Author Interviews, Infections / 12.03.2025

  human-pathogens.jpg   Have you ever pondered how invisible microbes can trigger illnesses around us? Did you know millions fall ill, even fatally, due to human pathogens each year? These unseen threats are ever - present, silently invading our bodies and causing diseases ranging from mild colds to severe ones like AIDS and tuberculosis. Accurate detection of these pathogens is crucial for our health protection.

What are Human Pathogens?

Human pathogens are disease - causing microbes and parasites. An infection occurs when pathogens invade tissues, multiply, and trigger a reaction from the host's tissues to the pathogens and their toxins. Mammalian hosts initially respond to infections with an innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an adaptive response. These organisms colonize host tissues, prompting the host immune system to produce specific antibodies against them. (more…)
Heart Disease, Infections, Technology / 07.05.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sarah Dräger, MD Postdoc, BRCCH Researcher Internal Medicine and ID specialist Division of Internal Medicine University Hospital Basel, Switzerland Basel   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response:In patients with severe infections and patients in the intensive care unit, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may be used to optimize and personalize intravenous antibiotic treatment. In these patients, “conventional antibiotic dosing”, e.g. selection of the dose only considering the renal function and, if applicable, body weight, may lead to over- or underdosing due to an altered drug metabolism. This, in turn may be associated with worse clinical outcome or toxic side effects. TDM is used to monitor antibiotic blood plasma concentrations and provides guidance to the clinicians to adjust the antibiotic dosing according to the TDM results. But the collection of blood is an invasive, time- and resource-consuming sample collection technique and leads to discomfort to the patients. Additionally, turnaround time may be long (3h to 8h), and analyses may be offered only twice or three time a week. This may be too late to guide antibiotic dosing timely in patients with a very dynamic drug metabolism. Therefore, alternatives are required to overcome the limitations of current TDM. By using exhaled breath, we aim to develop an innovative therapeutic drug monitoring technique, which is non-invasive, easy to collect, not associated with discomfort to the patient, and which may allow to decrease the turnaround time, especially when combined with real-time analyses. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, Infections, JAMA / 01.04.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Susan S. Huang, MD, MPH Chancellor's Professor, Infectious Diseases School of Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention University of California Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you describe the decolonization techniques?  
  • This study arose from a growing concern about the increasing number and presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria causing colonization and infection in hospitals and long-term care. CDC has had a longstanding interest in the value of regional control of these contagious pathogens and they funded this study. The study was actually in two parts:
    • –1) Simulate various infection prevention strategies in a model and see which works best, and then
    • - 2) Do it in real life. The SHIELD project was the real-life example of our simulation finding that decolonization would work the best to prevent harm from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
  • The regional idea is that it takes all of us working together – hospitals, nursing homes, and long-term acute care hospitals – to prevent the spread and sharing of contagious pathogens. What we can accomplish together is far greater than what any of us can do alone.
  • In this study, decolonization was the use of topical chlorhexidine antiseptic soap and povidone-iodine nasal ointments to reduce potentially harmful bacteria on the body during times when patients and residents may be at risk for infection. We swapped out bathing and showering soap with CHG in participating facilities and ensured that staff knew to clean the body well, including wounds, devices, and rashes where germs can hide and cause infection. For CHG, this involved 4% rinse off product in the shower and 2% no-rinse CHG for bed baths.
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Author Interviews, Urinary Tract Infections, Urology / 24.04.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Jacqueline Stephens MPH, PhD Epidemiologist &  Senior lecturer Flinders University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: An increase in the volume of evidence published in the peer-reviewed literature on this topic prompted an update of this Cochrane Review. (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, CDC, Infections / 29.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Meghan Lyman MD Medical Officer in the Mycotic Diseases Branch CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Candida auris (C. auris) is a fungus considered an urgent public health threat because it is often multi-drug resistant and spreads easily in healthcare settings.  CDC has been conducting tracking cases and is concerned about increasing numbers and geographic spread of C. auris cases in recent years, suggesting increased transmission.  Because C. auris cases and resistance are rising in the U.S., immediate public health actions to stop this threat are critical. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Infections / 01.08.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Aatish Patel Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this case series?    Response: This case series was based on observations we made whilst treating patients with monkeypox, and the request of many of these patients for better public health messaging surrounding signs and symptoms to be aware of. (more…)
Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, JNCI, Johns Hopkins, Respiratory, Vaccine Studies / 22.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joel N. Blankson, MD, PhD Department of Infectious Diseases Associate Professor Cellular and Molecular Medicine Program Johns Hopkins MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Which vaccines did you evaluate? Response: Prior studies from several groups including our own have found T cell cross-recognition of peptides from SARS-CoV-2 and the common cold coronaviruses. We asked whether as a result of this cross-reactivity, immunization with the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine would also enhance T cell responses to the common cold coronaviruses. Prior studies also suggested that antibodies elicited from the mRNA vaccines had a reduced ability to neutralize the emerging variants of concern. Most of the study participants had received the Pfizer vaccine, but a few had received the Moderna vaccine.  (more…)