Where all your ID needs are met! Sort of.
Last post was all about dogs and their mouths. This time, is about cow placentas. At least to a certain extent. Coxiella burnetii is a gram negative organism that is known to cause a variety of diseases, however it is most commonly associated with culture-negative endocarditis. While it is generally a “wimpy” organism and not
I discussed C. auris in my last post and pointed out that, due to the relative novelty of the organism, there are no “defined” breakpoints when it comes to drug-bug combinations. While I did say that fluconazole, in many instances, was considered “resistant”, the truth is I cannot say that with 100% confidence as there
The use of rifampin for staphylococcal infections is a bit controversial. The recommendation seems to be its use on infections involving prosthetic material, such as prosthetic valve endocarditis or prosthetic joint infections. For instance, the AHA infective endocarditis (1) guidelines recommends the addition of rifampin to a regimen consisting of vancomycin to infectious caused by
Consider this post a continuation of the prior one on prophylaxis. I mention a bit on the pathophysiology, where adaptive immunity seems to play a key role in the way the body deals with the fungus, with mice with SCID infected with pneumocystis not being able to mount an inflammatory response. As a result of
Disseminated candida infections kill. It shouldn’t be terribly surprising. In the ICU, ongoing fevers despite antibiotic therapy is usually taken as a sign of invasive candidiasis and is the impetus for antifungal therapy. Risk stratifying patients for candidal infections can be difficult, given the myriad of comorbid conditions that are associated with these infections. Despite
Infective endocarditis is a rare enough disease in and of itself that many folks won’t see much of in their lifetimes, though the rise in IV drug abuse means this may not be the case in the future. Staphylococcus aureus and streptococci, as well as enterococci, tend to be the most common organisms associated with
Legionella is an interesting organism, it tends to be one of those things you end up looking for and never finding while in the wards but it also tends to cause occasional outbreaks of pneumonia. The most common test that is ordered for this is the urine legionella antigen. I will cover some of the
If you are reading this, I am sure you are aware of C. diff. You have either thought about it in patients who are getting antibiotics and have diarrhea, groaned at the fact you have to don PPE when “ruling out” C. diff, or had a horrible experience (perhaps not personal) where things went south
Depending on where you practice, I think it is safe to assume there is a “nickname” for the combination of vancomycin/piperacillin-tazobactam (VAN/PTZ). “Guerilla-cillin,” “Parkla-mycin” or just “the big guns” this is a very common combination that is thrown up front for sepsis or health-care acquired infections (the debate of whether this is an appropriate approach
A 72yo male with history of hypertension, kidney stones, and recent diagnosis of acute prostatitis presents with malaise and myalgias. According to the patient, he has been feeling unwell for the past month. He had a recent outpatient visit for dysuria, the UA was positive for leukocyte esterase. A DRE revealed acute prostatitis and he
Dr. Germophile 