Contagion Editorial Staff

Kenneth Mayer, MD, shares some of the common concerns individuals have regarding the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis as protection against HIV.

James S. Lewis, PharmD, FIDSA, explains why antimicrobial susceptibility testing is so important when it comes to stewardship programs.

Jason Pogue, PharmD, BCPS-ID, Clinical Pharmacist, Infectious Diseases, Sinai-Grace Hospital, explains why Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the World Health Organization’s critical priority pathogens for new research and development priorities.

Davey Legendre, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, sheds light on the prevalence of confirmed beta-lactam allergies in patients.

Benjamin Young, MD, PhD, shares how many catalysts for the HIV epidemic exist within cities.

A viral protein may be behind the rapid spread of the Ebola virus.

Arjun Srinivasan, MD, explains the risk of surgeries resulting in outbreaks.

Genovefa Papanicolaou, MD, explains in which patient population is CMV most harmful.

Arjun Srinivasan, MD, explains how healthcare officials can keep the patient at the center of outbreak investigations.

Gonzalo Bearman, MD, MPH, explains when to prescribe antibiotics and suggests to pay attention to the data when it comes to length of treatment.

Superbugs, Zika, antibiotic development, C. difficile, and HIV are the article topics making up this week’s Top 5 articles.

Snigdha Vallabhaneni, MD, MPH, discusses candidemia mortality rates in low- and middle-income versus developed countries.

Kirk Hevener, PharmD, PhD, explains the drawbacks of first-line drugs that are currently used to treat C. difficile infections.

The weekly Business Watch includes the latest industry news that practitioners working in infectious diseases need to know.

Genovefa Papanicolaou, MD, provides a brief overview of cytomegalovirus.

Thomas File, MD, MSc explains what pleuromutilin antibiotics are and how they work.

Julian Hurdle, PhD explains why some patients experience recurrence of Clostridium difficile after treatment.

Alan Gross, PharmD, BCPS-AQID, explains how antimicrobial stewardship programs need to be strengthened in long-term care facilities.

Prof. Josh Davis, MBBS, PhD, discusses the role of combination therapy when it comes to treating invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections.

Niaz Banaei, MD, discusses some reasons why healthcare-associated C. difficile tends to be over-diagnosed.

Romney Humphries, PhD, D(ABMM) sat down with Contagion® to discuss the process for receiving clearance on antimicrobial susceptibility tests in the United States.

Khalid Eljaaly, PharmD, MS, CAPPS, BCPS, explains why carbapenem antibiotics cause higher rates of C. diff and superinfections.

Jason Gallagher, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, FIDSA, explains the importance of antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

In case you missed them, here are our top 5 articles for the week of May 28, 2017.

Otto Schwake, PhD, explains what led him to suspect automobile windshield washer fluid as a potential source of transmission for Legionella.

Milena McLaughlin, PharmD, MSc, explains the main causes of antimicrobial shortages.

Meghan Jeffres, PharmD, explains why practitioners need to think about the rate of cross-reactivity between antibiotic penicillin and specific cephalosporins.

Conan MacDougall, PharmD, discusses how behavioral change interventions can positively impact the antibiotic prescribing environment.

Khalid Eljaaly, PharmD, MS, CAPPS, BCPS, explains his team’s findings on the link between carbapenems and superinfections & Clostridium difficile.

Snigdha Vallabhaneni, MD, MPH, Medical Epidemiologist, Mycotic Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explains CDC’s recommendations for disinfecting hospital surfaces from Candida auris.