Articles Tagged With:
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Autoimmune Encephalitis After Herpes Simplex Virus Encephalitis
A recent study showed that about 25% of patients with herpes simplex encephalitis develop neurological symptoms three to six weeks after the infection, pointing toward an autoimmune process with different neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Anti-neuronal antibodies, such as anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibodies, have been found in this post-viral autoimmune encephalitis presentation.
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Treatable Causes of Rapidly Progressive Dementias
Many cases of rapidly progressive dementia are caused by prion diseases and have no effective treatments. But, with the greater awareness of the presentation for autoimmune encephalitis, these disorders make up an increasing percentage of presenting cases and can be aggressively and successfully treated. The STAM3P score helps to identify potentially treatable cases of this disorder.
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Early Onset Post-Radiation Neuropathy
Biopsy studies of early onset neuropathies seen after radiation therapy consistently show evidence of microvasculitis and other signs of inflammation. Early and rapid treatment with anti-inflammatory medications may be effective in stopping the progression and speeding up recovery.
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Hepatitis E and Neuropathy
In this prospective case-control study of patents with neuralgic amyotrophy, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and Bell’s palsy, an association with acute hepatitis E infection was demonstrated only with neuralgic amyotrophy.
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Antibiotic Stewardship vs. Diagnostic Stewardship for Reducing Unnecessary Antibiotics in Asymptomatic Bacteriuria
A statewide quality study compared antibiotic stewardship to diagnostic stewardship for hospitalized patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria. It found that reducing urine cultures decreased unnecessary antibiotic prescribing better than antibiotic stewardship.
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First-Choice Antibiotic for Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Children
Review of a large database reveals that, for children treated for acute sinusitis, amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate yield similar rates of treatment failure. However, medication side effects are more common when amoxicillin-clavulanate is used.
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New International Guidelines on Prolonged Infusion Beta-Lactams
The largest randomized clinical trial of prolonged vs. intermittent beta-lactam antibiotic (meropenem) infusion in septic intensive care unit patients found no benefit in mortality or emergence of antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, this trial has numerous flaws that ultimately limit its generalizability.
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Use of Ceftobiprole for Complicated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia
In a randomized, controlled trial conducted by Holland and colleagues, no significant difference in overall treatment success of complicated Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia was observed in patients who received ceftobiprole as compared with patients who received daptomycin.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Infectious Disease Approval to Reduce Hospital Clostridioides difficile Cases; Oral Amoxicillin for Syphilis
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APIC: SCOTUS Race Ruling: ‘Willfully Ignores’ Challenges Minorities Still Face
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that race cannot be a factor in college, medical, and nursing school admissions was, if nothing else, tone-deaf. The ruling came in the simmering aftermath of a three-year pandemic that exposed widespread inequity in healthcare, and gave rise to the perception of “institutionalized racism” in medicine.