Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI)

Higher poverty, crowding, and lower education levels disproportionately increased a person’s risk of S aureus infection, according to a new study.

Bacterial co-infections with COVID-19 are uncommon, but frequent use of antibiotics has fostered treatment resistance in co-occurring and secondary infections.

Implementing rapid near patient testing (NPT) reduced patient isolation time, length of hospital stay, antibiotic usage, and overall cost.

If approved on its March PDUFA date, rezafungin could be the first new Candida treatment option in over a decade.

Sepsis is the number 1 cause of death in hospitals. The FDA approval of IntelliSep, the first sepsis diagnostic tool, could change this.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is known to be an effective treatment for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection. New research reveals why.

November is C difficile Awareness Month. We're recapping the most significant potential therapies and remaining challenges from the past month.

COVID-19 isolation wards should employ additional contact precautions and environmental cleaning alongside regular COVID-19 precautions, such as personal protective equipment, in order to prevent multidrug-resistant infections.

Antimicrobial stewardship works, one IDWeek 2022 study found.

Frequent recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection drives up financial burdens of the disease and underscores the need to improve access to treatment, infection prevention, and new therapies.

Hospitalization rates increased significantly after sepsis, with 11.9% of survivors rehospitalized for recurrent sepsis, and 56.6% receiving outpatient anti-infective treatment.

People exposed to a family member recently hospitalized with C difficile infection were 73% more likely to contract CDI themselves.

SER-109, the investigational oral microbiome therapeutic from Seres, reduced C diff recurrence by 91.3% in at-risk populations.

Investigators performed a systematic review to assess just how strong the association between race and urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children.

About 65% of patients with metronidazole-resistant recurrent C difficile infection benefitted from taking rifaximin.

Entasis Therapeutics gave 2 oral presentations at ECCMID today detailing results of their ATTACK trial, investigating the safety and efficacy of sulbactam-durlobactam (SUL-DUR) for multidrug-resistant pathogens.

During the pandemic, antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections increased in hospitalized patients who tested positive or negative for COVID-19.

The greatest risk factors for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) were age of at least 65 years, severe primary CDI, and use of non-CDI antibiotics. Patients with these risk factors should be prioritized for bezlotoxumab therapy.

Selecting initial antibiotic for ventilator-associated pneumonia from Gram staining and resistance records could reduce broad spectrum agents.

A new report based on samples from Texas and Kenya found significant proportions of samples from patients with CDI had nonsusceptible isolates.

For the first time, a research team mapped C difficile’s outer “S-layer,” finding the dangerous bacteria’s chainmail-like shell enables it to be highly resistant.

To reduce antimicrobial resistant pathogens, nursing homes should carefully monitor their use of hospital-grade antibiotics.

Hospitals with lower c difficile antibiotic usage averaged shorter length-of-stay than hospitals that prescribed more antibiotics.

Implementation of CMS Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management Bundle did not reduce mortality rates in study of 114 hospitals.

Ferring’s Microbiome Health Index is a diagnostic tool that may help distinguish a healthy gut microbiome from post-antibiotic dysbiosis, and could potentially identify debilitating illnesses such as C difficile infection

COVID-19 patients were not at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection. However, those already infected with C diff were more likely to experience severe outcomes.

Epidemiologic and clinical lessons for the uninitiated.

Hospitalists can be better equipped to identify patients most in need of intervention and standardize sepsis management efforts.

Hospital-onset CDI rates dropped by 6% in the first quarter of the program, which launched in 2016.

The federal agency's decision makes this the first CMV treatment for this patient population.