Mixed-methods multicenter assessment of healthcare workers' knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to blood culture utilization in hospitalized adults.

Objective: To understand healthcare workers' (HCWs) beliefs and practices toward blood culture (BCx) use.

Design: Cross-sectional electronic survey and semi-structured interviews.

Setting: Academic hospitals in the United States.

Consideration of Antifungal Coverage in Treating Infections Related to Delayed Esophageal Perforation from Anterior Cervical Spine Hardware.

(1) Background/Objectives: Delayed esophageal perforation following anterior cervical (spine) discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is rare but can lead to serious infectious complications. The treatment usually involves hardware explanation and prolonged intravenous antibiotics; however, there are scarce reports about the microbiology of these infections and corresponding targeted therapy. (2) Methods: Patients diagnosed or treated for delayed esophageal perforation after anterior cervical fusion between 2000-2020 at a tertiary medical center were studied.

Clinic of Hope: bridging infectious disease and orthopaedic surgery in prosthetic joint infection management.

Prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) following total joint arthroplasty are a significant and costly complication. To address fragmented care typically seen with separate management, we established a combined infectious disease and orthopaedic surgery clinic at Duke Health in July 2020. This clinic focuses on patients experiencing acute deterioration or multiple PJI episodes, often at the stage where amputation is the only option offered.

Comparative epidemiology of hospital-onset bloodstream infections (HOBSIs) and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) across a three-hospital health system.

Objective: To evaluate the comparative epidemiology of hospital-onset bloodstream infection (HOBSI) and central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI).

Design And Setting: Retrospective observational study of HOBSI and CLABSI across a three-hospital healthcare system from 01/01/2017 to 12/31/2021.

Methods: HOBSIs were identified as any non-commensal positive blood culture event on or after hospital day 3.

Traditional definition of healthcare-associated influenza underestimates cases associated with other healthcare exposures in a population-based surveillance system.

Objective: To provide comprehensive population-level estimates of the burden of healthcare-associated influenza.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Setting: US Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) during 2012-2013 through 2018-2019 influenza seasons.

Disparities in central line-associated bloodstream infection and catheter-associated urinary tract infection rates: An exploratory analysis.

This retrospective review of 4-year surveillance data revealed a higher central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rate in non-Hispanic Black patients and higher catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates in Asian and non-Hispanic Black patients compared with White patients despite similar catheter utilization between the groups.