I received this question from a reader: In suspected osteomyelitis do you stop antibiotics prior to obtaining a bone culture? For how long? This comment came in under my entry on the VULCAN trial but I actually covered the question in a post almost exactly a year ago. I am reprinting my response here for … Read more
Well, as I expected and predicted in my previous post, the FDA did not waste much time approving ceftaroline (trade name – Teflaro) for complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI). http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm231594.htm (thanks to Lee Rogers, DPM for forwarding me this link). What does this mean for those of us treating lower extremity infections? It … Read more
For a number of years it was widely felt that the first of the new so-called “5th Generation”, or anti-MRSA cephalosporins would be ceftobiprole. This drug, a joint venture by the Swiss company Basilea and Johnson & Johnson had come under some fire from the FDA (see my blog entry from Dec 31, 2009) and … Read more
Instead of a formal literature review, I just wanted to post a quick clinical comment on something that came up with a patient I saw on consultation in the hospital about 2 weeks ago. This 91 y/o female nursing home resident was admitted with a diagnosis of “cellulitis” of the right foot (of course much … Read more
It is a rare study I read that makes me want to literally stop everything else I am doing and write a blog post about it. It is a dreary, gray Sunday morning and I was just catching up on some backlogged journal reading when I picked up the August 2010 issue of Antimicrobial Agents … Read more
I know that this title seems like I am tying in a number of fairly diverse topics but hear me out on this one. I was browsing through USA Today while sitting in an airplane last week and came across a story whose title read “Safety Breaches at Surgery Centers”. That, in and of itself … Read more
I will be in Columbus, OH for the Region IV (Ohio) meeting to lecture on June 3, 2010. I have been given the “Learning Lunch” spot from 12:00 to 1:30 and plan on covering a broad range of lower extremity infectious diseases topics including MRSA, antibiotic therapy for osteomyelitis and diabetic foot infections. Prior to … Read more
The following is from the text I sent to Podiatry Today Magazine for an upcoming feature they are planning on Innovations in Podiatry. I really feel that molecular diagnosis of infection has the potential to change the way we diagnose and ultimately treat lower extremity infections. The company I discuss in the article below, Diatherix, … Read more