hydrocortisone group required higher daily doses of insulin during the first week of treatment.
Article: Hydrocortisone in Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Steroid drug reduces death rate in severe pneumonia, study shows – STAT
Commentary on Twitter
In this randomized trial, hydrocortisone treatment decreased mortality among patients with severe community-acquire pneumonia in the ICU. https://t.co/DZadFMcA5o#ISICEM23 pic.twitter.com/yhkVCjBMWX
— NEJM (@NEJM) March 21, 2023
Cohort Study | Outcomes in critically Ill HIV-infected patients between 1997 and 2020
22 Mar, 2023 | 13:22h | UTC
M-A | Comparison of mental health symptoms before and during the covid-19 pandemic
21 Mar, 2023 | 13:40h | UTCEditorial: Mental health and the covid-19 pandemic – The BMJ
News Release: Study suggests little deterioration in mental health linked to the pandemic – BMJ Newsroom
Commentaries:
A patient’s perspective on mental health and the pandemic – The BMJ
World’s most comprehensive study on COVID-19 mental health – McGill University
COVID-19-associated mucormycosis | A systematic review and meta-analysis of 958 cases
20 Mar, 2023 | 13:43h | UTC
Review | Surviving sepsis campaign
20 Mar, 2023 | 13:17h | UTCSurviving Sepsis Campaign – Critical Care Medicine
Cohort Study | COVID-19 outpatients mostly at low risk for VTE, but age, being male, and obesity are risk factors
17 Mar, 2023 | 13:11h | UTCSummary: The article discusses a cohort study that aimed to assess the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among outpatients with COVID-19 and identify independent predictors of VTE.
The study used data from two integrated healthcare delivery systems in California and included 398.530 nonhospitalized adults aged 18 years or older with COVID-19 diagnosed between January 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021, with follow-up through February 28, 2021.
The results showed that the overall risk of VTE among outpatients with COVID-19 is low, but higher in the first 30 days after diagnosis. Factors associated with a higher risk of VTE in COVID-19 outpatients included:
- Age 55 years or older.
- Being male.
- history of VTE or thrombophilia.
- Body mass index greater than or equal to 30.0.
The study’s results could inform future randomized trials to explore targeted VTE preventive strategies and more intensive short-term surveillance for patients with COVID-19 who are at a higher risk of developing VTE.
Commentary: Venous blood clots rare among COVID-19 outpatients, study finds – CIDRAP
Commentary on Twitter
The rate of VTE was low in outpatients with #COVID19 in the first 30 days, and even lower >30 days. Factors associated with a higher risk of VTE in included age ≥55, male, prior VTE/thrombophilia, and BMI ≥30. https://t.co/3hwfDW88k4
— JAMA Network Open (@JAMANetworkOpen) March 13, 2023
Consensus Paper | Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in gastrointestinal disorders
16 Mar, 2023 | 13:23h | UTC
Review | Evidence-based approach to diagnosis and management of abdominal tuberculosis
16 Mar, 2023 | 13:17h | UTCEvidence-based approach to diagnosis and management of abdominal tuberculosis – Indian Journal of Gastroenterology (if the link is paywalled, try this one)
Commentary from the author on Twitter
Our review on abdominal tuberculosis, where we summarise all the evidence on gastrointestinal tuberculosis and peritoneal tuberculosis, has been published in @ijg_journal
Great effort by @JhaDayakrishna and @menon_mythilihttps://t.co/spPXILGNw2 pic.twitter.com/SxnGs0n9DE— Vishal Sharma (@drvishal82) March 11, 2023