Infectious Disease Topics
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Clinicians Prescribe Antibiotics for Excessive Duration in Patients With a Diagnosis of Acute Sinusitis
Clinicians inappropriately prescribe antibiotics most often to patients with a diagnosis of acute sinusitis for durations much longer than recommended.
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A Grossly Inadequate Global Response to Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Only 1.5% of all individuals in the world with chronic hepatitis B virus infection are receiving treatment.
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Latent Tuberculosis Treatment With Four Months of Rifampin Compared to Nine Months of Isoniazid
In an open-label trial, adults with latent tuberculosis infection were randomized to either four months of treatment with rifampin or nine months of treatment with isoniazid. The four-month rifampin regimen was non-inferior to nine months of isoniazid for prevention of active tuberculosis. It also was associated with a higher treatment completion rate and superior safety.
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Measles From Coast to Coast: Risks, Costs, and Potential Interventions
It is expensive to respond to and control measles outbreaks in the United States. Primary outbreak prevention should focus on vaccination of travelers and encouragement of routine vaccine acceptance by those who currently are hesitant to have their children vaccinated.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Worse Than Snake Oil; Contract Tracing Using WHO Network; Preparing Your Hospital for Candida auris
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Re-evaluating Steroid Therapy in Septic Shock
Two recent trials have provided more data regarding steroid therapy for septic shock.
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Encephalitis, Fever, and Doxycycline
Scrub typhus is a significant cause of acute encephalitis in north India and other parts of Asia and Africa. Doxycycline is a safe and effective treatment option.
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The Viral World Keeps on Going — Some Recent Activity
Ebola makes a comeback, but meets a vaccine. Lassa fever and Rift Valley fever also make their mark, while Keystone virus infects a teenager in Florida.
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Using Multilocus Sequence Typing for Surveillance and Discovery of Borrelia Species
Broad polymerase chain reaction screening followed by multilocus sequence typing is a useful method to understand the geographic distribution of Borrelia species causing human disease. Candidatus B. johnsonii (carried by bat ticks) was not known previously to infect humans. Its identification in a human patient suggests it may cause a relapsing fever syndrome.
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A Negative Nares Screen for MRSA Helps Exclude MRSA Pneumonia
A meta-analysis determined that nares screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has a high specificity and negative predictive value for MRSA pneumonia. MRSA nasal screening can be a useful tool for antimicrobial stewardship personnel to de-escalate empiric anti-MRSA therapy.