Clinical Features and Outcomes of Pediatric and Adult Patients Hospitalized for Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Comparison Across Age Strata.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to cause hospitalizations and severe disease in children and adults.

Methods: This study compared the risk factors, symptoms, and outcomes of children and adults hospitalized for COVID-19 from March 2020 to May 2023 across age strata at 5 US sites participating in the Predicting Viral-Associated Inflammatory Disease Severity in Children with Laboratory Diagnostics and Artificial Intelligence consortium. Eligible patients had an upper respiratory swab that tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 by nucleic acid amplification.

Loss of Smell and Taste Among Healthcare Personnel Screened for Coronavirus 2019.

Among 283 symptomatic healthcare personnel (HCP) tested for SARS-CoV-2, 51 (18%) were positive. Among those 51 HCP, self reported loss of smell and taste were present in 51% and 52.9%, respectively, with either present in 60.

Rapid laboratory diagnosis for respiratory infectious diseases by using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.

It is still challenging to prevent and treat respiratory infectious diseases. One critical step in the successful treatment of respiratory infections is rapid diagnosis by identifying the causative microorganisms in a timely fashion. However, traditional methods for identification of causative agents could not satisfy the need for rapid and accurate testing due to the limitations of technology-used.

Querying automated antibiotic susceptibility testing instruments: a novel population-based active surveillance method for multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli.

Objective: To describe the implementation of a population-based surveillance system for multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli (MDR-GNB).

Design: Population-based active surveillance by the Georgia Emerging Infections Program.

Setting: Metropolitan Atlanta, starting November 2010.

Same day identification and full panel antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria from positive blood culture bottles made possible by a combined lysis-filtration method with MALDI-TOF VITEK mass spectrometry and the VITEK2 system.

Rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of microorganisms causing bloodstream infections or sepsis have the potential to improve patient care. This proof-of-principle study evaluates the Lysis-Filtration Method for identification as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria directly from positive blood culture bottles in a clinical setting. A total of 100 non-duplicated positive blood cultures were tested and 1012 microorganism-antimicrobial combinations were assessed.

Comparison of heat inactivation and cell disruption protocols for identification of mycobacteria from solid culture media by use of vitek matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry.

Two novel protocols for inactivation and extraction were developed and used to identify 107 Mycobacterium clinical isolates, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, from solid cultures using Vitek matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. The protocol using heat inactivation with sonication and cell disruption with glass beads resulted in 82.2% and 88.

Rare Elizabethkingia meningosepticum meningitis case in an immunocompetent adult.

Though Elizabethkingia meningosepticum typically causes meningitis in neonates, its occurrence in adult is rare, with sixteen cases described worldwide. We report a case of E. meningosepticum meningitis in an immunocompetent adult.

Probability of negative mycobacterium tuberculosis complex cultures based on time to detection of positive cultures: a multicenter evaluation of commercial-broth-based culture systems.

We conducted a multicenter study to determine whether Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) cultures in automated broth-based systems could reliably be considered negative sooner than 6 weeks. Laboratory sites used Bactec MGIT or BacT/Alert and tracked results of time to detection of all mycobacteria (TTD-all, n = 1547) and of MTBC (TTD-MTBC, n = 466) over 6-month periods from primarily (93%) respiratory specimens. Cumulative percentages by day detected and median TTD of initial and follow-up specimens were analyzed.

Multilaboratory evaluation of real-time PCR tests for hepatitis B virus DNA quantification.

The performance characteristics of four different assays for hepatitis B virus (HBV) quantification were assessed: the Abbott RealTime HBV IUO, the Roche Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HBV test, the Roche Cobas TaqMan HBV test with HighPure system, and the Qiagen artus HBV TM ASR. Limit of detection (LOD), linear range, reproducibility, and agreement were determined using a serially diluted plasma sample from a single chronically infected subject. Each assay was tested by at least three laboratories.

In vitro activity of tigecycline and comparators on Acinetobacter spp. isolates collected from patients with bacteremia and MIC change during the Tigecycline Evaluation and Surveillance Trial, 2004 to 2008.

The Tigecycline Evaluation and Surveillance Trial is a global surveillance study established in 2004 to monitor the activity of tigecycline, a new glycylcycline, and several comparators against an array of important Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. In this study, we examined 1591 isolates of Acinetobacter from blood samples collected from 352 centers globally between 2004 and 2008. Tigecycline showed an MIC(90) (1 microg/mL) globally, with a maximum regional value of 4 microg/mL (Middle East) reported.