Author Archives: koh10
New Australasian Guidelines for the treatment of C. difficile
New Australasian Society of Infectious Diseases guidelines for the treatment of Clostridium difficile have been published in the Internal Medicine Journal this month. The guidelines provide management advice for C. difficile in adults and children in both hospital and community settings.
The post-antibiotic era: A case study
Published in the latest issue of the MJA is a case study of a Victorian patient diagnosed with a carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. The patient, from rural Victoria, had no history or recent overseas travel and no hospital contact for the last 15 years. He was transferred to a metropolitan hospital for intensive care for severe […]
2016 European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
The ECCMID recently met in Amsterdam to talk all things Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. They have made the majority of the presentations made at the meeting freely available to all online. With over 200 sessions, including 11 keynote lectures, over 100 symposia and oral sessions and 3000 abstracts presented over 4 days there is something […]
Antibiotic Resistance: Facts and Figures
While we spend a lot of time talking about reducing antibiotic resistance it can difficult to get a feel for the size of the problem. The team at BioMerieux have put together some facts and figures that help quantify the problem.
Some antimicrobial stewardship success stories
The NPSMedicinewise 2014-2015 Annual Report was released this week listing the achievements the organisation has made in improving the health of Australians. NPSMedicinewise is active in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and have successfully improved the use of antimicrobials in Australia over this time period.
What is the best way to treat skin abscess?
Skin (staphylococcal) abscesses (boils) are often treated with antimicrobials, but are they really needed? The New England Journal of Medicine recently presented a case vignette and asked prescribers to weigh in on whether they thought antibiotics were needed or if incision and drainage alone were enough.
Chocolate Agar for Easter
Chocolate agar is an enriched non specific growth medium which is used to grow and isolate pathogenic bacteria. Its also known as chocolate blood agar and is made using blood that has been slowly heated to 80 degrees. So probably not a great choice as a gift! Chocolate agar is a variant of blood agar […]
Cranberry for prevention and treatment of UTI- placebo or better?
Cranberry juice or cranberry capsules are often recommended for both prophylaxis and treatment of UTIs. As cranberry is associated with only mild side effects and is easy available it seems like it would be a good option, but what evidence is there that shows that it is effective?
Paranoia 101 – where is it safe to put your hand?
A recent experiment mapped the bacterial travellers on the New York Subway system and found that grabbing a handrail transmits the same number of bacteria as shaking hands with 10 000 people. An average of 2 million colony forming units were found per square inch, which for frequent travellers, equates to 900 times more than airplane […]
More Choosing Wisely recommendations released today
Choosing Wisely Australia is an organisation that aims to improve the quality of healthcare provided to Australians by urging healthcare providers to reconsider tests, procedures or treatments where the evidence suggests no benefit or may lead to harm in some cases. Today the organisation released 50 new recommendations from 12 new Australian professional bodies to […]
AIMED - Let's talk about antibiotics 