The Perfect Predator: Phage Therapy for MDR Acinetobacter

Drs. Stephanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson are the authors of a very unique memoir titled The Perfect Predator.  

The book is unique on multiple levels.  Both authors are academic researchers. The second author, Dr. Patterson, is both the patient in the memoir and the husband of the lead author. The subject is phage therapy for a life threatening MDR acinetobacter infection.

The book is based on this published article in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapeutics, with Dr. Strathdee as one of the co-authors.

A memoir on phage therapy, not your typical page turner yet well worth the read.

Voices From Richmond’s Hidden Epidemic: Valentine Museum, Covered in Style Weekly

The exhibit, Voices from Richmond's Hidden Epidemic is now at the Valentine Museum.

I am honored to be one of the thirty people interviewed for this exhibit.

The cover story on the exhibit can be  accessed here in Style Weekly.

Once Again: Infectious Diseases Physicians Add Value and We Can Prove it

Source: CDC.gov

If your patient has candidemia it is best to call an infectious diseases consult.  If you are skeptical, look no further than this recently published article in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Expert infectious disease consultation for the management of candidemia results in improved outcomes, decreased mortality,  improved source control and greater consistency with guideline specific care.

Once again, infectious diseases physicians add value, and, once again, we can prove it.

Nurse Survey, Knowledge Gaps and the Creation of an Environmental Hygiene Protocol for Patient Transport: We Can Do Better

Congratulations to VCU infection prevention nurse Amie Patrick on this recently published manuscript in the American Journal of Infection Control, one in which over 1000 VCU nurses were surveyed on environmental hygiene for patient transport and soiled linen disposal.

The high response rate by front line nurses is no small feat. 

Knowledge of environmental hygiene during patient transport and removal of patient linens was erratic and glove overuse  was coupled with missed hand hygiene opportunities.  This potentially increases the risk of HAI cross transmission via environmental contamination.

From this project was born a proposed protocol flow sheet for carrying soiled linens out of patient rooms. The flow sheet is include in the manuscript.

We can do better and this is a start.

Yuck: Docs' White Coats Rarely See the Washing Machine - Media Interview

Photo credit: Dr. Mike Edmond

Our work was recently reproduced and not for the better. At least we tried.

In this recent American Journal of Infection Control publication, by Dr. Olvera-Lopez and colleagues, white coat laundering remains infrequent and awareness of the SHEA expert guidance paper on Healthcare Attire in Non-Operating Room Settings remains low (approximately 20% in an internal medicine department). 

Low frequency of laundering white coats was reported by us in 2014. Not much has changed.

I was interviewed for the corresponding MedPage Today article on the above topic.

The Damage Framework and Infection Prevention: From Concept to Bedside

Kudos to my VCU colleague Dr. Emily Godbout for her recently published commentary on the damage response framework and infection prevention. The project came to fruition with the collaboration of our esteemed colleagues Drs. Theresa Madeline, Arturo Casadevall and Liise-anne Pirofski.

The damage response framework with respect to infection prevention is evolving and becoming increasingly more relevant.

How Much is Enough? The Case for a Short Course of Treatment for Pseudomonas Bloodstream Infections

Source: CDC.gov

I like it when a study answers the practical question of how much is enough? In this case the focus is the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bloodstream infections.

Kudos to Dr. Valeria Fabre and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University on this recently published manuscript in Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the absence of metastatic infection, with source control achieved and with therapy transitioned from IV to oral treatment, a 10 day course of antibiotics was sufficient for Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia. To boot, a short course of antibiotic therapy was associated with a reduced length of hospital stay.  Hospital administration will be thrilled.

The time honored 14 days of intravenous therapy for bacteremia is once again challenged.

Time to End Non-Medical Exemptions of Vaccination: Our Editorial in the Richmond Times Dispatch

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch

Along with  Dr. Pam Bailey (3rd year infectious diseases and hospital epidemiology fellow) we published this op-ed essay on ending non-medical vaccine exemptions for childhood vaccinations.

The essay is available here in the Richmond Times Dispatch

In the face of a national measles resurgence and with a recent case in the state of Virginia, the time is now for the Virginia General Assembly to prohibit non-medical exemptions of vaccination.