Consenso Intersociedades para el manejo de infecciones respiratorias: bronquitis aguda y enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica / [Inter-society consensus for the management of respiratory infections: acute bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

The Argentine Society for Infectious Diseases and other national societies issued updated practical guidelines for the management of acute bronchitis (AB) and reactivations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with the aim of promoting rational use of diagnostic and therapeutic resources. AB is a condition characterized by inflammation of the bronchial airways which affects adults and children without underlying pulmonary disease. It is usually caused by a virus. The diagnosis is based on clinical findings after community acquired pneumonia has been ruled out. Treatment of AB is mainly symptomatic. Antibiotics should be used in immune-compromised hosts, patients with chronic respiratory or cardiac diseases and in the elderly with co-morbidities. Reactivation of COPD is defined as an acute change in the patient's baseline clinical situation beyond normal day to day variations, with an increase in dyspnea, sputum production and/or sputum purulence, warranting a change in medication. An increase in one symptom is considered a mild exacerbation, two as moderate, and the presence of three symptoms is considered a severe exacerbation. An infectious agent can be isolated in sputum in 50 to 75

of COPD reactivations. Moderate and severe episodes must be treated with antibiotics, amoxicillin/ beta-lactamase inhibitor, macrolides and fluoroquinolones are first choice drugs.

Teicoplanina en el tratamiento de las infecciones osteoarticulares por Staphylococcus meticilino-resistente. Experiencia en adultos / Teicoplanin in the treatment of bone and joint infections due to methicillin resistant staphylococci. Experience in adult patients

We retrospectively evaluated 89 episodes of bone and joint infections due to methicillin-resistant staphylococci: 56 chronic osteomyelitis (CO), 10 septic arthritis (SA) and 23 infections associated to arthroplasties (IAA). We analyzed the efficacy of Teicoplanin (T) in three times a week or daily administration schemes and adequate surgery (AS). Also, we determined cost savings derived from outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT). The overall efficacy of T in CO and both in cases with and without implants, was higher when antibiotic therapy was associated to AS (86 vs. 46, p = 0.001; 100 vs. 33, p = 0.0049 and 76 vs. 50, p = 0.09). All SA were cured. The overall efficacy of T was higher in IAA with implant removal vs. surgical debridement (100 vs. 54, p = 0.045). In all cases, T was similarly effective when administered three times a week vs. daily administration, when associated to AS. The savings derived from OPAT were 897 days/bed and USS 179,400. Adverse effects were few and light (8 episodes, 9). The results obtained are similar to those published in the literature and show that T administered daily or in a three times a week scheme and associated to AS, is effective and safe for the treatment of bone and joint infections. The savings derived from OPAT, mainly related to reduced hospitalization, are significant in these pathologies, which usually require long treatment periods

Guias para el manejo de las infecciones osteoarticulares por Staphylococcus meticilino-resistente / [Guidelines for the management of bone and joint infections due to methicillin resistant staphylococci]

Bone and joint infections are a group of complicated diseases with high morbidity. Emerging resistant microorganisms and the use of prosthetic devices have increased the difficulty in the medical treatment of patients. The purpose of these guidelines is to offer information on the management of bone and joint infections (post-invasive septic arthritis, chronic osteomyelitis and infected arthroplasty) produced by methicillin resistant staphylococci. They are oriented to physicians dedicated to internal medicine, infectious diseases, trauma and orthopedist surgeons as well as to everybody interested in this issue. The guidelines mainly point to the rational use of diagnostic methods and describe the new treatment modalities. A group of experts analyzed the different strategies for diagnosing and treating bone and joint infections due to methicillin resistant staphylococci and attempted at setting a level of evidence level and the strength of each recommendation.