Gastrointestinal Infections News

Prior antibiotic exposure and protein pump inhibitor use were both risk factors for the development of Clostridioides difficile infection, or CDI, in pediatric inpatients, according to results of a meta-analysis published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Long-term surveillance among men who have sex with men with HIV after clearance of hepatitis C may be warranted as reinfection rates remain high and continue to occur more than 11 years after clearance regardless of treatment, according to a study presented at CROI.

The rates of hepatitis C incidence among men who have sex with men with HIV has significantly decreased in London since the epidemic peak in 2015, coinciding with wider access to direct-acting antiviral therapy, according to data presented at CROI.

Children from low-income households are more likely to have respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses but are less likely to miss school compared with children from families with higher incomes, according to a study conducted by the CDC.

The CDC has begun using Clostridioides difficile instead of Clostridium difficile to refer to the bacterium that commonly causes infectious diarrhea, raising questions about the importance of naming conventions for well-known organisms.

Phase 3 study findings showed that cadazolid is inferior to vancomycin for treating Clostridioides difficile.

Findings from a retrospective cohort study conducted at a single hospital suggest that patients with sickle cell disease have a lower — and not higher — risk for Clostridioides difficile infection compared with the hospitalwide patient population, researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine.

As a fourth-year medical student at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, I did an elective rotation with Dr. John Greene at Moffitt Cancer Center. I was awestruck as I saw the fellows and Dr. Greene make incredible diagnoses based on details from the patients’ histories. We conversed with radiologists, pathologists, other internal medicine subspecialists and surgeons; a constant busy mission to determine what kind of infections patients had. Their knowledge was superior, having to understand different cultures, practices and hobbies that could lead to the diagnosis. I witnessed the way that the infectious disease physicians conversed with others; their pleasant demeanor toward patients and staff was infectious. Most compelling of all was the microbiology lab, where you came face to face with your patients’ foes: Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter, Fusarium, Cryptosporidium, etc. This to me was the defining moment: looking into the viewing ocular pieces of the microscope to view something that was a millionth our size and had the potential to cause incredible pathologic havoc. This experience, which I also had during my internal medicine residency, is what led me to my interest in host-pathogen responses and to choose a career in infectious diseases.

Researchers determined a target limit of detection for hepatitis C point-of-care tests that would identify 97% of viremic infections among all populations including low- and middle-income countries, according to a recently published study.

The CDC recently announced that all persons aged 1 year or older experiencing homelessness should be routinely immunized for hepatitis A, based on a review of recent data.