Understanding the relationship between patient characteristics and complication in veterans discharged on parenteral antibiotic therapy.

Background: Many facilities utilize outpatient parenteral intravenous (IV) antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) to reduce cost, length of stay, and risk of nosocomial infections.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze patient demographics, substance use, mental and physical health diagnoses, and social determinants of health to seek relationships with complications for veterans discharged from the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center (ZVAMC) on OPAT.

Methods: This study was a retrospective chart review of veterans who completed OPAT between the years of 2013 and 2017 at the ZVAMC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Implementation of Veterans Affairs Primary Care Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions For Asymptomatic Bacteriuria And Acute Respiratory Infections.

Background: Outpatient antimicrobial prescribing is an important target for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) interventions to decrease antimicrobial resistance. The objective of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate the impact of AMS interventions focused on asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in the primary care setting.

Methods: This stepped-wedge trial evaluated the impact of multifaceted educational interventions to providers on adult patients presenting to primary care clinics for ARIs and ASB.

Assessing Hepatitis B Reactivation Risk With Rituximab and Recent Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy.

Hepatitis B reactivation (HBR) is a complication of immunosuppression associated with significant morbidity and mortality. To further complicate interpretation of hepatitis B serologies, false positivity can occur in patients with recent intravenous immunoglobulin exposure. This scenario is not well recognized and may lead to inappropriate prescribing of HBR prophylaxis.

A Rare Cause of Prosthetic Valve Infective Endocarditis: .

Introduction: subspecies is the most common cause of tularemia in Europe and Japan. Tularemia presents in clinical syndromes, usually as ulceroglandular and glandular syndrome. This entity rarely causes endocarditis.