Infectious Disease Alert
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Pet Snake Snacks: A Salmonella Treat; Linking HIV-positive Inmates to Outpatient Care
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Prophylactic Antibiotics for Acute Aspiration
Researchers compared outcomes in patients with aspiration pneumonitis who received prophylactic antibiotics during the first two days after macro-aspiration to patients who received only supportive care during this time. Among the 200 patients meeting the acute aspiration pneumonitis case definition, antimicrobial prophylaxis was not associated with improvement in mortality. However, patients receiving prophylactic antibiotics required more frequent escalation of antibiotics and received more days of antibiotics than those who were managed initially with supportive care alone.
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Oral Vancomycin Is the Most Cost-effective Treatment for the First Recurrence of Clostridium Difficile Infection
The authors of a pharmacoeconomic study comparing bezlotoxumab plus oral vancomycin, oral vancomycin alone, and fidaxomicin found that oral vancomycin alone was the most cost-effective regimen to treat the first recurrence of Clostridium difficile infection.
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Infections Associated With Travel to the United States
Infectious illness is common in travelers from other countries visiting the United States. Skin and soft tissue infections, respiratory infections, and gastrointestinal illness are most likely, but specific geographic illnesses such as Lyme disease also occur.
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IV to Oral Antibiotic Switch for Selected Cases of Endocarditis
Completion of therapy of selected patients with infective endocarditis with orally administered antibiotics is feasible, safe, and effective.
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Meropenem vs. Piperacillin-tazobactam for Bacteremia Due to ESBL-Producers: The MERINO Trial
In an open-label, randomized, noninferiority trial evaluating the efficacy of piperacillin-tazobactam vs. meropenem for definitive therapy in treating bacteremia caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, piperacillin-tazobactam therapy did not result in noninferior 30-day, all-cause mortality compared to meropenem. Investigators stopped the trial early due to futility.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Risk Behavior and Toxoplasma; Embolic Risk and Vegetation Size; Recertification: Is There a Better Way?
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Eosinophilic Meningitis Caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the United States
Excluding Hawaii, eosinophilic meningitis due to the rat lungworm rarely is encountered in the United States. Ordinarily, the infection is acquired in Asia and the South Pacific, but it also may be acquired in the southern United States.
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Inappropriate Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing: The Need to Target Urgent Care Centers
Urgent care centers, which are part of a growth industry, are responsible for a large proportion of antibiotic prescriptions, including inappropriate prescriptions for acute respiratory diagnoses.
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Probiotics for the Primary Prevention of Clostridium difficile Infection
The authors of a before-and-after intervention study and a meta-analysis found that probiotics reduce the incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). The strategy seems to work best in hospital settings where the incidence of CDI is ≥ 5% and for patients receiving two or more antibiotics.