Respiratory Infections News

Nearly one-third of hematology-oncology patients at one Seattle cancer treatment center were prescribed antibiotics for upper respiratory infections despite respiratory viruses being detected in most tested patients, according to study findings.

Closed ICUs are associated with significantly reduced rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections and ventilator-acquired pneumonia, researchers reported at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

Qiagen announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for a multiplex syndromic testing system.

DALLAS — In a phase 2b trial, an investigational TORC1 inhibitor was well tolerated and observed to reduce the incidence of respiratory tract infections in adults aged at least 65 years, including those with asthma, when administered once daily for 16 weeks during winter cold and influenza season, according to data presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

Young children with bacterial pneumonia who were admitted to a pediatric ICU frequently had lung problems that lasted up to a year after discharge, according to research presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference.

Caregivers of premature infants infected with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, experience high levels of stress. Research published in Clinical Pediatrics showed that this stress still affected many caregivers 1 month after their child was discharged.

Research presented at the American Thoracic Society’s International Meeting suggests that although e-cigarettes and cigarettes can leave people susceptible to viral illness, the products affect the immune system differently. Researchers noted that e-cigarette use may specifically impair patients’ adaptive antiviral immune response.

My path toward the field of infectious diseases was a bit winding. My love for immunology began at a young age. I was inspired to become an immunologist by my father, a rheumatologist and immunologist, whose license plate happens to be “T cell.” From the beginning, he made learning about the immune system fun and this still rings true with me today. At age 15, I spent my summer in the Cleveland Clinic microbiology lab with Dr. Belinda Yen-Lieberman. She taught me about virology, and I became fascinated with HIV. I always knew I wanted to be a rheumatologist but discovered that the intersection of infectious disease and rheumatology was the niche for me. With an immense amount of support from Carlos Isada, my ID program director, and Abby Abelson, my rheumatology program director, as well as from my father, I was fortunate to serve as the beta test subject of a 3-year combined fellowship in rheumatology and infectious disease, from which I graduated in 2018. Dr. Isada is the type of physician who is hard to come by these days — being a doctor is not “just a job” for him, but a life passion, and learning from him made it impossible to do anything but love the field of infectious diseases. Today I am lucky to practice medicine at the intersection of my two passions — seeing patients with infectious complications of immunosuppression, rheumatic manifestations of infections and HIV, and focusing on infection prevention and immunization. I am also lucky to get to work with my dad every day (and my sister, who also works in my department). I learn something new and have fun every day.

At the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in September 2018, heads of state committed to ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2030. An agreement was signed at the meeting that promised $2 billion a year for TB research. Infectious Diseases in Children asked two experts — Mario C. Raviglione, FRCP (UK), FERS, Hon RSP (RF), professor of global health at the University of Milan and the Global Studies Institute of the University of Geneva, and former director of WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Program, and Lisa V. Adams, MD, associate dean of global health at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth — what research should be a priority in an effort to end the global epidemic of TB in children.

WHO estimates that 1 million children become ill with tuberculosis every year, and approximately 230,000 die. Children made up one-tenth of the estimated 10 million people worldwide who developed TB in 2017, but confirming diagnosis in children is challenging, creating critical delays in starting treatment.