Regional and temporal genotype profiling of Clostridioides difficile in a multi-institutional study in Japan.

Clostridioides difficile, a cause of healthcare-associated infections, poses a significant global health threat. This multi-institutional retrospective study focuses on epidemic dynamics, emphasizing minor and toxin-negative clinical isolates through high-resolution genotyping. The genotype of the C.

Clinical characteristics and analysis of prognostic factors in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis: A retrospective multicenter study in Japan.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) caused by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is associated with a high mortality rate. This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of patients with MRSA-IE in Japan and identify the factors associated with prognosis.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IE caused by MRSA, between January 2015 and April 2019.

Young Healthy Patient With Severe COVID-19 and Fulminant Community-Acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pneumonia: A Case Report.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) caused by in healthy adults can rapidly lead to severe outcomes. We treated a case of -induced CAP and concurrent severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a healthy 39-year-old man without other serious risk factors for severe illness except smoking. Immediately after admission, the patient developed sepsis and received intensive broad-spectrum antibacterial therapy with meropenem and vancomycin, veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VAECMO), and catecholamine supplementation.

A Prospective Study Regarding the Efficacy and Safety of the BNT162b2 Vaccine in Patients With Solid Malignancies Undergoing Systemic Chemotherapy.

Background/aim: To prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of the BNT162b2 vaccine in solid cancer patients undergoing systemic chemotherapy (n=63).

Patients And Methods: COVID-19 anti-spike protein antibody levels were measured before the first BNT162b2 vaccination, just before the second BNT162b2 vaccination, one month after the second BNT162b2 vaccination, and 3 months after the second BNT162b2 vaccination. Anti-spike protein antibody seropositivity was set at ≥0.

Adverse events after administration of the first and second doses of messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in Japanese subjects aged 12-18 years.

Objective: Using a prospective observational design, we assessed adverse events (AEs) after COVID-19 vaccination in Japanese patients.

Methods: Two doses of the mRNA-1273 (SPIKEVAX®) or BNT162b2 (COMIRNATY®) vaccine were administered to participants aged 12 to 18 years, and AEs after each dose were recorded for 14 days. Data on the duration and nature (local vs.

Association between history of HBV vaccine response and anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike antibody response to the BioNTech/Pfizer's BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among healthcare workers in Japan: A prospective observational study.

Introduction: Inadequate vaccine response is a common concern among healthcare workers at the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate if healthcare workers with history of weak immune response to HBV vaccination are more likely to have weak responses against the BioNTech/Pfizer's BNT162b2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Methods: We prospectively tested 954 healthcare workers for the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein antibody titers prior to the first and second BNT162b2 vaccination doses and after four weeks after the second dose using Roche's Elecsys® assay.

Probability of target attainment of oral antimicrobials for Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae based on Monte Carlo simulations.

Although early transition from intravenous to oral antimicrobials can reduce hospitalization duration, susceptibility breakpoints have not been established for many oral antimicrobials against Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia. Thus, we used population pharmacokinetic models, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic indices, and Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the probability of target attainment (PTA) for common oral antimicrobial dosages against E. coli and K.

Effect of the introduction of a management bundle for blood culture collection.

Background: Inappropriate blood collection subjected to blood culture (BC) causes BC contamination and may complicate the diagnose is of infectious diseases. Therefore, we developed a bundle based on the guideline recommendations for appropriate blood collection and examined the effects of bundle introduction.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of BC samples to determine the contamination rates before and after introducing the BC bundle.

Multiple Cardiovascular Diseases or Risk Factors Increase the Severity of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Background: This study aimed to determine whether disease severity varied according to whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients had multiple or single cardiovascular diseases and risk factors (CVDRFs).

Methods and results: COVID-19 patients with single (n=281) or multiple (n=412) CVDRFs were included retrospectively. Multivariable logistic regression showed no significant difference in the risk of in-hospital death between groups, but patients with multiple CVDRFs had a significantly higher risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (odds ratio: 1.

Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA quantification by RT-LAMP compared to RT-qPCR.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic caused by a novel virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The viral load of SARS-CoV-2 is associated with mortality in COVID-19 patients. Measurement of viral load requires the use of reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), which in turn requires advanced equipment and techniques.

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of japanese society of chemotherapy, the japanese association for infectious diseases, and the japanese society for clinical microbiology in 2016: General view of the pathogens' antibacterial susceptibility.

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from the patients in Japan was conducted by the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2016. The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period between February 2016 and August 2016 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute.

Observational study to determine the optimal dose of daptomycin based on pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis.

High doses of daptomycin (DAP) (>6 mg/kg/day) have been preliminarily recommended in recent practical guidelines for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, to achieve better clinical effects. While such doses can elevate the plasma trough concentration (Cmin) of DAP, there is an associated risk of creatine phosphokinase (CPK) elevation warranting further investigation. In the current study relationships between DAP Cmin and CPK elevation were investigated, and optimal DAP doses were determined.

Transient depression of myocardial function after influenza virus infection: A study of echocardiographic tissue imaging.

Background: Influenza virus infection (IVI) was reported to be associated with minor cardiac changes, mostly those detected on electrocardiogram with and without elevated blood markers of myocardial injury; however, the characteristics of myocardial involvement in association with IVI are poorly understood. This study used echocardiographic tissue imaging (tissue Doppler, strain, and strain rate) to evaluate changes in left atrial (LA) and left ventricular (LV) myocardial function after IVI.

Methods And Results: We examined 20 adult individuals (mean age, 43 years) at 2 and 4 weeks after diagnosis of IVI.

The incidence of endophthalmitis or macular involvement and the necessity of a routine ophthalmic examination in patients with candidemia.

Background: The incidence of ocular candidiasis (OC) in patients with candidemia varies across different reports, and the issue of whether routine ophthalmoscopy improves outcomes has been raised. This study investigated the incidence of OC and evaluate whether the extent of OC impacts the clinical outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective study included non-neutropenic patients with candidemia who underwent treatment at one of 15 medical centers between 2010 and 2016.

The Prevalence and Findings of Subclinical Influenza-associated Cardiac Abnormalities among Japanese Patients.

Objective Although life-threatening cardiac complications in influenza infection are rare, subclinical influenza-associated cardiac abnormalities may occur more frequently. We investigated the prevalence of subclinical cardiac findings. Methods After obtaining their written informed consent, 102 subjects were enrolled in the present study.

Presence of Postsystolic Shortening Increases the Likelihood of Coronary Artery Disease: A Rest Electrocardiography-Gated Myocardial Perfusion SPECT Study.

Unlabelled: Postsystolic shortening (PSS), which is a delayed myocardial contraction that occurs after end-systole, has been considered an important diagnostic index of myocardial ischemia. Recent technological advancements in quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) software enables the left ventricular (LV) regional analysis and may be useful for PSS measurement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether PSS at the resting condition determined by QGS is useful to identify patients with coronary artery disease.

Relationships between Causes of Fever of Unknown Origin and Inflammatory Markers: A Multicenter Collaborative Retrospective Study.

Objective: Although inflammatory markers, such as the white blood cell (WBC) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin, are widely used to differentiate causes of fever of unknown origin (FUO), little is known about the usefulness of this approach. We evaluated relationships between the causes of classical FUO and the levels of inflammatory markers.

Methods: A nationwide retrospective study including 17 hospitals affiliated with the Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine was conducted.

Cardiovascular protection by ezetimibe and influence on oxidative stress in mice exposed to intermittent hypoxia.

Ezetimibe is as an inhibitor of NPC1L1 protein, which has a key role in cholesterol absorption. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of ezetimibe on the plasma lipid profile, atherosclerotic lesions, and cardiomyocyte ultrastructure in an animal model of atherosclerosis with intermittent hypoxia. Apolipoprotein E-knockout mice received a high-fat diet for 30 days.

Lung Nocardia elegans infection diagnosed on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS).

A 73-year-old man with adultonset Still's disease developed a high fever, coughing, dyspnea and bloody sputum and was therefore admitted to our hospital. Thoracic X-ray and CT scans revealed oval lesions in the bilateral lungs. A bacterial isolate from the sputum was identified to be Nocardia elegans (N.

Liver abscess caused by CTX-M-55-type extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Salmonella enteritidis.

Liver abscesses secondary to Salmonella species are rarely described in the general population. We herein describe a case of a liver abscess caused by CTX-M-55-type extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Salmonella enteritidis, which has not been reported in the literature. A 54-year-old male was admitted due to a high fever and was clinically diagnosed with a liver abscess.