Category Archives: Infections

Cystic Fibrosis Patients May Need Higher Doses of Antibiotics To Clear Lung Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Andrea Hahn, M.D., MS Infectious disease specialist and lead study author Children's National Health System

Dr. Hahn

Andrea Hahn, M.D., MS
Infectious disease specialist and lead study author
Children’s National Health System

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: People who have the genetic disease cystic fibrosis have increased sticky secretions in their lungs that put them at risk for repeated bacterial infections. They often will receive courses of intravenous antibiotics to treat more severe or difficult-to-treat infections associated with decreased lung function. However, not all patients fully recover their lung function after antibiotic treatment, despite directing antibiotic therapy toward the specific bacteria thought to be causing the infection. The goal of this study was to determine if the pharmacokinetics of commonly used antibiotics was associated with recovery of lung function.

First, we found that patients with therapeutic blood levels of beta-lactam antibiotics had better lung recovery than patients with sub-therapeutic levels of these antibiotics.

Second, we found that using higher antibiotic dosing according to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation guidelines was not sufficient to predict which patients would have therapeutically meaningful blood levels of antibiotics. Continue reading →

New Drug Class Holds Promise Against Antibiotic Resistant Gonorrhea

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Intracellular Gram-negative, Neisseria gonorrhoeae diplococcal bacteria, - CDC image

Intracellular Gram-negative, Neisseria gonorrhoeae diplococcal bacteria, – CDC image

Edward W. Hook, III, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Medicine / Infectious Diseases
Birmingham, AL

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Zoliflodacin represents a new class of antibiotics (spiropyrimidinetriones) with in vitro activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, as well as other STD  pathogens (Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma genitalium).  Because of this promising data and the fact that the manufacturer (Entasis Pharmaceuticals) was willing to pursue the possibility of using this drug to treat gonorrhea, a Phase II trial was conducted which showed he drug to be 96% effective for genital or rectal infections.  The drug was well tolerated as well making it a promising drug for gonorrhea treatment which might help to combat the increasing problem of antibiotic resistant gonorrhea.  Continue reading →

Tens of Thousands Worldwide Die of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Antibiotics" by Michael Mortensen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Dr Alessandro Cassini MD
Epidemiologist, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Solna, Sweden

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: We published an ECDC study estimating attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EEA). This study is based on 2015 data from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net).

The study was developed by experts at ECDC and the Burden of AMR Collaborative Group, and published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

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Study Supports Antibiotic Prophylaxis Before Dental Procedures in High Risk Patients

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Martin H. Thornhill MBBS, BDS, PhD, MSc, FDSRCS(Edin), FDSRCSI, FDSRCS(Eng) Professor of Translational Research in Dentistry Academic Unit of Oral & Maxillofacial Medicine Surgery & Pathology, University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry 

Prof. Thornhill

Martin H. Thornhill MBBS, BDS, PhD, MSc, FDSRCS(Edin), FDSRCSI, FDSRCS(Eng)
Professor of Translational Research in Dentistry
Academic Unit of Oral & Maxillofacial Medicine Surgery & Pathology,
University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  

Response: Infective endocarditis is an infection of the heart valves that has a high death rate (around 30% in the first year). It requires intensive treatment often involving replacement of affected heart valves and frequently results in serious long-term illness and disability in those who survive as well as an increased risk of re-infection and high healthcare costs.

In ~40% of cases, bacteria from the mouth are implicated as the causal organism. Because of this, guideline committees around the world recommended that all those at risk of infective endocarditis should receive antibiotic prophylaxis before undergoing invasive dental procedures. Due to a lack of evidence for efficacy, however, guideline committees started to limit the use of antibiotic prophylaxis. And in 2007, the American Heart Association (AHA) guideline committee recommended that antibiotic prophylaxis should continue for those at high-risk but should cease for those at moderate risk of endocarditis. Most guideline countries around the world followed suite. Except in the UK, where the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that the use of antibiotic prophylaxis should completely stop in 2008.

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CDC Reports Decrease in Some Hospital Acquired Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Hospital Room" by Kyle Taylor is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr. Shelley Magill, MD
Medical Officer and CDC lead
for the hospital HAI (hospital acquired infections) and antimicrobial use prevalence survey

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: The prevalence survey effort began in 2009. The goal was to obtain a snapshot of all healthcare-associated infections affecting hospital patients, not limited to those commonly reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network. We conducted our first full-scale hospital prevalence survey in 2011, in collaboration with the Emerging Infections Program, a network of 10 state health departments and academic and other partners. Data from that survey showed that about four percent of patients had a healthcare-associated infection—or, on any given day, about 1 in 25 patients. We repeated the survey in a similar group of hospitals in 2015 to see whether changes had occurred.

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FDA Approves Single Dose XOFLUZA™ For Uncomplicated Flu

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Mark D. Eisner, MD, MPH Vice President, Product Development Immunology Infectious Disease and Ophthalmology Genentech 

Dr. Mark Eisner

Mark D. Eisner, MD, MPH
Vice PresidentProduct Development Immunology, Infectious Disease and Ophthalmology Genentech

Dr. Eisner discusses the announcement that the FDA has approved XOFLUZA™ (baloxavir marboxil) for the treatment of acute, uncomplicated influenza.

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement?

Response: Each year, an estimated 3-11 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu, and it can be very serious, resulting in hospitalization or even death. Since 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the flu has resulted annually in 9.2 to 35.6 million illnesses, 140,000 to 900,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 to 80,000 deaths. The severity of last year’s flu season underscores the need for new medical options beyond currently available antivirals.

XOFLUZA was granted Priority Review in June 2018 based on results from the Phase III CAPSTONE-1 study of a single dose of XOFLUZA compared with placebo or oseltamivir 75 mg, twice daily for five days, in otherwise healthy people with the flu, as well as results from a placebo-controlled Phase II study in otherwise healthy people with the flu.

Continue reading →

Gene Signature Blood Test Can Diagnose TB and Treatment Response

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacteria, the Cause of TB" by NIAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0Purvesh Khatri, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection (ITI)
Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR)
Department of Medicine
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: We have previously described a 3-gene signature for distinguishing patients with active tuberculosis (ATB) from those with other diseases, latent mycobacterium tuberculosis (LTB) infection, and healthy controls (Sweeney et al. Lancet Respir Med 2016).

The current study in JAMA Network Open is a follow up study to validate the 3-gene signature in 3 additional independent cohorts that were prospectively collected.

Using these 3 cohorts we have now showed that the 3-gene signature

(1) can identify patients with LTB that will progress to ATB about 6 months prior to diagnosis of active tuberculosis.

(2) can identify patients with ATB in active screening, and

(3) can identify patients with ATB at diagnosis that have higher likelihood of persistent lung inflammation due to subclinical ATB at the end of treatment.  Continue reading →

Successful Trial of Cefiderocol For Resistant & Complicated Urinary Tract Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
https://www.shionogi.com/Simon Portsmouth, MD
Senior Medical Director
Shionogi Inc.

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Antibiotics for multidrug resistant  Gram-negative infections are desperately needed. Cefiderocol is the first siderophore antibiotic to reach patients.

Siderophore antibiotics bind to free iron and use the bacterial active iron transport channels to cross the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Laboratory studies have shown that cefiderocol is active against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative bacteria, often where no other antibiotics are active. It is able to overcome most types of antibiotic resistance due to its active transport into cells and stability against all carbapenemases.

The need for antibiotics for carbapenem resistant Gram-negative infections is described as a critical need by the WHO. This trial was the first in humans with serious infections and demonstrated excellent efficacy in a complicated patient population where almost ¼ were over 75 years of age. Additionally cefiderocol did not appear to have any safety problems, and was well tolerated.

Continue reading →

Nose-Picking Can Spread Pneumonia

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"still picking her nose" by quinn norton is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Victoria Connor 
Clinical Research Fellow
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Royal Liverpool Hospital 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Pneumococcus is a bacteria which is very common and causes lots of different infections (pneumococcal disease). Infections can be non-invasive or invasive. Non-invasive diseases include middle ear infections, sinusitis and bronchitis. Invasive infections including chest infection (pneumonia), infections of brain and spinal cord (meningitis) and blood infections (sepsis).

Invasive pneumococcal infections is a major cause of death around the world and in the UK, is estimated that is responsible for 1.3 million deaths in children under 5 annually. Pneumococcal disease causes more deaths in low and middle income countries where approximately 90% of pneumonia deaths occur.

Pneumococcus also is commonly carried (colonises) the nose/throat of children and adults. This colonisation is important to understand as it is the main source of the bacterial transmission and is also the first step in pneumococcal infections.

The understanding of transmission of pneumococcus is currently poor. It is generally thought that transmission occurs through breathing in the respiratory sections of someone carrying pneumococcus in their nose which are infected with pneumococcus.

However more recently studies especially in mice have shown that there may be a role of hands or other objects as vehicles for the transmission of pneumococcus.

Continue reading →

Dual Stain More Accurate & Efficient for Detecting Cervical Precancers in HPV-Positive Women

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Megan Clarke, PhD, MHS Cancer Prevention Fellow Clinical Genetics Branch Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics National Cancer Institute Rockville, MD 20892

Dr. Clarke

Megan Clarke, PhD, MHS
Cancer Prevention Fellow
Clinical Genetics Branch
Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genetics
National Cancer Institute
Rockville, MD 20892 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

  • Infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) is the primary cause of cervical cancer. While hrHPV infection is common, most infections are benign and clear on their own without causing cervical cancer. However, some women develop persistent hrHPV infections and are at risk for cervical cancer and its precursors (i.e., precancer).
  • The United States Preventative Services Task Force recommends screening every 3 years with cervical cytology (i.e. Pap) alone, every 5 years with hrHPV testing alone, or with a combination of hrHPV testing and cytology (co-testing) for women aged 30 to 65 years.
  • Screening with hrHPV testing is highly sensitive for detecting cervical precancer but requires additional triage tests to identify HPV-positive women at high-risk of developing cancer who should undergo colposcopy (visualization of the cervix) and biopsy from those at low-risk who can be safely monitored.
  • Currently, Pap cytology is recommended as a triage test for women testing HPV-positive, but this approach requires frequent re-testing at short intervals because the risk of cervical precancer is not low enough in HPV-positive women who test cytology negative to provide long-term reassurance against future risk. In most settings, women who test HPV-positive, cytology-negative are referred to repeat screening within one year.
  • The p16/Ki-67 dual stain assay is a molecular test that measures two specific proteins, p16 that is strongly linked with hrHPV infection, and Ki-67, a marker of cell proliferation that is common in precancers and cancers.
  • Studies have shown that the dual stain test has greater accuracy for detecting cervical precancers in HPV-positive women compared with cytology.
  • In order to determine the optimal screening intervals for the dual stain test, long-term prospective studies are needed to determine how long HPV-positive women who test dual stain negative can be safely reassured of a low precancer risk.

Continue reading →

Mandated Audit-and-Feedback Did Not Improve Hospital Hand Hygiene

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Hand Washing" by Anthony Albright is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Dr. Daniel J. Livorsi, MD
Assistant Professor
INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST
University of Iowa

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: One of the Joint Commission’s standards is that hospitals audit and provide feedback on hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers. Audit-and-feedback is therefore commonly practiced in US hospitals, but the effective design and delivery of this intervention is poorly defined, particularly in relation to hand hygiene improvement.

We studied how 8 hospitals had implemented audit-and-feedback for hand hygiene improvement. We found that hospitals were encountering several barriers in their implementation of audit-and-feedback. Audit data on hand hygiene compliance was challenging to collect and was frequently questioned. The feedback of audit results did not motivate positive change. 

Continue reading →

Probiotic May Eliminate Staph Bacteria Colonizations

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"staph aureus on blood agar" by Iqbal Osman is licensed under CC BY 2.0Pipat Piewngam
Postdoctorol fellow
Pathogen Molecular Genetics Section,
Laboratory of Bacteriology,
NIAID/NIH
Bethesda, MD, USA 20892 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? 

Response: Our team at National Institutes of health, Mahidol University and Rajamangala University of Technology in Thailand has reported that the consumption of probiotic Bacillus bacteria comprehensively abolishes colonization with the dangerous pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus.

We hypothesized that the composition of the human gut microbiota affects intestinal colonization with S. aureus. We collected fecal samples from 200 healthy individuals from rural populations in Thailand and analyzed the composition of the gut microbiome by 16S rRNA sequencing. Surprisingly, we did not detect significant differences in the composition of the microbiome between S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. We then sampled the same 200 people for S. aureus in the gut (25 positive) and nose (26 positive). Strikingly, we found no S. aureus in any of the samples where Bacillus were present.

In mouse studies, we discovered S. aureus Agr quorum-sensing signaling system that must function for the bacteria to grow in the gut. Intriguingly, all of the more than 100 Bacillus isolates we had recovered from the human feces efficiently inhibited that system. Then, we discovered that the fengycin class of Bacillus lipopeptides achieves colonization resistance by inhibiting that system.

To further validate their findings, we colonized the gut of mice with S. aureus and fed them B. subtilis spores to mimic probiotic intake. Probiotic Bacillus given every two days eliminated S. aureus in the guts of the mice. The same test using Bacillus where fengycin production had been removed had no effect, and S. aureus grew as expected. This is one of the first study that provide human evidence supporting the biological significance of probiotic bacterial interference and show that such interference can be achieved by blocking a pathogen’s signaling system. Continue reading →

Single Dose Baloxavir marboxil (Xofluza) Has Potential To Improve Treatment of High-Risk Flu

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Mark D. Eisner, MD, MPH Vice President, Product Development Immunology Infectious Disease and Ophthalmology Genentech 

Dr. Eisner

Mark D. Eisner, MD, MPH
Vice President, Product Development Immunology
Infectious Disease and Ophthalmology
Genentech 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: CAPSTONE-2 is a Phase III multicenter, randomized, double-blind study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of a single dose of baloxavir marboxil compared with placebo and oseltamivir in people 12 years and older who are at a high risk of complications from the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines people at high risk for serious flu complications to include adults 65 years of age or older, or those who have conditions such as asthma, chronic lung disease, morbid obesity or heart disease.

A total of 2,184 participants enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to receive a single, oral dose of 40 mg or 80 mg of baloxavir marboxil (according to body weight), placebo or 75 mg of oseltamivir twice daily for five days. The primary objective of the study evaluated the efficacy of a single dose of baloxavir marboxil compared with placebo by measuring the time to improvement of influenza symptoms. Key secondary endpoints compared outcomes in baloxavir marboxil versus placebo or oseltamivir – these included time to resolution of fever, time to cessation of viral shedding, infectious virus detection in swabs of the nose and throat, prescription of antibiotics and influenza-related complications.

Genentech announced initial results from the study on July 16, 2018 but the full data was presented for the first time during a late-breaking oral presentation at the annual IDWeek meeting in San Francisco, CA on October 6, 2018.

Baloxavir marboxil is a first-in-class, single-dose investigational oral medicine with a novel proposed mechanism of action designed to target the influenza A and B viruses, including oseltamivir-resistant strains and avian strains (e.g. H7N9, H5N1). Baloxavir marboxil is the first potential influenza treatment to demonstrate a clinically meaningful benefit for people highly vulnerable to serious influenza complications in clinical trials.

The FDA accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) and granted Priority Review to baloxavir marboxil as a single-dose, oral treatment for acute, uncomplicated influenza in people 12 years and older. The NDA was based on results from the Phase III CAPSTONE-1 study of a single dose of baloxavir marboxil compared with placebo or oseltamivir 75 mg, twice daily for five days, in otherwise healthy people with the flu. Results from a placebo-controlled Phase II study in otherwise healthy people with the flu were included as supporting data in the NDA. The FDA is expected to make a decision on approval by December 24, 2018. Continue reading →

Real World Treatment of Serious Infections with Ceftolozane/Tazobactam

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Thomas P. Lodise Jr., PharmD, PhD Clinical Pharmacist at the Stratton VA Medical Center in Albany, NY Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Albany, NY

Dr. Lodise

Thomas P. Lodise Jr., PharmD, PhD
Clinical Pharmacist at the Stratton
VA Medical Center in Albany, NY
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Albany, NY

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does Ceftolozane/Tazobactam differ from other antibiotics for serious Gram-negative infections including Pseudomonas aeruginosa?

Response: Treatment of patients with Gram-negative infections is increasingly difficult due to rising resistance to commonly used agents. Ceftolozane/tazobactam (C/T) is a potent anti-pseudomonal agent with broad Gram-negative coverage that is indicated for complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI) and complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) and is currently being studied for ventilated nosocomial pneumonia. C/T differs from other antibiotics in terms of its potency against multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the most concerning and difficult-to-treat Gram-negative pathogens. This study evaluates C/T in a large database of US hospitals to better understand treatment patterns and associated outcomes.

Continue reading →

Strong Link Between HPV and HIV Infection in MSM

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Brandon Brown, MPH, PhD Associate Professor Center for Healthy Communities Department of Social Medicine, Population and Public Health UCR School of Medicine Riverside, CA 

Dr. Brown

Brandon Brown, MPH, PhD
Associate Professor
Center for Healthy Communities
Department of Social Medicine, Population and Public Health
UCR School of Medicine
Riverside, CA

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? 

Response: The authors have been working in Lima, Peru on HIV-related projects for over 17 years. This particular study arose out of interest from our main community collaborator and the only gay men’s health NGO in Lima, Epicentro Salud (http://epicentro.org.pe/index.php/en/). The NGO noticed that one of the main health issues among their clients was genital warts. When we learned this, we applied for funding through the Merck Investigator Initiated Studies Program to conduct a study examining the link between genital warts and incident HIV infection.

The relationship between anogenital HPV types and incident HIV infection among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Lima, Peru

The relationship between anogenital HPV types and incident HIV infection among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Lima, Peru

Although most studies have shown a general link between HPV and HIV co-infection, our findings illustrate the strong relationship between individual HPV types and HIV infection. Specifically, individuals in our study with any HPV type, more than one HPV type, or high-risk HPV were more likely to acquire HIV.

Continue reading →

Bacterial Appendage Offers New Target To Combat Antibiotic Resistance

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

David G. Thanassi, Ph.D. Professor and Interim Chair Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology Center for Infectious Diseases Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-5222

Dr. Thanassi

David G. Thanassi, Ph.D.
Professor and Interim Chair
Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology
Center for Infectious Diseases
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5222

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli use hair-like surface appendages termed pili to colonize tissues within the host and initiate infection.  Together with our collaborators – the group of Huilin Li at the Van Andel Research Institute – we used an advanced imaging technique termed cryo-electron microscopy to determine snapshots of bacterial pili as they are being assembled.  The pili we studied are critical for uropathogenic strains of E. coli to colonize the urinary tract and cause urinary tract infections.  Our work revealed a new stage in the pilus assembly process and new details about how these structures are built on the bacterial surface.   Continue reading →

Abbott’s ID NOW Can Confirm Flu Infection in 13 Minutes or Less

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Abbott’s molecular point-of-care flu test, ID NOW

Abbott’s molecular point-of-care flu test, ID NOW

Dr. Norman Moore PhD
Abbott’s Director of Scientific Affairs for Infectious Diseases 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this test? How does ID NOW differ from other tests for influenza?

Response: This test was developed to give providers – and their patients – lab-accurate results more quickly than ever, right at the point of care. It was designed for ease of use, as well as to be portable and small enough that it can be used in a broad range of healthcare settings, including walk-in clinics, urgent care centers, doctors’ offices and emergency rooms.

Prior to ID NOW, traditional molecular tests offered great performance, but took too long to impact treatment decisions. ID NOW is able to deliver the performance and accuracy of lab-based tests in a timeframe that offers the best chance of improving treatment decisions.  Continue reading →

Bezlotoxumab (Zinplava)For Prevention of Recurrent C. Difficile Infection

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Richard Hengel, MD, FRCPC, FACP Atlanta ID Group
Richard Hengel, MD, FRCPC, FACP
Atlanta ID Group

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? How does Bezlotoxumab differ from other medications for recurrent C. difficile infections?

Response: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is now the most common hospital acquired infection in the United States, accounting for significant morbidity and mortality, not only in the US, but around the world. Despite standard antibiotic therapy targeting the Clostridium difficile bacterium directly, recurrent infection is common, occurring in a quarter to a third of patients, often frail individuals with other concurrent medical problems. These patients can have multiple recurrences leading to their progressive deterioration over time. Until recently, the only treatment for CDI included antibiotics. More recently, fecal microbiota transplant is a promising, but as yet, FDA unapproved therapy. Bezlotoximab is a new FDA approved treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (rCDI) that compliments standard antibiotics. Bezlotoxumab is a monoclonal antibody targeting toxin B produced by Clostridium difficile during CDI. In two large treatment trials, bezotoxumab, in addition to standard-of-care antibiotics, reduced the frequency of CDI recurrences from about 28% to about 18%. In this study, we set out to see if this new drug performed as well in actual clinical practice as it did in the published clinical trials.

Continue reading →

New Antibiotic Combination IMI/REL Can Treat Resistant Infection With Less Kidney Toxicity

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Michelle Hoffman Brown Associate Principal Scientist at Merck Merck

Michelle Brown

Michelle Hoffman Brown
Associate Principal Scientist
Merck

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the kidney risks of using colistin to treat carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections?

Response: Gram-negative pathogens are responsible for half of all healthcare-associated infections and their ability to resist traditional antibiotics makes them more dangerous for seriously ill patients in a healthcare setting. The need for new approaches to treat these pathogens is essential and this trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of imipenem/relebactam (IMI/REL) for the treatment of these challenging infections.

Nephrotoxicity is a common complication of colistin-based therapy and is the potential adverse experience of greatest concern to prescribing clinicians, limiting its use to treat carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections. Relebactam is a novel β-lactamase inhibitor that restores imipenem activity against many imipenem-non-susceptible strains of Gram-negative pathogens. In the Phase 3 RESTORE-IMI 1 study (NCT02452047), IMI/REL was shown to be as effective as, but better tolerated than, colistin plus imipenem, including as demonstrated by a lower incidence of treatment-emergent nephrotoxicity (prespecified secondary endpoint). This analysis looked at additional renal safety data from the RESTORE-IMI 1 trial.  Continue reading →

Therapy Dogs Can Spread MRSA in Hospitals—But Shampooing Can Help

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Courtesy of Kathryn Dalton, VMD MPH

Courtesy of Kathryn Dalton, VMD MPH

Kathryn Dalton, VMD MPH
AKC CHF Fellow
PhD Student, Davis Lab
Environmental Health and Engineering
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Animal-assisted interventions (or AAI for short) have become increasing popular in hospitals for the emotional and physical benefits they bring to patients. But there is a risk that these therapy dogs could potential spread infectious germs, including MRSA (methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus), to patients.

Our study found that therapy dogs can spread MRSA to patients, and children who had more contact with the therapy dog were at higher risk of getting MRSA. But, we used a new cleaning protocol on the dog with an anti-septic shampoo before the visit and anti-septic wipes during the visit. Patients who had more contact with the dog did not have a higher risk of MRSA when the dog was giving this new cleaning protocol, which made the AAI therapy visits safer for the patients. In addition, the patients’ emotional and physical benefits we observed were not changed by using this dog cleaning protocol.       Continue reading →

Short Office Visits Linked To More Antibiotic Prescriptions

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kathryn A. Martinez PhD MPH CanSORT Cancer Surveillance and Outcomes Research Team Cleveland Clinic

Dr Martinez

Dr. Kathryn A. Martinez PhD MPH
CanSORT Cancer Surveillance and Outcomes Research Team
Cleveland Clinic

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Most upper respiratory infections are viral and therefore should not be treated with antibiotics. Despite this, physicians commonly prescribe them for these conditions. Patients often expect antibiotics for respiratory tract infections.  As a result, physicians may find it easier to give patients what they want rather than explain to them why antibiotics aren’t needed.

We hypothesized it also might be more time consuming for physicians to explain to patients why they don’t need antibiotics, which creates a further incentive to prescribe them. To explore this potential phenomenon, we used data from a large direct to consumer telemedicine system to assess differences in medical encounter length by prescription outcome for patients diagnosed with respiratory tract infections.

We found that encounters resulting in antibiotics were 0.33 minutes shorter than those that resulted in no prescriptions, supporting our hypothesis that prescribing an antibiotic takes less time than prescribing nothing.

Continue reading →

Drinking More Water May Reduce Frequency of Urinary Tract Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Glass of Water" by Iwan Gabovitch is licensed under CC BY 2.0Professor Yair Lotan MD
Chief of Urologic Oncology
Holder of the Helen J. and Robert S. Strauss Professorship in Urology
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Department of Urology
Dallas, Texas 75390-9110 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Urinary tract infections are extremely common in women and many women experience recurrent episodes which impact their quality of life.  There are also many women who do not drink as much water as is recommended.

This study found that in healthy women with recurrent UTIs who drink less than 1.5 liters per day, the additional intake of 1.5 liters of water daily reduced the risk of recurrent infections by nearly 50%.  Continue reading →

Study Identifies Viral Protein That Allows HPV-Associated Head/Neck Cancers to Spread

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Manon Eckhardt, PhD Gladstone Institutes Quantitative BioSciences Institute University of California San Francisco 

Dr. Manon Eckhardt

Manon Eckhardt, PhD
Gladstone Institutes
The Quantitative Biosciences Institute
University of California San Francisco 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Infection with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes 5% of all cancers worldwide, including cervical cancer and an increasing number of head and neck cancers. Most cancers are caused by mutations in genes, leading to the production of malfunctioning proteins that result in unconstrained cell division. However, certain viruses like HPV can cause cancer without introducing mutations.

In this study, we compared cancers of the same type (i.e. head and neck) that are caused by either mutation or virus infection to identify important processes that are dysregulated in both subsets. We hypothesized that identifying which proteins the virus binds can lead the way to prioritize which of the proteins and cellular processes (pathways) that are affected in cancer cells are most important. To do this, we identified the complete set of human proteins that interact with HPV. We next determined genes that were more frequently mutated in non-viral cancers, and combined both data sets. The proteins we find to be both binding to HPV and mutated in non-viral cancers will be potential targets for new, more specific drug development, and help better understand the development of head and neck cancer.

From the many pathways we identified in this study, we highlighted two pathways with further mechanistic studies: the oxidative stress response, which helps cancer cells survive, as well as a pathway that allows the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. Continue reading →

Puppies From Commercial Dog Industry Source of Multistate Diarrhea Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"Siberian Husky Puppies 2013-05-25" by Jeffrey Beall is licensed under CC BY 2.0Mark Laughlin, DVM
Veterinary Medical Officer
CDC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

How common are Campylobacter infections?  How does a Campylobacter infection typically present? 

Response: Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of diarrheal illness in the United States, causing an estimated 1.3 million illnesses each year. Most people with Campylobacter infection usually have diarrhea (often bloody), fever, and abdominal cramps. The diarrhea may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. These symptoms usually start within 2 to 5 days after exposure and last about a week.

Most illnesses from Campylobacter likely occur due to eating raw or undercooked poultry, or from eating something that touched raw or undercooked poultry. Some illnesses can occur from contact with contaminated water, contact with animals, or from drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk.

Since 2009, 13 outbreaks of human Campylobacter infections linked to contact with dogs have been reported to CDC. These outbreaks account for a reported 47 illnesses and 2 hospitalizations.

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Enzyme Key To Overcoming Antibiotic Resistance in Pseudomonas Infections

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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
"pseudomonas first bacteria to be patented. professor Chakrabarty" by adrigu is licensed under CC BY 2.0Dr Dorival Martins
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Meakins-Christie Laboratories, Research Institute
McGill University Health Centre
Montreal Canada. 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Antibiotic tolerance, together with drug resistance, makes bacteria refractory to antibiotics and can cause treatment failure in subacute and chronic bacterial infections.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major health concern worldwide, can cause severe chronic infections that are refractory to antibiotic treatments due to tolerance. Since the discovery of new antibiotics has been drastically diminished over the last decades, overcoming tolerance could be a strategy to enhance the efficacy of currently available antibiotic treatments. However, very little is known about the mechanism of tolerance, even though this phenomenon has been observed over 60 years ago.

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