Category: MRSA

Is Community-Acquired SAB complicated SAB? Probably

It seems I can never get around talking about staphylococcus aureus. I believe it was Paul Sax who mentioned that an infectious disease fellowship is essentially a staphylococcus fellowship, since you see all different types of complications. Many institutions have implemented automatic infectious disease consultation for anyone with staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB), as it has

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Ahorita-que? The New Gram Positive Antibiotic, Oritavancin

Vancomycin is the work-horse antibiotic every person reaches for. It is a glycopeptide that covers a wide range of gram positive bacteria, with its niche being in its coverage of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus spp. It is bacteriostatic, with dosing issues and highly nephrotoxic, however it is ubiquitous throughout any hospital in the United

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One PET, Two PET – Endocarditis and Positron Emission Tomography

PETs. We all love them. I have two of those, if the pictures in my “about me” page are any indication as well as the main pic of this post. This post will not cover our beloved (and sometimes only) friends. No, we will be talking about positron emission tomography, an imaging modality we usually

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The Microbiology of Diabetic Foot Infections – What I Didn’t Know

This and (likely) the next post are a product of questions I got asked. For instance, do you need anaerobic coverage for diabetic foot infections? Depends, but see later. What organisms do you need to cover for cellulitis in those who have had water exposure? Cephalexin and quinolones, with some exceptions. We will talk about

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What the MRSA PCR? The Role of Nose PCR Swabs in Stewardship.

I recently wrote about the fact that all pneumonia are aspiration events. Depending on the colonization of the oropharynx and the volume of aspirate material plays a role in the development of subsequent disease. It stands to reason that, if we are able to figure out what is colonizing the oropharynx, we may be able

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Creep? The Implications of Rising MICs for Vancomycin in Staphylococcus Aureus

Look, I know I have talked a lot about staphylococcus but there is a ton of details that go into the therapeutic aspects of it.  When it comes to staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, specifically MRSA, vancomycin is the first line therapy per the IDSA guidelines (1). I have discussed the issues with vancomycin dosing, and how

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Echo? Who, what, when, how? Role of echo modality in Staph aureus bacteremia.

I absolutely love this song. I tried to learn how to play it on guitar, but I think you may need 7 strings for it, at least when I checked back in the day. This week we are adding to last week’s topic and talking about when and what type of echo to get. There

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Infective Endocarditis: A Journey Through Definitions

At any rate, at approximately one-quarter to twelve that night, I remember distinctly getting up from my chair and from the table, where my books lay, and taking off my suit coat. No sooner had I removed the left arm of my coat, than there was on the ventral aspect of my left wrist a

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Adjunctive Rifampin in Staphylococcal Infections – Primer for Bacteremia and Endocarditis

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

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Necrotizing Staphylococcal Pneumonia – The Tale of PVL

Staphylococcus aureus is an organism that is quite common in many diseases, including skin and soft tissue infections, bacteremias, and pneumonia. It causes fairly severe infection due to its significant number of toxins and virulence factors. I have mentioned the superantigen that causes toxic shock syndrome however another toxin that is useful to know about

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