Industry Insights
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Posted: July 22, 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released its 2024 Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL). The 72-page document builds on its first list, released in 2017. The WHO BPPL 2024 focuses on the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that present the greatest unmet needs and pose the most significant public health burdens. The list includes 15 families of antibiotic resistant pathogens grouped as critical, high and medium categories.
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Posted: July 15, 2024
For a human pathogen with no known environmental reservoir, Mycobacterium tuberculosis has honed the art of survival and has persisted in human communities from antiquity through modern times. Tuberculosis is a preventable and treatable infectious disease. Having said that, it is still one of the major contributors to morbidity and mortality in developing countries where there is less-than-adequate access to care.
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Posted: July 01, 2024
We’re all familiar with this ever-present dichotomy. Antibiotics are life-saving, until they’re not; until the delicate balance shifts, causing the oh-so-inevitable resistance. While antibiotic stewardship programs are becoming more and more prevalent, what does one do when working with a patient with a chronic condition in which daily, long-term antimicrobial treatment is the norm? How do we address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in patients with whom bacterial infections are typically never fully eradicated, despite the employment of a multitude of drug therapies?
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Posted: June 24, 2024
In a large genetic analysis study, individuals with genetic risk factors, such as family history of colorectal cancer (CRC), who have experienced early-life antibiotic use on a long term basis, demonstrated an increased risk of early-onset CRC. It was determined that individuals with a high polygenic risk score (genetic predisposition to a particular disease) were at higher risk of early-onset CRC, further supporting the association between antibiotic use and early-onset CRC with genetic risk factors.
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Posted: May 21, 2024
The CDC attributes the rise in C. auris cases during the height of the pandemic as a result of inadequate staffing, supply shortages, the increased number of seriously ill patients, and changes in infection prevention and control practices. The CDC encourages all U.S. laboratories that identify C. auris to notify their state or local public health authorities.
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Posted: April 10, 2024
The CDC is alerting doctors to be on the lookout for certain types of rare, serious meningococcal infections that are on the rise in the United States.
This alarming increase is caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, which has caused 1 in 6 people to die, a higher fatality rate than they typically see with meningococcal infections.
These cases are also unusual because they are striking middle-aged adults. Typically, meningitis infections strike babies or adolescents and young adults.
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Posted: April 03, 2024
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released its 2022 Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Surveillance Report providing U.S. data for nationally notifiable STI’s for federally funded control programs.
According to the report, syphilis cases (all stages and congenital syphilis) increased 80 percent from 2018-2022. More than 3,700 congenital syphilis cases were reported in 2022, reflecting an alarming 937 percent increase in the past decade, said Laura Bachmann, MD, MPH, Acting Director, CDC’s Division of STD Prevention in her announcement letter included in the report.
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Posted: March 14, 2024
As hundreds of thousands of patients come face-to-face with health issues related to antibiotic-resistant infections, the scientific community must address the significance of antimicrobial stewardship and its core principles.
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Posted: February 28, 2024
Postoperative infections are one of the most common complications in general surgery, and rates have been reduced with the routine administration of perioperative antibiotics (1). GG is reportedly more common after penetrating trauma or major surgery and is rarely reported without obvious predisposing events, such as edema, fever, malaise, and pain. Previous documents have only reported gas gangrene once after an open rectal surgery or laparoscopic cholecystectomy (2, 3). However, the authors of the case documented in the Frontiers in Surgery report say this is the first case of GG of the pelvic wall, after laparoscopic resection for rectal cancer, occurred.
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Posted: February 05, 2024
The purpose of the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion susceptibility test is to determine the in vitro susceptibility of bacteria and fungi to various antimicrobial compounds. It is a standardized test that can be performed in a laboratory setting and is a valuable tool for both clinicians and microbiologists.
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Posted: January 12, 2024Categories: Clinical, Industry Insights, Public Health Alerts, Health & Wellness, Product SpotlightsWe began to see an increase in the number of strep throat cases in beginning in late spring of 2023, not only in pediatric patients, but adults as well. Now in December, cases of Group A Streptococcus (GAS) continue to rise. During one newscast out of the Midwest, some physicians say 2023 was the worst year for strep throat that they can remember.Read More
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Posted: January 10, 2024...
Hepatitis C is the primary cause of liver cancer and the need for liver transplants among patients infected with the virus.
Infection is often the result of coming into contact with contaminated blood, usually through injected drug use, but also
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Posted: January 04, 2024
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales or CRE, are a group of gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to “last line” antibiotics and are very challenging to treat. These microorganisms may confer their resistance via the production of a carbapenemase, an enzyme that inactivates carbapenem antibiotics.
The five most common types of carbapenemases are KPC, OXA-48-like, VIM, IMP, and NDM.
Knowing the type of carbapenemase is crucial for therapeutic purposes, infection control, and for preventing outbreaks.
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Posted: October 09, 2023...
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Posted: September 20, 2023...