Of patients with pneumonia coming from the community, 18% are immunocompromised. Specific immunocompromised states are associated with specific microbiology, which has to be taken into consideration ...when choosing empirical therapy.
Abstract
Background
The correct management of immunocompromised patients with pneumonia is debated. We evaluated the prevalence, risk factors, and characteristics of immunocompromised patients coming from the community with pneumonia.
Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis of an international, multicenter study enrolling adult patients coming from the community with pneumonia and hospitalized in 222 hospitals in 54 countries worldwide. Risk factors for immunocompromise included AIDS, aplastic anemia, asplenia, hematological cancer, chemotherapy, neutropenia, biological drug use, lung transplantation, chronic steroid use, and solid tumor.
Results
At least 1 risk factor for immunocompromise was recorded in 18% of the 3702 patients enrolled. The prevalences of risk factors significantly differed across continents and countries, with chronic steroid use (45%), hematological cancer (25%), and chemotherapy (22%) the most common. Among immunocompromised patients, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) pathogens were the most frequently identified, and prevalences did not differ from those in immunocompetent patients. Risk factors for immunocompromise were independently associated with neither Pseudomonas aeruginosa nor non–community-acquired bacteria. Specific risk factors were independently associated with fungal infections (odds ratio for AIDS and hematological cancer, 15.10 and 4.65, respectively; both P = .001), mycobacterial infections (AIDS; P = .006), and viral infections other than influenza (hematological cancer, 5.49; P < .001).
Conclusions
Our findings could be considered by clinicians in prescribing empiric antibiotic therapy for CAP in immunocompromised patients. Patients with AIDS and hematological cancer admitted with CAP may have higher prevalences of fungi, mycobacteria, and noninfluenza viruses.
Summary Background Antibiotic resistance is a major global health problem and pathogens such as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have become of particular concern in the management ...of lower respiratory tract infections. However, few data are available on the worldwide prevalence and risk factors for MRSA pneumonia. We aimed to determine the point prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and identify specific MRSA risk factors in community-dwelling patients hospitalised with pneumonia. Methods We did an international, multicentre study of community-dwelling, adult patients admitted to hospital with pneumonia who had microbiological tests taken within 24 h of presentation. We recruited investigators from 222 hospitals in 54 countries to gather point-prevalence data for all patients admitted with these characteristics during 4 days randomly selected during the months of March, April, May, and June in 2015. We assessed prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and associated risk factors through logistic regression analysis. Findings 3702 patients hospitalised with pneumonia were enrolled, with 3193 patients receiving microbiological tests within 24 h of admission, forming the patient population. 1173 (37%) had at least one pathogen isolated (culture-positive population). The overall prevalence of confirmed MRSA pneumonia was 3·0% (n=95), with differing prevalence between continents and countries. Three risk factors were independently associated with MRSA pneumonia: previous MRSA infection or colonisation (odds ratio 6·21, 95% CI 3·25–11·85), recurrent skin infections (2·87, 1·10–7·45), and severe pneumonia disease (2·39, 1·55–3·68). Interpretation This multicountry study shows low prevalence of MRSA pneumonia and specific MRSA risk factors among community-dwelling patients hospitalised with pneumonia. Funding None.
To evaluate the access to comprehensive diagnostics and novel antituberculosis medicines in European countries.
We investigated the access to genotypic and phenotypic Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug ...susceptibility testing and the availability of antituberculosis drugs and calculated the cost of drugs and treatment regimens at major tuberculosis treatment centres in countries of the WHO European region where rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis are the highest among all WHO regions. Results were stratified by middle-income and high-income countries.
Overall, 43 treatment centres from 43 countries participated in the study. For WHO group A drugs, the frequency of countries with the availability of phenotypic drug susceptibility testing was as follows: (a) 75% (30/40) for levofloxacin, (b) 82% (33/40) for moxifloxacin, (c) 48% (19/40) for bedaquiline, and (d) 72% (29/40) for linezolid. Overall, of the 43 countries, 36 (84%) and 24 (56%) countries had access to bedaquiline and delamanid, respectively, whereas only 6 (14%) countries had access to rifapentine. The treatment of patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis with a regimen including a carbapenem was available only in 17 (40%) of the 43 countries. The median cost of regimens for drug-susceptible tuberculosis, multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (shorter regimen, including bedaquiline for 6 months), and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (including bedaquiline, delamanid, and a carbapenem) were €44 (minimum–maximum, €15–152), €764 (minimum–maximum, €542–15152), and €8709 (minimum–maximum, €7965–11759) in middle-income countries (n = 12) and €280 (minimum–maximum, €78–1084), €29765 (minimum–maximum, €11116–40584), and €217591 (minimum–maximum, €82827–320146) in high-income countries (n = 29), respectively.
In countries of the WHO European region, there is a widespread lack of drug susceptibility testing capacity to new and repurposed antituberculosis drugs, lack of access to essential medications in several countries, and a high cost for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Rifapentine, a synthetic derivate of rifampicin which was developed in 1965, has interesting pharmacological properties, including a long terminal half-life (13 h, compared to 2-3 h for rifampicin) ...and promising bactericidal activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite being approved in 1998 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, its global use has been limited by unavailability. In the past decade, new evidence has emerged to define rifapentine as a key component for treatment of active disease and latent infection with M. tuberculosis (LTBI).
An accurate knowledge of the epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is key for selecting appropriate antimicrobial treatments. Very few etiological studies assessed the appropriateness of ...empiric guideline recommendations at a multinational level. This study aims at the following: (i) describing the bacterial etiologic distribution of CAP and (ii) assessing the appropriateness of the empirical treatment recommendations by clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for CAP in light of the bacterial pathogens diagnosed as causative agents of CAP. Secondary analysis of the GLIMP, a point-prevalence international study which enrolled adults hospitalized with CAP in 2015. The analysis was limited to immunocompetent patients tested for bacterial CAP agents within 24 h of admission. The CAP CPGs evaluated included the following: the 2007 and 2019 American Thoracic Society/Infectious Diseases Society of America (ATS/IDSA), the European Respiratory Society (ERS), and selected country-specific CPGs. Among 2564 patients enrolled, 35.3% had an identifiable pathogen.
Streptococcus pneumoniae
(8.2%) was the most frequently identified pathogen, followed by
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(4.1%) and
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(3.4%). CPGs appropriately recommend covering more than 90% of all the potential pathogens causing CAP, with the exception of patients enrolled from Germany, Pakistan, and Croatia. The 2019 ATS/IDSA CPGs appropriately recommend covering 93.6% of the cases compared with 90.3% of the ERS CPGs (
p
< 0.01).
S. pneumoniae
remains the most common pathogen in patients hospitalized with CAP. Multinational CPG recommendations for patients with CAP seem to appropriately cover the most common pathogens and should be strongly encouraged for the management of CAP patients.
Multidrug-resistant/Rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a major obstacle to successful TB control. The recommendation by the World Health Organization to use bedaquiline, pretomanid, linezolid ...and moxifloxacin (BPaL(M)) for 6 months, based on results of three trials with high efficacy and low toxicity, has revolutionized treatment options.
In this study, representatives of the Tuberculosis Network European Trialsgroup (TBnet) in 44/54 countries of the WHO Europe region document the availability of the medicines and drug susceptibility testing (DST) of the BPaL(M) regimen through a structured questionnaire between September to November 2023.
24/44 (54.5%), 42/44 (95.5%), 43/44 (97.7%), and 43/44 (97.7%) had access to pretomanid, bedaquiline, linezolid, and moxifloxacin, respectively. Overall, 23/44 (52.3%) had access to all the drugs composing the BPaL(M) regimen. 7/44 (15.9%), 28/44 (63.6%), 34/44 (77.3%) and 36/44 (81.8%) had access to DST for pretomanid, bedaquiline, linezolid and moxifloxacin, respectively. DST was available for all medicines composing the BPaL(M) regimen in 6/44 (13.6%) countries.
Only in about half of the countries participating in the survey clinicians have access to all the BPaL(M) regimen drugs. In less than a fifth of countries, a complete DST is possible. Rapid scale up of DST capacity to prevent unnoticed spread of drug resistance and equal access to new regimens are urgently needed in Europe.
Europe has the highest documented caseload and greatest increase in multidrug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (M/XDR-TB) of all World Health Organization (WHO) regions. This survey ...examines how recommendations for M/XDR-TB management are being implemented.
TBNET is a pan-European clinical research collaboration for tuberculosis. An email survey of TBNET members collected data in relation to infection control, access to molecular tests and basic microbiology with drug sensitivity testing.
68/105 responses gave valid information and were from countries within the WHO European Region. Inpatient beds matched demand, but single rooms with negative pressure were only available in low incidence countries; ultraviolet decontamination was used in 5 sites, all with >10 patients with M/XDR-TB per year. Molecular tests for mutations associated with rifampicin resistance were widely available (88%), even in lower income and especially in high incidence countries. Molecular tests for other first line and second line drugs were less accessible (76 and 52% respectively). A third of physicians considered that drug susceptibility results were delayed by > 2 months.
Infection control for inpatients with M/XDR-TB remains a problem in high incidence countries. Rifampicin resistance is readily detected, but tests to plan regimens tailored to the drug susceptibilities of the strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are significantly delayed, allowing for further drug resistance to develop.
•M/XDR-TB poses a serious threat to TB control in Europe.•Isolation rooms are insufficient for safe diagnosis.•Drug susceptibility testing results are frequently delayed.•A positive test for rifampicin resistance should lead automatically to tests for other first- and second-line drug resistance.
Abstract
Background
The growing burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) is posing a threat to global tuberculosis (TB) control. DM triples the risk of developing TB, modifies the presenting features of ...pulmonary TB, and worsens TB treatment outcomes. We aimed to analyze the prevalence of DM among TB patients and to describe the characteristics and clinical presentation of TB-DM patients in Europe.
Methods
We performed a cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of DM among consecutively diagnosed adult TB patients in 11 European TB referral centers located in France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom over the period 2007–2015. We also selected DM-TB cases and TB only controls with a 1:3 ratio to perform a case-control analysis, including patients selected from the countries mentioned above plus Norway and Ukraine.
Results
Among 3143 TB enrolled patients, DM prevalence overall was 10.7% and ranged from 4.4% in Greece to 28.5% in the United Kingdom. Patients’ median ages ranged from 36 to 49 years, and all centers had >60% males; the proportion of foreign-born patients varied widely across sites. In the case-control study, DM was independently associated with older age and, among older patients, with being foreign-born. Among patients with pulmonary involvement, cavities on chest imaging were more frequently observed among those with DM.
Conclusions
Diabetes mellitus represents a challenge for TB control in Europe, especially in foreign-born and in elderly patients. Specific screening strategies should be evaluated.
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