HIV and Pneumocystis Jiroveci Pneumonia (PJP) Managed With Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

Presentation A 40-year-old Irish female presented with a new diagnosis of HIV, advanced immunosuppression and severe respiratory failure. Diagnosis Patient was subsequently diagnosed with Pneumocystis jiroveci Pneumonia (PJP). Treatment The patient was treated for HIV and PJP and required mechanical ventilation. She continued to deteriorate and veno-venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (V-V ECMO) was deployed in her management after 18 days of mechanical ventilation. Conclusion HIV presenting with extensive pneumonia secondary to PJP and advanced immunosuppression is still a treatable condition. All available respiratory support including ECMO should be considered for patients even if they have been on mechanical ventilation for more than 7 days.

Impact of a diagnostics-driven antifungal stewardship programme in a UK tertiary referral teaching hospital.

Objectives: A concise invasive candidosis guideline (based on the ESCMID candidaemia guideline) utilizing an informative biomarker [serum ß-1-3-d-glucan (BDG)] was developed in 2013 by an antifungal stewardship (AFS) team and implemented with the help of an AFS champion in 2014. The main aims of the AFS programme were to reduce inappropriate use of antifungals and improve patient outcomes. The aim of this project was to evaluate the compliance of the ICU teams with the invasive candidosis guideline and the impact of the AFS programme on mortality and antifungal consumption on the ICUs (total of 71 beds). Methods: All patients who were prescribed micafungin for suspected or proven invasive candidosis during 4 month audit periods in 2014 and 2016 were included. Prescriptions and patient records were reviewed against the guideline. Antifungal consumption and mortality data were analysed. Results: The number of patients treated for invasive candidosis decreased from 39 in 2014 to 29 in 2016. This was mainly due to the reduction in patients initiated on antifungal therapy inappropriately: 18 in 2014 and 2 in 2016. Antifungal therapy was stopped following negative biomarker results in 12 patients in 2014 and 10 patients in 2016. Crude mortality due to proven or probable invasive candidosis decreased to 19% from 45% over the period 2003-07. Antifungal consumption reduced by 49% from 2014 to 2016. Conclusions: The AFS programme was successful in reducing the number of inappropriate initiations of antifungals by 90%. Concurrently, mortality due to invasive candidosis was reduced by 58%. BDG testing can guide safe cessation of antifungals in ICU patients at risk of invasive candidosis.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is associated with adverse clinical outcomes in critically ill patients receiving veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

To identify the incidence, risk factors and impact on long-term survival of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and Aspergillus colonisation in patients receiving vv-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). A retrospective evaluation was performed of patients receiving vv-ECMO at a tertiary hospital in Manchester (UK) between January 2012 and December 2016. Data collected included epidemiological data, microbiological cultures, radiographic findings and outcomes. Cases were classified as proven IPA, putative IPA or Aspergillus colonisation according to a validated clinical algorithm. One hundred thirty-four patients were supported with vv-ECMO, median age of 45.5 years (range 16.4-73.4). Ten (7%) patients had putative IPA and nine (7%) had Aspergillus colonisation. Half of the patients with putative IPA lacked classical host risk factors for IPA. The median number of days on ECMO prior to Aspergillus isolation was 5 days. Immunosuppression and influenza A infection were significantly associated with developing IPA in a logistic regression model. Cox regression model demonstrates a three times greater hazard of death associated with IPA. Overall 6-month mortality rate was 38%. Patients with putative IPA and colonised patients had a 6-month mortality rate of 80 and 11%, respectively. Immunosuppression and influenza A infection are independent risk factors for IPA. IPA, but not Aspergillus colonisation, is associated with high long-term mortality in patients supported with vv-ECMO.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in the Republic of Ireland: results of a national survey.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) services are not well developed in the Republic of Ireland. A national programme is being instituted to standardise care. This survey aims to assess the current use of outpatient intravenous antibiotics and to quantify the needs that physicians identify in the development of a national programme. General medical consultant physicians and clinical microbiology consultants were contacted through the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) from April to June 2012. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20. A total of 512 physicians were contacted, of which 55 (10.7 %) responded. The majority, 38/55 (69 %), practice general internal medicine in combination with a medical specialty, 2 (4 %) general internal medicine alone, 8 (15 %) clinical microbiology and 7 (13 %) a medical specialty alone. Of those practising a medical specialty, 12 (27 %) practice infectious diseases. Seventy-four percent reported having discharged patients with intravenous antibiotics; however, 47 % did not have a designated service available. Of those with no service, 100 % identified a need for these resources. Of those responsible for an OPAT service, 56 % had not audited their service. The most common indications were skin and soft tissue infections, osteomyelitis and respiratory tract infection. Flucloxacillin was the most commonly reported antibiotic. Eleven percent responded that they never monitor laboratory studies for patients discharged with intravenous antibiotics. While OPAT services in Ireland are not well developed, patients are being discharged with intravenous antibiotics. This survey underscores the need to develop the national programme to standardise care and ensure patients receive safe and efficient therapy.

Antifungal stewardship in critical care: Implementing a diagnostics-driven care pathway in the management of invasive candidiasis.

BACKGROUND: Invasive candidiasis (IC) is the most common invasive fungal disease in patients admitted to critical care and is associated with high mortality rates. Diagnosis can be delayed by the poor sensitivity of culture-based methods, leading to unnecessary use of empirical antifungal therapy (EAFT). The fungal biomarker (1-3)-ß-d-glucan (BDG) has been shown to aid in the diagnosis of IC in critical care and has been incorporated into antifungal stewardship (AFS) programmes. AIM: To describe our experience using a diagnostics-driven AFS programme incorporating the fungal biomarker BDG, analyse its impact on antifungal therapy (AFT), and gain an improved understanding of the epidemiology of IC in our critical care unit (CrCU). METHODS: An AFS care pathway incorporating BDG was introduced in the CrCU in St James's Hospital, Dublin. Following an educational programme, compliance with the pathway was prospectively audited between December 1st, 2017 and July 31st, 2018. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: One hundred and nine AFT episodes were included, of which 95 (87%) had a BDG sent. Of those with BDG results available at the time of decision-making, 38 (63%) were managed in accordance with the care pathway. In compliant episodes without IC, median EAFT duration was 5.5 days [IQR 4-7] and no increase in mortality or subsequent IC was observed. Although adopting a diagnostics-driven approach was found to be useful in the cohort of patients with BDG results available, the use of once-weekly BDG testing did not result in an observed reduction in the consumption of anidulafungin, highlighting an important limitation of this approach.

Long-term neurological follow-up of HIV-positive patients diagnosed with syphilis.

No cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) abnormalities are found in HIV-positive patients in long-term follow-up after standard syphilis treatment. Syphilis has been reported to have immunological effects on HIV infection and HIV is known to modulate both the manifestations of syphilis and the serological response to therapy. HIV-positive patients who had been diagnosed with and treated for syphilis prior to 2007 were identified. Patients were consented for lumbar puncture. Serum HIV viral load, CD4 count and CSF were recorded. Thirty-five patients with previously diagnosed and treated syphilis underwent lumbar puncture. Thirty-four patients had a normal neurological exam. Only one patient had an abnormal mean white cell count (10.7 cells per high-power field). The finding that those with previously diagnosed syphilis had normal CSF and clinical findings is reassuring and supports the practice of using standard syphilis therapy in HIV-positive patients.

Generalised tetanus in an unvaccinated adult.

A 76-year-old previously well farmer presented having caught his left index finger in a gate. He gave no history of prior tetanus vaccination. The patient was treated in the emergency department; the wound cleaned, sutured and he was given tetanus toxoid prior to discharge. Eleven days later he represented unable to open his mouth. On examination he was noted to have trismus, generalised muscle spasms, diaphoresis and emotional lability and he was diagnosed with generalised tetanus.

Zoonotic transmission of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus from a dog to a handler.

This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first case report to describe the apparent transmission of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus from an infected dog to a handler who subsequently developed severe systemic infection. Characterization of the haemolytic streptococci isolated from both the patient and the dog, by phenotypic and molecular analysis, confirmed the canine and human isolates were identical.