Limited Clinical Utility of Routine Mycobacterial Cultures for the Management of Diabetic Foot Infections.

Mycobacterial infections of the foot and ankle are uncommon. In a cohort of 2340 patients with diabetic foot infection (DFI) in a region with increased prevalence of mycobacterial disease, we identified no clinically significant positive cultures over a 3-year period. Routine mycobacterial culture of DFIs is of limited clinical utility.

Adverse effects of chronic nitrofurantoin therapy in women with recurrent urinary tract infections in an outpatient setting.

PURPOSE: To review the frequency of adverse events reported with nitrofurantoin (NF) in perimenopausal and menopausal women on prolonged daily prophylaxis in an outpatient setting. METHODS: Electronic medical records of women aged 50-95 prescribed NF by 2 primary urology providers for at least 3 consecutive months from 2006 to 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographics, reason for the initiation, dose and duration of therapy, explanation of therapy interruptions, occurrence of adverse events, comorbid conditions, and relevant lab and imaging results were recorded. The number of months on prolonged therapy were summed. RESULTS: Of the 221 patients included, 167 (77%) were prescribed 100 mg of NF daily with a mean duration of therapy of 1.5 years. The most common indication for therapy was recurrent urinary tract infection prophylaxis. Breakthrough urinary tract infections developed in 88 (40%) patients on prolonged NF therapy but only 10 were not restarted on NF. Four patients (1.8%) were determined to have pulmonary adverse events and 1 (0.4%) developed elevated liver function tests. CONCLUSION: In peri-menopausal and menopausal women, the risks and benefits of chronic NF therapy should be weighed by the clinician and patient prior to prescribing long term NF. Patients must be educated about the potential NF toxicities and clinically monitored for signs and symptoms of potential adverse events while on chronic NF therapy.

Performance of Point of Dispensing Setup Drills for Distribution of Medical Countermeasures: United States and Territories, 2012-2016.

OBJECTIVES: To describe results of points of dispensing (POD) medical countermeasure drill performance among local jurisdictions. METHODS: To compare POD setup times for each year, we calculated descriptive statistics of annual jurisdictional POD setup data submitted by over 400 local jurisdictions across 50 states and 8 US territories to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program monitoring database from July 2012 to June 2016. RESULTS: In data collected from July 2012 to June 2015, fewer than 5% of PODs required more than 240 minutes to set up, although the proportion increased from July 2015 to June 2016 to almost 12%. From July 2012 to June 2016, more than 60% of PODs were set up in less than 90 minutes, with 60 minutes as the median setup time during the period. CONCLUSIONS: Our results yield evidence of national progress for response to a mass medical emergency. Technical assistance may be required to aid certain jurisdictions for improvement. Public Health Implications. The results of this study may inform future target times for performance on POD setup activities and highlight jurisdictions in need of technical assistance.

An organised approach to the podiatric care of people with diabetes in regional Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To ensure an efficient publicly funded podiatric service for people with diabetes in regional Victoria, a Podiatry Diabetes Model (PDM) of care was developed. The aim of this study was to determine if people with diabetes attended the most appropriate podiatric service as depicted by the model. METHODS: A 3-month prospective clinical audit of the PDM was undertaken. Primary variables of interest were the podiatric service where the patients were seen and the patients' risk of future foot morbidity. Chi-square analyses for each service category were undertaken to compare the expected number of patients seen according to foot-health risk as predicted by the model, with what was observed. RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy-six people with diabetes were seen in the 3-month period. There was no statistically significant difference between the proportion of patients seen by each podiatric service according to risk status, with what was expected (community: χ(2)=3.3, P=0.4; subacute: χ(2)=8.0, P=0.05; acute: χ(2)=6.6, P=0.09). CONCLUSIONS: The Podiatry Diabetes Model is a sound podiatric model of care and is an example of cross-organisational collaboration that could be implemented in other areas of Australia.