Invasive Group B Streptococcus Infections Caused by Hypervirulent Clone of S. agalactiae Sequence Type 283, Hong Kong, China, 2021.

During September-October 2021, group B Streptococcus bloodstream infections surged among patients hospitalized in Hong Kong. Of 95 cases, 57 were caused by the hypervirulent strain sequence type 283, which at the time was also found in freshwater fish and wet market environments and thus poses a transmission threat.

Predicting antibiotic susceptibility in urinary tract infection with artificial intelligence-model performance in a multi-centre cohort.

Objective: To develop an artificial intelligence model to predict an antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in patients with urinary tract infection (UTI).

Materials And Methods: 26 087 adult patients with culture-proven UTI during 2015-2020 from a university teaching hospital and three community hospitals in Hong Kong were included. Cases with asymptomatic bacteriuria (absence of diagnosis code of UTI, or absence of leucocytes in urine microscopy) were excluded.

Comparison of carbapenem MIC for NDM-producing Enterobacterales by different AST methods.

Introduction: This study compared the performance of MIC test strip (ETEST), automated AST card (Vitek 2) and broth microdilution (BMD) in determining carbapenem susceptibility and MIC values of NDM-producing Enterobacterales.

Methods: NDM-producing Enterobacterales recovered from clinical specimens were included. The presence of was confirmed by PCR.

A Machine Learning-Based Risk Score for Prediction of Infective Endocarditis Among Patients With Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia-The SABIER Score.

Background: Early risk assessment is needed to stratify Staphylococcus aureus infective endocarditis (SA-IE) risk among patients with S. aureus bacteremia (SAB) to guide clinical management. The objective of the current study was to develop a novel risk score that is independent of subjective clinical judgment and can be used early, at the time of blood culture positivity.

Clean clothes or dirty clothes? Outbreak investigation of carbapenem-resistant related to laundry contamination through multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Objective: To investigate the source in an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant (CRA) in a general hospital due to contamination of a laundry evaporative cooler and the laundry environment using multilocus sequence typing (MLST).

Methods: For CRA culture, clinical samples were collected from infected patients and close contacts, and environmental sampling was performed in patient surroundings and laundry facilities. MLST was used for the molecular typing of representative CRA isolates.

Improving mobility in the intensive care unit with a protocolized, early mobilization program: observations of a single center before-and-after the implementation of a multidisciplinary program.

Background: Early intensive care unit (ICU) protocolized rehabilitative programs have been described previously, yet with differing starting time points and mostly on mechanically ventilated patients. We extended the concept to all admitted ICU patients and investigate the efficacy of early mobilization in improving mobility of the critically ill, address issues surrounding the timing and intensity of an early rehabilitative program.

Methods: Prospective cohorts of patients admitted consecutively before-and-after (control, n=92; intervention, n=90) the introduction of an early mobilization program in a single center, general hospital ICU.

Deep learning model for prediction of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) production in community-onset Enterobacteriaceae bacteraemia from a high ESBL prevalence multi-centre cohort.

Adequate empirical antimicrobial coverage is instrumental in clinical management of community-onset Enterobacteriaceae bacteraemia in areas with high ESBL prevalence, while balancing the risk of carbapenem overuse and emergence of carbapenem-resistant organisms. It is unknown whether machine learning offers additional advantages to conventional statistical methods in prediction of ESBL production. To develop a validated model to predict ESBL production in Enterobacteriaceae causing community-onset bacteraemia.

Does expert opinion match the operational definition of the Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS)? A case-based construct validity study.

Objective: To evaluate the construct validity of the Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS), a treatment target in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: Fifty SLE case summaries based on real patients were prepared and assessed independently for meeting the operational definition of LLDAS. Fifty international rheumatologists with expertise in SLE, but with no prior involvement in the LLDAS project, responded to a survey in which they were asked to categorize the disease activity state of each case as remission, low, moderate, or high.