Invasive Fungal Diseases in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 in Israel: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Highly variable estimates of COVID-19-associated fungal diseases (IFDs) have been reported. We aimed to determine the incidence of clinically important fungal diseases in hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the first year of the pandemic. We performed a multicenter survey of IFDs among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in 13 hospitals in Israel between February 2020 and May 2021. COVID-19-associated pulmonary mold disease (PMD) and invasive candidiasis (IC) were defined using ECMM/ISHAM and EORTC/MSG criteria, respectively. Overall rates of IC and PMD among patients with critical COVID-19 were 10.86 and 10.20 per 1000 admissions, respectively, with significant variability among medical centers. PMD rates were significantly lower in centers where galactomannan was a send-out test versus centers with on-site testing (p = 0.035). The 30-day mortality rate was 67.5% for IC and 57.5% for PMD. Treatment with an echinocandin for IC or an extended-spectrum azole for PMD was associated with significantly lower mortality rates (adjusted hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.26 [0.07-0.91] and 0.23 [0.093-0.57], respectively). In this multicenter national survey, variable rates of PMD were associated with on-site galactomannan testing, suggesting under-detection in sites lacking this capacity. COVID-19-related IFDs were associated with high mortality rates, which were reduced with appropriate antifungal therapy.

A Case Report of Mycoplasma hominis Subdural Empyema Following Decompressive Craniotomy, and a Review of Central Nervous System Mycoplasma hominis Infections.

Background: Mycoplasma hominis is a small cell-wall-free organism, part of the normal microbiota of the genitourinary tract. It is rarely involved in extragenital infections, mainly joint, surgical-site, and respiratory infections. Methods: We describe a case of M. hominis subdural empyema and lower limb surgical site infections, following decompressive craniotomy, after traumatic brain and extremities injury. In addition, a literature review of 34 cases M. hominis CNS infections was done. Results: Our case depicts a 25-years old patient who developed subdural empyema and surgical site infections in his cranium and fibula. Both sites were cultured, and small pinpoint colonies grew on blood agar. MALDI-TOF MS identified M. hominis. Simultaneously 16S-rDNA PCR from CSF detected M. hominis. Antimicrobial treatment was switched to doxycycline with improvement. Literature review revealed 21 adults and 13 pediatric cases of M. hominis CNS infection. Risk factors in adults were head trauma, neurosurgery, or post-partum period. Conclusions: Based upon the literature reviewed, we postulate that adult patients with head trauma or neurosurgical procedure, rarely are infected either through direct contamination during the trauma, or by undergoing urgent, urinary catheterization, and may experience distant infection due to translocation of M. hominis into the bloodstream. In such cases diagnosis is delayed due to difficulties in growing and identifying the bacteria. Empiric antimicrobials are usually not effective against mycoplasmas. These factors contributed to the mortality in adult cases (15%). Our rare case highlights the necessity of combining classical microbiology routines with advanced molecular techniques to establish a diagnosis in complicated cases.

Invasive fungal infections in critically ill COVID-19 patients in a large tertiary university hospital in Israel.

An increasing number of studies have tried to determine the incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in COVID-19 patients. Challenges in the diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis in these patients have led to new definitions of COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA). The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and outcomes of and risk factors for IFIs in critically-ill COVID-19 patients, using the new definitions, in a tertiary center in Israel. METHODS: A case-controlled study (from 1 September 2020 to 31 March 2021) in which data from COVID-19 critically-ill patients with a diagnosis of IFI were collected and compared to a control group without IFI. RESULTS: The incidence of IFI amongst 311 COVID-19 critically-ill patients was 6.1%. 3.5% had CAPA and 3.5% had candidemia. In-hospital mortality was higher amongst patients with IFI compared to those without IFI (89.4% vs 60%, p < 0.03). The most significant predictors of IFI were cardiovascular co-morbidity and carbapenem use. CONCLUSIONS: The low incidence of CAPA in our group of COVID-19 critically-ill patients was consistent with recent reports, underscoring the importance of differentiating between true infection and colonization. Awareness and timely diagnosis of IFIs in COVID-19 critically-ill patients are imperative considering the associated high mortality.

Selectivity in posting on social networks: the role of privacy concerns, social capital, and technical literacy.

People's posting behaviors in social networks was perceived as ambiguous, with concerns misaligned with people's public postings. To address this gap, we suggest a model that offers new insights into the relationship between perceptions and actual behaviors. We define a quantitative marker for agility, the frequency in which people update their audience selection when posting information in online social networks, and evaluate the factors that contribute to the variability of agility between different users. We analyzed the posting behavior of Facebook 181 participants, as well as their answers to open and close questions. We find that frequent changes in privacy settings are correlated with high social privacy and with institutional privacy concerns, whereas social concerns were found to be more prominent. Agility was negatively correlated with low public sharing. Our findings show that users use privacy settings to effectively mitigate privacy concerns and desires for creating and strengthening social connections. We discuss how agility can be used to design and to evaluate new user interfaces for managing privacy in social settings.

[TO BE A RESIDENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE].

INTRODUCTION: Sir William Osler is considered to be one of the fathers of modern medicine who pioneered the practice of bedside teaching of clinical medicine for medical students and residents. Osler was well known as a diagnostician and outstanding therapist with a humanized approach and rare didactic capabilities. Medical training at Hadassah is built on the central tenets of Osler's approach, incorporating the tremendous advances in science and medicine. Training for residents in Internal Medicine is designed to develop a broad base of medical and, if possible, scientific knowledge, as well as skills and competencies to deliver a high standard of patient care. In the past 7 years, 28 residents have undergone specialist training in Internal Medicine B. Among them, 71% were Israeli medical school graduates; 36% were women;18% were recent immigrants to Israel; 78% were Jewish. Among Jewish residents, 32% were religiously observant. Besides the usual assignments of the internal medicine ward, the medical staff of Internal Medicine B excelled in diagnosis of hard to diagnose diseases as described in eleven cases. The diagnosis in some of those cases was a result of listening to the patient, education on clinical reasoning and the use advanced diagnostic tools. The basic unit of the residency is the clinical mission with an emphasis on exposure to novel modalities such as the use of bedside ultra sound along with dealing with end-of-life dilemmas, the management of complex situations and development of communication and interpersonal skills needed to work with close relatives and families facing critical times. The medical training in the internal ward is not just the sum of arbitrary care of the hospitalized patients, but a well-structured plan with gradually increasing demands. Over the past 7 years, residents in Internal Medicine B have achieved successful passing grades of 38/38 on the first attempt oral and written board examinations, a record that attests to the quality of the trainees and the training process. Hadassah has a long history of providing state-of-the-art patient care, and training young physicians to maintain this high standard - but the education process necessitates longstanding efforts and continuous striving for excellence.

The effect of small molecules on nuclear-encoded translation diseases.

The five complexes of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) supply most organs and tissues with ATP produced by oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). Inherited mitochondrial diseases affecting OXPHOS dysfunction are heterogeneous; symptoms may present at any age and may affect a wide range of tissues, with many diseases giving rise to devastating multisystemic disorders resulting in neonatal death. Combined respiratory chain deficiency with normal complex II accounts for a third of all respiratory deficiencies; mutations in nuclear-encoded components of the mitochondrial translation machinery account for many cases. Although mutations have been identified in over 20 such genes and our understanding of the mitochondrial translation apparatus is increasing, to date no definitive cure for these disorders exists. We evaluated the effect of seven small molecules with reported therapeutic potential in fibroblasts of four patients with combined respiratory complex disorders, each harboring a known mutation in a different nuclear-encoded component of the mitochondrial translation machinery: EFTs, GFM1, MRPS22 and TRMU. Six mitochondrial parameters were screened as follows; growth in glucose-free medium, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, ATP content, mitochondrial content, mitochondrial membrane potential and complex IV activity. It was clearly evident that each patient displayed an individual response and there was no universally beneficial compound. AICAR increased complex IV activity in GFM1 cells and increased ATP content in MRPS22 fibroblasts but was detrimental to TRMU, who benefitted from bezafibrate. Two antioxidants, ascorbate and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), significantly improved cell growth, ATP content and mitochondrial membrane potential and decreased levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in EFTs fibroblasts. This study presents an expanded repertoire of assays that can be performed using the microtiter screening system with a small number of patients' fibroblasts and highlights some therapeutic options while providing additional evidence for the importance of personalized medicine in mitochondrial disorders.