Bacterial Infections and Mycoses Commons^™

The Re-Emergence Of An Ancient Disease: A Case Presentation Of Spinal Tuberculosis, Danay Herrera, Nargisa Ergasheva, Paola Solari, Daniel Kaswan, Bryan Greendield

East Florida Division GME Research Day 2023

Please see supplemental content for full abstract with references.

Introduction: An ancient disease identified in Egyptian and Peruvian mummies, tuberculous spondylitis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is considered the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) [1,5]. Despite the identification of the causative agent, the improvement in diagnostic tools, the production of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, and the development of antimicrobial regimens since the disease was first described, it remains a major health burden today with significant morbidity and mortality among developing countries [5]. Spinal TB can lead to severe deformity and permanent neurological deficits, as such early recognition …

Cryptogenic Liver Abscess Caused By Actinomyces Meyeri, Thomas Walter, Simona Oprea, Greg Hicks

Continental, MidAmerica, & Mountain Divisions GME Research Day 2023

No abstract provided.

Combatting Bacterial Infections: The Efficacy Of Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid On The Prevention Of Nasopharyngeal Infections Among Individuals With Cleft Lip And Palate, Florence Pun

Scripps Senior Theses

Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a medical condition where children are born with an unfused lip and palate. While surgery is required to fuse the lip and palate, there are other conditions that children with CLP face after surgeries, such as otitis media (OM), speech impediments, and difficulty breathing. Particularly, OM occurs frequently in individuals with CLP because the tensor veli palatini muscles cannot open the Eustachian tube frequently and ventilate the middle ear properly, even after surgery. This thesis is a research proposal to evaluate whether γ-PGA can be used in nasal washes to safely prevent nasopharyngeal infections …

Trends In Antibiotic Susceptibility Of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolates In A Pediatric Hospital: An Analysis Of The Impact Of The Sars-Cov-2 Pandemic, Juan Miguel S. Gonzalez Rivero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Infections caused by the organism Staphylococcus aureus are one of the most common causes for community-associated and healthcare-acquired infections (HAI). Isolates of this bacterium found within the healthcare setting often demonstrate a higher prevalence of antibiotic resistance making these infections difficult to treat. Historically, considerable focus has been placed on methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), which are strains resistant to β-lactam antibiotics like penicillin, oxacillin and cephalosporins; however, methicillin-sensitive (MSSA) strains may also possess resistance to several first-line antibiotics. Resistance to antibiotics can be acquired through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) by means of mobile genetic elements or by random DNA mutations …

An Epidemiological And Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Investigation Into The Impact Of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales, Justin Clark

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Background: According to the 2019 CDC Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, leading to more than 35,000 deaths. Among the most urgent threats identified by the CDC are carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE). Despite efforts to control the spread of these organisms, the number of estimated cases between 2012 and 2017 remained stable. In 2017, an estimated 13,100 hospitalized cases of CRE led to approximately 1,100 deaths and $130 million attributable healthcare costs. This dissertation seeks to address this issue from both a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic and epidemiological perspective.

Methods: We evaluated the …

Does The Cdc Covid-19 Exposure Assessment Criteria For Healthcare Personnel Work In A Healthcare Setting In Pakistan?, Imran Hassan, Unab Khan, Shehreen Ali, Asif Hakim, Asad Ali

Department of Family Medicine

Objective: To evaluate the real-world performance of the CDC's "Interim US guidance for risk assessment and work restriction for healthcare personnel with exposure to COVID-19" at a private healthcare system in Pakistan.
Study design: Retrospective observational study.
Place and duration of study: The Aga khan University Hospital, Karachi, and its associated healthcare facilities in all four provinces of Pakistan, from February to September 2020.
Methodology: Healthcare personnel (HCPs) assessed and tested for exposures to COVID-19 were included in the study. An exposure category was assigned to each HCP presenting with exposure to COVID-19 based on the CDC criteria. Percentage positivity …

Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (Pbpk) Modeling For The Preclinical Development Of Spectinamide Antibiotics, Keyur R. Parmar

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Despite being an ancient disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and after decades of research, tuberculosis (TB) still affects millions of people every year worldwide. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 10 million people developed tuberculosis and 1.5 million died of the disease. With the increase in the multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) cases, the treatment for TB with the standard first and second-line therapy is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new anti-TB drugs as combination partners of existing and experimental classes of antimicrobial agents to shorten and simplify the …

Clinical Approach To Evaluation Of Underlying Cardiac Device Infection In Patients Hospitalized With Bacteremia, Dierdre B Axell-House, Sarwat Khalil, M Rizwan Sohail

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

More than 400,000 cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), including permanent pacemakers, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices, are implanted every year in the United States (US). Infection is a serious complication of CIED therapy and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. While CIED pocket infection can be diagnosed based on clinical exam findings, positive blood culture may be the only manifestation of CIED lead infection. Thus, management of bacteremia in patients living with CIEDs requires special consideration. This review summarizes contemporary data in the context of the recently updated 2023 Duke-International Society for Cardiovascular Infectious Diseases Criteria for …

Burkholderia Collagen-Like Protein 8, Bucl8, Is An Outer-Membrane Component Of A Novel Efflux Pump And Immunogenic Vaccine Candidate, Megan Elizabeth Grund

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Burkholderia spp. are Gram‐negative intrinsically resistant bacteria that are responsible for environmental and nosocomial infections of clinical and biodefense concern. Our laboratory previously identified in silico Burkholderia collagen-like protein 8 (Bucl8) in the BSL-3 pathogens Burkholderia pseudomallei and Burkholderia mallei (Figure 1). The protein sequence of Bucl8 contains tandem outer-membrane efflux protein domains (OEP) typical of efflux systems and a unique collagen-like domain (CL) consisting of a repeating sequence of Glycine-Alanine-Serine (GAS). Because efflux pumps are often a mechanism of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance, we investigated Bucl8 further. Here, we determined that the locus of bucl8 contains genes …

Evaluation Of A Novel Mrna-Pertussis Vaccine Against Emerging Clinical Isolates Of Bordetella Pertussis, Graham Jeffrey Bitzer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative obligate aerobe that causes a respiratory disease known as pertussis or whooping cough. Pertussis is most severe in younger children, especially infants but the bacteria has been known to colonize adult populations. Before the introduction of the whole-cell pertussis (wP; wP-DTP) vaccine reported numbers of pertussis cases within the US routinely topped 100,000 cases per year. However, with the widespread usage of the wP vaccine case numbers began dropping and reached a low of less than 5,000 cases per year in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. It appeared that B. pertussis was heading towards …

Transmission Competence Of B. Burgdorferi Infected Ixodes Ticks And Development Of An Ospc-Based Lyme Disease Vaccine, Samanta Kamalika

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Lyme disease, otherwise called Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). Studying the increase in overall Lyme disease incidence requires understanding the role of the vector Ixodes scapularis (I. scapularis) as the agent that carries the spirochete which is important to limit the occurrence of Lyme disease. Once we understand the vector-pathogen response, it also becomes important to determine the remedies for Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics if detected early, but the major obstacle lies in the early detection process. Therefore, it is important to investigate alternative preventive …