Prevalence of erythromycin-resistant emm92-type invasive group A streptococcal infections among injection drug users in West Virginia, United States, 2021-23.

BACKGROUND: Increasing incidence of invasive group A Streptococcus (iGAS) disease has been reported in Europe and the USA over the past several years. Coupled with this are observations of higher rates of resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin. OBJECTIVES: To characterize iGAS and pharyngitis isolates from West Virginia (WV), a US state outside of the national Active Bacteria Core surveillance purview, where risk factors associated with iGAS infections are prevalent. METHODS: Seventy-seven invasive group A Streptococcus isolates were collected from 67 unique patients at the J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital Clinical Microbiology Laboratory in WV from 2021 to 2023. Invasive isolates and 20 unique pharyngitis isolates were tested for clindamycin and erythromycin susceptibility in the clinical laboratory. Patient demographic and clinical information was retrieved from patient electronic health records. Isolates were further characterized based on emm subtype and detection of MLSB resistance determinants. RESULTS: Twenty-six (39%) isolates were of a single emm92 type. All emm92 isolates were uniformly erythromycin/clindamycin resistant with inducible or constitutive MLSB resistance imparted by the plasmid-borne erm(T) gene. The majority of emm92 infections were associated with adult patients who reported IV drug use, whereas no pharyngitis infections were caused by an emm92 strain. Overall, 51 (76%) of the 67 iGAS isolates were determined to carry MLSB resistance. CONCLUSIONS: Isolates of emm92 type (clonal subtype emm92.0) were associated with iGAS infections in adult IV drug users, but not with paediatric pharyngitis, and were uniformly resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin.

Implementation of a Quality and Patient Safety Curriculum for Pathology Residency Training.

Quality and Patient Safety education for resident physicians is necessary to prepare them for independent practice and to meet accreditation requirements. Integrating such education into the residents' routine work can provide them with valuable practical experience, while advancing the institution's quality priorities. We committed to Quality and Patient Safety education for our pathology residents but found no published program that met their specific needs. To fill this gap in pathology residency education, we designed and implemented a new curriculum that spans the 4-year duration of residency training. Curriculum content was drawn from the pathology milestones, and educational strategies were based on the principles of adult learning. The curriculum was implemented in the 2018 to 19 academic year, and residents were assessed before and after their participation. The residents engaged in several Quality and Patient Safety activities and projects under faculty supervision, and improved their scores on objective assessments (Quality and Patient Safety quiz and in-service examination). Implementation was facilitated by a Quality and Patient Safety chief resident, and the recruitment of faculty with demonstrated Quality and Patient Safety interest. Our comprehensive Quality and Patient Safety curriculum is feasible to implement and can help pathology residents develop the knowledge and skills needed to lead quality initiatives. We believe that the curriculum framework is readily adaptable to other residency programs.

Allaying uncertainty in diagnosing buried Barrett's esophagus.

Subsquamous intestinal metaplasia (SSIM) in the setting of Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a technically challenging diagnosis. While the risk for progression of BE involving the surface mucosa is well documented, the potential risk for development of advanced neoplasia associated with SSIM has been controversial. This study aimed to determine the effects of specimen adequacy, presence of dysplasia, and interobserver agreement for SSIM interpretation. Adult patients (n = 28) who underwent endoscopic therapy for BE with high-grade dysplasia or intramucosal carcinoma (HGD/IMC) between October 2005 and June 2013 were included. Initial evaluation (n = 140 slides) by an experienced gastrointestinal pathologist was followed by an interobserver study by 8 pathologists. Forty-seven (34%) slides had insufficient subsquamous tissue to assess for SSIM. SSIM was found in 19% of all slides and 29% of slides with sufficient subsquamous tissue. At least one slide had SSIM in 54% to 64% of patients. Subsquamous low grade dysplasia (LGD) was found in 4 (15%) slides with SSIM and subsquamous HGD/IMC was found in 5 (19%) slides with SSIM. At the patient level, 8 (53%) had no dysplasia, 4 (27%) had LGD and 3 (20%) had HGD/IMC. Overall agreement for SSIM by slide was 92% to 94% (κ = 0.73 to κ = 0.82, moderate to strong agreement), and by patient was 82% to 94% (κ = 0.65 to κ = 0.87, moderate to strong agreement). This study confirms the need for assessing specimen adequacy and assessing the prevalence of SSIM and is the first to assess interobserver agreement for SSIM and dysplasia within SSIM.

Clinical Significance and Histologic Characterization of Histoplasma Granulomas.

OBJECTIVES: To clarify the clinical significance and degree of resolution (ie, grade) of Histoplasma granulomas in routinely reviewed surgical pathology specimens and the clinical outcomes of patients with this diagnosis, with an emphasis on those not receiving antifungal therapy. METHODS: We performed a retrospective medical record, laboratory data, and surgical pathology slide review of patients with Histoplasma granulomas following institutional review board approval. RESULTS: Clinical, pathologic, and laboratory data from 62 patients with Histoplasma granulomas were available for review. Of these, 1 of 19 (5%) fungal cultures, 4 of 12 (33%) fungal serologic studies, 0 of 9 Histoplasma urinary antigen tests, and 0 of 2 Histoplasma serum antigen tests were positive. All but 3 of the Histoplasma granulomas were either in the resolving (grade 2) or resolved (grade 3) stage of resolution. None of the patients, including those who did not receive antifungal therapy after the histologic diagnosis, developed progressive or disseminated histoplasmosis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings, which are supportive of clinical guidelines, suggest that patients with old, hyalinized Histoplasma granulomas do not benefit from further laboratory studies or antifungal therapy. The proposed grading of Histoplasma granulomas informs clinicians of the stage of resolution of an excised lesion, which informs therapeutic decisions and thus is recommended.

A Comparison of Five SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Assays With Clinical Correlations.

OBJECTIVES: Comparative assessments of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) molecular assays that have been operationalized through the US Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorization process are warranted to assess real-world performance. Characteristics such as sensitivity, specificity, and false-negative rate are important to inform clinical use. METHODS: We compared five SARS-CoV-2 assays using nasopharyngeal and nasal swab specimens submitted in transport media; we enriched this cohort for positive specimens, since we were particularly interested in the sensitivity and false-negative rate. Performance of each test was compared with a composite standard. RESULTS: The sensitivities and false-negative rates of the 239 specimens that met inclusion criteria were, respectively, as follows: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2019 nCoV Real-Time RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel, 100% and 0%; TIB MOLBIOL/Roche z 480 Assay, 96.5% and 3.5%; Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 (Cepheid), 97.6% and 2.4%; Simplexa COVID-19 Direct Kit (DiaSorin), 88.1% and 11.9%; and ID Now COVID-19 (Abbott), 83.3% and 16.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The assays that included a nucleic acid extraction followed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were more sensitive than assays that lacked a full extraction. Most false negatives were seen in patients with low viral loads, as extrapolated from crossing threshold values.

Diagnosis of Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae complex cutaneous infection: Correlation of tissue culture and skin biopsy.

Mycobacterium abscessus and M. chelonae belong to the rapid-growing nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) group, which are defined by their ability to form visible colonies on agar within 7 days of subculture. Cutaneous infections by this complex show a heterogeneous clinical presentation with varied histopathologic findings. However, the presence of vacuoles in many specimens has been reported as a specific histologic finding. Herein, we correlate the histopathology of patients with tissue-culture positive M. abscessus/M. chelonae complex in order to identify features that may prompt a rapid categorization of the infectious etiology. The cohort includes 33 skin punch biopsy specimens from 28 patients who had associated positive tissue cultures. The most frequent clinical presentation was a single or multiple nodule. Twenty-seven specimens (81.81%) were found to have vacuoles. The observation of certain histologic features (ie, polymorphonuclear microabscesses and epithelioid granuloma formation) should raise the possibility of infection by NTM. In addition to these findings, we believe the presence of vacuoles in the dermal and subcutaneous inflammation should raise suspicion for NTM.