Exeporfinium chloride (XF-73) nasal gel dosed over 24 hours prior to surgery significantly reduced nasal carriage in cardiac surgery patients: Safety and efficacy results from a randomized placebo-controlled phase 2 study.

We studied 83 cardiac-surgery patients with nasal carriage who received 4 intranasal administrations of XF-73 nasal gel or placebo <24 hours before surgery. One hour before surgery, patients exhibited a nasal carriage reduction of 2.5 log with XF-73 compared to 0.

Private Practice Dentists Improve Antibiotic Use After Dental Antibiotic Stewardship Education From Infectious Diseases Experts.

Background: Private practice dentists represent 72% of United States dentists. We conducted a prospective cohort study of private practice dentists comparing antibiotic use before and after dental antibiotic stewardship education by infectious diseases (ID) antibiotic stewardship experts.

Methods: Study phases were as follows: phase 1 (preeducation), 3 months of retrospective antibiotic data and a presurvey assessed baseline antibiotic knowledge; phase 2 (education), dentists attended 3 evening Zoom sessions; phase 3, (posteducation/interventions), 3 months of prospective audits with weekly feedback; phase 4, postsurvey and recommendations to reach more dentists.

Duration of Antibiotic Therapy for General Medicine and General Surgery Patients Throughout Transitions of Care: An Antibiotic Stewardship Opportunity for Noninfectious Disease Pharmacists.

Background: Overuse of antibiotics from the inpatient to outpatient setting is an antibiotic stewardship initiative where noninfectious disease (ID) pharmacists can have a large impact. Our purpose was to evaluate antibiotic durations across transitions of care from the inpatient to outpatient setting.

Methods: This is a single-center, retrospective cohort analysis evaluating antibiotic durations from the inpatient and outpatient setting in adult patients admitted to general surgery and medicine services at an academic medical center between January 1, 2017 and September 20, 2017.

Investigating the association of room features with healthcare-facility-onset : An exploratory study.

Objective: To investigate hospital room and patient-level risk factors associated with increased risk of healthcare-facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI).

Design: The study used a retrospective cohort design that included patient data from the institution's electronic health record, existing surveillance data on HO-CDI, and a walk-through survey of hospital rooms to identify potential room-level risk factors. The primary outcome was HO-CDI diagnosis.

Isolation protocol for a COVID-2019 patient requiring emergent surgical intervention: case presentation.

Background: The concerns of the highly contagious and morbid nature of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-2019) have prompted healthcare workers to implement strict droplet and contact isolation precautions. Unfortunately, some patients who may be or presumptively or confirmed as infected with COVID-2019 may also require emergent surgical procedures. As such, given the high-risk for exposure of many healthcare workers involved the complex requirements for appropriate isolation must be adhered to.

Review of Guidelines for Dental Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Prevention of Endocarditis and Prosthetic Joint Infections and Need for Dental Stewardship.

Dentists prescribe 10% of all outpatient antibiotic prescriptions, writing more than 25.7 million prescriptions per year. Many are for prophylaxis in patients with prosthetic joint replacements; the American Dental Society states that "in general," prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended to prevent prosthetic joint infections.

Novel Visualization of Infections in Intensive Care Units.

Background: Accurate and timely surveillance and diagnosis of healthcare-facility onset infection (HO-CDI) is vital to controlling infections within the hospital, but there are limited tools to assist with timely outbreak investigations.

Objectives: To integrate spatiotemporal factors with HO-CDI cases and develop a map-based dashboard to support infection preventionists (IPs) in performing surveillance and outbreak investigations for HO-CDI.

Methods: Clinical laboratory results and Admit-Transfer-Discharge data for admitted patients over two years were extracted from the Information Warehouse of a large academic medical center and processed according to Center for Disease Control (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions to classify infection (CDI) cases by onset date.

Postpartum Group A Streptococcus Case Series: Reach Out to Infection Prevention!

A series of postpartum infections prompted an investigation to rule out potential transmission by a health care worker. None of the hospital staff screened were colonized. All isolates were determined to be unrelated by molecular methods, including whole-genome sequencing.

Development and validation of an automated ventilator-associated event electronic surveillance system: A report of a successful implementation.

Background: Surveillance is an important tool for infection control; however, this task can often be time-consuming and take away from infection prevention activities. With the increasing availability of comprehensive electronic health records, there is an opportunity to automate these surveillance activities. The objective of this article is to describe the implementation of an electronic algorithm for ventilator-associated events (VAEs) at a large academic medical center METHODS: This article reports on a 6-month manual validation of a dashboard for VAEs.

Impact of the NAP-1 strain on disease severity, mortality, and recurrence of healthcare-associated Clostridium difficile infection.

Objectives: Studies are conflicting regarding the association of the North American pulsed-field gel electrophoresis type 1 (NAP1) strain in Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and outcomes. We evaluated the association of NAP1 with healthcare-associated CDI disease severity, mortality, and recurrence at our academic medical center.

Methods: Healthcare-associated CDI cases were identified from November 1, 2011 through January 31, 2013.

An Automated, Pharmacist-Driven Initiative Improves Quality of Care for Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia.

Background: Infectious diseases (ID) consultation and antimicrobial stewardship intervention have been shown to improve the management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB). As the workload of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) continues to increase, ASPs must find a way to maximize the efficiency of the program while optimizing patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of incorporating health informatics into the management of SAB via a pharmacist-driven initiative.

Efficacy and Safety of a Colistin Loading Dose, High-Dose Maintenance Regimen in Critically Ill Patients With Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Pneumonia.

Introduction: Emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) gram-negative (GN) pathogens and lack of novel antibiotics have increased the use of colistin, despite unknown optimal dosing. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a colistin loading dose, high-dose (LDHD) maintenance regimen in patients with MDR-GN pneumonia.

Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed comparing critically ill patients with MDR-GN pneumonia pre- and postimplementation of a colistin LDHD guideline with a primary outcome of clinical cure.

Bacterial and viral co-infections complicating severe influenza: Incidence and impact among 507 U.S. patients, 2013-14.

Background: Influenza acts synergistically with bacterial co-pathogens. Few studies have described co-infection in a large cohort with severe influenza infection.

Objectives: To describe the spectrum and clinical impact of co-infections.

Impact of rapid identification of Acinetobacter Baumannii via matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry combined with antimicrobial stewardship in patients with pneumonia and/or bacteremia.

We evaluated the clinical and economic outcomes of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) with stewardship intervention in patients with Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) pneumonia and/or bacteremia. 66 patients were included in the pre-intervention group and 53 in the intervention group. The combination of AB identification via MALDI-TOF MS and ID PharmD intervention significantly reduced the median time to effective therapy compared to conventional identification without intervention [77.

Bad bugs need old drugs: a stewardship program's evaluation of minocycline for multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections.

Background: Minocycline is an "old-drug" with Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of infection due to Acinetobacter species. The purpose of this study is to describe an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program's evaluation of minocycline for the treatment of patients with multidrug resistant A. baumannii (MDR-AB) infections.

An antimicrobial stewardship program's real-world experience with fidaxomicin for treatment of Clostridium difficile infection: a case series.

Study Objective: To evaluate real-world clinical and economic outcomes in patients with Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) treated with fidaxomicin.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Setting: Academic medical center.

MSG-01: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of caspofungin prophylaxis followed by preemptive therapy for invasive candidiasis in high-risk adults in the critical care setting.

Background: Invasive candidiasis is the third most common bloodstream infection in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is associated with morbidity and mortality. Prophylaxis and preemptive therapy are attractive strategies for this setting.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of caspofungin as antifungal prophylaxis in 222 adults who were in the ICU for at least 3 days, were ventilated, received antibiotics, had a central line, and had 1 additional risk factor (parenteral nutrition, dialysis, surgery, pancreatitis, systemic steroids, or other immunosuppressants).

Infection control link nurse program: an interdisciplinary approach in targeting health care-acquired infection.

Background: We describe a successful interdisciplinary liaison program that effectively reduced health care-acquired (HCA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a university hospital setting.

Methods: Baseline was from January 2006 to March 2008, and intervention period was April 2008 to September 2009. Staff nurses were trained to be liaisons (link nurses) to infection prevention (IP) personnel with clearly defined goals assigned and with ongoing monthly education.

Improving the management of candidemia through antimicrobial stewardship interventions.

Candidemia is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and hospital cost. We conducted a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the impact of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) pharmacist's interventions on time to effective antifungal therapy, in-hospital mortality, infection-related length of stay (LOS), and costs in patients with candidemia. Patients in 2008 (pre-intervention, n = 85) were compared to those in 2010 (post-intervention, n = 88).

Review of infectious diseases applications for iPhone/iPad and Android: from pocket to patient.

The explosion of medical applications (apps) in the Apple and Google Play app stores has made it increasingly difficult to find relevant and reliable infectious diseases (ID) apps. Apple created a section called "Apps for Healthcare Professionals"; however, several ID apps are missing. Google Play's ID category has several non-ID apps.