Infectious Disease Alert
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Steroids for Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia: More Evidence or More Uncertainty?
A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia and evidence of high inflammation found less treatment failure in those who received steroids. However, in-hospital mortality did not differ between the groups.
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Acute Leukemia Patients Still Plagued by Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci
Fifteen (7%) of 214 patients hospitalized with newly diagnosed acute leukemia developed bacteremia due to vancomycin-resistant enterococci; 12 (80%) of the 15 had stool colonization with the organism.
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Fusobacterium as a Cause of Pharyngitis in Young Adults
Three hundred twelve students presenting to a university student health clinic with sore throat and 180 asymptomatic students had throat swabs taken and the samples were tested by PCR for Fusobacterium necrophorum, Mycoplasma pneumonia, group A streptococci, and group C/G streptococci. Fusobacterium necrophorum-positive pharyngitis occurs more frequently than group A streptococcal pharyngitis in this population and clinically resembles streptococcal pharyngitis.
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Seizures, Encephalopathy, and Vaccines — Evidence Fails to Support a Link
A comprehensive, independent review of 10 years of all cases in the United States of seizures and encephalopathy reported as linked to vaccination showed that approximately one-quarter of cases had evidence of a pre-existing neurologic abnormality. Among those who developed chronic epilepsy, many had clinical features suggesting genetically determined epilepsy, especially Dravet syndrome.
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Influenza, 2014-2015 — Something Old, Something New
As of early January, influenza activity had reached epidemic proportions in large parts of the United States, with many of those being affected despite prior vaccination.1 The occurrence of infection in vaccinated individuals is not unexpected since influenza vaccine efficacy is usually only approximately 60%.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
The problem of diagnosing TB in children
How best to treat latent TB?
Transmission risk in smear-negative TB
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Antibiotics for Traveler’s Diarrhea?
Foreign travel is associated with travelers’ diarrhea and the intestinal acquisition of extended-spectrum beta lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, especially when travel is to South Asia. The risk of acquisition of resistant flora was almost doubled when antibiotics were used to treat the episode of diarrhea.
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Ceftolozane/Tazobactam — Formulary Considerations
Information about ceftolozane/tazobactam
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Deworming Is Beneficial in HIV-infected Patients
988 HIV-infected pregnant women receiving ART in sub-Saharan Africa were treated with albendazole in a targeted or non-targeted fashion. Albendazole therapy was associated with favorable changes in hemoglobin levels, CD4 counts, and viral loads, particularly in patients with helminth infections.
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Combination Therapy for Invasive Aspergillosis in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies or Hematopoeitic Cell Transplants
In an evaluation of the primary endpoint, all-cause mortality at 6 weeks, there was no statistically significant difference between treatment with voriconazole alone or in combination with anidulafungin in patients with invasive aspergillosis and hematologic malignancies or hematopoietic stem cell transplants.