Mixed methods evaluation of handshake antimicrobial stewardship on adult inpatient medicine floors.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of handshake antimicrobial stewardship on medicine floors at a large tertiary care hospital.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Setting: 1,278-bed academic hospital.

How can we tackle the overuse of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries?

Introduction: Antibiotic overuse is a pressing global health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is limited access to quality healthcare and insufficient regulation of antibiotic dispensation. This perspective piece highlights the challenges of antibiotic overuse in LMICs and provides insights into potential solutions to address this issue.

Areas Covered: This perspective explores key factors contributing to antibiotic overuse in LMICs, encompassing weak healthcare infrastructure, limited access to quality services, and deficiencies in diagnostic capabilities.

Outcomes of Partial Oral Antibiotic Treatment for Complicated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia in People Who Inject Drugs.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus represents the leading cause of complicated bloodstream infections among persons who inject drugs (PWID). Standard of care (SOC) intravenous (IV) antibiotics result in high rates of treatment success but are not feasible for some PWID. Transition to oral antibiotics may represent an alternative treatment option.

Low Knowledge of HIV PrEP Within a Midwestern US Cohort of Persons who Inject Drugs.

We interviewed persons who inject drugs (PWID) to understand perceptions of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection. Knowledge of PrEP was poor. Patients felt that PrEP was for sexual intercourse rather than injection drug use, and PWID managed on medications for opioid use disorder felt that they had no need for PrEP.

Protection levels of N95-level respirator substitutes proposed during the COVID-19 pandemic: safety concerns and quantitative evaluation procedures.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated widespread shortages of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and the creation and sharing of proposed substitutes (novel designs, repurposed materials) with limited testing against regulatory standards. We aimed to categorically test the efficacy and fit of potential N95 respirator substitutes using protocols that can be replicated in university laboratories.

Setting: Academic medical centre with occupational health-supervised fit testing along with laboratory studies.

Antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries: current status and future directions.

Introduction: Rising rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally continue to pose agrave threat to human health. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected, partly due to the high burden of communicable diseases.

Areas Covered: We reviewed current trends in AMR in LMICs and examined the forces driving AMR in those regions.

Attitudes toward using clinical decision support in community pharmacies to promote antibiotic stewardship.

Background: Outpatient antibiotic prescriptions drive antibiotic overuse in humans, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified community pharmacies as potential partners in outpatient stewardship efforts. Clinical decision support (CDS) tools can potentially be used at community pharmacies to aid in outpatient stewardship efforts.

Objectives: We sought to determine community pharmacist attitudes toward using a computerized CDS tool to evaluate and manage common complaints and thus promote appropriate antibiotic prescribing.

Experiences from the Missouri Antimicrobial Stewardship Collaborative: A mixed methods study.

We performed a mixed-methods study to evaluate antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) uptake and to assess variability of program implementation in Missouri hospitals. Despite increasing uptake of ASPs in Missouri, there is wide variability in both the scope and sophistication of these programs.

Institution of a Novel Process for N95 Respirator Disinfection with Vaporized Hydrogen Peroxide in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Large Academic Medical Center.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been an invaluable yet limited resource when it comes to protecting healthcare workers against infection during the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In the US, N95 respirator supply chains are severely strained and conservation strategies are needed. A multidisciplinary team at the Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes Jewish Hospital, and BJC Healthcare was formed to implement a program to disinfect N95 respirators.

Top Questions in Uncomplicated, Non- Bacteremia.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America infection-specific guidelines provide limited guidance on the management of focal infections complicated by secondary bacteremias. We address the following 3 commonly encountered questions and management considerations regarding uncomplicated bacteremia not due to : the role and choice of oral antibiotics focusing on oral beta-lactams, the shortest effective duration of therapy, and the role of repeat blood cultures.

Imaging electroluminescence from individual nanoparticles in an array exhibiting room temperature single electron effect.

Electroluminescence (EL) from the monolayer of a network of a one-dimensional (1D) necklace of 10 nm Au particles (nano)cemented by CdS is imaged. The EL and photoluminescence (PL) spectra confirm the emission from CdS. The EL emission blinks and is highly specular.