Antibiotics

A revision to the fluoroquinolone antimicrobial susceptibility testing breakpoints for 2 bacteria comes following evidence that previous breakpoints were too high to detect low-level antibiotic resistance.

The total number of bed days saved with outpatient oritavancin administration was 683 days throughout the study period.

In patients with MRSA bacteremia, implementing AUC/MIC-guided vancomycin dosing resulted in decreased average troughs and a decrease in daily vancomycin dose administered.

The FDA has issued label updates for a handful of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to note the risk of aortic dissections and aortic aneurysms in certain patients.

Vanessa Stevens, PhD, discusses her research on fluoroquinolone and cephalosporin prescribing and rates of Clostridium difficile infections at VA health care facilities.

Surgical-site infection was not found to be associated with duration of prophylaxis, but adjusted odds of AKI and C diff infection increased with each additional day of antimicrobial exposure.

An intervention involving improved communication and antibiotic timeouts in nursing homes reduced the days of antibiotic therapy, according to a recent study.

Tristan Ferry, MD, PhD, discusses why there is a need to develop alternatives to treat chronic bone and joint infections.

A shortage of infectious disease physicians should have us all concerned and here's why.

Investigators found increased mortality in the combination arm where 21% of patients died vs 16% in the standard therapy arm, although the number of patients with persistent bacteremia at day 5 in the combination arm was significantly reduced compared with standard therapy.

Investigators detail the activity of cefiderocol, a novel parenteral siderophore cephalosporin, against carbapenem-resistant clinical isolates.

In a study of hospitalized patients across Europe, oritavancin (MIC50/MIC90, 0.03/0.06 mg/L) inhibited all S aureus isolates at ≤0.12 mg/L (susceptible breakpoint).

Ignacio Martin-Loeches, MD, PhD, discusses the efficacy outcomes of the ASPECT-NP trial evaluating ceftolozane/tazobactam for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia.

A large percentage (96%) of health care worker respondents reported feeling confident in their knowledge of antibiotic resistance, but only 60% answered the 7 key questions correctly.

Although the rate of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions is down overall, a new study highlights how the United States may be falling short of meeting antibiotic stewardship goals.

Warnings and concerns regarding fluoroquinolones are on the rise, but the antibiotics still play a role, albeit more limited, in the treatment of various infectious diseases.

A commentary on β-lactam combination therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

This In the Literature piece details a study evaluating the appropriateness of prescriptions in comparison to evidence-based guidelines and expert opinion.

Investigators are now exploring whether the “health care-associated” label for pneumonia is actually doing more damage than anticipated.

The study found that that acute care hospitals with a 20% reduction in fluoroquinolone or third and fourth generation cephalosporins had a “corresponding decrease” in hospital-onset C diff.

Clinicians who avoid writing antibiotics prescriptions for elderly patients with urinary tract infections may be putting those patients at risk for bloodstream infections.

Hospitals that try to discourage the use of fluoroquinolones succeed at lowering prescriptions for patients admitted to the hospital, but many of those patients still leave with prescriptions for fluoroquinolones at discharge.

Investigators in Denmark showed that a cocktail of common antibiotics could fight resistant E coli and treat urinary tract infections after determining that resistance toward 1 drug leads to sensitivity to another.

T2 Biosystems, Inc. received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its T2Resistane Panel, a new device to aid in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Jason Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, kicks off his second year as editor-in-chief by welcoming 6 industry experts on as section editors.