Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/02/news-scan-feb-02-2022
News Scan for Feb 02, 2022
Pharmacist-led antibiotic stewardship; Source of Dole salad Listeria outbreak; Avian flu in Virginia waterfowl
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship; E coli; Listeria; Foodborne Disease; Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Pharmacist-led intervention tied to fewer antibiotics for E coli bacteremia
A 3-year prospective audit and feedback (PAF) intervention led by pharmacists at a Japanese hospital was linked to reduced antibiotic duration and more appropriate antibiotic use in patients with Escherichia coli bacteremia, Japanese researchers reported yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The before-and-after study was conducted at a public hospital in Japan where a PAF led by an infection control pharmacy specialist (ICPS) was implemented in 2017 for all injectable antibiotics. The impact of the PAF on the effectiveness of treatment of patients with E coli bacteremia was compared annually over a 4-year period (periods 0 through 3, 2016 through 2019). Thirty-day mortality and duration of antibiotic use were the primary outcomes, and duration of anti-pseudomonal antibiotic was a secondary outcome. Researchers also looked at the economic impact of the intervention.
During the study period, 821 patients with E coli bacteremia were treated, and 537 were included in the final analysis. The pharmacists had 12 and 54 suggestions for antibiotic use in patients in periods 0 and 3, respectively. The most common suggestion was de-escalation of antibiotic therapy.
In periods 0 through 2, the median duration of antimicrobial use was 12 days, then fell to 9 days in period 3. In period 3, the duration of antimicrobial use was reduced by 29% compared with period 0, while the duration of anti-pseudomonal drug use dropped 42%. The 30-day mortality rates were not significantly different between the periods. The total costs of antibiotic use per patient fell 24%.
"This study suggests that a 3-year intervention by ICPS for all injectable antimicrobials may lead to a shorter duration of antimicrobial use, more appropriate use of antimicrobials, and lower healthcare costs by recommending appropriate antimicrobial doses for patients with E. coli bacteremia and promoting de-escalation," the study authors wrote.
Feb 1 Am J Infect Control abstract
Harvesting equipment pinpointed as source of Dole salad Listeria outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced that the source has been found for a multistate Listeria outbreak linked to Dole prepackaged salad that has sickened at least 17 people since 2019, 2 of them fatally.
In an outbreak update, the CDC said Dole collected samples from its facilities and equipment and found Listeria monocytogenes on equipment used to harvest iceberg lettuce. Genome testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the Listeria on the equipment matched the outbreak strain.
The CDC had been investigating the outbreak in 2019 and 2020, but scientists weren't able to gather enough data to identify a source. It reopened the probe in November 2021 when four new illnesses were reported since the end of August 2021, with new data suggesting that Dole packaged salads were the source.
As of Feb 1, 17 people infected the outbreak strain have been reported from 13 states, an increase of 1 since the CDC's initial outbreak announcement on Dec 22. Thirteen patients have been hospitalized, and the number of deaths remains at two.
On Jan 7, Dole expanded its recall to include more products that contained iceberg lettuce harvested by the contaminated equipment. Of interviews with nine sick patients, two reported Dole and one reported Little Salad Bar, a brand sold by Aldi. The expanded recall applied to all Dole-brand and private-label packaged salads processed at its facilities in Springfield, Ohio, and Soledad, California.
Feb 1 CDC outbreak update
Jan 7 FDA recall notice
Dec 27, 2021, CIDRAP News scan
Virginia reports avian flu detections in waterfowl
Agriculture officials in Virginia recently reported highly pathogenic avian flu in two hunter-harvested migratory waterfowl in Henrico County, marking the third such detection in the United States over the past month.
In a Jan 27 statement, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) didn't specify the avian influenza subtype, but noted that the detection in Henrico County isn't surprising, given that it is in the same Atlantic Flyway migratory path as locations in North Carolina and South Carolina where highly pathogenic avian flu was detected earlier
The events in the Carolinas—announced in the middle of January—involved the Eurasian H5N1 strain that has infected wild birds and poultry in other parts of the world. The US detections were preceded by similar events in Canada.
So far, the Virginia findings don't appear on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) list of US avian flu detections.
Jan 27 VDACS statement
Jan 19 CIDRAP News scan
APHIS list of avian flu detections
News Scan for Feb 02, 2022
Pharmacist-led antibiotic stewardship; Source of Dole salad Listeria outbreak; Avian flu in Virginia waterfowl
Filed Under:
Antimicrobial Stewardship; E coli; Listeria; Foodborne Disease; Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
Pharmacist-led intervention tied to fewer antibiotics for E coli bacteremia
A 3-year prospective audit and feedback (PAF) intervention led by pharmacists at a Japanese hospital was linked to reduced antibiotic duration and more appropriate antibiotic use in patients with Escherichia coli bacteremia, Japanese researchers reported yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The before-and-after study was conducted at a public hospital in Japan where a PAF led by an infection control pharmacy specialist (ICPS) was implemented in 2017 for all injectable antibiotics. The impact of the PAF on the effectiveness of treatment of patients with E coli bacteremia was compared annually over a 4-year period (periods 0 through 3, 2016 through 2019). Thirty-day mortality and duration of antibiotic use were the primary outcomes, and duration of anti-pseudomonal antibiotic was a secondary outcome. Researchers also looked at the economic impact of the intervention.
During the study period, 821 patients with E coli bacteremia were treated, and 537 were included in the final analysis. The pharmacists had 12 and 54 suggestions for antibiotic use in patients in periods 0 and 3, respectively. The most common suggestion was de-escalation of antibiotic therapy.
In periods 0 through 2, the median duration of antimicrobial use was 12 days, then fell to 9 days in period 3. In period 3, the duration of antimicrobial use was reduced by 29% compared with period 0, while the duration of anti-pseudomonal drug use dropped 42%. The 30-day mortality rates were not significantly different between the periods. The total costs of antibiotic use per patient fell 24%.
"This study suggests that a 3-year intervention by ICPS for all injectable antimicrobials may lead to a shorter duration of antimicrobial use, more appropriate use of antimicrobials, and lower healthcare costs by recommending appropriate antimicrobial doses for patients with E. coli bacteremia and promoting de-escalation," the study authors wrote.
Feb 1 Am J Infect Control abstract
Harvesting equipment pinpointed as source of Dole salad Listeria outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday announced that the source has been found for a multistate Listeria outbreak linked to Dole prepackaged salad that has sickened at least 17 people since 2019, 2 of them fatally.
In an outbreak update, the CDC said Dole collected samples from its facilities and equipment and found Listeria monocytogenes on equipment used to harvest iceberg lettuce. Genome testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that the Listeria on the equipment matched the outbreak strain.
The CDC had been investigating the outbreak in 2019 and 2020, but scientists weren't able to gather enough data to identify a source. It reopened the probe in November 2021 when four new illnesses were reported since the end of August 2021, with new data suggesting that Dole packaged salads were the source.
As of Feb 1, 17 people infected the outbreak strain have been reported from 13 states, an increase of 1 since the CDC's initial outbreak announcement on Dec 22. Thirteen patients have been hospitalized, and the number of deaths remains at two.
On Jan 7, Dole expanded its recall to include more products that contained iceberg lettuce harvested by the contaminated equipment. Of interviews with nine sick patients, two reported Dole and one reported Little Salad Bar, a brand sold by Aldi. The expanded recall applied to all Dole-brand and private-label packaged salads processed at its facilities in Springfield, Ohio, and Soledad, California.
Feb 1 CDC outbreak update
Jan 7 FDA recall notice
Dec 27, 2021, CIDRAP News scan
Virginia reports avian flu detections in waterfowl
Agriculture officials in Virginia recently reported highly pathogenic avian flu in two hunter-harvested migratory waterfowl in Henrico County, marking the third such detection in the United States over the past month.
In a Jan 27 statement, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) didn't specify the avian influenza subtype, but noted that the detection in Henrico County isn't surprising, given that it is in the same Atlantic Flyway migratory path as locations in North Carolina and South Carolina where highly pathogenic avian flu was detected earlier
The events in the Carolinas—announced in the middle of January—involved the Eurasian H5N1 strain that has infected wild birds and poultry in other parts of the world. The US detections were preceded by similar events in Canada.
So far, the Virginia findings don't appear on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) list of US avian flu detections.
Jan 27 VDACS statement
Jan 19 CIDRAP News scan
APHIS list of avian flu detections