A Cluster of Cases of Babesia microti Among Neonates Traced to a Single Unit of Donor Blood.

Three premature infants in 1 neonatal intensive care unit developed transfusion-transmitted babesiosis. Two of the infants developed high-grade parasitemia. All 3 affected infants were treated and cured with azithromycin and atovaquone.

Implementation of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate antimicrobial utilization and prescription practices in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). DESIGN Quasi-experimental, interrupted time-series study. SETTING A 54-bed, level IV NICU in a regional academic and tertiary referral center.

Infective Endocarditis in Adults: Diagnosis, Antimicrobial Therapy, and Management of Complications: A Scientific Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association.

Background: Infective endocarditis is a potentially lethal disease that has undergone major changes in both host and pathogen. The epidemiology of infective endocarditis has become more complex with today's myriad healthcare-associated factors that predispose to infection. Moreover, changes in pathogen prevalence, in particular a more common staphylococcal origin, have affected outcomes, which have not improved despite medical and surgical advances.

The Changing Epidemiology of Pediatric Endocarditis.

The epidemiology of infective endocarditis (IE) appears to be related to changes in the management of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and the virtual disappearance of rheumatic heart disease. To better understand these changes, we divide the history into: I. The pre-surgical era, II.

Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Decade following Implementation of an Active Detection and Isolation Program.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a frequent source of infection in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), often associated with significant morbidity. Active detection and isolation (ADI) programs aim to reduce transmission. We describe a comprehensive analysis of the clinical and molecular epidemiology of MRSA in an NICU between 2003 and 2013, in the decade following the implementation of an MRSA ADI program.

Neonatal sepsis 2004-2013: the rise and fall of coagulase-negative staphylococci.

Objectives: To evaluate data for the period 2004-2013 to identify changes in demographics, pathogens, and outcomes in a single, level IV neonatal intensive care unit.

Study Design: Sepsis episodes were identified prospectively and additional information obtained retrospectively from infants with sepsis while in the neonatal intensive care unit from 2004 to 2013. Demographics, hospital course, and outcome data were collected and analyzed.

Revision of the Jones Criteria for the diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever in the era of Doppler echocardiography: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.

Background: Acute rheumatic fever remains a serious healthcare concern for the majority of the world's population despite its decline in incidence in Europe and North America. The goal of this statement was to review the historic Jones criteria used to diagnose acute rheumatic fever in the context of the current epidemiology of the disease and to update those criteria to also take into account recent evidence supporting the use of Doppler echocardiography in the diagnosis of carditis as a major manifestation of acute rheumatic fever.

Methods And Results: To achieve this goal, the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young and its Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee organized a writing group to comprehensively review and evaluate the impact of population-specific differences in acute rheumatic fever presentation and changes in presentation that can result from the now worldwide availability of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Commentary on 'Different antibiotic treatments for group A streptococcal pharyngitis (Review)'.

This is a commentary of Cochrane review, published in this issue of EBCH, first published as: van Driel ML, De Sutter AIM, Keber N, Habraken H, Christiaens T. Different antibiotic treatments for group A streptococcal pharyngitis (Review). 2010, Issue 10.

Re-evaluation of antibiotic treatment of streptococcal pharyngitis.

Purpose Of Review: Recently, recommendations from the American Heart Association regarding treatment of streptococcal tonsillo-pharyngitis were revised. This review provides the background for changes that were made in comparison with the group's 1995 recommendations. Recent papers on other issues relating to group A Streptococcus are also reviewed.

Prevention of rheumatic fever and diagnosis and treatment of acute Streptococcal pharyngitis: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee of the Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, the Interdisciplinary Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology, and the Interdisciplinary Council on Quality of Care and Outcomes Research: endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Primary prevention of acute rheumatic fever is accomplished by proper identification and adequate antibiotic treatment of group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GAS) tonsillopharyngitis. Diagnosis of GAS pharyngitis is best accomplished by combining clinical judgment with diagnostic test results, the criterion standard of which is the throat culture. Penicillin (either oral penicillin V or injectable benzathine penicillin) is the treatment of choice, because it is cost-effective, has a narrow spectrum of activity, and has long-standing proven efficacy, and GAS resistant to penicillin have not been documented.

Matched case-control analysis of polymicrobial bloodstream infection in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To compare and contrast the epidemiology of polymicrobial and monomicrobial bloodstream infections (BSIs) in newborn intensive care unit (NICU) patients.

Design: Retrospective, matched case-control study.

Setting: The Yale-New Haven Hospital NICU from 1989 through 2006.

Changing patterns in neonatal Escherichia coli sepsis and ampicillin resistance in the era of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis.

Objective: The goal was to determine current trends in Escherichia coli-related early- and late-onset sepsis and patterns of ampicillin resistance in relation to institutional changes in the use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis.

Methods: A retrospective review of data for all infants with E. coli sepsis at Yale-New Haven Hospital from 1979 to 2006 was performed.

Prevention of infective endocarditis: guidelines from the American Heart Association: a guideline from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group.

Background: The purpose of this statement is to update the recommendations by the American Heart Association (AHA) for the prevention of infective endocarditis, which were last published in 1997.

Methods: and

Results: A writing group appointed by the AHA for their expertise in prevention and treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) with liaison members representing the American Dental Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The writing group reviewed input from national and international experts on IE.

Pediatric uses of fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

Current data, although incomplete, suggest that pediatric administration of a fluoroquinolone, especially the best-studied ciprofloxacin, is safe. However, many experts have raised concerns regarding the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant pathogens such as pneumococcus if more children are treated with fluoroquinolones. Examination of the available data suggests that these concerns remain valid.

Prevention of infective endocarditis: guidelines from the American Heart Association: a guideline from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis and Kawasaki Disease Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group.

Background: The purpose of this statement is to update the recommendations by the American Heart Association (AHA) for the prevention of infective endocarditis, which were last published in 1997.

Methods And Results: A writing group appointed by the AHA for their expertise in prevention and treatment of infective endocarditis (IE) with liaison members representing the American Dental Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The writing group reviewed input from national and international experts on IE.

Prevention of infective endocarditis: guidelines from the American Heart Association: a guideline from the American Heart Association Rheumatic Fever, Endocarditis, and Kawasaki Disease Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young, and the Council on Clinical Cardiology, Council on Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group.

Background: The purpose of this statement is to update the recommendations by the American Heart Association (AHA) for the prevention of infective endocarditis that were last published in 1997.

Methods And Results: A writing group was appointed by the AHA for their expertise in prevention and treatment of infective endocarditis, with liaison members representing the American Dental Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. The writing group reviewed input from national and international experts on infective endocarditis.