Lessons Learned From a Randomized Controlled Trial of Short-Course Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy for Erysipelas and Cellulitis of the Lower Limb (Switch Trial).

Background: The diagnosis of cellulitis is made clinically without a gold standard diagnostic test, and cellulitis has many disease mimics. There is currently no consensus for optimal antimicrobial treatment duration or method of antimicrobial delivery.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled open-label multicenter trial to determine the safety and efficacy of 24 hours of intravenous (IV) therapy compared with ≥72 hours of IV therapy, both followed by oral therapy to a maximum of 7-10 days' duration for the treatment of lower limb cellulitis.

Cleaning, resistant bacteria, and antibiotic prescribing in residential aged care facilities.

Residents of residential aged care facilities (RACFs) are at risk of colonization and infection with multidrug-resistant bacteria, and antibiotic prescribing is often inappropriate and not based on culture-proven infection. We describe low levels of resident colonization and environmental contamination with resistant gram-negative bacteria in RACFs, but high levels of empirical antibiotic use not guided by microbiologic culture. This research highlights the importance of antimicrobial stewardship and environmental cleaning in aged care facilities.

Murray Valley encephalitis: a review of clinical features, diagnosis and treatment.

Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) is a mosquito-borne virus that is found across Australia, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. MVEV is endemic to northern Australia and causes occasional outbreaks across south-eastern Australia. 2011 saw a dramatic increase in MVEV activity in endemic regions and the re-emergence of MVEV in south-eastern Australia.