We present a patient with acute myeloid leukemia and prolonged, severe neutropenia who developed fulminant Clostridioides difficile infection refractory to medical therapy and was high‐risk for surgical intervention. He was treated with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for life‐saving cure. The patient had subsequent clinical improvement, however, developed multidrug‐resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia 2 days post‐procedure. We describe subsequent investigation of this event that found this bacteremia was not related to the donor stool administered during FMT. This case adds to the literature that FMT could be considered in heavily immunocompromised patients with fulminant Clostridioides difficile infection where maximal medical therapy has been ineffective and surgery may carry an excessively high mortality risk.
Background Antimicrobial stewardship (AS) programs are required by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and should ideally have infectious diseases (ID) physician involvement; however, only 50% of ID fellowship programs have formal AS curricula. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) formed a workgroup to develop a core AS curriculum for ID fellows. Here, we study its impact. Methods ID program directors and fellows in 56 fellowship programs were surveyed regarding the content and effectiveness of their AS training before and after implementation of the IDSA curriculum. Fellows’ knowledge was assessed using multiple-choice questions. Fellows completing their first year of fellowship were surveyed before curriculum implementation (“pre-curriculum”) and compared to first-year fellows who complete the curriculum the following year (“post-curriculum”). Results Forty-nine (88%) program directors and 105 (67%) fellows completed the pre-curriculum surveys; 35 (64%) program directors and 79 (50%) fellows completed the post-curriculum surveys. Prior to IDSA curriculum implementation, only 51% of programs had a “formal” curriculum. After implementation, satisfaction with AS training increased among program directors (16% to 68%) and fellows (51% to 68%). Fellows’ confidence increased in 7/10 AS content areas. Knowledge scores improved from a mean of 4.6 to 5.1 correct answers of 9 questions (P=0.028). The major hurdle to curriculum implementation was time, both for formal teaching and for e-learning. Conclusion Effective AS training is a critical component of ID fellowship training. The IDSA Core AS Curriculum can enhance AS training, increase fellow confidence, and improve overall satisfaction of fellows and program directors.
Purpose: Dietary behaviors are key modifiable risk factors in averting cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability in the United States. Before investing in adoption and implementation, community-based organizations, public health practitioners, and policymakers-often working with limited resources-need to compare the population health impacts of different food policies and programs to determine priorities, build capacity, and maximize resources. Numerous reports, reviews, and policy briefs have synthesized across evidence-based policies and programs to make recommendations, but few have made a deep acknowledgment that dietary policies and programs are not implemented in a vacuum, and that ''real-world'' settings are complex, multifaceted and dynamic. Methods: A narrative review was conducted of currently recommended evidence-based approaches to improving dietary behaviors, to describe and characterize applied and practical factors for consideration when adopting and implementing these dietary policies and programs across diverse settings. Results: From the narrative review, six key considerations emerged to guide community-based organizations, public health practitioners, and policymakers on moving from the evidence base, toward implementation in local and community settings. Conclusions: Considerations of ''real-world'' contextual factors are necessary and important when adopting and selecting evidence-based policies and programs to improve dietary behaviors and ultimately improve CVD outcomes. Promising approaches include those that apply community-partnered research and systems science to examine the equitable implementation of evidence-based dietary policies and programs.
In 829 hospital encounters for patients with COVID-19, 73.2% included orders for antibiotics; however, only 1.8% had respiratory cultures during the first 3 hospital days isolating bacteria. Case–control analysis of 30 patients and 96 controls found that each antibiotic day increased the risk of isolating multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) in respiratory cultures by 6.5%.
BackgroundAdvanced Practice Providers (APPs), including nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), increasingly provide patient care in inpatient settings at academic medical centers. However, little is known about their medical education. We sought to describe current APP educational experiences at our institution and to implement and evaluate an educational intervention aimed at decreasing inappropriate antimicrobial use for asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) amongst this group.Methods33 inpatient-based APPs participated in the educational intervention consisting of in-person sessions and an online video reviewing diagnosis and management of ASB. Pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed knowledge before and after the intervention. Surveys also assessed APP’s educational background, opportunities, and barriers.Results17 APPs completed the pre-intervention survey. 59% estimated less than 10 hours of antimicrobial education during their training. 88% reported that the majority of their current learning is independent. All APPs reported desiring more educational opportunities. 76% felt current opportunities are designed for medical students or housestaff. Commonly reported barriers included patient care, rounding obligations, and lack of protected time. 8 APPs attended the in-person sessions and there were 21 views of the online video. 10 APPs completed the post-intervention survey. All reported interest in similar sessions in the future. 70% planned to prescribe fewer antimicrobials for ASB; however, the same number also reported “Attending or fellow decision” as the main barrier to decreasing prescriptions. Mean knowledge scores significantly increased after the intervention from 2.5 to 4.125 (P < 0.05).ConclusionAPPs within an academic medical center have unique educational backgrounds and needs. APPs identified current educational opportunities as student/resident directed and incompatible with their work schedules. More APPs utilized the video session than attended in-person lectures. This intervention improved immediate knowledge acquisition; however, retention and impact on clinical outcomes are still being evaluated.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.
BackgroundAntimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) often utilize Infectious Diseases fellows (IDFs) to cover pre-authorization processes during evening and weekend hours. IDFs often provide ASP coverage in addition to their inpatient consult roles. In response to increasing consult volume, we worked with our fellowship program to relieve IDFs of evening and weekend coverage (a decrease in fellow coverage by 26 hours per week) starting in October 2017. Members of the ASP assumed the majority of these evening and weekend hours. Additional post-prescriptive activities and a rotation in Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship were implemented in response. We sought to analyze the impact of this intervention.MethodsIntervention and medication data were extracted from the electronic medical record during 1 July 2017 through 30 September of 2017 (IDF Coverage) and the same 3 months of 2018 (ASP Coverage). Comparisons between the two periods were performed using descriptive statistics of the number of interventions, number of weekend interventions, types of interventions, and days of therapy (DOT; per 1000 patient-days).ResultsComparing July-September of 2017 and 2018, total ASP interventions increased 16% (1192 to 1391); weekend ASP interventions increased 75% (139 to 243). The most common interventions were “Choice of Therapy” (41% in both years), “De-Escalation” (17% in 2017, 16% in 2018), and “Dose/Interval Optimization” (10% in both years). The most intervened agents were piperacillin–tazobactam, cefepime, vancomycin, meropenem, and ceftazidime.Comparing the same time periods, total antibiotic DOT decreased 4% (714.1 to 684.9). There was a 28% decrease in piperacillin–tazobactam (41.47 to 29.85), 19% decrease in meropenem (28.08 to 22.61), and 7% decrease in vancomycin (125.09 to 116.17) use. Ceftazidime was unchanged (18.13 to 18.08). Cefepime increased by 9% (56.78 to 61.97).ConclusionRelieving IDFs of evening and weekend ASP coverage during busy inpatient consult rotations may help decrease burnout. The assumption of these hours by dedicated members of ASP led to an increase in documented total and weekend ASP interventions. In addition, the change was associated with a relative decrease in piperacillin–tazobactam, meropenem, and vancomycin use.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.