Lit Review January #1
Disclaimer: this compilation of synopses have been collected from multiple sources, including Mark Crislip's Puscast, Journal Watch Infectious Diseases, Medscape Infectious Diseases, CDC MMWR, AMA Morning Rounds, ProMED Mail, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and more. I chose these articles based on their relevance to clinical microbiology and would be of interest to my fellows, and some other pieces that I found amusing to read. All credit goes to these original contributors. I'm just a messenger :).
FDA Panel Does Not Recommend Cipro Dispersion for Inhalation
Seeking FDA recommendation of CIP DI for non-CF bronchiectasis and Psa infection in CF
Discrepancy between two large clinical trials (one showed benefit, one didn’t)
New duration of contact precaution guidelines from SHEA (Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America)
Previous guidelines were unclear
Still not enough data for a formal update – some recommendations based on common practice
MRSA
Patients not receiving antibiotics with activity against MRSA: 1-3 negative screening cultures
Extend contact precautions for high-risk patients with chronic wounds and those from long-term care facilities up to 6 months
MDR-Enterobacteriaceae
ESBL-E and CRE: CP for duration of the index hospital stay when infection or colonization with these bacteria is first detected.
Discontinuation a case-by-case basis
At least 6 months since last positive (clearance when 2 rectal swabs collected 1 wk apart neg)
If clinical infection is present/ongoing antibiotic use that may select for these organisms: should not discontinue
For CPOs or isolates with very limited treatment options (susceptible to ≤2 antibiotic classes used to treat that organism): indefinitely
C. diff: continued for at least 48 hours after the resolution of diarrhea (spore shedding continues), consider extending if C difficile infection rates in institution remain high despite appropriate prevention and control measures
VRE: discontinue when 1-3 rectal cultures (1 wk apart) neg
Urine lipoarabinomannan glycan in HIV-negative patients with pulmonary tuberculosis correlates with disease severity
Need a non-invasive screening test for low-resource settings
Mycobacterial glycan antigen lipoarabinomannan (LAM): marker of active TB shed into urine, but no previous test worked well
Instead if Mab, they used novel chemical affinity bait immobilized in Hydrogel nanocage: captures LAM with very high affinity
Tested on concentrated urines form 48 Peruvian patients, all negative for HIV, with confirmed pulmonary TB by culture, enriched by nanocages and quantified by immunomacroassay (looks like dot-blot to me)
Sensitivity of >95% and a specificity of >80% (n = 101)
Urinary LAM elevated in patients with higher mycobacterial burden
May be adapted into POC form
Letermovir Prophylaxis for Cytomegalovirus in Hematopoietic-Cell Transplantation
A new drug for prophylaxis of CMV infection in post-HSCT patients
Inhibits CMV replication by binding to components of terminase complex (UL51, UL56, or both)
Primary endpoint: clinically significant CMV infection through week 24 after transplantation among patients without detectable CMV DNA at randomization
Reduction by almost half!
Exposure to and colonisation by antibiotic-resistant E. coli in UK coastal water users: Environmental surveillance, exposure assessment, and epidemiological study (Beach Bum Survey)
Water users are at risk of ingesting resistant bugs
0.07% of E. coli in UK coastal water harbored CTX-M
For every 2.5 mil water sports session, at least one CTX-M-harboring E. coli will be ingested
Self-collected rectal swabs from 143 surfers vs 130 controls subjects
Prevalence of CTX-M-harboring E. coli 9.1% vs 3.1%
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Seasonality — United States, 2014–2017
Nothing much – just a reminder that RSV seasonality is a little less defined compared to flu, but generally longer (fall through winter/spring of the following year)
Notes from the Field: Legionellosis Outbreak Associated with a Hotel Aquatics Facility — Tennessee, 2017
Eight people in Tennessee with exposure history to same hotel infected with Legionella, one died
More specifically, exposure to hotel hot tub
Investigation revealed contamination in hotel aquatic system, with improper treatment (low residual chlorine)
Identified additional 92 cases from self-reported survey (not all lab-confirmed)
Notes from the Field: Baylisascaris procyonis Encephalomyelitis in a Toddler — King County, Washington, 2017
19mo M with history of soil and animal feces ingestion a few weeks earlier, presented with irritability that developed into tremor, ataxia, decreased interactivity
Eosinophilia with multiple enhancing lesions in both cerebral hemispheres, eyes normal
Empirically treated with albendazole and steroids, with good clinical response
Recombinant B. procyonis (raccoon round worm, dog can also be definitive host) antigen immunoblot test positive in serum and CFS, negative for Toxocara and Toxoplasma
Ingestion of eggs shed in feces: VLM and OLM
A Novel Human Pegivirus, HPgV-2 (HHpgV-1), Is Tightly Associated With Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection and HCV/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Coinfection
Background: Species in family Flaviviridae that infections human hepatocyte are Hepacivirus C (HCV) and Pegivirus C (HPgV, formerly known as HGV)
HPgV commonly co-infect with HIV (shown to slow progress of HIV infection!) or HCV, no real association with illness
Another human pegivirus identified: Pegivirus H (HPgV-2), tightly associated with HIV-1/HCV infection, but again no real association to illness
Climate change influences on the potential geographic distribution of the disease vector tick Ixodes ricinus
This species transmits Lyme and tick-borne encephalitis in Europe
Ticks seemed to be moving further north/east of Europe, potentially due to global warming (they don’t like the heat!)
REVIEW TICKSBORNE DISEASES IN US
Ixodes scapularis: Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Lyme, Borrelia mayoii, Borrelia miyamotoi, POW
I. pacificus: Anaplasmosis, Lyme
Dermacentor andersoni: RMSF, Colorado tick fever, turaremia
D. variabilis: RMSF, turaremia
D. occidentalis: 364D rickettsiosis (aka Pacific Coast tick fever, caused by Rickettsia phillipi, just found recently in CA) this is the same group as RMSF
Amblyomma americanum: Ehrlichiosis (E. ewingii causing human ewingii ehrliciosis, E. chaffeensis causing human monocytic ehrlichiosis), STARI (Southern tick-associated rash illness), tularemia
Amblyomma maculatum: Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis
Pharmacokinetic drug evaluation of dalbavancin for the treatment of skin infections
Treatment of SSTI: just as effective as VAN and LZD, with the advantage of ease of administration (1 dose and done)
Breakpoints coming in M100-S28
Propionibacterium avidum: A Virulent Pathogen Causing Hip Periprosthetic Joint Infection
Cutaneous group of Propionibacterium spp: P. acnes, P. avidum, P. granulosum
Reported a cluster of 4 hip PJIs caused by P. avidum in one orthopedic center in 2015 in Switzerland
Seems to be susceptible to agents commonly used to treat Propionibacterium infections (they used EUCAST breakpoints for GP anaerobes)
P. acnes: shoulder joint infection
Improvement in Diagnosis of Histoplasma Meningitis by Combined Testing for Histoplasma Antigen and Immunoglobulin G and Immunoglobulin M Anti-Histoplasma Antibody in Cerebrospinal Fluid
For histoplasma infection in the CNS, detection of both antigen and IgM/IgG by EIA in CSF increased sensitivity to 98%, as opposed to just antigen (78%)
Current serological methods (ID, CF) although pretty specific (96%) had only 51% sensitivity
Outbreak of human malaria caused by Plasmodium simium in the Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro: a molecular epidemiological investigation
This species looks and acts like P. vivax, but a different species, thought to be present only in monkeys
That's all for now. Bug Hunters, may the odds be ever in your favor.