Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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Invasive group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality rates. We report the epidemiology and trends of invasive GAS over 8 years of surveillance. ⋯ The burden of invasive GAS infection in the United States remains substantial. Vaccines under development could have a considerable public health impact.
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Review Meta Analysis
Fecal Colonization With Extended-spectrum Beta-lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae and Risk Factors Among Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis.
Gut colonization is a risk factor for infections with extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms. We aimed to determine the ESBL class A reservoir among healthy individuals. ⋯ The ESBL colonization rate among healthy individuals is significant worldwide. This should be taken into consideration in infection control and antibiotic management decisions.
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Multicenter Study
Staphylococcus aureus Community-acquired Pneumonia: Prevalence, Clinical Characteristics, and Outcomes.
Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and its clinical features remain incompletely understood, complicating empirical selection of antibiotics. ⋯ Despite very low prevalence of S. aureus and, specifically, MRSA, nearly one-third of adults hospitalized with CAP received anti-MRSA antibiotics. The clinical presentation of MRSA CAP overlapped substantially with pneumococcal CAP, highlighting the challenge of accurately targeting empirical anti-MRSA antibiotics with currently available clinical tools and the need for new diagnostic strategies.
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The largest outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outside the Middle East occurred in South Korea in 2015 and resulted in 186 laboratory-confirmed infections, including 36 (19%) deaths. Some hospitals were considered epicenters of infection and voluntarily shut down most of their operations after nearly half of all transmissions occurred in hospital settings. However, the ways that MERS-CoV is transmitted in healthcare settings are not well defined. ⋯ These data provide experimental evidence for extensive viable MERS-CoV contamination of the air and surrounding materials in MERS outbreak units. Thus, our findings call for epidemiologic investigation of the possible scenarios for contact and airborne transmission, and raise concern regarding the adequacy of current infection control procedures.