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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
Skin and soft tissue infections are fairly common infectious presentations almost all physicians have experience with. In general, gram positive organisms tend to predominate in community-acquired cellulitis, usually skin organisms, which manage to get access to the soft tissues through a break in the skin itself. Exposure to water can change the microbiology of skin
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
There are multiple associations in medicine where the mere mention of a location, occupation, or risk factor elicits a response with regards to the disease. In infectious disease, there are multiple such as “spelunking” being associated with histoplasmosis, IV drug abuser associated with MRSA endocarditis, or cows placentas being associated with Q fever. When it
I meant to write about HTLV-1 tropical spastic paraparesis, however halfway through reading the papers I realized I bit more than I could chew. This is likely due to the fact I am awful with neurology (despite being a neuro major in college) and my lack of familiarity with tropical medicine. Needless to say, that
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing 100% oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure (usually 2.5-3 atm) and it has recently been widely used for multiple diseases. Recall Boyle’s law: Increasing pressure decreases the volume, so pressurizing the human body causes a decrease in volume of gas-filled spaces (1). As such, it has clinical uses in arterial
Dr. Germophile 