The investigation identified fresh strawberries as a novel vehicle for E. coli O157:H7 infection, implicated deer feces as the source of contamination, and highlights problems concerning produce contamination by wildlife and regulatory exemptions for locally grown produce. A comprehensive hypothesis-generating questionnaire enabled rapid identification of the implicated product. Good agricultural practices are key barriers to wildlife fecal contamination of produce.

Whether caused by direct toxicity, genetic predisposition, or an as-yet unidentified nephrotoxin, this association between synthetic cannabinoid exposure and acute kidney injury reinforces the need for vigilance to detect new toxicologic syndromes associated with emerging drugs of abuse. Liquid chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry are useful tools in determining the active ingredients in these evolving products and evaluating them for toxic contaminants.

Objective To determine the clinical diagnoses associated with National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) pneumonia (PNEU) or lower respiratory infection (LRI) surveillance events. Design Retrospective chart review. Setting Eight acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania. Patients All patients hospitalized during 2011–2012. Methods Medical records were reviewed from a random sample of patients reported to NHSN to have PNEU or LRI, excluding adults with ventilator-associated PNEU. Documented clinical diagnoses corresponding temporally to the PNEU/LRI events were recorded. Results We reviewed 250 (30%) of 838 eligible PNEU and LRI events reported to NHSN; 29 (12%) of reported events fulfilled neither PNEU nor LRI case criteria. Differences interpreting radiology reports accounted for most misclassification. Of 81 PNEU events in adults not on mechanical ventilation, 84% had clinician-diagnosed pneumonia, of which 25% were attributed to aspiration. Of 43 adult LRI, 88% were in mechanically ventilated patients and 35% had no corresponding clinical diagnosis (infectious or non-infectious) documented at the time of LRI. Of 36 pediatric PNEU events, 72% were ventilator-associated, and 70% corresponded to a clinical pneumonia diagnosis. Of 61 pediatric LRI, 84% were in mechanically-ventilated patients, and 21% had no corresponding clinical diagnosis documented. Conclusions In adults not on mechanical ventilation and in children, most NHSN-defined PNEU events corresponded to compatible clinical conditions documented in the medical record. In contrast, NHSN LRI events often did not. As a result, substantial modifications to the LRI definitions were implemented in 2015.