Publications by authors named "Sandra Bulens"

2019–2020 at 6 US sites. Among 159 CRE cases in children (median age 5 years), CRE was isolated from urine for 131 (82.4%) and blood from 20 (12.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Understanding the epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii complex (CRAB) and the patients impacted is an important step toward informing better infection prevention and control practices and improving public health response.

Methods: Active, population-based surveillance was conducted for CRAB in 9 U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: We described changes in 2016─2020 carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) incidence rates in 7 US sites that conduct population-based CRE surveillance.

Methods: An incident CRE case was defined as the first isolation of , spp., or spp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carbapenem-resistant (CRE) are among the most concerning antibiotic resistance threats due to high rates of multidrug resistance, transmissibility in health care settings, and high mortality rates. We evaluated the potential for regional genomic surveillance to track the spread of -carrying CRE (KPC-CRE) by using isolate collections from health care facilities in three U.S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The CDC's Emerging Infections Program studied carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) in the U.S. from 2016 to 2018 through population and laboratory surveillance, collecting 1,019 isolates for analysis.
  • The study found high genetic diversity among the strains, with 336 different sequence types, and the majority (87.1%) of isolates exhibited mutations in the porin OprD, linked to carbapenem resistance.
  • While only a small percentage contained carbapenemase genes, many had non-carbapenemase β-lactamase genes, indicating that other resistance mechanisms also play a significant role in the spread of CRPA in the U.S.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are mostly linked to healthcare settings but are increasingly being found in the community.* -
  • A study from January 2012 to December 2015 identified 1499 cases of CRE, with 10% classified as community-associated, primarily affecting White females and detected mostly in urine samples.* -
  • Some community-associated isolates contained carbapenemase genes, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance of CRE outside healthcare environments to track their emergence.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Nursing homes (NHs) provide care in a congregate setting for residents at high risk of severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In spring 2020, NHs were implementing new guidance to minimize SARS-CoV-2 spread among residents and staff.

Objective: To assess whether telephone and video-based infection control assessment and response (TeleICAR) strategies could efficiently assess NH preparedness and help resolve gaps.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are a growing public health concern due to resistance to multiple antibiotics and potential to cause health care-associated infections with high mortality. Carbapenemase-producing CRE are of particular concern given that carbapenemase-encoding genes often are located on mobile genetic elements that may spread between different organisms and species. In this study, we performed phenotypic and genotypic characterization of CRE collected at eight U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is intrinsically resistant to many antimicrobial drugs, making carbapenems crucial in clinical management. During July-October 2015 in the United States, we piloted laboratory-based surveillance for carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) at sentinel facilities in Georgia, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, and population-based surveillance in Monroe County, NY.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: An increasing proportion of infections (CDI) in the United States are community-associated (CA). We conducted a case-control study to identify CA-CDI risk factors.

Methods: We enrolled participants from 10 US sites during October 2014-March 2015.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In healthcare settings, Acinetobacter spp. bacteria commonly demonstrate antimicrobial resistance, making them a major treatment challenge. Nearly half of Acinetobacter organisms from clinical cultures in the United States are nonsusceptible to carbapenem antimicrobial drugs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are increasingly reported worldwide as a cause of infections with high-mortality rates. Assessment of the US epidemiology of CRE is needed to inform national prevention efforts.

Objective: To determine the population-based CRE incidence and describe the characteristics and resistance mechanism associated with isolates from 7 US geographical areas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Preventing transmission of carbapenemase-producing, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CP-CRE) is a public health priority. A phenotype-based definition that reliably identifies CP-CRE while minimizing misclassification of non-CP-CRE could help prevention efforts. To assess possible definitions, we evaluated enterobacterial isolates that had been tested and deemed nonsusceptible to >1 carbapenem at US Emerging Infections Program sites.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To describe trends in the incidence of invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in children during 2005-2010.

Methods: We evaluated reports of invasive MRSA infections in pediatric patients identified from population-based surveillance during 2005-2010. Cases were defined as isolation of MRSA from a normally sterile site and classified on the basis of the setting of the positive culture and presence or absence of health care exposures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The majority of invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in the United States are community-onset and occur in persons with recent health care exposure.

Methods: We performed a matched case-control study to identify risk factors for invasive MRSA infection among recently discharged patients. Cases had MRSA cultured from a normally sterile body site within 100 days following hospital discharge.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The USA300 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain, which initially emerged as a cause of community-associated infections, has recently become an important pathogen in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). However, its impact on patient outcomes has not been well studied. We evaluated patients with invasive MRSA infections to assess differences in outcomes between infections caused by USA100 and those caused by USA300.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) remains a common cause of clinic visits and hospitalizations in the United States, but the etiology is rarely determined.

Methods: We performed a prospective, multicenter emergency department-based study of adults with AGE. Subjects were interviewed on presentation and 3-4 weeks later.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: The role of noroviruses in both foodborne and person-to-person outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) has been difficult to determine in the U.S. because of lack of routine norovirus testing and of national reporting of person-to-person outbreaks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a pathogen of public health importance; MRSA prevention programs that may affect MRSA transmission and infection are increasingly common in health care settings. Whether there have been changes in MRSA infection incidence as these programs become established is unknown; however, recent data have shown that rates of MRSA bloodstream infections (BSIs) in intensive care units are decreasing.

Objective: To describe changes in rates of invasive health care-associated MRSA infections from 2005 through 2008 among residents of 9 US metropolitan areas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

USA300 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates are usually resistant only to oxacillin, erythromycin, and, increasingly, levofloxacin. Of these, oxacillin and levofloxacin resistances are chromosomally encoded. Plasmid-mediated clindamycin, mupirocin, and/or tetracycline resistance has been observed among USA300 isolates, but these descriptions were limited to specific patient populations or isolated occurrences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Typhoid fever in the United States has increasingly been due to infection with antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella ser Typhi. National surveillance for typhoid fever can inform prevention and treatment recommendations.

Objective: To assess trends in infections with antimicrobial-resistant S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We evaluated the potential effects of a hypothetical vaccine in preventing invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) disease in the United States. Using an active, population-based surveillance program, we estimated baseline disease rates in the United States and compared three distinct vaccination strategies which targeted adults > or =65 years of age, persons at risk for recurrent invasive infection, and patients at hospital discharge. The strategies were projected to reduce the burden of invasive MRSA disease by 12.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Group B streptococcal disease is one of the most common infections in the first week after birth. In 2002, national guidelines recommended universal late antenatal screening of pregnant women for colonization with group B streptococcus to identify candidates for intrapartum chemoprophylaxis.

Methods: We evaluated the implementation of the guidelines in a multistate, retrospective cohort selected from the Active Bacterial Core surveillance, a 10-state, population-based system that monitors invasive group B streptococcal disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: From 2003 through 2007, Vibrio cholerae serogroup O75 strains possessing the cholera toxin gene were isolated from 6 patients with severe diarrhea, including 3 in Georgia, 2 in Alabama, and 1 in South Carolina. These reports represent the first identification of V. cholerae O75 as a cause of illness in the United States.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Between July 2000 and June 2004, fecal specimens from 270 outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by local or state health departments for calicivirus testing. Of the 226 outbreaks that met the criteria for inclusion in the present study, caliciviruses were detected in 184 (81%) by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing. Nursing homes, retirement centers, and hospitals were the most frequently reported settings, and person-to-person contact was the most common mode of transmission, followed by foodborne spread.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF