Publications by authors named "P Kibsey"
Unlabelled: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) pose a significant challenge to human health. Accurate and timely detection remains pivotal for effective intervention. Current urine culture techniques, while essential, often encounter challenges where urinalysis yields positive results, but subsequent culture testing produces a negative result.
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- Recent studies show nirmatrelvir-ritonavir is effective for mild to moderate COVID-19 outpatient care, but its impact on hospitalized patients remains unclear.
- In a Canadian study during the Omicron phase, 13% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients received this treatment, mostly older adults with pre-existing conditions.
- Results indicate low ICU admission rates and a small percentage of deaths among treated patients, highlighting the need for more research to optimize treatment guidance for hospitalized cases.
Background: Invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS) is caused by group A bacteria. In 2022, multiple disease alerts for iGAS in the Island Health region, in the context of increased infections in the paediatric population in Europe and the United States, prompted further investigation into local trends. This surveillance study summarizes epidemiological trends of iGAS in the region covered by Island Health, a regional health authority in British Columbia, in 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlasmid genomic epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing in Canada, 2010-2021.
Antimicrob Agents Chemother
December 2023
Article Synopsis
- Carbapenems are vital last-resort antibiotics against multidrug-resistant infections, but their effectiveness is threatened by the global rise of carbapenem-resistant bacteria due to carbapenemase genes.
- In Canada, a specific carbapenemase type has been identified as prevalent, capable of breaking down various antibiotics, and commonly found on mobile genetic elements like plasmids and transposons.
- Through whole genome sequencing of 829 carbapenemase-producing isolates from 2010 to 2021, researchers discovered diverse plasmid clusters responsible for resistance spread, revealing both clonal and horizontal transmission patterns across different bacterial strains in Canada.
Article Synopsis
- Trends in severe COVID-19 outcomes in Canada highlight a shift in hospitalization rates and associated risks during different waves of the pandemic, particularly higher admissions in the later waves.
- A study conducted across 155 hospitals included both adults and children, examining data from March 2020 to May 2022, focusing on severe outcomes such as ICU admissions and death rates.
- Findings indicate that while overall hospitalizations increased in later waves, the rates of severe outcomes were lower, especially among vaccinated patients compared to the unvaccinated.