New Literature In Infectious Diseases & Antimicrobial Stewardship: March 2020 Edition

This article is provided to help people interested in antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases keep up with some of the current literature.

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

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

[Last updated: 6 March 2019]

We took off the months of January and February, but here we are back in March! In this column two pharmacists with advanced training in infectious diseases and antimicrobial stewardship identify top new journal articles published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Many of these are identified, shared, and discussed via Twitter. The authors can be found on Twitter @ABsteward (B.G.) & @IDstewardship (T.G.).

Infectious diseases is a very exciting field. We hope you enjoy reading about some of these articles as much as we enjoy preparing this text! Here are some of the latest and greatest articles from the field of antimicrobial stewardship and infectious diseases published in the last couple months.

1. Effect of Vancomycin or Daptomycin With vs Without an Antistaphylococcal Beta-Lactam on Mortality, Bacteremia, Relapse, or Treatment Failure in Patients With MRSA Bacteremia: A Randomized Clinical Trial | JAMA

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2760737

The CAMERA2 RCT concluded that the addition of an anti-staphylococcal beta-lactam to standard antibiotic therapy with vancomycin or daptomycin for patients with MRSA bacteremia did not result in significant improvement in the primary composite end point of mortality, persistent bacteremia, relapse, or treatment failurde. The study was stopped early because of increased risk of acute kidney injury in the intervention group.

2. Contact isolation versus standard precautions to decrease acquisition of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales in non-critical care wards: a cluster-randomised crossover trial | Lancet ID

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1473309919306267

In this cluster-randomised crossover trial, contact isolation showed no benefit when added to standard precautions for controlling the spread of ESBL-producing Enterobacterales on non-critical care adult wards with extensive surveillance screening.

3. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Ceftriaxone and Doxycycline, with or Without Metronidazole, for the Treatment of Acute Pelvic Inflammatory Disease | CID

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa101/5735325?redirectedFrom=fulltext

This RCT concluded that the addition of metronidazole to ceftriaxone and doxycycline in women treated for acute PID was well tolerated and resulted in reduced endometrial anaerobes, decreased M. genitalium and reduced pelvic tenderness compared to ceftriaxone and doxycycline.

4. Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescribing in U.S. Childrens Hospitals: A National Point Prevalence Survey | CID

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa036/5707319?redirectedFrom=fulltext

In this cross-sectional analysis of antibiotic prescribing at 32 US children’s hospitals, approximately 1 in 3 hospitalized children received one or more antibiotics at any given time. One quarter of these children received suboptimal therapy, and nearly half of suboptimal use was not captured by current ASP practices.

5. Empirical Anti-MRSA vs Standard Antibiotic Therapy and Risk of 30-Day Mortality in Patients Hospitalized for Pneumonia | JAMA Internal Medicine

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2760778

This retrospective multicenter cohort study found that empirical anti-MRSA therapy was not correlated with decreased mortality for any group of individuals hospitalized for pneumonia.

6. The Effect of Infectious Diseases Consultation on Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Candida, and Pseudomonas Bloodstream Infections | OFID

https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/7/1/ofaa010/5700621

A retrospective cohort study concluded that having no infectious disease consultation is associated with 4.5-fold increased hazard of death at 3 months and 5.8-fold increased hazard of death in hospital amongst patients with bloodstream infections caused by MRSA, Candida sp. and Pseudomonas bloodstream infections.