Clostridioides difficile infection in neurosurgical patients in a national centre over 10 years: less common but associated with longer hospital stays.

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of healthcare-associated (HA) diarrhoea, contributing to patient morbidity and prolonged length-of-stay (LOS). We retrospectively assessed CDI over a decade in a national neurosurgical centre, with a multi-disciplinary approach to CDI surveillance and antimicrobial stewardship, by comparing CDI patients with other patient groups.

Methods: Data on CDI in neurosurgical inpatients between January 2012 and December 2021 were collated.

Epidemiology of respiratory viruses among children during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the prevalence of respiratory viruses among children under the special conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Five databases were systematically searched to assess the pooled prevalence of various respiratory viruses in different age groups, regions, seasons, and in patients with and without confirmed SARS-CoV-2 coinfection. Moreover, we looked at the virus distribution in the first and second half of the pandemic and countries with distinct economic status.

Magistral Phage Preparations: Is This the Model for Everyone?

Phage therapy is increasingly put forward as a promising additional tool to help curb the global antimicrobial resistance crisis. However, industrially manufactured phage medicinal products are currently not available on the European Union and United States markets. In addition, it is expected that the business purpose-driven phage products that are supposed to be marketed in the future would mainly target commercially viable bacterial species and clinical indications, using fixed phage cocktails.

Global prevalence of respiratory virus infections in adults and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts have been made to contain the spread of the virus. However, the epidemiological burden of other respiratory viruses during the pandemic is unclear. We aim to address the epidemiology of respiratory viruses on adults/adolescents since the beginning of the pandemic.

European society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of brain abscess in children and adults.

Scope: These European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases guidelines are intended for clinicians involved in diagnosis and treatment of brain abscess in children and adults.

Methods: Key questions were developed, and a systematic review was carried out of all studies published since 1 January 1996, using the search terms 'brain abscess' OR 'cerebral abscess' as Mesh terms or text in electronic databases of PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane registry. The search was updated on 29 September 2022.

In vivo emergence of a still uncommon resistance to fidaxomicin in the urgent antimicrobial resistance threat Clostridioides difficile.

Background: Fidaxomicin is a first-line treatment for Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs). Fidaxomicin resistance has rarely been reported in this urgent antimicrobial resistance threat as defined by the CDC.

Objectives: To report a case of fidaxomicin-resistant C.

First water safety plan approach applied to a Dental Clinic complex: identification of new risk factors associated with and contamination, using a novel sampling, maintenance and management program.

Dental unit waterlines (DUWLs) represent a complex environment able to promote microbial contamination, due to functional, mechanical and practical risk factors. According to a water safety plan approach, the main goal is to preserve the health of dentists, dental staff and patients. The aim of this study is to develop a DUWLs water safety plan that is able to support correct and effective maintenance and disinfection procedures.

Characterization of the gut microbiome of patients with infection, patients with non- diarrhea, and -colonized patients.

Introduction: infection (CDI) is the main cause of nosocomial diarrhea in developed countries. A key challenge in CDI is the lack of objective methods to ensure more accurate diagnosis, especially when differentiating between true infection and colonization/diarrhea of other causes. The main objective of this study was to explore the role of the microbiome as a predictive biomarker of CDI.

Update of European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases coronavirus disease 2019 guidelines: diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.

Scope: Since the onset of COVID-19, several assays have been deployed for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) published the first set of guidelines on SARS-CoV-2 in vitro diagnosis in February 2022. Because the COVID-19 landscape is rapidly evolving, the relevant ESCMID guidelines panel releases an update of the previously published recommendations on diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2.

Exclusion of older adults and immunocompromised individuals in influenza, pneumococcal and COVID-19 vaccine trials before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Older adults and immunocompromised individulas are often excluded from vaccine trials.

Aim: We hypothesised that during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the proportion of trials excluding these patients decreased.

Methods: Using the US Food and Drug Administration and and European Medicines Agency search engines, we identified all vaccines approved against pneumococcal disease, influenza (quadrivalent vaccines), and COVID-19 from 2011 to 2021.

A decade of Clostridioides difficile infection: a constant challenge to maintain the status quo.

Introduction: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of healthcare-associated (HA) diarrhoea. We retrospectively investigated data from a comprehensive, multidisciplinary C. difficile surveillance programme focusing on hospitalized patients in a tertiary Irish hospital over 10 years.

Impact of testing on Clostridioides difficile infection in hospitals across Europe: a mathematical model.

Objectives: The prevalence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) has been shown to vary markedly between European countries, both in hospitals and in the community. Determining the true prevalence has proven challenging. Without systematic testing in hospitals, the unchecked transmission of CDI can lead to large outbreaks in more susceptible cohorts.

Autoantibodies are highly prevalent in non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections and critical illness.

The widespread presence of autoantibodies in acute infection with SARS-CoV-2 is increasingly recognized, but the prevalence of autoantibodies in non-SARS-CoV-2 infections and critical illness has not yet been reported. We profiled IgG autoantibodies in 267 patients from 5 independent cohorts with non-SARS-CoV-2 viral, bacterial, and noninfectious critical illness. Serum samples were screened using Luminex arrays that included 58 cytokines and 55 autoantigens, many of which are associated with connective tissue diseases (CTDs).

An analysis of existing national action plans for antimicrobial resistance-gaps and opportunities in strategies optimising antibiotic use in human populations.

At the 2015 World Health Assembly, UN member states adopted a resolution that committed to the development of national action plans (NAPs) for antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The political determination to commit to NAPs and the availability of robust governance structures to assure sustainable translation of the identified NAP objectives from policy to practice remain major barriers to progress. Inter-country variability in economic and political resilience and resource constraints could be fundamental barriers to progressing AMR NAPs.

Treatment of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Meningitis: A Survey Among Infectious Diseases Specialists in France, Sweden, Australia, and Denmark.

Background: We aimed to describe attitudes toward treatment of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) meningitis and prioritize future trials.

Methods: This was a self-administered online survey of HSV-2 meningitis treatment among infectious diseases (ID) specialists in France, Sweden, Australia, and Denmark.

Results: A total of 223 ID specialists (45% female) from France (36%), Denmark (24%), Sweden (21%), and Australia (19%) participated in the survey, primarily from university hospitals (64%).