Bacterial Infection

The opioid epidemic in the United States has not only increased the rate of opioid-involved overdose deaths and the transmission of bloodborne viruses but also led to lesser-known consequences, such as increased bacterial infections.

Around 10% of patients hospitalized for influenza and community-acquired pneumonia also had a community-onset bacterial coinfection, and these patients experienced worse outcomes and higher costs, according to a large U.S. study.

Up to 32% of people who died with COVID-19 had a bacterial lung superinfection, according to findings from a review of postmortem studies.

Artificial intelligence can help predict the chance of resistant organisms appearing in sputum cultures in the ER, helping to guide therapy, according to findings presented during the ASM Microbe virtual meeting.

This episode delves into the history of Whipple’s disease — from its initial description, to the lengthy process of proving it’s an infectious disease.

Globally, reported cases of neonatal tetanus decreased by 90% from 2000 to 2018 and neonatal deaths from the bacterial infection fell 85%, according to a report published recently in MMWR, which summarized progress toward eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT).

In this bimonthly column, pediatric infectious disease specialists Asif Noor, MD, FAAP, and Ulka Kothari, MD, share valuable insight on antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric outpatient settings and explain why it is important for your practice. Antimicrobial stewardship programs, or ASPs, have become a crucial intervention to spare patients and facilities from the burden of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which are responsible for one death every 15 minutes, according to updated estimates from the CDC.

In this bimonthly column, pediatric infectious disease specialists Asif Noor, MD, FAAP, and Ulka Kothari, MD, share valuable insight on antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric outpatient settings and explain why it is important for your practice. Antimicrobial stewardship programs, or ASPs, have become a crucial intervention to spare patients and facilities from the burden of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, which are responsible for one death every 15 minutes, according to updated estimates from the CDC.

NEW YORK — Certain rheumatologic diseases can often appear initially to be infections, according to Ronald M. Laxer, MDCM, FRCPC, professor at the University of Toronto’s departments of pediatrics and medicine and staff rheumatologist at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Researchers recently identified a new strain of group A Streptococcus that became the predominant cause of scarlet fever in England and may be responsible for a rise in more severe cases.