Antibiotic

In this edition, optimal antibiotics timing among inpatients with cancer; inflammation levels linked to survival in acute myeloid leukemia; dexrazoxane confers long-term cardioprotection for pediatric cancer and more.

My journey in infectious diseases started out with an intense hatred and utter confusion.

A large study conducted at more than 800 hospitals found that antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines were not followed in more than two-fifths of inpatient elective surgeries.

Outpatient antibiotic prescribing fell more than 25% in 2020 compared with earlier years across all ages, but researchers found most of the prescribing was among adults, according to a study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Delaying antibiotic treatment beyond 1 hour from developing neutropenic fever did not affect OS among hospitalized patients with cancer, results from a retrospective study showed.

Drugs designed to treat heartburn may also help with tuberculosis by accelerating the treatment process, according to study results published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

SAN ANTONIO — Corticosteroid use for asthma exacerbations increased during the delta and omicron waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.

Among primary care physicians, quarterly personalized antibiotic prescribing audits and feedback with peer benchmarking did not reduce antibiotic prescriptions, according to results of a randomized clinical trial in JAMA Internal Medicine.

For women with preterm pre-labor rupture of membranes, treatment with cefuroxime- vs. ampicillin-roxithromycin was associated with longer pregnancy and less morbidity, according to a presenter at The Pregnancy Meeting.

Antibiotic prescribing was high among patients with COVID-19, but researchers found that antimicrobial stewardship programs with prospective audit and feedback helped optimize antibiotic treatments among these patients.