Current Infectious Disease Reports

Purpose of Review: Armed conflicts occur globally, with some regions experiencing heightened instability for many years. A better understanding of the infectious disease impact on children in armed conflict will allow aid organizations to anticipate and mitigate the most serious problems. Recent Findings: Armed conflicts are estimated to have caused approximately 30 million civilian deaths during the past 27 years, with two-thirds occurring in women and children...

Purpose of Review: Antimicrobial stewardship within acute care is common and has been expanding to outpatient areas. Some inpatient antimicrobial stewardship tactics apply to outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) and complex outpatient antimicrobial therapy (COpAT) management, but differences do exist. Recent Findings: OPAT/COpAT is a growing area of practice and research with its own unique considerations for antimicrobial stewardship. Potential ideas for antimicrobial stewardship in the OPAT/COpAT setting include redesigning the regimen to COpAT instead of OPAT, ensuring the use of the shortest effective duration of antimicrobial therapy; using antimicrobials dosed less frequently, such as long-acting glycopeptides; optimizing antimicrobial susceptibility testing reporting for common OPAT/COpAT drugs; and establishing routine laboratory and safety monitoring...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: While reducing unnecessary days present of central venous catheters (CVCs) is part of central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) best practices, there is limited information regarding compliance with this recommendation as well as addressing barriers to compliance. RECENT FINDINGS: Significant work has been directed towards daily audits of necessity and improving communication between members of the medical team. Other critical interventions include utilization of the electronic health record (EHR), leadership support of CLABSI reduction goals, and avoiding CVC placement over more appropriate vascular access...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sepsis is a leading cause of death worldwide. Groundbreaking international collaborative efforts have culminated in the widely accepted surviving sepsis guidelines, with iterative improvements in management strategies and definitions providing important advances in care for patients. Key to the diagnosis of sepsis is identification of infection, and whilst the diagnostic criteria for sepsis is now clear, the diagnosis of infection remains a challenge and there is often discordance between clinician assessments for infection...

Purpose of Review: The purpose of this study is to review racial and ethnic inequities in the incidence and prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the USA, identify gaps in the literature, and recommend future directions to mitigate these inequities. Recent Findings: While some existing literature has identified the presence of racial/ethnic inequities in HAI incidence and outcomes, few studies to date have evaluated whether HAI prevention efforts have mitigated these inequities...

Purpose of Review: We describe the similarities between antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) and infection prevention programs (IPPs), and we discuss how these similarities lend themselves to synergy between programs. We also discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has generated further opportunities for future collaborations that could benefit both programs. Recent Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic has created new needs, such as real-time data and access to personnel important to both programs, such as information technologists and infectious diseases specialists...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this article is to review current and emerging microbiological techniques that support the rapid diagnosis of bacterial infections in critically ill patients, including their performance, strengths and pitfalls, as well as available data evaluating their clinical impact. RECENT FINDINGS: Bacterial infections and sepsis are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in patients admitted to the intensive care unit and their management is further complicated by the increase in the global burden of antimicrobial resistance...

Purpose of Review: The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected lives of billions of individuals, globally. There is an urgent need to develop interventions including vaccines to control the ongoing pandemic. Recent Findings: Development of tools for fast-tracked testing including small and large animal models for vaccine efficacy analysis, assays for immunogenicity assessment, critical reagents, international biological standards, and data sharing allowed accelerated development of vaccines...

Purpose of Review: Rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is increasingly more common among clinics serving people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH). It is recommended by major guidelines and is especially important in achieving the Getting to Zero (GTZ) goals by 2030. Patients should be offered the option to initiate ART as soon as possible, preferably at time of HIV diagnosis, with the goal of reducing transmission, morbidity, and mortality. Recent Findings: Three published randomized controlled trials, and several other observational, prospective, and retrospective studies, demonstrated superior rates of viral suppression (VS) with initiation of rapid ART compared to standard of care...

Purpose of Review: Syndromic multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) panels offer the antimicrobial steward a rapid tool for optimizing and de-escalating antimicrobials. In this review, we analyze the role of syndromic mPCR in respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous system infections within the context of antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Recent Findings: For all mPCR syndromic panels, multiple studies analyzed the pre-and-post implementation impact of mPCR on antimicrobial utilization...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Early identification of infection in the critically ill patient and initiation of appropriate treatment is key to reducing morbidity and mortality. On the other hand, the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials leads to harms, many of which may be exaggerated in the critically ill population. The current method of diagnosing infection in the intensive care unit relies heavily on clinical gestalt; however, this approach is plagued by biases. Therefore, a reliable, independent biomarker holds promise in the accurate determination of infection...

Purpose of Review: Societal lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to unprecedented disruption to daily life across the globe. A collateral effect of these lockdowns may be a change to transmission dynamics of a wide range of infectious diseases that are all highly dependent on rates of contact between humans. With timing, duration and intensity of lockdowns varying country-to-country, the wave of lockdowns in 2020 present a unique opportunity to observe how changes in human contact rates, disease control and surveillance affect dengue virus transmission in a global natural experiment...

Purpose of Review: The purpose of this review is to summarize current evidence for and against the treatment of asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV) in women. Recent Findings: Asymptomatic BV is common although its pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. In favor of treating asymptomatic BV is the large body of data supporting that it is sexually transmitted. Along these lines and similar to other STIs, treatment of BV, regardless of symptom status, should be considered to reduce adverse outcomes of infection (i...

Purpose of Review: The non-specific presentation of acute Q fever makes it difficult to diagnose in children, but untreated Q fever can result in chronic infections that have severe complications. Recent Findings: Pediatric Q fever cases continue to be infrequently reported in the literature, and primarily document cases of persistent infections with Coxiella burnetii . Standardized treatment protocols for chronic Q fever in children still do not exist. Doxycycline and hydroxychloroquine are the treatment combination most utilized by healthcare providers to treat Q fever endocarditis or osteomyelitis in children, but a variety of other antibiotic combinations have been reported with varying results...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Accurate and timely diagnosis of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is imperative to prevent C. difficile transmission and reduce morbidity and mortality due to CDI, but CDI laboratory diagnostics are complex. The purpose of this article is to review the role of laboratory tests in the diagnosis of CDI, and the role of diagnostic stewardship in optimization of C. difficile testing. RECENT FINDINGS: Results from C. difficile diagnostic tests should be interpreted with an understanding of the strengths and limitations inherent in each testing approach...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Gram-negative resistance is a growing concern globally. Enterobacterales, formerly Enterobacteriaceae, have developed resistance mechanisms to carbapenems that leave very few antimicrobial options in the clinician's armamentarium. RECENT FINDINGS: New antimicrobials like ceftazidime-avibactam, meropenem-vaborbactam, imipenem-relebactam, cefiderocol, and plazomicin have the potential to overcome resistance mechanisms in Enterobacterales including different classes of carbapenemases...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Major technologic advances in two main areas of molecular infectious disease diagnostics have resulted in accelerated adoption or ordering, outpacing implementation, and clinical utility studies. Physicians must understand the limitations to and appropriate utilization of these technologies in order to provide cost-effective and well-informed care for their patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Rapid molecular testing and, to a lesser degree, clinical metagenomics are now being routinely used in clinical practice...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: We aimed to summarize the most current evidence on the main aspects of the diarrheal diseases in children. The following key elements were addressed: definitions, etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, dietary management, pharmacological treatments, and prevention. We covered the following questions: What are the most important clinical and laboratory features of the disease? What are the best approaches for the dietary management? What is the best way to classify the hydration status, and to prevent and treat the dehydration? What are the most effective and safe interventions for reducing the diarrhea and vomiting? RECENT FINDINGS: Diarrheal diseases are one of the most common diseases in childhood...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This investigation aims to understand the role and burden of viral co-infections for acute respiratory illnesses in children. Co-infection can be either viral-viral or viral-bacterial and with new technology there is more information on the role they play on the health of children. RECENT FINDINGS: With the proliferation of multiplex PCR for rapid diagnosis of multiple viruses as well as innovations on identification of bacterial infections, research has been attempting to discover how these co-infections affect each other and the host...

Due to broad spectrum susceptibility of Candida species to fluconazole, its convenience as an oral agent, and predictable patient tolerance and safety, current practice guidelines recommend the use of long-term suppression regimens of fluconazole as prophylaxis for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC), as well as in abbreviated doses when known trigger factors emerge and inevitable symptomatic episodes are predictable. However, recent concerns of fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans strains may impact fluconazole use, particularly, concerns of overuse...