Mortality patterns in candidemia: Insights from a multispecies analysis using a global research network.

Understanding the impact of different Candida species on patient outcomes is crucial for effective management and treatment strategies. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the association between Candida species and mortality in documented candidemia. We queried TriNetX, a global research network database, to identify patients diagnosed with candidemia through polymerase chain reaction from 2020 to 2023.

Effectiveness and Safety of an Emergency Department Code Sepsis Protocol: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial.

Sepsis care delivery-including the initiation of prompt, appropriate antimicrobials-remains suboptimal. This study was conducted to determine direct and off-target effects of emergency department (ED) sepsis care reorganization. This pragmatic pilot trial enrolled adult patients who presented from November 2019 to February 2021 to an ED in Utah before and after implementation of a multimodal, team-based "Code Sepsis" protocol.

Impact of COVID-19 on urgent care diagnoses and the new AXR metric.

We examined the antibiotic prescribing rate for respiratory diagnoses (AXR) before and after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in urgent care clinics. At the onset, AXR declined substantially due to changes in case mix. Using AXR as a stewardship metric requires monitoring of changes in case mix.

Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalization and Protection Associated With mRNA Vaccination Among US Adults With Psychiatric Disorders.

Background: Although psychiatric disorders have been associated with reduced immune responses to other vaccines, it remains unknown whether they influence COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE). This study evaluated risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and estimated mRNA VE stratified by psychiatric disorder status.

Methods: In a retrospective cohort analysis of the VISION Network in four US states, the rate of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalization between December 2021 and August 2022 was compared across psychiatric diagnoses and by monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccination status using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Pneumonia in Urgent Care Clinics: Opportunities for Improving Care.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia is a well-studied condition; yet, in the urgent care setting, patient characteristics and adherence to guideline-recommended care are poorly described. Within Intermountain Health, a nonprofit integrated US health care system based in Utah, more patients present to urgent care clinics (UCCs) than emergency departments (EDs) for pneumonia care.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study 1 January 2019 through 31 December 2020 in 28 UCCs within Utah.

Impact of an antibiotic stewardship initiative on urgent-care respiratory prescribing across patient race, ethnicity, and language.

We conducted a post hoc analysis of an antibiotic stewardship intervention implemented across our health system's urgent-care network to determine whether there was a differential impact among patient groups. Respiratory urgent-care antibiotic prescribing decreased for all racial, ethnic, and preferred language groups, but disparities in antibiotic prescribing persisted.

Antibiotics on Demand: Advances in Asynchronous Telemedicine Call for Increased Antibiotic Surveillance.

The rapid growth of telehealth services has brought about direct-to-consumer telemedicine platforms, enabling patients to request antibiotics online without a virtual or face-to-face consultation. While telemedicine aims to enhance accessibility, this trend raises significant concerns regarding appropriate antimicrobial use and patient safety. In this viewpoint, we share our first-hand experience with 2 direct-to-consumer platforms, where we intentionally sought inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions for nonspecific symptoms strongly indicative of a viral upper respiratory infection.

Clinical Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Critical Outcomes Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Adults Hospitalized With COVID-19-VISION Network, 10 States, June 2021-March 2023.

Background: The epidemiology of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to develop with emerging variants, expanding population-level immunity, and advances in clinical care. We describe changes in the clinical epidemiology of COVID-19 hospitalizations and risk factors for critical outcomes over time.

Methods: We included adults aged ≥18 years from 10 states hospitalized with COVID-19 June 2021-March 2023.

Implementation of an Antibiotic Stewardship Initiative in a Large Urgent Care Network.

Importance: Urgent Care (UC) encounters result in more inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions than other outpatient setting. Few stewardship interventions have focused on UC.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an antibiotic stewardship initiative to reduce antibiotic prescribing for respiratory conditions in a UC network.

Effect of tele-COVID rounds and a tele-stewardship intervention on antibiotic use in COVID-19 patients admitted to 17 small community hospitals.

Antibiotic stewardship interventions are urgently needed to reduce antibiotic overuse in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, particularly in small community hospitals (SCHs), who often lack access to infectious diseases (ID) and stewardship resources. We implemented multidisciplinary tele-COVID rounds plus tele-antibiotic stewardship surveillance in 17 SCHs to standardize COVID management and evaluate concurrent antibiotics for discontinuation. Antibiotic use was compared in the 4 months preintervention versus 10 months postintervention.

A qualitative evaluation of frontline clinician perspectives toward antibiotic stewardship programs.

Objective: To examine the perspectives of caregivers that are not part of the antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) leadership team (eg, physicians, nurses, and clinical pharmacists), but who interact with ASPs in their role as frontline healthcare workers.

Design: Qualitative semistructured interviews.

Setting: The study was conducted in 2 large national healthcare systems including 7 hospitals in the Veterans' Health Administration and 4 hospitals in Intermountain Healthcare.

Concordance Between Initial Presumptive and Final Adjudicated Diagnoses of Infection Among Patients Meeting Sepsis-3 Criteria in the Emergency Department.

Background: Guidelines emphasize rapid antibiotic treatment for sepsis, but infection presence is often uncertain at initial presentation. We investigated the incidence and drivers of false-positive presumptive infection diagnosis among emergency department (ED) patients meeting Sepsis-3 criteria.

Methods: For a retrospective cohort of patients hospitalized after meeting Sepsis-3 criteria (acute organ failure and suspected infection including blood cultures drawn and intravenous antimicrobials administered) in 1 of 4 EDs from 2013 to 2017, trained reviewers first identified the ED-diagnosed source of infection and adjudicated the presence and source of infection on final assessment.

Validity of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Urgent Care Setting and Impact on Antibiotic Prescribing Rates.

We validated  different coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (ICD-10) encounter definitions across 2 urgent care clinics. Sensitivity of definitions varied throughout the pandemic. Inclusion of COVID-19 and COVID-19-like illness (CLI) ICD-10s rendered highest sensitivity but lowest specificity.

Relationships Between Social Vulnerability and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Coverage and Vaccine Effectiveness.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination coverage remains lower in communities with higher social vulnerability. Factors such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure risk and access to healthcare are often correlated with social vulnerability and may therefore contribute to a relationship between vulnerability and observed vaccine effectiveness (VE). Understanding whether these factors impact VE could contribute to our understanding of real-world VE.