As I have mentioned in a previous post there are a number of journals I follow to stay abreast of developments in the ID, microbiology and antibiotic world. For updates on the latest in antibiotic development from pre-clinical through clinical testing no journal beats the American Society of Microbiology’s Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (http://asm.org/). Just … Read more
The more I read the infectious disease literature the more my diet becomes limited. It seems that new reports of contaminated food are published regularly. It gets to a point where you don’t know what you should and should not eat! I have always been wary of raw foods and rarely eat sushi especially after … Read more
For part 2 of this posting on the new Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) MRSA Guidelines I would like to comment on some of the Executive Summary points made about MRSA bone and joint infections and also vancomycin dosing recommendations. I will use a similar format as before with posting the actual text and … Read more
After an extended, deliberative writing and review process the brand new Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical practice guidelines on the treatment of MRSA have finally been published (full text at http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/01/04/cid.ciq146.full.pdf+html). I really feel that this document is a MUST READ for anyone interested in treating infections of the lower extremity. For right or … Read more
One of this blog’s readers, Dr. McLeod, asked the following: My question is: Does one need to prescribe antibiotics after I+Ding an abscess? I use to work at a county hospital in Oakland, California where there was a high MRSA rate. At that time (2005), we were being taught not it is unneccessary to prescribe … Read more
With this blog entry I am going to try something a bit different. I know that there is a good readership of my posts but, to date, I have been somewhat disappointed in the number of comments and interactions I have received from you, the readers. I stated in my very first post: The whole … 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