As a young and angry PhD student I was confronted with the concept of Selective Digestive Decontamination (SDD). That was in the early nineties (previous millennium). Coming from the field of microbiology I expected that SDD would increase antibiotic resistance. It were intensivists that told me not to worry: “antibiotics in SDD kill bacteria and dead bacteria cannot mutate”. They may have been right, suggests a new study. Continue reading
antimicrobial resistance
On the effects of antibiotic stewardship: I met a analysis
Yet another meta-analysis telling us that we are doing something very valuable: antibiotic stewardship (AS). Nobody wants to (or should) question that good AS is important for our patients, just as hand hygiene, being sober when working and following the latest professional developments. How nice would it be if we could reliably quantify the effects of our good practice. One study is no study (say those that usually don’t perform studies), so the meta-analysis was invented. But what is told by a meta-analysis? Continue reading
The Extended Study on Prevalence of Infection in Intensive Care (EPIC III)
On the World Sepsis Day, September 13, 2017, The Extended Study on Prevalence of Infection in Intensive Care (EPIC III) will be performed. EPIC III is a 24-hour point-prevalence study that will collect data on demographics, infection management, degree of organ dysfunction and patient outcomes in ICUs around the world. The EPIC study was performed in 1992 and EPIC II in 2007. Every ICU can join the project and participation will provide a nice opportunity for data comparison between ICUs, countries and continents.
EPIC III will be observational and non-interventional, and patient data will be anonymous. Data collection will be limited to simple variables that are easy to collect and routinely recorded. Data will be recorded using electronic case report forms (eCRF) (paper versions can be provided if online access is problematic or not available). In each country a coordinating center has obtained ethical approval fort he study, and participation will, therefore, only require informing your ethical committee according to local requirements.
The first EPIC study (the E stood for European) was performed in 1,417 ICUs in 17 countries in Western Europe that enrolled 10,038 patients. The EPIC II study (with the E from Extended) had 13,796 adult patients in 1,265 participating ICUs from 75 countries on the study day. Interested? Contact the study team at this page.
The antibiotic course has had its day? (part 2)
British colleagues found no scientific evidence for “completing your course of antibiotics”. Nothing new, but in the absence of competing news (the White House has become a daily soap) they opened Pandoras’ box for the lay press, with patients being recommended to stop their antibiotics, whenever they want. The birth of yet another inconvenient truth, as we cannot translate our knowledge into daily medical practice, and patients get even more confused. The good news: a new research agenda. Continue reading
How to predict ESBL (part 3)
Six weeks ago I introduced the ESBL-predict study that Tim Deelen from our group coordinates. Every hospital in the world can participate through a user-friendly electronic CRF (in a secured environment). My blog-invitation to particpate worked and some sites already started. In June >1,000 episodes were entered! Here is a short update and info for those that want to join. Continue reading
Exposed: Dutch clinical microbiologists
Exposed; that’s what we are. We, Dutch clinical microbiologists. Globally acknowledged for our capacity to control antibiotic resistance, prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAI) and practice the most rational and restrictive antibiotic policies. That we are self-confident, loud and arrogant is taken for granted, as most do with Christiano Ronaldo. But it is with great sadness that I have to announce that it was all FAKE. The balloon was pricked by professor Marcel Levi. Continue reading
Real-time whole genome sequencing (RT-WGS) & spread of resistant bacteria
At last weeks’ ICPIC I crossed arguments with John Rossen on the question whether RT-WGS helps us to control the spread of resistant bacteria. The setting is the hospital and the definition of RT is “in time to guide essential decision making”. Is RT-WGS a “need-to-have” or a “nice-to-have” thing? Continue reading
The rocket-science of a CPE screen & isolate policy
Last weeks’ blog from Jon Otter on the practice of CPE screening and isolation raised some interesting comments (on twitter) emphasizing the difficulties in policy making for infection control. The two comments that struck me were: (1) … screening for CPE sounds logical “but does it work in long-term care facilities with high-levels of endemicity?” And “I use it in my hospital, but face difficulties in convincing others because of lacking scientific evidence for CPE.” Continue reading
LA-MRSA: On the definition of emergence
Some friends, called patriotic hackers, had secured a very interesting surveillance database and I tried to write a manuscript, when I was scooped (in CID) by friends that apparently had access to the same database. That made my work redundant. So, for your eyes only, my take on that data. Continue reading
Looking back to see the post-antibiotic era
Now online in Lancet ID an impressive and important retrospective study describing the faith of 437 patients with BSI caused by carbapenamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE). When scanning the conclusions of your weekly diarrhea of new papers (as I do) this one might have escaped your attention: (in short) “Appropriate therapy is good. Combination therapy too. Patients with BSIs due to CPE should receive active therapy.” Yet, there is much more interesting stuff in this paper. Continue reading
Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 