Breaking Barriers: A Single-Center Real-World Experience With Recruitment and Administration of COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibodies and Opportunities for Improvement.

We conducted a retrospective exploratory study evaluating factors associated with selection to receive and infusion with coronavirus disease 2019 monoclonal antibodies. While priority was given to high-risk patients, patients with increased Social Vulnerability Index scores were less likely to present for infusion, raising concern that social factors created barriers to treatment.

Chest wall abscess and costochondritis due to Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis infections usually cause self-limited gastrointestinal diseases. Extra-abdominal infections are often secondary to bacteremia in immunocompromised individuals and are relatively rare in immunocompetent hosts. CASE PRESENTATION: A 65-year-old Caucasian female initially presented to the thoracic surgery clinic due to a poorly healing wound on her chest. Her condition started after a mechanical fall hitting her chest with interval development of a tender lump that later spontaneously drained. A chest computed tomography scan with intravenous contrast demonstrated an abnormal infiltration with small foci of fluid and air consistent with a small abscess anterior to the left seventh costal cartilage. Aspirate culture of the abscess grew S. enterica serotype Choleraesuis susceptible to ampicillin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. The patient had no prior history of signs or symptoms of gastrointestinal infection. Blood cultures were negative. With a background of penicillin allergy, she was treated with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and later with ceftriaxone due to persistent drainage of the wound. Follow-up chest computed tomography scan with intravenous (IV) contrast showed continued abnormal findings previously seen in the computed tomography scan with the appearance of a sinus tract. The patient subsequently underwent surgical debridement and partial resection of the left seventh costochondral cartilage and excision of the fistula. She had an uneventful recovery and complete resolution of her condition. CONCLUSION: We report a rare case of chest wall abscess with associated costochondritis due to S. enterica serotype Choleraesuis in a patient with no evidence of immunodeficiency nor history of bacteremia. Extraintestinal infections due to Salmonella without documented bacteremia have been previously reported in the literature. History of local trauma to the affected area might contribute to the seeding of infection. Diagnosis is often accomplished by clinical evaluation and culture of the affected area. Treatment often involves targeted antibiotic therapy but may require surgical intervention to achieve source control and cure.

Monoclonal antibody infusion reaction with bamlanivimab and etesevimab in a 5-year-old male with coronavirus disease 2019: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Bamlanivimab and etesevimab had been granted emergency use authorization in children under 12 years who are at risk of progression from mild/moderate coronavirus disease 2019 to severe disease and hospitalization. CASE REPORT: We report on a 5-year-old white male with preexisting conditions, predisposing him to severe disease, who developed hypoxia and flushing 3 minutes into his infusion, thus meeting the criteria for anaphylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: We believe this patient developed either an immunoglobulin E-mediated anaphylactic or a non-immunoglobulin E-mediated anaphylactoid reaction to bamlanivimab and etesevimab, which is an important possibility to consider on administration.

Brevundimonas vesicularis Peritonitis in a Chronic Peritoneal Dialysis Patient.

Gram-negative peritonitis in chronic peritoneal dialysis patients is difficult to treat and may result in catheter loss. Brevundimonas vesicularis is a Gram-negative rod bacterium which rarely causes infections in humans. A 41-year-old male receiving continuous cycling peritoneal dialysis for 5 months developed culture-negative peritonitis. He failed initial empiric treatment with intraperitoneal vancomycin and levofloxacin and thereafter intravenous gentamicin. B. vesicularis resistant to levofloxacin was isolated from the peritoneal fluid 21 days after his initial symptoms. Despite treatment with intravenous ceftriaxone and oral amoxicillin-clavulanate, the infection persisted, which required removal of the peritoneal catheter in order to cure this infection. We describe the features of B. vesicularis infection in our patient and the rarely reported additional cases.

Leprosy: A rare case of infectious peripheral neuropathy in the United States.

Peripheral neuropathy can be the initial presentation of leprosy. Diagnosis can be challenging unless skin manifestations are recognized. Skin biopsy and Fite staining are the keys to the diagnosis. It is important to treat coexisting Lepra reactions, peripheral neuropathy and side effects of the therapeutic agents. This is a complex clinical course of a patient with lepromatous leprosy.

The Struggling Infectious Diseases Fellow: Remediation Challenges and Opportunities.

Remediation of struggling learners is a challenge faced by all educators. In recognition of this reality, and in light of contemporary challenges facing infectious diseases (ID) fellowship program directors, the Infectious Diseases Society of America Training Program Directors' Committee focused the 2018 National Fellowship Program Directors' Meeting at IDWeek on "Remediation of the Struggling Fellow." Small group discussions addressed 7 core topics, including feedback and evaluations, performance management and remediation, knowledge deficits, fellow well-being, efficiency and time management, teaching skills, and career development. This manuscript synthesizes those discussions around a competency-based framework to provide program directors and other educators with a roadmap for addressing common contemporary remediation challenges.

Aspergillus fumigatus endocarditis in a splenectomized patient with no risk factors.

Aspergillus endocarditis is a rare cause of culture-negative fungal endocarditis, after Candida endocarditis. Typical risk factors include intravenous drug use, immunosuppression, prior cardiac surgery or presence of prosthetic heart valves, hematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplantation. Common presentations include signs and symptoms consistent with endocarditis but with negative bacterial blood cultures. Here, we present a case report of a 49-year-old male without known risk factors for fungal endocarditis who presented with a stroke and found to have Aspergillus endocarditis. Despite surgical intervention and antifungal treatment, the outcome was fatal. This underscores the difficulty in diagnosing Aspergillus endocarditis and its poor prognosis, necessitating the need for early diagnosis and intervention.

Respiratory Candida in Patients with Bronchitis, Mucus Plugging, and Atelectasis.

BACKGROUND: The significance of Candida in pulmonary secretions is unclear, and usually is regarded as colonization, not contributing to symptoms or disease. Yet, in our experience, Candida seemed associated with chronic sputum, mucus plugging, atelectasis, and poor outcome. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe the clinical findings of patients with Candida in pulmonary (sputum or bronchoscopy) secretions and the significance of Candida. METHODS: Retrospective study of inpatients and outpatients referred for pulmonary consultation with Candida in pulmonary secretions. Clinical parameters and estimates of whether Candida was likely clinically significant, were determined. RESULTS: 82 inpatients and 11 outpatients were identified, of which 61 (66%) had atelectasis and 68 (73%) bronchoscopies. Of patients having bronchoscopies, 56 (82%) had mucus, and 43 (63%) mucus plugging. Of the inpatients death (or probable death) occurred in 43 (63%), 42 (98%) of which were from definite or probable respiratory failure, with 13 (31%) likely related to mucus plugging, 16 (38%) possibly from mucus plugging, 6 (14%) unknown, and 7 (17%) not due to mucus plugging. Candida was felt likely clinically significant in 57 patients (61%), uncertain significance in 23 (25%), and not significant in 13 (14%). All outpatients had exacerbations, including 7 (64%) within a year. CONCLUSION: Patients requiring pulmonary consultation with Candida in pulmonary secretions often have chronic sputum production, exacerbations, mucus plugging, atelectasis, and death from respiratory failure. Candida was likely clinically significant in most patients. Recommendations to consider Candida in pulmonary secretions as colonization should be reconsidered.

Comparison of an ordinal endpoint to time-to-event, longitudinal, and binary endpoints for use in evaluating treatments for severe influenza requiring hospitalization.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The Food and Drug Administration recommends research into developing well-defined and reliable endpoints to evaluate treatments for severe influenza requiring hospitalization. A novel 6-category ordinal endpoint of patient health status after 7 days that ranges from death to hospital discharge with resumption of normal activities is being used in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) for severe influenza (FLU-IVIG). We compare the power of the ordinal endpoint under a proportional odds model to other types of endpoints as a function of various trial parameters. METHODS: We used closed-form analysis and empirical simulation to compare the power of the ordinal endpoint to time-to-event, longitudinal, and binary endpoints. In the simulation setting, we varied the treatment effect and the distribution of the placebo group across the follow-up period with consideration of adjustment for baseline health status. RESULTS: In the analytic setting, ordinal endpoints of high granularity provided greater power than time-to-event endpoints when most patients in the placebo group had either naturally progressed to the category of hospital discharge by day 7 or were far from hospital discharge on day 7. In the simulation setting, adjustment for baseline health status universally raised power for the proportional odds model. Across different placebo group distributions of the ordinal endpoint regardless of adjustment for baseline health status, only time-to-event endpoints yielded higher power than the ordinal endpoint for certain treatment effects. CONCLUSIONS: In this case study, the FLU-IVIG ordinal endpoint provided greater power than time-to-event, binary, and longitudinal endpoints for most scenarios of the treatment effect and placebo group distribution, including the target population studied for FLU-IVIG. The ordinal endpoint was only surpassed by the time-to-event endpoint when many patients in the placebo group were on the cusp of hospital discharge on day 7 and the follow-up period for the time-to-event endpoint was extended to allow for additional events. Our general approach for evaluating the power of several potential endpoints for an influenza trial can be used for designing other influenza trials with different target populations and for other trials in other disease areas.

Covert cryptococcal meningitis in a patient with systemic lupus erythematous.

BACKGROUND: Cryptococcal meningitis is a rare but well-recognized illness with a high mortality rate in immunosuppressed patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis in these patients can be challenging, especially in the emergency department (ED), as the clinical presentation may be non-specific, which can lead to delayed treatment. OBJECTIVE: To recognize risk factors associated with the development of cryptococcal meningitis infection in patients with SLE and to provide an update on the clinical presentation, prognosis, and therapeutic options. CASE REPORT: A 21-year-old man with SLE presented with a 4-day history of headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting after being discharged from the ED 1 day before this visit, after lumbar puncture showed normal values. One week before, he had completed 7-day pulse therapy with intravenous cyclophosphamide and intravenous methylprednisone for lupus nephritis. The patient was febrile, but the remainder of the examination was normal. Laboratory data showed lymphopenia. Given his immunocompromised state, a cryptococcal antigen was added to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sent from the prior ED visit and was positive at a titer of 1:8. The patient was treated with amphotericin B and 5-flucytosine for 6 weeks. Ten months later the patient remained free of infection. CONCLUSION: Normal neurological and CSF examination do not exclude cryptococcal meningitis in immunocompromised patients with SLE. India ink or, preferably, latex agglutination test and CSF fungal culture are recommended. A high level of suspicion is the key in the diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis and will help avoid delays in treatment.

Outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus wound infections among "lipotourists" from the United States who underwent abdominoplasty in the Dominican Republic.

BACKGROUND: Some US residents travel abroad to undergo cosmetic surgery for fat removal, a practice referred to as "lipotourism." Mycobacterium abscessus can cause postsurgical wound infection. METHODS: US residents who developed M. abscessus wound infection after undergoing cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic in 2003 and 2004 were identified using the Emerging Infections Network listserv. RESULTS: Twenty returning US travelers with M. abscessus infection were detected. Eight patients had matching isolates, as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and repetitive element polymerase chain reaction. All 8 patients, who had previously been healthy Hispanic women, underwent abdominoplasties at the same clinic in the Dominican Republic. Symptoms first developed 2-18 weeks after the procedure (median interval, 7 weeks). Only 2 of the 8 patients received a correct diagnosis at the initial presentation. Most patients presented with painful, erythematous, draining subcutaneous abdominal nodules. Seven patients underwent drainage procedures. Six patients received a combination of antibiotics that included a macrolide plus cefoxitin, imipenem, amikacin, and/or linezolid; 2 received clarithromycin monotherapy. All patients but 1 were cured after a median of 9 months of therapy (range, 2-12 months). Because of a lack of access to the surgical clinic, the cause of the outbreak of infection was not identified. The patients who were infected with nonmatching isolates underwent surgeries in different facilities but otherwise had demographic characteristics and clinical presentations similar to those of the 8 patients infected with matching isolates. CONCLUSIONS: This case series of M. abscessus infection in US "lipotourists" highlights the risks of traveling abroad for surgery and the potential role of the Internet in identifying and investigating outbreaks.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: from the hospital to the community.

Infections due to community-associated methicillin---resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are becoming more prevalent. CA-MRSA infections have unique epidemiologic features and virulence factors. Compared with health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA), most CA-MRSA is clonal type USA300 or 400 and has the Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec type IV, which carries the mecA gene that encodes for resistance to methicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics but generally not for other antibiotics. CA-MRSA often contains various virulence factors that may result in tissue necrosis. CA-MRSA clinical presentation includes mostly skin and soft tissue infections and less frequently pneumonia. In many of the small soft tissue abscesses due to CA-MRSA, primary treatment with surgical drainage may result in improvement without antibiotic therapy. Optimal treatment and prevention of CA-MRSA infections are unclear. However, distinction between CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA may be less relevant in the future, as CA-MRSA strains are now diagnosed in the hospital setting.

Litotripsia extracorpórea bajo anestesia peridural con meperidina y lidocaína / Lithotripsy extracorporea low pedidural anesthesic with meperidine and lidocaine

La efectividad de la Meperidina en el espacio peridural, como anestésico único, para la litotripsia por ondas de choque extracorpórea, fue evaluada en este trabajo. se estudiaron 31 pacientes distribuidos en dos grupos al azar: grupo I, se le administró 80 mg de Meperidina mezclada con Solución fisiológica, y el grupo II, se le administró 320 mg de Lidocaína al 2 por ciento. Se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas, en cuanto al período de latencia y la duración de la anelgesia, a favor de la Meperidina. no se registraron variaciones importantes de tensión arterial (diastólica y sistólica) y frecuencia cardíaca. Aunque no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los dos grupos, en relación a las complicaciones, se observó que en el grupo I, el mayor porcentaje (38,09 por ciento) fue reflejado por molestias que impidieron continuar con la litotripsia, por lo cual fue necesario administrar Lidocaína al 1 por ciento para continuar con el procedimiento, siendo una sola dosis suficiente para tal efecto; esto nos sugiere que la Meperidina sola, por vía peridural, no es suficiente para realizar la litotripsia y, a la vez, no permite recomendarla en procedimientos similares