Unrelated Bacterial Strains Can Transfer Antibiotic Resistance Genes To Each Other

Posted on June 22, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

CRE bacteria – CDC image

Richard Stanton, PhD
Health Scientist, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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

Response: We used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) that occurred in an acute care hospital in Kentucky over a six month period in late 2016. The outbreak included 18 cases of CRE.

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Red Meat Allergy Caused by Lone Star Tick Linked to Coronary Artery Disease

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jeffrey Wilson, MD, PhD
Research Fellow, Allergy & Immunology
University of Virginia

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

Response: Galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) represents an oligosaccharide that is present in mammalian products and is the causal allergen in a syndrome of delayed red meat allergy (commonly called α-Gal syndrome). Sensitization to this allergen has been linked to tick bites, specifically the lone star tick in the United States.

Thus, sensitization to α-Gal (and the prevalence of subjects with symptomatic red meat allergy) is relatively common where the lone star tick is common, i.e- the southeast.

For a variety of reasons we hypothesized that specific immune sensitization (which relates to IgE antibody production) to α-Gal would be a risk factor for coronary artery disease. To address this possibility we measured IgE specific to α-Gal in 118 adults subjects from central Virginia who had undergone advanced cardiac imaging with a technique called intravascular ultrasound. Out of the cohort 26% of the subjects in the study had the sensitivity to α-Gal.

The main finding was that subjects with the IgE sensitization to α-Gal had greater amounts of atherosclerosis, as well as atherosclerotic plaques with more unstable characteristics. This association was significant when controlled for traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and lipids levels.

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Ornamental Bromeliad Plants Contribute to Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
André Wilke, Ph.D.
Post Doctoral Associate
Division of Environment & Public Health
Department of Public Health Sciences
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Clinical Research Building
Miami, Florida 33136

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

Response: As vector-borne diseases pose an increasing public health threat to communities in South Florida and elsewhere, a new study led by public health researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has revealed that ornamental bromeliad plants contribute to breeding of the Aedes aegypti mosquito—a key culprit for the Zika outbreak that hit Miami-Dade County and other areas of Florida and the Americas in 2016.

In addition to Zika, bites from the Aedes aegypti mosquito can cause dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya. Zika has been linked to microcephaly and other birth defects in unborn babies when pregnant women contract the disease. The family of diseases linked to the Aedes aegypti can cause other severe symptoms. Yellow fever can be fatal.

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TDAP Vaccine During Pregnancy Protects Infants Against Whooping Cough

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Becker-Dreps

Sylvia Becker-Dreps, MD MPH
Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Associate Director, Office of International Activities (Latin America Focus)
Director, UNC Program in Nicaragua
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7595

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

Response: Pertussis (or whooping cough) is a respiratory infection caused by bacteria. It has been becoming more common in the US over the past two decades. Infants are more likely to be hospitalized and die of the disease. They are especially vulnerable in the first months of life because they have not yet had time to complete the DTaP vaccine series themselves. (Currently, infants receive 3 doses of DTaP at 2,4, and 6 months of age.) Immunizing mothers allows the mothers to pass antibodies against pertussis through the placenta and provide passive immunity to infants early in life. In early 2013, the CDC recommended that pregnant women receive a Tdap vaccine in every pregnancy. That recommendation was based on studies of the immune response to the vaccine, not real cases of pertussis.

Our study examined clinical cases of pertussis in over 675,000 infants throughout the US. We found that in the first six months of life, infants of vaccinated mothers (those that received Tdap during pregnancy) had 75% less pertussis hospitalizations and 50% less pertussis cases overall. Continue reading →

Parent Skin Cleansing Prior to Infant Contact in NICU Important to Reduce Staph Infections

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gwen M. Westerling, BSN, RN, CIC
Infection Preventionist
Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital

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

Response: The setting of this study is a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with 106 beds.

In 2016, an increase in Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) was noted in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) caused by Staphylococcus aureus (SA) through diligent Infection Prevention Surveillance. When we reviewed the literature we found the SA is a common skin colonizer and can be a problem for neonates with immature skin and immune systems.

Staphylococcus aureus is easily transmitted through direct contact with skin, the contaminated hands of health care workers, the environment and equipment. We also found one study that listed skin to skin care as a risk factor for acquisition of SA. Before we saw the increase in infections some process changes occurred in our NICU that included increased skin to skin care, meaningful touch between neonates and parents, and two person staff care. We hypothesized that the process changes were exposing neonates to increased amounts of Staphylococcus aureus and contributing to the increase in infections.

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Why So Many New HIV Infections in US, Despite PrEP Availability?

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Pinto

Rogério M. Pinto, LCSW, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Associate Dean for Research
School of Social Work
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, USA

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

Response: This integrative review, published in the journal AIDS and Behavior, includes content from 47 peer-reviewed scholarly articles reporting multiple barriers to high-risk individuals trying to access pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the HIV drugs that reduce subsequent risk of infection. We found 31 potential solutions to 30 barriers at the patient, provider and health-system levels. In synthesizing this research from a multi-level perspective, based upon a socioecological model, our report contributes much-needed analysis to the rapidly expanding field of PrEP implementation research.

At this stage in the scale-up of U.S. PrEP programs, it is important to systematically and comprehensively analyze and integrate knowledge about the successes of and the barriers to PrEP implementation. Our review provides a comprehensive analysis and informs the direction of PrEP implementation across a variety of settings.

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What Causes Failures in Personal Protective Equipment Use in Hospitals?

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Sarah L. Krein, PhD, RN
Research Career Scientist
VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System
Ann Arbor, MI

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

Response: We conducted this study to better understand the challenges faced by health care personnel when trying to follow transmission based precaution practices while providing care for hospitalized patients. We already know from other studies that there are breaches in practice but our team was interested in better understanding why and how those breaches (or failures) occur so we can develop better strategies to ensure the safety of patients and health care personnel.

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Mathematical Model Investigates Spread of Cholera In Limited Resource Setting

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Daihai He
Assistant Professor
Department of Applied Mathematics
Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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

Response: A large-scale cholera outbreak hit Yemen in 2017-2018 and caused an estimated 1,100,720 suspected cases and 2291 associated deaths between 27 April 2017 and 20 May 2018, thus a case fatality ratio 0.21%.

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Long Term HIV Viral Suppression Reduces But Does Not Eliminate Elevated Cancer Risk

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Lesley Park

Lesley S. Park, PhD, MPH
Instructor, Medicine- Primary Care and Population Health
BioStanford Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) Associate Director, Research and Data Strategy; Director, PHS Postdoctoral Fellowship
Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) Cancer Core Co-Director

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

Response: As the population of persons living with HIV/AIDS is aging, the overall burden of cancer is substantial and increasing; however, we have much to learn about the potential cancer prevention benefits of antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Our study is the first to examine the effects of prolonged periods of viral suppression and potential cancer prevention benefits. While prior randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies have examined viral suppression and cancer risk, they mostly were limited to small numbers of cancer outcomes or were only focused on few specific cancer types.

Our study demonstrated a benefit of the prevention of cancer development in AIDS-defining cancers (non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Kaposi sarcoma), which was expected, but also in some non-AIDS-defining cancer types (lung, larynx, melanoma, leukemia). Continue reading →

Unique Vaginal Cells Facilitate HIV Infection and Persistence

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Manish Sagar, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine Boston MA

Dr. Sagar

Manish Sagar, MD
Infectious Disease Physician at Boston Medical Center
Boston MA

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

Response: Women compromise the majority of new infections in the world and most of them acquire the virus after sexual exposure. The goal of the study was to understand how HIV establishes initial infection in the female genital tract. We obtained discarded vaginal tissue and isolated cells present in the outermost layer that contact the virus during exposure.

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Guillain-Barré Syndrome With and Without Zika

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Dirlikov

Dr. Emilio Dirlikov, PhD
Office of Epidemiology and Research, Puerto Rico Department of Health
Epidemic Intelligence Service
Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development
CDC

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

Response: After reporting local Zika transmission in December 2015, the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDH), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and University of Puerto Rico began identifying cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), testing specimens, and conducting follow-up telephone interviews after patients left the hospital.

Through these efforts, we were able to characterize acute clinical features and long-term disability of GBS associated with Zika infection by analyzing data from GBS patients with and without evidence of Zika infection.

This investigation increases scientific and medical understanding of Guillain-Barré syndrome following Zika infection, provides insight into the disease processes involved in GBS following Zika infection, and adds to growing evidence of a causal association between Zika and GBS. Continue reading →

Widely Use Antibacterial in Hand Sanitizers and Toothpaste Can Attack Biofilms

Posted on May 21, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Waters

Christopher M. Waters PhD
Departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
BEACON Center for The Study of Evolution in Actio
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

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

Response: Our research really centers on understanding and targeting bacterial biofilms. These are multicellular communities of bacteria encased in a slimy matrix that protects them from the immune system and antibiotic treatment during infections. One of the most common types of biofilm infections is in the lungs of cystic fibrosis by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. CF patients can become chronically colonized by P. aeruginosa, and antibiotics are not able to clear these infections.

Our idea was can we find other molecules that make antibiotics more effective at killing biofilms? To this end, we screened about 6,000 compounds for those that would make tobramycin more effective at killing P. aeruginosa biofilms, and one of the best hits we found was the antimicrobial triclosan that has been widely used for decades in hand sanitizers, soaps, and tooth paste. Although neither triclosan nor tobramycin can kill biofilms alone, the combination is 100X more effective against virtually every P. aeruginosa strain tested. It also worked against other bacteria that commonly infect cystic fibrosis lungs such as Staphylococcus aureus and Burkholderia cenocepacia.

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Pre-Emptive Therapy of CMV in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Chemaly

Roy F. Chemaly, MD, MPH F.A.C.P., F.I.D.S.A.
Department of Infectious Diseases
Infection Control and Employee Health
Division of Internal Medicine
MD Anderson Center

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

Response: CytomegalovirusCMV infection is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in allo-HCT recipients. Evidence suggests that CMV infection has not only an enormous clinical burden, but a substantial economic burden as well.

We conducted this study at MD Anderson to determine the economic and clinical burden of preemptive therapy (PET) for CMV infection. Between 2012 and 2015, 100 consecutive patients hospitalized at our institution for allo-HCT who experienced reactivation of CMV and were treated pre-emptively, were enrolled.

The majority of patients were men (55%), who had underlying leukemia (73%), and underwent matched unrelated donor transplant (59%). At the time of hospitalization, most patients had acute GvHD (62%), and were on steroids (58%) within 30 days of CMV reactivation which occurred at a median of 32 days post-HCT (2 -174). A total of 192 episodes of PET occurred in the 100 allo-HCT recipients within 1 year post-HCT. PET consisted of ganciclovir (41%), foscarnet (40%), and valganciclovir (38%). IVIG was also used as adjunct therapy in 20% of episodes.

Progression to Cytomegalovirus disease occurred in 4 patients (4%) and mainly affected the GI tract. Mean length of stay for patients treated with ganciclovir or foscarnet was 32 days (2-141) and 41 days (1-177), respectively. The average direct cost per patient admitted for PET was $126,038 ($7,866-$641,841) and the mean cost of CMV antiviral drug per hospitalization was $6,096 for IVIG, $2,410 for foscarnet, $836 for ganciclovir, and $780 for valganciclovir.

Serious side effects from PET were observed in 35% of patients on ganciclovir and 12% of patients on foscarnet. Total direct cost per encounter was significantly higher in patients who had serious side effects from foscarnet. All-cause mortality was 59% at 1 year post-transplant.

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Ibuprofen Can Not Replace Antibiotics in Uncomplicated UTI

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Vik

Ingvild Vik MD
Doctoral Research Fellow
Department of General Practice
Institute of Health and Society – UiO
University of Oslo, Norway

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

Response: Uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common bacterial infection in women. It is painful and troublesome, and even though it is often self-limiting most women who see a doctor will be prescribed an antibiotic, as antibiotics provide quick symptom relief. Antibiotic resistance is a growing, serious public health problem. Antibiotic use is the main contributor to antibiotic resistance, and to stop the rapid development it is crucial that we reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics. Antibiotics can cause unpleasant and potentially severe side effects, so avoiding unnecessary use is also beneficial for the individual patient.

A small German trial published in 2010 by Bleidorn et al. suggested that ibuprofen was non-inferior to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in achieving symptomatic cure in uncomplicated UTI. This inspired us to conduct a larger trial to compare the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen to antibiotics in the treatment of uncomplicated UTI. Continue reading →

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Category Archives: Infections

Unrelated Bacterial Strains Can Transfer Antibiotic Resistance Genes To Each Other

Red Meat Allergy Caused by Lone Star Tick Linked to Coronary Artery Disease

Ornamental Bromeliad Plants Contribute to Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes

TDAP Vaccine During Pregnancy Protects Infants Against Whooping Cough

Parent Skin Cleansing Prior to Infant Contact in NICU Important to Reduce Staph Infections

Why So Many New HIV Infections in US, Despite PrEP Availability?

What Causes Failures in Personal Protective Equipment Use in Hospitals?

Mathematical Model Investigates Spread of Cholera In Limited Resource Setting

Long Term HIV Viral Suppression Reduces But Does Not Eliminate Elevated Cancer Risk

Unique Vaginal Cells Facilitate HIV Infection and Persistence

Guillain-Barré Syndrome With and Without Zika

Widely Use Antibacterial in Hand Sanitizers and Toothpaste Can Attack Biofilms

Pre-Emptive Therapy of CMV in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplant

Ibuprofen Can Not Replace Antibiotics in Uncomplicated UTI