Rising to the Challenge: An ID Provider-Led Initiative to Address Penicillin Allergy Labels at a Large Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Background: Given the negative consequences associated with a penicillin allergy label, broader penicillin allergy delabeling initiatives are highly desirable but hindered by the shortage of allergists in the United States. To address this problem at our facility, the infectious diseases section introduced a quality improvement initiative to evaluate and remove allergy labels among inpatient veterans.

Methods: Between 15 November 2022 and 15 December 2023, we identified inpatients with a penicillin allergy label.

Oral amoxicillin challenges for low-risk penicillin-allergic patients at a large Veterans Affairs facility: a retrospective feasibility analysis.

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 136 veterans with a penicillin allergy label during a quality improvement initiative. We identified 82 inpatients eligible for removal of penicillin allergy by oral amoxicillin challenge, including 40 out of 82 (48%) still eligible after accounting for other limiting factors.

We'll take it from here: Veterans Affairs OPAT management of home IV therapy initiated at community hospitals.

An outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy team from a Veterans Affairs facility managed patients discharged from their own facility and neighboring community hospitals. There were no significant differences in adverse outcomes between the groups, but a majority of regimens were modified from those initially proposed by community providers.

Challenges and opportunities related to penicillin allergy in the Veterans Health Administration: a narrative review.

The presence of a penicillin allergy label in a patient's medical chart is associated with negative clinical and economic outcomes. Given that less than 10% of reported reactions are truly immunoglobulin E-mediated, removal of unverified penicillin allergy labels is a public health priority and an area of ongoing implementation research. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, with almost 9 million veterans currently enrolled.

Blastomycosis Presenting With Acute Airway Obstruction From a Retropharyngeal Abscess and Complicated by Severe Hypokalemia During Posaconazole Therapy: A Case Report and Review of Literature.

We report a case of cervical blastomycosis with associated paravertebral involvement and severe spinal canal stenosis in a 48-year-old patient presenting with acute airway obstruction from a retropharyngeal abscess. Our case was also complicated by severe hypokalemia that developed during the blastomycosis treatment course with posaconazole and which improved after discontinuation and replacement therapy. After 12 months of blastomycosis-targeted therapy, our patient had complete resolution of clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings of blastomycosis.

Publication of Pharmacy Residency Research: A 12-Year Cohort From an Academic Medical Center.

Background: Pharmacy residency programs provide research training experiences to residents, and publication is considered an indicator of high-quality research experiences.

Objective: This study described attributes of pharmacy residents, residency programs, and residency major research projects and their associations with the outcome of publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Methods: Pharmacy residents who graduated from one academic medical center between 2001 and 2012 were invited to participate via an electronic survey distributed in February 2014.

Significant Publications on Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy in 2016.

Purpose: This is a summary of the most important articles on infectious diseases (ID) pharmacotherapy published in peer-reviewed literature in 2016 as selected by clinical pharmacists with ID expertise.

Summary: The Houston Infectious Diseases Network (HIDN) was asked to identify articles published in peer-reviewed literature in 2016 that were believed to contribute significantly to ID pharmacotherapy, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A list of 46 articles on general ID pharmacotherapy and 8 articles on HIV/AIDS were nominated.