Which Topics Drive Dissemination? Alternative Bibliometrics Analysis of the Highest-Ranking Articles in 3 Infectious Diseases Journals Before COVID-19.

Dissemination of research is paramount to improving patient care. Historically, dissemination is reported in conventional bibliometrics. However, with the increased utilization of digital platforms for communication, alternative bibliometrics describe more real-time dissemination of information. This study documents dissemination of publication topics in infectious diseases journals prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transplantid.net: A Pilot Crowdsourced, Living, Online Library of Resources for the Teaching and Practice of Transplant Infectious Diseases.

The field of transplant infectious diseases is rapidly evolving, presenting a challenge for clinical practice and trainee education. Here we describe the construction of transplantid.net, a free online library, crowdsourced and continuously updated for the dual purpose of point-of-care evidence-based management and teaching.

Coinfections in Patients With Cancer and COVID-19: A COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) Study.

BACKGROUND: The frequency of coinfections and their association with outcomes have not been adequately studied among patients with cancer and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a high-risk group for coinfection. METHODS: We included adult (≥18 years) patients with active or prior hematologic or invasive solid malignancies and laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection, using data from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19, NCT04354701). We captured coinfections within ±2 weeks from diagnosis of COVID-19, identified factors cross-sectionally associated with risk of coinfection, and quantified the association of coinfections with 30-day mortality. RESULTS: Among 8765 patients (hospitalized or not; median age, 65 years; 47.4% male), 16.6% developed coinfections: 12.1% bacterial, 2.1% viral, 0.9% fungal. An additional 6.4% only had clinical diagnosis of a coinfection. The adjusted risk of any coinfection was positively associated with age >50 years, male sex, cardiovascular, pulmonary, and renal comorbidities, diabetes, hematologic malignancy, multiple malignancies, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, progressing cancer, recent cytotoxic chemotherapy, and baseline corticosteroids; the adjusted risk of superinfection was positively associated with tocilizumab administration. Among hospitalized patients, high neutrophil count and C-reactive protein were positively associated with bacterial coinfection risk, and high or low neutrophil count with fungal coinfection risk. Adjusted mortality rates were significantly higher among patients with bacterial (odds ratio [OR], 1.61; 95% CI, 1.33-1.95) and fungal (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.28-3.76) coinfections. CONCLUSIONS: Viral and fungal coinfections are infrequent among patients with cancer and COVID-19, with the latter associated with very high mortality rates. Clinical and laboratory parameters can be used to guide early empiric antimicrobial therapy, which may improve clinical outcomes.

Diagnostic Approach to Viral Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Paediatric Age Group: A Study from New Delhi.

INTRODUCTION: Acute Encephalitis Syndrome has heralded the emergence of multiple virulent pathogens, which may result in severe morbidity and mortality. In India, encephalitis is not notified and there has been a dearth of analysis for trends in encephalitis death rates and causation. A downward trend has been observed in encephalitis deaths, due to 'known' causes, which can be largely explained by improvement in diagnostic, treatment, and prevention methods. There is still a very high proportion of encephalitis deaths in developing countries, where the aetiological diagnosis of the pathogen is not established and thus, lies the importance of monitoring encephalitis morbidity and mortality with a view to improve pathogen diagnosis and identify emerging infectious diseases. AIM: To formulate a diagnostic approach to viral acute encephalitis syndrome in paediatric age group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study including 50 paediatric patients, clinically diagnosed with acute encephalitis syndrome using WHO criteria was conducted. The CSF of all the patients was evaluated to diagnose the aetiology for viral pathogens. ELISA was used for diagnosing Japanese encephalitis and dengue encephalitis; and multiplex real time PCR was used for detecting HSV-1, HSV-2, Varicella zoster virus, Mumps virus, Enterovirus and Parechovirus. RESULTS: Confirmed diagnosis was established in 11 (22%) of 50 cases. A confirmed or probable viral agent of encephalitis was found in 7 (14%), bacterial agent was found in 2 (4%), non-infectious aetiology was found in 2 (4%). Fatal outcome was independently associated with patient age. CONCLUSION: Despite extensive testing, the aetiologies of more than three fourth of the cases remains elusive. Nevertheless the result from the present study may be useful for future design of early diagnosis and treatment of the disease. New strategies for pathogen identification and continued analysis of clinical features and case histories should help us improve our ability to diagnose, treat and prevent encephalitis.