Population Pharmacokinetics of Meropenem Across the Adult Lifespan.

Background And Objective: We conducted an opportunistic pharmacokinetic study to evaluate the population pharmacokinetics of meropenem, an antimicrobial commonly used to treat Gram-negative infections in adults of different ages, including older adults, and determined optimal dosing regimens.

Methods: A total of 99 patients were included. The population pharmacokinetic models used had two compartments: zero-order input and linear elimination.

Population Pharmacokinetics of Piperacillin/Tazobactam Across the Adult Lifespan.

Background And Objective: Piperacillin/tazobactam is one of the most frequently used antimicrobials in older adults. Using an opportunistic study design, we evaluated the pharmacokinetics of piperacillin/tazobactam as a probe drug to evaluate changes in antibacterial drug exposure and dosing requirements, including in older adults.

Methods: A total of 121 adult patients were included.

Aging of the Liver: What This Means for Patients with HIV.

As the HIV population continues to live longer as a result of antiretroviral therapy, liver-related mortality has become one of the leading causes of non-AIDS related death in this patient population. The liver possesses a remarkable regenerative capacity but undergoes complex biological changes in response to aging and inflammation that result in decreased cellular regeneration and a tipping of the scales towards fibrogenesis. Patients with HIV infection have serological evidence of ongoing inflammation, with elevations in some biomarkers persisting despite adequate virologic control.

Intestinal microbiome disruption in patients in a long-term acute care hospital: A case for development of microbiome disruption indices to improve infection prevention.

Background: Composition and diversity of intestinal microbial communities (microbiota) are generally accepted as a risk factor for poor outcomes; however, we cannot yet use this information to prevent adverse outcomes.

Methods: Stool was collected from 8 long-term acute care hospital patients experiencing diarrhea and 2 fecal microbiota transplant donors; 16S rDNA V1-V2 hypervariable regions were sequenced. Composition and diversity of each sample were described.

Characteristics and Antibiotic Use Associated With Short-Term Risk of Clostridium difficile Infection Among Hospitalized Patients.

Objectives: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to have an excellent sensitivity and specificity for the detection of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Little is known about risk factors for CDI within 14 days of an initial negative test. We sought to determine the characteristics among hospitalized patients associated with risk of short-term acquisition of CDI.

Mycobacterium paraffinicum causing symptomatic pulmonary infection.

Mycobacterium paraffinicum has been newly recognized as a species. A case of symptomatic pulmonary infection caused by M. paraffinicum is described, and as far as we know, this is the first case of the organism as a human pathogen.

Pichia anomala (Candida pelliculosa) fungemia in a patient with sickle cell disease.

This case report discusses a patient with sickle cell disease who presented with fungemia from Pichia anomala (teleomorph: Candida pelliculosa). The organism was identified as P. anomala by MALDI-TOF VITEK mass spectrometry and VITEK 2 yeast identification card.