Abstract Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) facilitates early discharge, easing demands on inpatient resources and allowing patients the opportunity to restore home life. In Singapore, ...two large hospitals established a common prospective database in 2006. This study presents an analysis of all enrolled cases over 6 years to consider factors potentially causing adverse outcomes. In this prospective observational study, patients’ first OPAT episodes, from initiation to completion, re-admission or early cessation, were recorded and analysed using Cox regression to identify factors associated with clinical deterioration leading to unplanned hospital re-admission. Of 2229 first episodes, 1874 (84.1%) completed treatment in OPAT as planned; 201 episodes (9.0%) were complicated by clinical deterioration and re-admitted. Other patients who failed to complete treatment were either re-admitted for elective procedures, experienced adverse drug reactions or peripherally inserted central catheter-related complications, or had other reasons for not completing treatment. Increased risk of clinical deterioration was associated with homecare OPAT (aHR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.7–3.8; P < 0.001), age >70 years (aHR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.2; P = 0.008) and non-private care (aHR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.0–3.0; P = 0.033). Diagnosis and type of antibiotic treatment were not significant risk factors for re-admission. OPAT provides intravenous antibiotics to those who would otherwise remain as hospital inpatients. In this large Asian cohort, clinical factors did not relate to the ability of patients to complete their treatment in OPAT. Criteria identified as significant warrant ongoing consideration as patients are assessed for acceptance into OPAT programmes.
In this study, we molecularly characterized 12 NDM-1 producing clinical Enterobacteriaceae (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae) isolates that were part of a collection of ...non-carbapenem susceptible isolates obtained during a one-year period. These isolates were obtained from four local general hospitals in Singapore.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays and sequencing was used to determine the presence of β-lactamase encoding genes (bla) including bla NDM-1 and plasmid-mediated quinolone and aminoglycoside resistance determinants. Conjugation experiments were performed to determine the transferability of bla NDM-1. Isolate relatedness was determined by multilocus sequence typing (MLST).
The isolates were completely resistant to the second- and third-generation cephalosporins tested as well as carbapenems. Susceptibility profiling of the isolates indicated that 100% retained susceptibility to tigecycline while 11/12 (91.7%) were susceptible to colistin. The bla NDM-1 gene was encoded on plasmids that were easily transferable. None of the patients had a travel history to countries where NDM-1 has been reported. The isolates appear clonally unrelated with MLST, revealing a diversity of clonal types among the Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli isolates.
The ease of NDM-1 plasmid transmissibility may help their dissemination among the Enterobacteriaceae. Although it appears that the isolates are clonally unrelated, epidemiological links cannot be fully excluded without further research.
In patients without ethnicity risk factors for acute rheumatic fever (ARF), our local guidelines recommend limiting antibiotic use following a positive throat swab culture (TSC). If symptoms are ...severe, a 5-7 day course is recommended. Despite this, most local patients with a positive TSC for group A Streptococcus (GAS) or Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE) were being prescribed 10 days of antibiotics. In response, we added comments to positive TSC reports recommending shorter treatment durations in those without ARF risk factors. No other antimicrobial stewardship initiatives were implemented.
To assess the effect of these comments on antibiotic course duration after positive TSC.
All community TSC results from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2023 (1 year pre- to 6 months post-change) were matched to antibiotic dispensing data. Patients who had been empirically dispensed an antibiotic prior to the culture report were excluded. The outcome of interest was the antibiotic duration dispensed in the 5 day period after the TSC report.
Following introduction of the comments, median course duration reduced from 10 (IQR 5-10) to 7 days (IQR 0-10; P < 0.01) and from 7 (IQR 0-10) to 0 days (IQR 0-5; P < 0.01) following GAS- and SDSE-positive TSC, respectively, in those without ARF risk factors. The percentage of people receiving 10 days of antibiotics decreased from 63.0% to 37.0% (P < 0.01) and 41.2% to 14.6% (P < 0.01) for GAS and SDSE, respectively.
The introduction of comments providing direct prescribing advice to requestors appears to have been highly effective at improving guideline-compliant prescribing following positive TSC report.
Abstract
Objectives
Positive culture results from non-sterile sites (NSSs) are poorly predictive of clinical infection. Despite this, these results are often interpreted as an indication for ...antibiotics, even in patients with limited signs of infection. We sought to quantify the influence of NSS culture results on post-report antibiotic initiation (PRAI) in patients who had not been started on antibiotics pre-report.
Methods
All community wound/skin swab and sputum cultures were matched to antibiotic dispensing records from February 2017 to July 2022. Prescribing behaviour was assessed pre- and post-report. Sampling without treatment pre-report was termed ‘test-and-wait’ (TaW). Following TaW, PRAI was identified if antibiotics were started within 5 days post-report.
Results
There were 65 480 wound/skin swabs and 8126 sputum samples, with TaW occurring in 21 740 (35.1%) and 4185 (54.4%), respectively. Following a TaW approach PRAI occurred in 43.3% when an organism was reported, versus 10.8% (P < 0.01) for a ‘no growth’ report for wound/skin swabs. For the same comparison with sputum, PRAI occurred in 47.9% versus 10.8% (P < 0.01). On multivariate analysis reporting an organism remained strongly associated with PRAI.
Conclusions
Reporting an organism in those not already on antibiotics was strongly associated with PRAI. We hypothesize that for many patients TaW suggests limited evidence of infection (i.e. insufficient to justify antibiotic treatment at time of sampling), meaning positive NSS results may be driving a considerable volume of potentially unnecessary antibiotic use. Further study on this topic is required, but strategies to reduce PRAI may offer laboratories an opportunity to meaningfully impact antimicrobial stewardship efforts.
Stringent nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as lockdowns and border closures are not currently recommended for pandemic influenza control. New Zealand used these NPIs to eliminate ...coronavirus disease 2019 during its first wave. Using multiple surveillance systems, we observed a parallel and unprecedented reduction of influenza and other respiratory viral infections in 2020. This finding supports the use of these NPIs for controlling pandemic influenza and other severe respiratory viral threats.
We report what we believe to be the first six cases of daptomycin-non-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus infections from Singapore. These strains were rapidly isolated after bacteraemic patients were ...switched to daptomycin following initial prolonged unsuccessful therapy with vancomycin, despite confirmation of daptomycin susceptibility just prior to initiating daptomycin therapy. The majority of post-vancomycin therapy strains exhibited marked thickening of their cell walls on electron microscopic examination. In patients with persistent S. aureus bacteraemia, therapeutic failure with daptomycin may occur if used as salvage therapy following vancomycin failure, notwithstanding initial susceptibility testing results.
Streptococcus gallinaceus is a newly described species of viridans streptococci, previously only identified as causing disease in broiler chickens. This organism was recovered in pure culture from ...blood taken from a New Zealand abattoir worker presenting with a febrile illness. This first report of bacteraemia caused by S. gallinaceus in a human may help the understanding of the ecology of this recently described organism.
To review if tests for suspected COVID-19 were performed according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) case definitions, identify patterns associated with testing outside of the case definition, and ...discuss the potential impacts on hospital services.
This was a retrospective audit of patients presenting to the Wellington Hospital ED between 24 March 2020 and 27 April 2020 who were swabbed for COVID-19 in ED. Swabs were audited against the March 15th and April 8th MoH COVID-19 case definitions.
Five hundred and thirty-six COVID-19 swabs for 518 patients were taken during the study period. There was poor alignment of testing with the March 15th case definition, with only 11.6% of the 164 swabs taken during this period meeting the case definition. Of the 145 swabs that did not meet the case definition, the majority (n = 119, 82.1%) met symptom criteria only. Alignment of testing with the wider April 8th case definition was much higher with 88.2% meeting criteria. Factors associated with being swabbed despite not meeting the case definitions included fever >38°, a diagnosis of cancer, subsequent hospital admission, and for the March case definition only 'contact with a traveller'.
There were associations found between testing outside of criteria and specific variables potentially perceived as high-risk. Poor alignment of testing with case definitions can impact hospital services through the (mis)use of limited laboratory testing capacity and implications for resource management. Improved communication and feedback between clinicians and policymakers may improve case definition implementation in a clinical setting.
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