In this article a selection of the top infectious diseases articles from 2022 are identified.
Article Selection by: Bassam Ghanem, Pharm.D., MS, BCPS
Article Construction by: Timothy P. Gauthier, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP
Article Posted 3 January 2023
Coming out of 2020 and 2021, to nobody’s surprise 2022 was yet again a very busy year for folks practicing in the area of infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic progressed along with the musical chairs of predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants which continues to impact the landscape of this disease. However, as important as COVID-19 is, it will not be the focus of this article here. Here, we will be identifying some of the best infectious diseases articles from 2022, which are not about COVID-19.
Although Elon Musk has brought much turbulence to the platform Twitter, many of us continue to use it and hope to be able to use it in the future for professional purposes, in particular keeping up with the infectious diseases literature and #IDtwitter. It has certainly helped with building this list. But hey, maybe next year we will be doing something similar and just swapping out Twitter for Mastadon or some other similar platform!
The list provided in this article was prepared by Dr. Ghanem who you can follow on Twitter @ABsteward where he has become a world resource on staying current in infectious diseases. There is no particular order to the list. There may be articles not listed that are important too. But these are some really good ones to take a look at if you missed them.
We hope you find this list helpful, maybe it will even inspire a journal club or two!
Best Infectious Diseases Articles from 2022
1. A 24-Week, All-Oral Regimen for Rifampin-Resistant Tuberculosis | NEJM
- TB-PRACTECAL RCT: In patients with rifampin-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis, a 24-week, all-oral regimen was non-inferior to the accepted standard-care treatment, and it had a better safety profile.
- Implication: prompted WHO to update global DR-TB treatment guidelines.
2. Single-Dose Liposomal Amphotericin B Treatment for Cryptococcal Meningitis | NEJM
- Ambition RCT: Single-dose liposomal amphotericin B combined with flucytosine and fluconazole was non-inferior to the WHO-recommended treatment for HIV-associated cryptococcal meningitis and was associated with fewer adverse events
- Implication: prompted WHO to update guidelines for diagnosing, preventing and managing cryptococcal disease among adults, adolescents and children living with HIV
3. Routine sterile glove and instrument change at the time of abdominal wound closure to prevent surgical site infection (ChEETAh): a pragmatic, cluster-randomised trial in seven low-income and middle-income countries | The Lancet
- ChEETAh RCT: Routine change of gloves and instruments before wound closure reduced surgical site infections in patients undergoing surgery with an abdominal incision.
- Implication: ChEETAh provides the necessary evidence to change practice in operating theaters around the world for surgery with abdominal incision.
4. Effect of oral antimicrobial prophylaxis on surgical site infection after elective colorectal surgery: multicentre, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial | BMJ
- COMBINE RCT: Among adults undergoing elective colorectal surgery, the addition of a single 1 g dose of ornidazole compared with placebo before surgery significantly reduced surgical site infections.
5. Alternative to prophylactic antibiotics for the treatment of recurrent urinary tract infections in women: multicentre, open label, randomised, non-inferiority trial | BMJ
- ALTAR RCT: Non-antibiotic preventive treatment for UTI (methenamine hippurate) is not inferior to the current guideline recommended standard (daily, low dose prophylactic antibiotics).
6. Secondary Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease | NEJM
- GOAL RCT: Among children and adolescents 5 to 17 years of age with latent rheumatic heart disease, secondary antibiotic prophylaxis (penicillin G benzathine every 4 weeks) reduced the risk of disease progression at 2 years.
7. Effect of Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract on Hospital Mortality in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation A Randomized Clinical Trial | JAMA
- SuDDICU RCT: Among critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation, selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) did not significantly reduce in-hospital mortality compared with standard care without SDD. However, the confidence interval around the effect estimate includes a clinically important benefit.
8. (1 → 3)-β-D-Glucan-guided antifungal therapy in adults with sepsis: the CandiSep randomized clinical trial | ICM
- CandiSep RCT: Serum β-D-glucan-guided antifungal treatment did not improve 28-day mortality among sepsis patients with risk factors for but unexpected low rate of invasive Candida.
9. Treatment of erythema migrans with doxycycline for 7 days versus 14 days in Slovenia: a randomised open-label non-inferiority trial | Lancet ID
- In adult European patients with solitary erythema migrans 7 days of doxycycline was safe, effective, and non-inferior to a 14-day regimen for all efficacy endpoints. #Shorterisbetter
10. Comparison of 8 versus 15 days of antibiotic therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults: a randomized, controlled, open-label trial | ICM
- iDIAPASON RCT: This study failed to show the non-inferiority of a short duration of antibiotics in the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) VAP, compared to a long duration. The short duration strategy may be associated to an increase of PA-VAP recurrence. However, the lack of power limits the interpretation of this study.
11. Short versus extended treatment with a carbapenem in patients with high-risk fever of unknown origin during neutropenia: a non-inferiority, open-label, multicentre, randomised trial | The Lancet
- SHORT RCT: Early discontinuation of carbapenem treatment in patients with febrile neutropenia of unknown origin does not result in increased treatment failure. However, because secondary analyses suggested that serious adverse events and all-cause mortality occurred more often in patients who are persistantly febrile the short treatment group, the authors recommend vigilance for non-susceptible pathogens and early resumption of empirical therapy in patients who are deteriorating.
12. Faecal microbiota transplantation for first or second Clostridioides difficile infection (EarlyFMT): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial | The Lancet
- EarlyFMT RCT: In patients with first or second C. difficile infection, first-line faecal microbiota transplantation was highly effective and superior to the standard of care vancomycin alone in achieving sustained resolution from C. difficile.
13. A procalcitonin-based algorithm to guide antibiotic use in patients with acute pancreatitis (PROCAP): a single-centre, patient-blinded, randomised controlled trial | The Lancet
- PROCAP RCT: Procalcitonin-guided care was found to reduce antibiotic use without increasing infection or harm in patients with acute pancreatitis.
14. Colistin Monotherapy versus Combination Therapy for Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms | NEJM Evidence
- OVERCOME RCT: Combination therapy with colistin and meropenem was not superior to colistin monotherapy for the treatment of pneumonia and/or BSI caused by XDR A. baumannii, XDR P. aeruginosa, or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales.
15. Evaluation of an Opt-Out Protocol for Antibiotic De-Escalation in Patients With Suspected Sepsis: A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial | CID
- The DETOURS RCT: An antibiotic opt-out protocol that targeted patients with suspected sepsis resulted in more antibiotic discontinuations, similar days of therapy when antibiotics were continued, and no evidence of harm.
16. Rezafungin versus caspofungin for treatment of candidaemia and invasive candidiasis (ReSTORE): a multicentre, double-blind, double-dummy, randomised phase 3 trial | The Lancet
- ReSTORE RCT: Rezafungin was found to be non-inferior to caspofungin for the primary endpoints of day-14 global cure (EMA) and 30-day all-cause mortality.
17. Oral Tebipenem Pivoxil Hydrobromide in Complicated Urinary Tract Infection | NEJM
- ADAPT-PO RCT: Oral tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide was found to be non-inferior to intravenous ertapenem in the treatment of complicated urinary tract infection and acute pyelonephritis and had a similar safety profile.
18. Revisiting the Evidence Base for Modern-Day Practice of the Treatment of Toxoplasmic Encephalitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | CID
- TMP-SMX was found to have similar efficacy for clinical response, radiologic response, and mortality, with a reduced risk of discontinuation due to toxicity compared with pyrimethamine-containing regimens.
19. Efficacy of Doxycycline for Mild-to-moderate Community-acquired Pneumonia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials | CID
- Doxycycline was found to be comparable to macrolides or fluoroquinolones for adult patients with mild-to-moderate CAP and remains a viable treatment option.
20. Association of vancomycin plus piperacillin-tazobactam with early changes in creatinine versus cystatin C in critically ill adults: a prospective cohort study | ICM
- Vancomycin + piperacillin–tazobactam was associated with creatinine-defined acute kidney injury, but not changes in alternative kidney biomarkers, dialysis, or mortality, supporting the hypothesis that vancomycin + piperacillin–tazobactam effects on creatinine represent pseudotoxicity.
ADDITIONAL NOTABLE ARTICLES
1. Use of Novel Strategies to Develop Guidelines for Management of Pyogenic Osteomyelitis in Adults – A WikiGuidelines Group Consensus Statement | JAMA Network
2. Guidelines for diagnosing, preventing and managing cryptococcal disease among adults, adolescents and children living with HIV | WHO
3. WHO consolidated guidelines on tuberculosis. Module 4: treatment – drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment, 2022 update | WHO
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