Diagnostic Delay and Antibiotic Overuse in Acute Pulmonary Blastomycosis.

The diagnosis of blastomycosis is often delayed. We identified 28 cases of pulmonary blastomycosis in a retrospective chart review. Most patients received multiple antibiotic courses before being diagnosed, and the sputum KOH smear was rarely used.

Biliary liver flukes (Opisthorchiasis and Clonorchiasis) in immigrants in the United States: often subtle and diagnosed years after arrival.

Background: Biliary liver flukes are extremely common parasites in some regions of the world where consumption of raw fresh-water fish is a cultural practice. Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis spp. are the major biliary liver flukes associated with human disease.

Information resources used in antimicrobial prescribing.

To describe resources clinicians use when they prescribe antimicrobials, the authors surveyed prescribers by telephone within hours (median 2.9) after they ordered one or more antimicrobials for a patient. Among 157 prescribers, 87 (55%) used one or more external resources to aid in decisions about their order.