Bacterial Infections and Mycoses Commons^™

Use Of Urine Antigen Testing For Blastomyces In An Integrated Health System, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Dennis J. Baumgardner, MD

Purpose: Blastomycosis, an endemic fungal infection, mimics many other diseases. We explored the use of Blastomyces urine antigen (BuAg), reportedly the most sensitive noninvasive test, in clinical practice and compared it to other noninvasive tests.

Methods: A total of 836 BuAg tests performed on unique patients (first test only) at one large integrated health system from June 2013 to May 2016 were retrospectively reviewed to examine test characteristics and demographic features. Of these, 100 cases from 2015, a year containing a large local blastomycosis outbreak, were randomly selected for detailed analysis.

Results: Demographics for the BuAg-tested population: mean age 54.9 …

Treating Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus With The Drug Vancomycin In A Home Infusion Therapy Setting, Joshua Webb, Alberto Coustasse, Dennis Emmett

Dennis Emmett

The basic purpose of this paper is to examine the effects the home infusion therapy has on the cost, duration of, and effectiveness of treatment between those individuals under 60 and those 60 and over. The results show that those 60 and over had a slightly higher cost/day. The older age group had slightly smaller treatment duration, then the younger group. The number of adverse effects was small. The results suggest that home infusion therapy appears to be a viable alternative to hospitalization.

Treating Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus With The Drug Vancomycin In A Home Infusion Therapy Setting, Joshua L. Webb, Alberto Coustasse, Dennis Emmett

Alberto Coustasse, DrPH, MD, MBA, MPH

The basic purpose of this paper is to examine the effects the home infusion therapy has on the cost, duration of, and effectiveness of treatment between those individuals under 60 and those 60 and over. The results show that those 60 and over had a slightly higher cost/day. The older age group had slightly smaller treatment duration, then the younger group. The number of adverse effects was small. The results suggest that home infusion therapy appears to be a viable alternative to hospitalization.

Not Just Full Of Hot Air: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Increases Survival In Cases Of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections, Joshua Shaw, Charles Psoinos, Timothy Emhoff, Heena Santry

Joshua J Shaw

INTRODUCTION: The utility of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in the treatment for necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI) has not been proven. Previous studies have been subject to significant selection bias since HBOT is not universally available at all medical centers and there is often considerable delay associated with its initiation. We examined the utility of HBOT for the treatment of NSTI in the modern era by isolating centers that have their own HBOT facilities. METHODS: We queried all centers in the University Health Consortium (UHC) database from 2008 to 2010 that have their own HBOT facilities (N=14). Cases of NSTI …