In Case You Missed It: Top ID/Stewardship Journal Articles Trending in March 2019

This article identifies new infectious diseases & antimicrobial stewardship literature released in March 2019. Hot off the press and put together here in one place!

Written By: Bassam Ghanem, Pharm.D., MS, BCPS

Edited By: Timothy P. Gauthier, Pharm.D., BCPS-AQ ID

[Last updated: 2 April 2019]

In this monthly column two pharmacists who utilize Twitter to stay current with antimicrobial stewardship literature (@ABsteward [B.G.] & @IDstewardship [T.G.]) identify some of the top hot off the press articles recently published.

The following are some of the new publications we found most interesting or noteworthy that were released in March of 2019…

1. Fosfomycin for injection (ZTI-01) vs Piperacillin-Tazobactam (PIP-TAZ) for the Treatment of Complicated Urinary Tract Infection (cUTI) Including Acute Pyelonephritis (AP): ZEUS, A Phase 2/3 Randomized Trial | CID

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciz181/5370034

ZEUS is a randomized controlled trial that showed IV fosfomycin 6 g q8h was non-inferior to piperacillin-tazobactam 4.5 g IV q8h for a fixed 7-day course of treatment for cUTI and acute pyelonephritis.

2. Use of ribaxamase (SYN-004), a β-lactamase, to prevent Clostridium difficile infection in β-lactam-treated patients: a double-blind, phase 2b, randomised placebo-controlled trial | Lancet infectious

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147330991830731X

This RCT showed that in patients treated with intravenous ceftriaxone for lower respiratory tract infections, oral ribaxamase reduced the incidence of C. difficile infections compared with placebo.

3. Association between Antibiotic Use and Hospital-Onset Clostridioides difficile Infection in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals, 2006-2012: an Ecologic Analysis | CID

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciz169/5367464

The largest ecological analysis to date using data from 549 acute care hospitals in the U.S between 2006 and 2012; showed that higher use of third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins and carbapenems were significantly associated with higher rates of Hospital-Onset Clostridioides difficile Infection (HO-CDI) and that temporal changes in antibiotic use correlated with changes in HO-CDI.

4. Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study | Annals of Internal medicine

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2727726/measles-mumps-rubella-vaccination-autism-nationwide-cohort-study

This large Danish cohort study supports that MMR vaccination does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination.

5. Cefazolin versus anti-staphylococcal penicillins for the treatment of patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: a systematic review and meta-analysis | CMI

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1198743X19301120

This systematic review and meta-analysis found that cefazolin is at least as effective as anti-staphylococcal penicillins for MSSA bacteremia, and associated with less nephrotoxicity.

6. A randomised controlled trial of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDITOF-MS) versus conventional microbiological methods for identifying pathogens: impact on optimal antimicrobial therapy of invasive bacterial and fungal infections in Vietnam | Journal of infection

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0163445319300957

This RCT concluded that MALDITOF-MS, in the absence of an antimicrobial stewardship programme, did not improve the proportion on optimal antimicrobial therapy at 24 or 48 hours after first growth in a lower-middle income setting with high rates of antibiotic resistance.

7.A Baker’s Dozen of Top Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention Publications in 2017 | OFID

https://academic.oup.com/ofid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ofid/ofz133/5419869

The Southeastern Research Group Endeavor (SERGE-45) selected the top 13 peer-reviewed publications in antimicrobial stewardship that detailed an actionable intervention for 2017 using a modified Delphi technique.