Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in a low-prevalence, well resourced setting, Sydney, Australia.

Background: The Northern Sydney Local Health District was one of the first health regions to be affected by COVID-19 in Australia.

Aims: To describe the clinical characteristics, risk factors and outcomes in our low-prevalence Australian population.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 517 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases between January and June 2020.

Cefiderocol treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii retained spinal hardware infection causing reversible acute interstitial nephritis: Recto: Cefiderocol causing acute interstitial nephritis.

Infections with extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (XDRAB) have limited therapeutic options. We report successful salvage treatment of XDRAB and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infected retained spinal hardware with cefiderocol, despite the development of reversible acute interstitial nephritis after 32 days of treatment.

Clinical and public health utility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole genome sequencing.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 10 million people develop tuberculosis (TB) every year, with 1.5 million deaths attributed to TB in 2019 (World Health Organization, 2020). The majority of the disease burden occurs in low-income countries, where access to diagnostics and tailored treatment remains problematic.

Βeta 2-glycoprotein I protects mice against gram-negative septicaemia in a sexually dimorphic manner.

The immune responses of males and females to bacterial infections display differences. The mechanisms that underlie this sexual dimorphism are multifactorial. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contributes to the pathogenesis of endotoxaemia.

The Hospital Water Environment as a Reservoir for Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms Causing Hospital-Acquired Infections-A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Over the last 20 years there have been 32 reports of carbapenem-resistant organisms in the hospital water environment, with half of these occurring since 2010. The majority of these reports have described associated clinical outbreaks in the intensive care setting, affecting the critically ill and the immunocompromised. Drains, sinks, and faucets were most frequently colonized, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa the predominant organism.

Clinical application of a molecular assay for the detection of dermatophytosis and a novel non-invasive sampling technique.

The dermatophytoses are the most common superficial fungal infections worldwide. Clinical diagnosis is not reliable as there are many differentials, and laboratory diagnosis is required to gain access to treatment in more severe disease. Traditional diagnostic methods are limited by suboptimal sensitivity, specificity and prolonged turnaround times.