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Background. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a leading cause of infectious complications in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients (alloHCT). We sought to evaluate whether prophylactic oral vancomycin reduces the incidence of CDI in alloHCT recipients.Methods. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine the effectiveness of CDI prophylaxis with oral vancomycin, as compared to no prophylaxis, in 145 consecutive adult alloHCT recipients at the University of Pennsylvania between April 2015 and November 2016. Patients received oral vancomycin 125 mg twice daily, starting on admission and continuing until discharge. The primary outcome of interest was the association between oral vancomycin prophylaxis and CDI diagnosis. Secondary outcomes included graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and relapse.Results. There were no cases of CDI in patients that received prophylaxis (0/90, 0%), whereas 11/55 (20%) patients who did not receive prophylaxis developed CDI (P < .001). Oral vancomycin prophylaxis was not associated with a higher risk of acute, grades 2-4 GVHD (subhazard ratio [sHR] 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88-2.89; P = .12), acute, grades 3-4 GVHD (sHR 0.65; 95% CI 0.25-1.66; P = .36), or acute, grades 2-4 gastrointestinal GVHD (sHR 1.95; 95% CI 0.93-4.07; P = .08) at day 180 post-transplant. No associations between oral vancomycin and relapse or survival were observed.Conclusions. Prophylaxis with oral vancomycin is highly effective in preventing CDI in alloHCT recipients without increasing the risk of graft-versus-host disease or disease relapse. Further evaluation via a prospective study is warranted.

We implemented a guideline for appropriate acid suppressant use in hematology-oncology patients. This intervention resulted in a sustained reduction in proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use without an increase in rates of gastrointestinal bleeding. Practice guidelines are effective in reducing PPI use, which is associated with risk of Clostridioides difficile infection.

Palpable purpura resulting from cocaine and levamisole coingestion has been reported with increasing frequency over the last several years as distribution of this drug combination becomes more universal. Toxicity from ingestion of this dangerous combination is difficult to diagnose due to the multitude of possible clinical presentations, variety of possible adulterants, and elusive nature of levamisole given its short half-life and limited availability of detection methods. Levamisole is a chemotherapeutic and immunomodulatory agent currently marketed as a veterinary anthelmintic. We describe the case of a 48-year-old woman admitted to our intensive care unit with a diagnosis of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), confirmed from fluid taken from an elbow lesion that grew Streptococcus pyogenes. She was noted to have bullae of the elbow and diffuse purpura with necrotic centers covering a large portion of her body (trunk, legs, arms, back, toes, fingers, and tip of nose). On further evaluation, she was found to have ingested levamisole-tainted cocaine. The patient's complications related to either cocaine and levamisole coingestion or STSS included thrombocytopenia, acute renal failure, and limb necrosis. Thrombocytopenia gradually improved upon treatment with prednisone, and acute renal failure improved with intravenous fluid resuscitation; however, she subsequently required several appendage amputations due to severe gangrene. Clinicians must have high suspicion for ingestion of this drug combination and request prompt testing of urine samples for levamisole if a patient who admits to illicit drug use presents with purpuric or necrotic skin lesions.