Clinical outcomes of aspergillosis among paediatric and adult inpatients: A multicentre study in a Brazilian metropolitan area.

BACKGROUND: Invasive Aspergillosis (IA) is a disease of significant clinical relevance, especially among immunosuppressed patients, and is associated with high mortality rates. In this study, we evaluated the epidemiological features and clinical outcomes in children and adults with IA. METHODS: This was an observational, multicentre, prospective surveillance study of inpatients with IA at two different hospitals in Campinas, Brazil, between 2018 and 2021. RESULTS: A total of 44 patients were identified (54.5% males), with a median age of 42 years (interquartile range (IQR):19.25-59 years, varying between 1 and 89 years). The following baseline conditions were identified: 61.4% were oncohaematological patients and 20.5% were solid organ transplant recipients. Among oncohaematological patients, 77.8% exhibited severe or persistent neutropenia. The median time between the onset of neutropenia and the diagnosis of fungal infection was 20 days (IQR: 10.5-26 days; range, 0-68 days). The interval between neutropenia onset and fungal infection was longer in paediatric than in general hospital (average, 29 vs. 13.4 days; median 26 vs 11 days; p=0.010). After the diagnosis of IA, the survival rates were 44.2% and 30.0% at 180 and 360 days, respectively. Survival was greater in patients aged ≤ 21 years (p = 0.040; log-rank test). They observed no difference in IA mortality related to COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: High mortality associated with IA was observed in both hospitals. Individuals over the age of 21 have a lower survival rate than younger patients.

Audit of antibiotic use in a Brazilian University Hospital.

A cohort study was carried out at the Marilia Medical School Hospital. In the first phase the pattern of antibiotic use was evaluated. Antibiotics were prescribed for 55.4% of the patients; antibiotic combinations were used in 43%. Therapeutic use of antibiotics was considered inadequate in 27%. Respiratory and skin infections were the most frequently diagnosed. In up to 31% of the cases the treatment of respiratory infections was considered inadequate. The surgical use of antibiotic prophylaxis was evaluated in the second phase. Prophylaxis was indicated in 73.2% of the surgeries. The antibiotics most used for prophylaxis were first generation cephalosporins. In 78.9% of the surgeries, the antibiotic was correctly chosen. In 15.9% of the surgeries, the initial antibiotic administration was correctly timed. The use of antibiotics in the post-operative period was appropriate in 29.8% of the cases. The independent risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI), as determined by logistic regression analysis adjusted to class of wound risk, were the choice of antibiotic to be used prophylactically and the duration of antibiotic treatment in the post-operative period. Those who received appropriate prophylactic antibiotics had a lower rate of SSI than those who received innapropriated antibiotics [RR=0.49/95%; CI=0.25-0.90]. Patients who received prophylactic antibiotics correctly in the post-operative period had a lower risk of SSI than those who did not [RR=0.21/95%; CI=0.70-0.63]. The mean length of hospital stay was shorter among patients whose prophylactic treatment was correctly employed than among for which it was not [6.1 (+/-9.8) and 11.1 (+/-13.5) days, p=0.25].

Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: comparison of two periods and a predictive model of mortality.

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen causing bacteremia, primarily affecting hospitalized patients. We studied the epidemiology of S. aureus bacteremia, comparing two periods (early and mid 1990s) and developed a predictive model of mortality. A nested case-control was done. All 251 patients over 14 years old with positive blood cultures for S. aureus were selected. MRSA (methicillin resistant S. aureus) was isolated in 63% of the cases. When comparing the two periods MRSA community-acquired bacteremia increased from 4% to 16% (p=0.01). There was no significant difference in the mortality rate between the two periods (39% and 33%, p=0.40). Intravascular catheters provoked 24% of the cases of bacteremia and were associated with the lowest rate of mortality. In a logistic regression analysis, three variables were associated with death: septic shock, source of bacteraemia and resistance to methicillin. The probability of dying among patients with MRSA and those with methicillin sensitive S. aureus bacteraemia ranged from 10% to 90% and from 4% to 76%, respectively, depending on the source of the bacteraemia and the occurrence of septic shock. The MRSA found in Brazil may be a particularly virulent strain.