Diagnostic and infection control strategies for Clostridioides difficile infections in a setting of high antimicrobial resistance prevalence.

Clostridioides difficile (CD) is a major nosocomial pathogen and the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea. In light of the strong association between antimicrobial use and CD infections (CDI), it may be hypothesised that areas at higher prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, like the region of Campania in southern Italy, could also have a higher rate of CDI. In this multicentre, region-based, prospective study, we analysed such issues, exploiting CDI incidence data collected from local hospitals. In 2016, the Italian National Centre for Disease Control supported a project involving three Italian regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio and Campania. In Campania, a network of 49 hospitals willing to participate in the project was created. The project consisted of two phases: a survey on practice patterns concerning CDI and an epidemiological surveillance study. We identified a stringent need to improve awareness about CDI among the regional health-care community, as a widespread lack of surveillance programmes for CDI control was observed (existing in only 40% of participating facilities). Moreover, almost half of the participating hospitals (n=16, 43%) had no standardised procedures or protocols to control and prevent CDI. In the second phase of the study, we collected data of CDI cases during a six-month surveillance programme. In all, 87 CDI cases were observed, for a total of 903,334 patient bed-days and 122,988 admissions. According to the above data, CDI incidence was 0.96 cases/10000 patient bed-days, much lower than expected based on prior studies conducted elsewhere. The results of our study suggest CDI remains a rather neglected clinical issue in Campania. Despite a high burden of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial use in our geographic setting, we observed a very low incidence of CDI. Such a low incidence could be explained by underdiagnosis, but could also be related to actual diet, the lower patient age or the specific genetic background. However, further studies are warranted to either confirm or rebut the above hypotheses.

Current trends in the real-life use of dalbavancin: report of a study panel.

Dalbavancin is a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic with a chemical structure similar to teicoplanin. Dalbavancin has been approved and marketed since 2014 in the USA and 2015 in the European Union for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin-structure infections (ABSSSIs) caused by Gram-positive cocci. ABSSSIs include infectious syndromes such as erysipelas, cellulitis, major cutaneous abscesses that require incision and drainage, and both surgical and traumatic wound infections. In current clinical practice, dalbavancin is also used for cardiac implantable electronic device-related soft tissue infection and other prosthetic infections, and therefore when the presence of biofilm is a concern. In this review, we aimed to highlight our experience with the use of dalbavancin for some of the most hard-to-treat Gram-positive infections, as well as a promising strategy in terms of pharmacoeconomic effectiveness. We describe our current real-life clinical practice with the use of dalbavancin, depicting a few representative clinical cases in order to share our own practice in the hospital setting.

Sustained virological response by direct antiviral agents in HCV leads to an early and significant improvement of liver fibrosis.

BACKGROUND: Direct antiviral agents (DAA) demonstrated high efficacy among HCV-infected patients in registered trials. Nevertheless, the impact of these therapies on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and liver functionality in 'real-life' is not well-known. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sustained virological response (SVR) impact on LSM and clinical parameters of DAA-therapy on a real-life population of HCV patients with F3/F4 fibrosis. METHODS: A total of 749 HCV genotype 1-4 patients with F3/F4 hepatitis undergoing antiviral therapy were consecutively enrolled in four centres of hepatology in Italy. Clinical, biochemical and imaging data were collected at the baseline (T0), at the end of treatment (EoT) and after 12 weeks (SVR12). RESULTS: Out of 749 patients, 69.7% were F4 and 30.3% were F3. SVR12 was reached in 97.5%. LSM significantly decreased from T0 to EoT (P<0.001), whereas, it did not from EoT to SVR12 (P= not significant). Moreover, in F4 no significant differences were found in Child and MELD between T0, EoT and SVR12 (P= not significant). At the univariate analysis of clinical and liver parameters, baseline high glucose (P<0.005), type 2 diabetes (P<0.001), low alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P<0.001), low platelets (P<0.005), and the presence of esophageal varices (EV; P<0.001) were found to be associated with a lack of a significant EoT LSM improvement. At multiple regression, ALT (P<0.05), diabetes (P<0.005) and EV (P<0.05) were inversely associated with significant LSM reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Virological response to DAA is associated with fibrosis regression and recovery of liver functionality and this can be detected as early as EoT. HCV eradication is associated with a rapid and significant clinical improvement that lasts over time and seems to be negatively influenced by diabetes and EV.