To examine the temporal trends in ambulatory antibiotic prescription fill rates and to determine the influences of age, gender, and location.

Population-based cohort study.

Ambulatory setting in South Carolina.

Patients ≤64 years of age from January 2012 to December 2017.

Aggregated pharmacy claims data for oral antibiotic prescriptions were utilized to estimate community antibiotic prescription rates. Poisson regression or Student t tests were used to examine overall temporal trend in antibiotic prescription rates, seasonal variation, and the trends across age group, gender, and rural versus urban location.

Overall antibiotic prescription rates decrease from 1,127 to 897 per 1,000 person years (P < .001). The decrease was more noticeable in persons aged <18 years (26%) and 18–39 years (20%) than in those aged 40–64 years (5%; P < .001 for all). Prescription rates were higher among females than males in all age groups, although this finding was the most pronounced in group aged 18–39 years (1,232 vs 585 per 1,000 person years; P < .0001). Annualized antibiotic prescription rates were higher during the winter months (December–March) than the rest of the year (1,145 vs 885 per 1,000 person years; P < .0001), and rates were higher in rural areas than in urban areas (1,032 vs 941 per 1,000 person years; P < .0001).

The decline in ambulatory antibiotic prescription rates is encouraging. Ongoing ambulatory antibiotic stewardship efforts across South Carolina should focus on older adults, rural areas, and during the winter season when antibiotic prescriptions peak.

Evaluate the clinical impact of the implementation of VERIGENE gram-positive blood culture testing (BC-GP) coupled with antimicrobial stewardship result notification for children with positive blood cultures.

Quasi-experimental study.

Quaternary children’s hospital.

Hospitalized children aged 0–21 years with positive blood culture events 1 year before and 1 year after implementation of BC-GP testing.

The primary outcome was time to optimal antibiotic therapy for positive blood cultures, defined as receiving definitive therapy without unnecessary antibiotics (pathogens) or no antibiotics (contaminants). Secondary outcomes were time to effective therapy, time to definitive therapy, and time to stopping vancomycin, length of stay, and 30-day mortality. Time-to-therapy outcomes before and after the intervention were compared using Cox regression models and interrupted time series analyses, adjusting for patient characteristics and trends over time. Gram-negative events were included as a nonequivalent dependent variable.

We included 264 preintervention events (191 gram-positive, 73 gram-negative) and 257 postintervention events (168 gram-positive, 89 gram-negative). The median age was 2.9 years (interquartile range, 0.3–10.1), and 418 pediatric patients (80.2%) had ≥1 complex chronic condition. For gram-positive isolates, implementation of BC-GP testing was associated with an immediate reduction in time to optimal therapy and time to stopping vancomycin for both analyses. BC-GP testing was associated with decreased time to definitive therapy in interrupted time series analysis but not Cox modeling. No such changes were observed for gram-negative isolates. No changes in time to effective therapy, length of stay, or mortality were associated with BC-GP.

The implementation of BC-GP testing coupled with antimicrobial stewardship result notification was associated with decreased time to optimal therapy and time to stopping vancomycin for hospitalized children with gram-positive blood culture isolates.

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) occur frequently in pediatric inpatients, and they are associated with increased morbidity and cost. Few studies have investigated ambulatory CAUTIs, despite at-risk children utilizing home urinary catheterization. This retrospective cohort and case-control study determined incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of pediatric patients with ambulatory CAUTI.

Broad electronic queries identified potential patients with ambulatory urinary catheters, and direct chart review confirmed catheters and adjudicated whether ambulatory CAUTI occurred. CAUTI definitions included clean intermittent catheterization (CIC). Our matched case-control analysis assessed risk factors.

Five urban, academic medical centers, part of the New York City Clinical Data Research Network.

Potential patients were age <22 years who were seen between October 2010 and September 2015.

In total, 3,598 eligible patients were identified; 359 of these used ambulatory catheterization (representing186,616 ambulatory catheter days). Of these, 63 patients (18%) experienced 95 ambulatory CAUTIs. The overall ambulatory CAUTI incidence was 0.51 infections per 1,000 catheter days (1.35 for indwelling catheters and 0.47 for CIC; incidence rate ratio, 2.88). Patients with nonprivate medical insurance (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–6.3) were significantly more likely to have ambulatory CAUTIs in bivariate models but not multivariable models. Also, 45% of ambulatory CAUTI resulted in hospitalization (median duration, 3 days); 5% resulted in intensive care admission; 47% underwent imaging; and 88% were treated with antibiotics.

Pediatric ambulatory CAUTIs occur in 18% of patients with catheters; they are associated with morbidity and healthcare utilization. Ambulatory indwelling catheter CAUTI incidence exceeded national inpatient incidence. Future quality improvement research to reduce these harmful infections is warranted.

Laboratory-based characterization and traceback of Clostridium butyricum isolates linked to outbreak cases of neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in a hospital in China.

In total, 37 samples were collected during the NEC outbreak. Classical bacteriological methods were applied to isolate and identify Clostridium spp. Meanwhile, 24 samples collected after an outbreak were similarly tested. All Clostridium isolates were identified to species level as either C. butyricum or C. sporogenes. These isolates were subsequently subtyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Genomic DNA was purified from 2 representative C. butyricum isolates and sequenced to completion.

Of 37 samples collected during the NEC outbreak, 17 (45.95%) were positive for Clostridium spp. One species, C. butyricum, was cultured from 10 samples. Another species cultured from 2 other samples was identified as C. sporogenes. Both of these species were cocultured from 5 samples. Pulsotyping showed that the 15 C. butyricum and the 7 C. sporogenes isolates produced indistinguishable DNA profiles. No NEC cases were reported after disinfection following the outbreak, and all samples collected after the outbreak were negative for Clostridium spp. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) indicated that sialidase, hemolysin, and enterotoxin virulence factors were located on the chromosomes of 2 C. butyricum isolates.

The outbreak of NEC was epidemiologically linked to C. butyricum contamination within the hospital. This is the first report of an NEC outbreak associated with C. butyricum infection in China.

The data regarding the effectiveness of chemical prophylaxis against recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI) remain conflicting.

Retrospective cohort study on the effectiveness of oral vancomycin for prevention of recurrent CDI.

Two academic centers in New York.

Two participating hospitals implemented an automated alert recommending oral vancomycin 125 mg twice daily in patients with CDI history scheduled to receive systemic antimicrobials. Measured outcomes included breakthrough and recurrent CDI rates, defined as CDI during and 1 month after initiation of prophylaxis, respectively. A self-controlled, before-and-after study design was employed to examine the effect of vancomycin prophylaxis on the prevalence of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp (VRE) colonization and infection.

We included 264 patients in the analysis. Breakthrough CDI was identified in 17 patients (6.4%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.8%–10.1%) and recurrent in 22 patients (8.3%; 95% CI, 5.3%–12.3%). Among the 102 patients with a history of CDI within the 3 months preceding prophylaxis, 4 patients (3.9%; 95% CIs, 1.1%–9.7%) had breakthrough CDI and 9 had recurrent disease (8.8%; 95% CIs, 4.1%–16.1%). In the 3-month period following vancomycin prophylaxis, we detected a statistically significant increase in both the absolute number of VRE (χ2, 0.003) and the ratio of VRE to VSE isolates (χ2, 0.003) compared to the combined period of 1.5 months preceding and the 3–4.5 months following prophylaxis. This effect persisted 6 months following prophylaxis.

Prophylactic vancomycin is an effective strategy to prevent CDI recurrence, but it increases the risk of VRE colonization. Thus, a careful selection of patients with high benefit-to-risk ratio is needed for the implementation of this preventive policy.

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) and extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) are associated with higher risk of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Decreasing the unnecessary use of FQs and ESCs is a goal of antimicrobial stewardship. Understanding how prescribers perceive the risks and benefits of FQs and ESCs is needed.

We conducted interviews with clinicians from 4 hospitals. Interviews elicited respondent perceptions about the risk of ESCs, FQs, and CDI. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a flexible coding approach.

Interviews were conducted with 64 respondents (38 physicians, 7 nurses, 6 advance practice providers, and 13 pharmacists). ESCs and FQs were perceived to have many benefits, including infrequent dosing, breadth of coverage, and greater patient adherence after hospital discharge. Prescribers stated that it was easy to make decisions about these drugs, so they were especially appealing to use in the context of time pressures. They described having difficulty discontinuing these drugs when prescribed by others due to inertia and fear. Prescribers were skeptical about targeting specific drugs as a stewardship approach and felt that the risk of a negative outcome from under treatment of a suspected bacterial infection was a higher priority than the prevention of CDI.

Prescribers in this study perceived many advantages to using ESCs and FQs, especially under conditions of time pressure and uncertainty. In making decisions about these drugs, prescribers balance risk and benefit, and they believed that the risk of CDI was acceptable in compared with the risk of undertreatment.

To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-driven Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) safety bundle supported by leadership and to compare compliance before and after implementation.

Retrospective cohort study with descriptive and before-and-after analyses.

Tertiary-care academic medical center.

All patients with documented SAB, regardless of the source of infection, were included. Patients transitioned to palliative care were excluded from before-and-after analysis.

A pharmacist-driven safety bundle including documented clearance of bacteremia, echocardiography, removal of central venous catheters, and targeted intravenous therapy of at least 2 weeks duration was implemented in November 2015 and was supported by leadership with stepwise escalation for nonresponse. A descriptive analysis of all patients with SAB during the study period included pharmacy interventions, acceptance rates, and escalation rates. A pre–post implementation analysis of 100 sequential patients compared bundle compliance and descriptive parameters.

Overall, 391 interventions were made in the 20-month period following implementation, including 20 “good saves” avoiding potentially major adverse events. No statistically significant differences in complete bundle compliance were detected between the periods (74% vs 84%; P = .08). However, we detected a significant increase in echocardiography after the bundle was implemented (83% vs 94%; P = .02) and fewer patients received suboptimal definitive therapy after the bundle was implemented (10% vs 3%; P = .045).

This pharmacist-driven SAB safety bundle with leadership support showed improvement in process measures, which may have prevented major adverse events, even with available infectious diseases (ID) consultation. It provides a critical safety net for institutions without mandatory ID consultation or with limited antimicrobial stewardship resources.

To study the effect of implementing the Israeli national carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) guidelines on controlling a hospital-wide outbreak of Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB).

A before-and-after study from 2014 to 2018.

A 740-bed, secondary-care hospital in central Israel.

Acquisition of CRAB was defined as a positive culture taken at least 48 hours after admission or a positive sample identified upon admission in a patient who had been readmitted within 30 days after discharge from our institution. The intervention included maintaining a case registry of all CRAB patients, cohorting patients under strict contact isolation, using dedicated nursing staff and equipment, rigorous cleaning, education and close monitoring of hospital staff, and involvement of hospital management.

In total, 210 patients were identified with hospital-acquired CRAB: 141 before the intervention and 69 after the intervention. CRAB acquisition rates decreased by 77%, from 1.3 per 1,000 admissions before the intervention (2014–2015) to 0.3 per 1,000 admissions after the intervention (2016–2018) (P < .001). The decrease in acquisitions was observed hospital-wide, year by year (P for trend, <.001). In 2018, only 7 new acquisitions were detected in internal medicine wards (P = .058) and none in the ICUs (P = .006).

A structured intervention based on the Israeli CRE management guidelines was successful in controlling a hospital-wide CRAB outbreak.

Hand hygiene adherence has been associated with reductions in nosocomial infection. We assessed the effect of improvements in electronically measured hand hygiene adherence on the incidence of hospital-acquired infections.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted in a 555-bed urban safety-net level I trauma center. The preintervention period was January 2015 through June 2016. Baseline electronic hand hygiene data collection took place from April through June 2016. The intervention period was July 2016 through December 2017. An electronic hand hygiene system was installed in 4 locations in our hospital. Performance improvement strategies were implemented that included education, troubleshooting, data dissemination, and feedback. Adherence rates were tracked over time. Rates of hospital-acquired infections were evaluated in the intervention units and in control units selected for comparison. The intervention period was subdivided into the initial and subsequent 9-month periods and were compared to the baseline period.

Electronically measured hand hygiene rates improved significantly from baseline to intervention, from 47% 77% adherence. Rates >70% continued to be measured 18 months after the intervention. Interrupted time series analysis indicated a significant effect of hand hygiene on healthcare facility-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates during the first 9 months of the intervention. This trend continued during the final 9 months of the intervention but was nonsignificant. No effects were observed for other hospital-acquired infection rates.

Implementation of electronic hand hygiene monitoring and performance improvement interventions resulted in reductions in hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection rates.

The disease burden of surgical site infection (SSI) following total knee (TKA) replacement is considerable and is expected to grow with increased demand for the procedure. Diagnosing and treating SSI utilizes both inpatient and outpatient services, and the timing of diagnosis can affect health service requirements. The purpose of this study was to estimate the health system costs of infection and to compare them across time-to-diagnosis categories.

Administrative data from 2005–2016 were used to identify cases diagnosed with SSI up to 1 year following primary TKA. Uninfected controls were selected matched on age, sex and comorbidities. Costs and utilization were measured over the 2-year period following surgery using hospital and out-of-hospital data. Costs and utilization were compared for those diagnosed within 30, 90, 180, and 365 days. A subsample of cases and controls without comorbidities were also compared.

We identified 238 SSI cases over the study period. On average, SSI cases cost 8 times more than noninfected controls over the 2-year follow-up period (CaD$41,938 [US$29,965] vs CaD$5,158 [US$3,685]) for a net difference of CaD$36,780 (US$26,279). The case-to-control ratio for costs was lowest for those diagnosed within 30 days compared to those diagnosed later. When only patients without comorbidities were included, costs were >7 times higher.

Our results suggest that considerable costs result from SSI following TKA and that those costs vary depending on the time of diagnosis. A 2-year follow-up period provided a more complete estimate of cost and utilization.