A phase 2 trial of a topical antiseptic bundle in head and neck cancer surgery: Effects on surgical site infection and the oral microbiome.

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) surgery remains an important component of management but is associated with a high rate of surgical site infection (SSI). We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of a topical mucosal antiseptic bundle in preventing SSI and evaluate microbial predictors of infection through a genomic sequencing approach.

Methods: This study was an open-label, single-arm, single-center, phase 2 trial of a topical mucosal antiseptic bundle in patients with HNC undergoing aerodigestive tract resection and reconstruction.

Pandemic Perspective: Commonalities Between COVID-19 and Cardio-Oncology.

Overlapping commonalities between coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) and cardio-oncology regarding cardiovascular toxicities (CVT), pathophysiology, and pharmacology are special topics emerging during the pandemic. In this perspective, we consider an array of CVT common to both COVID-19 and cardio-oncology, including cardiomyopathy, ischemia, conduction abnormalities, myopericarditis, and right ventricular (RV) failure. We also emphasize the higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or its risk factors or cancer.

Best Practice Statement on Urologic Procedures and Antimicrobial Prophylaxis.

Purpose: The primary rationale for antimicrobial prophylaxis (AP) is to decrease the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) and other preventable periprocedural infections, with the secondary goal of reducing antibiotic overuse. This Best Practice Statement (BPS) updates the prior American Urological Association (AUA) BPS and creates a comprehensive and user-friendly reference for clinicians caring for adult patients who are undergoing urologic procedures.

Materials And Methods: Recommendations are based on a review of English language peer-reviewed literature from 2006 through October 2018 and were made by consensus by a multidisciplinary panel.

Circulating LOXL Levels Reflect Severity of Intestinal Fibrosis and GALT CD4 T Lymphocyte Depletion in Treated HIV Infection.

Background: Incomplete immune reconstitution may occur despite successful antiretroviral therapy (ART). Gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) fibrosis may contribute via local CD4 T lymphocyte depletion, intestinal barrier disruption, microbial translocation, and immune activation.

Methods: In a cross-sectional analysis, we measured circulating fibrosis biomarker levels on cryopreserved plasma from adult HIV-infected (HIV+) SCOPE study participants on suppressive ART who also had fibrosis quantification on recto-sigmoid biopsies.

Panniculitis Masquerading as Erythema Nodosum: A Case Report.

, formerly , is an environmental Gram-positive bacillus that is generally non-pathogenic. Rare case reports in immunosuppressed patients have described sepsis with this organism. In this study, we report a case of as a cause of infectious panniculitis mimicking erythema nodosum after infusion of autologous adipose-derived stem cells in an immunosuppressed patient with refractory Crohn's disease.

Zika Virus in the Americas: A Review for Clinicians.

Zika virus has recently emerged as a new public health threat. An arthropod-borne virus named after the Zika forest in Uganda, it was first discovered in 1947. The virus caused only sporadic cases of Zika infection in Africa and Southeast Asia until 2007, when the first large outbreak occurred in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

Clinical Manifestations and Treatment of Lyme Disease.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the United States and is also seen in areas of Europe and Asia. The growing deer and Ixodes species tick populations in many areas underscore the importance of clinicians to properly recognize and treat the different stages of Lyme disease. Controversy regarding the cause and management of persistent symptoms following treatment of Lyme disease persists and is highlighted in this review.

Respiratory Infections in the U.S. Military: Recent Experience and Control.

This comprehensive review outlines the impact of military-relevant respiratory infections, with special attention to recruit training environments, influenza pandemics in 1918 to 1919 and 2009 to 2010, and peacetime operations and conflicts in the past 25 years. Outbreaks and epidemiologic investigations of viral and bacterial infections among high-risk groups are presented, including (i) experience by recruits at training centers, (ii) impact on advanced trainees in special settings, (iii) morbidity sustained by shipboard personnel at sea, and (iv) experience of deployed personnel. Utilizing a pathogen-by-pathogen approach, we examine (i) epidemiology, (ii) impact in terms of morbidity and operational readiness, (iii) clinical presentation and outbreak potential, (iv) diagnostic modalities, (v) treatment approaches, and (vi) vaccine and other control measures.

Tuberculosis as a force health protection threat to the United States military.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease that poses a threat to force health protection to the U.S. military.

Lymphoid fibrosis occurs in long-term nonprogressors and persists with antiretroviral therapy but may be reversible with curative interventions.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication causes lymphoid tissue (LT) fibrosis, which causes CD4(+) T-cell depletion. It is unknown whether people who spontaneously control HIV replication have LT fibrosis. We measured LT fibrosis and CD4(+) T cells in 25 HIV controllers, 10 noncontrollers, 45 HIV-positive individuals receiving therapy, and 10 HIV-negative individuals.