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Top stories in infectious disease: CDC recommends against annual TB screening in health care personnel, some UTI treatments unnecessary after 7 days
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Among the top stories in infectious disease last week were the updated CDC and National Tuberculosis Controllers Association recommendations that advised against yearly screening of U.S. health care personnel for latent tuberculosis and a report that concluded that there is no clinical benefit to treating some men with UTI for more than 7 days.
Other highlights included findings that showed hand hygiene reminders failed to significantly impact health care employees’ adherence to such rules, the impact IV antibiotics had on some patients with acute decompensated heart failure and details of how a yellow fever outbreak in South America highlighted a ‘great dilemma’ physicians occasionally encounter. – by Janel Miller
Health care personnel should not be screened yearly for TB, guidelines say
In updated guidance, the CDC and National Tuberculosis Controllers Association recommended against screening U.S. health care personnel, or HCP, for latent tuberculosis every year, reflecting an overall decrease in TB cases and incidence among HCP. Read more.
No advantage in treating men with UTIs for more than 7 days
There is no clinical advantage in treating men with UTIs and no additional complicating conditions for longer than 7 days, according to researchers, who found that shorter treatment duration is not associated with an increased risk for recurrence, according to a report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Read more.
Placards do not improve hand hygiene adherence
Hand hygiene placards posted in a Denver hospital — including one that featured an image of two eyes looking directly at the viewer with a reminder to clean their hands — did not result in measurable improvements in hand hygiene adherence among health care workers, researchers reported in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. Read more.
IV antibiotics associated with worse outcomes in patients with heart failure
Patients with acute decompensated heart failure who were treated with IV antibiotics — without evidence of infection — experienced longer hospital stays, required more diuretics and were more likely to be readmitted compared with patients with acute decompensated heart failure who were not exposed to IV antibiotics, researchers reported in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Read more.
Transplant recipient’s death from yellow fever highlights ‘great dilemma’
Amid a yellow fever outbreak in Southeastern Brazil, an unvaccinated kidney transplant recipient contracted the disease and died, highlighting a “great dilemma” physicians must contend with — advising immunocompromised patients about vaccination in areas affected by yellow fever, researchers reported in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Read more.