Risk factors and outcome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infections (PABSI) in hematological patients: a single center retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Bloodstream infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PABSI) in hematological patients are associated with high morbidity and mortality. We investigated the epidemiology, risk factors, and outcomes of PABSI at our center.

Methods: All adult hematological patients with PABSI between January 2013 and July 2023 were included.

Health and socio-demographic background of Ukrainian minors and their families in Germany - challenges for refugee medicine : A cross-sectional study from the German Network University Medicine (NUM).

Unlabelled: In 2022, over 1,000,000 people from Ukraine fled to Germany, mostly women and children. The aim of this study was to determine health status and socio-demographic background of Ukrainian refugee minors in Germany and to compare that to German minors. In this study, Ukrainian refugees of all ages, who voluntarily made contact with the study centres via flyers or refugee shelters, were interviewed with the help of trained interpreters from 09-12/2022.

Syncopes, paresis and loss of vision after COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

mRNA-based vaccines played a key role in fighting the global COVID-19 pandemic by saving millions of lives. In rare cases, however, the BNT162b2 vaccine has been associated with severe adverse reactions e.g.

Gram-negative bloodstream infections in six German university hospitals, 2016-2020: clinical and microbiological features.

Purpose: To analyze the longitudinal epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of Gram-negative bloodstream infections (BSI) in Germany.

Methods: Post-hoc analysis of prospectively documented BSI due to Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Enterobacter spp.

Role and benefits of infectious diseases specialists in the COVID-19 pandemic: Multilevel analysis of care provision in German hospitals using data from the Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (LEOSS) cohort.

Purpose: This study investigates the care provision and the role of infectious disease (ID) specialists during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: A survey was conducted at German study sites participating in the Lean European Open Survey on SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (LEOSS). Hospitals certified by the German Society of Infectious diseases (DGI) were identified as ID centers.

Comparative effectiveness of vancomycin and metronidazole on event-free survival after initial infection in patients with Clostridioides difficile-a German multicentre cohort study.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the comparative effectiveness of vancomycin and metronidazole in a confirmatory analysis of event-free survival (EFS) after initial infection in patients with Clostridioides difficile from a German multicentre cohort study.

Methods: The IBIS multicentre cohort enrolled patients with an index episode of C. difficile infection between August 2017 and September 2020.

[Need for improvement in the care of patients with Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) - expert opinion in international comparison].

Introduction: infection (CDI), as a nosocomial disease, is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Even though the incidence of CDI has been declining in Germany in recent years, the individual infection may pose a medical challenge despite therapeutic advances. The aim here is to clarify which gaps practitioners consider to be particularly serious in care and in the existing evidence base.

Real-world experience with letermovir for cytomegalovirus-prophylaxis after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation: A multi-centre observational study.

Objectives: Efficacy and safety of letermovir as prophylaxis for clinically significant cytomegalovirus infections (csCVMi) was evaluated in randomised controlled trials while most of the real-world studies are single-centre experiences.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, multi-centre case-control study at six German university hospitals to evaluate clinical experiences in patients receiving CMV prophylaxis with letermovir (n = 200) compared to controls without CMV prophylaxis (n = 200) during a 48-week follow-up period after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (aHCT).

Results: The incidence of csCMVi after aHCT was significantly reduced in the letermovir (34%, n = 68) compared to the control group (56%, n = 112; p < 0.

A precise performance-based reimbursement model for the multi-centre NAPKON cohorts - development and evaluation.

Fair allocation of funding in multi-centre clinical studies is challenging. Models commonly used in Germany - the case fees ("fixed-rate model", FRM) and up-front staffing and consumables ("up-front allocation model", UFAM) lack transparency and fail to suitably accommodate variations in centre performance. We developed a performance-based reimbursement model (PBRM) with automated calculation of conducted activities and applied it to the cohorts of the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON) within the Network of University Medicine (NUM).

Antibiotics-Induced Intestinal Immunomodulation Attenuates Experimental Autoimmune Neuritis (EAN).

The composition of gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in priming the immune system and thus impacts autoimmune diseases. Data on the effects of gut bacteria eradication via systemic antibiotics on immune neuropathies are currently lacking. This study therefore assessed the effects of antibiotics-induced gut microbiota alterations on the severity of experimental autoimmune neuritis (EAN), a rat model of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

The protective effect of tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors in COVID-19 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases compared to the general population-A comparison of two German registries.

Objectives: To investigate, whether inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) inpatients are at higher risk to develop a severe course of SARS-CoV-2 infections compared to the general population, data from the German COVID-19 registry for IRD patients and data from the Lean European Survey on SARS-CoV-2 (LEOSS) infected patients covering inpatients from the general population with SARS-CoV-2 infections were compared.

Methods: 4310 (LEOSS registry) and 1139 cases (IRD registry) were collected in general. Data were matched for age and gender.

[Infectious Diseases - a new specialty for postgraduate training in Germany].

Medicine in Germany is currently facing major structural and economic challenges. Infectious Diseases, with the recent introduction of a new specialty in "Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases" and with the existing additional training for almost all specializations, will make an important contribution to overcoming these challenges. Expertise in infectious diseases has to be very broad and requires high interdisciplinarity, which makes infectious diseases an attractive and demanding specialty.

Quality, availability and suitability of antimicrobial stewardship guidance: a multinational qualitative study.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes are established across the world to treat infections efficiently, prioritize patient safety, and reduce the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. One of the core elements of AMS programmes is guidance to support and direct physicians in making efficient, safe and optimal decisions when prescribing antibiotics. To optimize and tailor AMS, we need a better understanding of prescribing physicians' experience with AMS guidance.

Regulatory workshop on challenge strain development and GMP manufacture - A stakeholder meeting report.

Within the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) Inno4Vac CHIMICHURRI project, a regulatory workshop was organised on the development and manufacture of challenge agent strains for Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) studies. Developers are often uncertain about which GMP requirements or regulatory guidelines apply but should be guided by the 2022 technical white paper "Considerations on the Principles of Development and Manufacturing Qualities of Challenge Agents for Use in Human Infection Models" (published by hVIVO, Wellcome Trust, HIC-Vac consortium members). Where those recommendations cannot be met, regulators advise following the "Principles of GMP" until definitive guidelines are available.

Flucloxacillin and cefazolin for treatment of Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection.

Purpose: Antistaphylococcal penicillins and cefazolin have been used as first line therapy in Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection. While efficacy of both regimens seems to be similar, the compounds may differ with regard to tolerability. This study aims to describe the clinical use of cefazolin and flucloxacillin, focussing on discontinuation or change of anti-infective agent due to adverse events.

TIGIT NK cells in combination with specific gut microbiota features predict response to checkpoint inhibitor therapy in melanoma patients.

Background: Composition of the intestinal microbiota has been correlated to therapeutic efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in various cancer entities including melanoma. Prediction of the outcome of such therapy, however, is still unavailable. This prospective, non-interventional study was conducted in order to achieve an integrated assessment of the connection between a specific intestinal microbiota profile and antitumor immune response to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy (anti-PD-1 and/or anti-CTLA-4) in melanoma patients.

Analysis of Mould Exposure of Immunosuppressed Patients at a German University Hospital.

Moulds are ubiquitous components of outdoor and indoor air and local conditions, temperature, humidity and season can influence their concentration in the air. The impact of these factors on mould exposure in hospitals and the resulting risk of infection for low to moderately immunocompromised patients is unclear. In the present retrospective analysis for the years 2018 to 2022, the monthly determined mould contamination of the outdoor and indoor air at the University Hospital Frankfurt am Main is compared with the average air temperature and the relative humidity.

Dataset of single nucleotide polymorphisms of immune-associated genes in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected nations globally leading to illness, death, and economic downturn. Why disease severity, ranging from no symptoms to the requirement for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, varies between patients is still incompletely understood. Consequently, we aimed at understanding the impact of genetic factors on disease severity in infection with SARS-CoV-2.