Fighting Misconceptions to Improve Compliance with Influenza Vaccination among Health Care Workers: An Educational Project

The compliance with influenza vaccination is poor among health care workers (HCWs) due to misconceptions about safety and effectiveness of influenza vaccine. We proposed an educational prospective study to demonstrate to HCWs that influenza vaccine is safe and that other respiratory viruses (RV) are the cause of respiratory symptoms in the months following influenza vaccination. 398 HCWs were surveyed for adverse events (AE) occurring within 48 h of vaccination. AE were reported by 30% of the HCWs. No severe AE was observed. A subset of 337 HCWs was followed up during four months, twice a week, for the detection of respiratory symptoms. RV was diagnosed by direct immunofluorescent assay (DFA) and real time PCR in symptomatic HCWs. Influenza A was detected in five episodes of respiratory symptoms (5.3%) and other RV in 26 (27.9%) episodes. The incidence density of influenza and other RV was 4.3 and 10.8 episodes per 100 HCW-month, respectively. The educational nature of the present study may persuade HCWs to develop a more positive attitude to influenza vaccination

Streptococcus constellatus and Prevotella bivia Penile Abscess

Streptococcus constellatus (S. constellatus) is known to cause abscesses in the oral, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts, frequently in association with anaerobic bacteria. We report a rare case of S. constellatus and Prevotella bivia (P. bivia) causing a penile abscess, which was successfully treated with surgical drainage and antibiotic treatment

Cerebellitis associated with cryptococcal-immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome

Cerebellitis associated with cryptococcal immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) has not been previously reported. We describe a unique case of IRIS associated cerebellitis in an AIDS patient with cryptococcosis

Embolic serratia aortic valve endocarditis

Infective endocarditis secondary to Serratia marcescens is very rare, noted in patients with severe immunosuppresion. The disease is associated with high mortality. Therefore early diagnosis and aggressive treatment is recommended

Adenovirus, herpes simplex virus and cytomegalovirus infection in a lung transplant recipient

Allograft infections post lung transplantation have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality. We report a rare case of triple viral infection with adenovirus, Herpes Simplex virus (HSV) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in a lung transplant recipient

874. Impact of Telehealth in HIV Ambulatory Clinic during COVID-19 Pandemic Impact of Telehealth in HIV Ambulatory Clinic during COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: HIV outpatient in-person (IN-P) visits were limited during the COVID-19 pandemic, and most patients (pts) were cared for remotely through telehealth (TELE). We sought to evaluate the impact of TELE on HIV infected pts during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic IN-P care. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of pts in an outpatient HIV clinic, study period 03/30/2019 to 03/29/2021. Two periods were defined: pre-COVID (Pre-CO) 3/30/2019 to 3/29/2020 and COVID (CO) 3/30/2020 to 3/29/2021. Data was collected on demographics, HIV risk, type of encounter, number of encounters, CD4, HIV Viral loads (VL) at first, and last visit, treatment regimen information. HIV VL < 200 copies/ml was considered as undetectable. RESULTS: A total of 607 pts were evaluated. Mean age 51years; (Range-20-84). Male 306 (50.4%), African American 545(90%), Hispanic 50 (8.2%), white 9 (1.5%), Asian 3(0.5%). HIV risk: heterosexual 437(72%), male sex with male 118(19.4%), intravenous drug use 8 (1.3%). In the Pre-CO period, 530 pts were seen as IN-P; in the CO period 606 pts were encountered of which 304 (50.2%) were TELE visits, 89(14.7%) IN-P, 213(35%) had both TELE and IN-P encounters. Mean number of encounters were 2.59 in the Pre-CO and 2.46 during CO. The number of new pts in the Pre-CO were 36 (7%) vs. 52(8.6%) in the CO (p=0.26). During the pre-CO, 373 pts had CD4 measured at first and last visits, 353(95%) at the first visit and 352 (94.3%) at the last visit had CD4 counts ≥ 200/uL (p=.87); 373 pts had a VL done at first and last visits, 330 (88.5%) at the first visit and 337(90.3%) at last visit were undetectable (p=0.41). During CO, 445 pts had CD4 measured at first and last visits, 402 (90.3%) at the first visit and 445(94.2%) at the last visit had CD4 count ≥200/uL (p=0.03); 448 pts had VL measured at first and last encounters, 389(87%) at the first visit and 417(93%) in the last visit were undetectable (p=0.002). Antiretroviral changes occurred in 29% in the Pre-Co compared to 19% in the CO (p=0 .32). CONCLUSION: In our clinic, more pts were cared for during the CO period compared to the Pre-CO period. Significantly, more pts had undetectable HIV VL during CO period. At least one TELE visit was utilized by over ¾ of the pts. TELE has a potentially important role in future HIV care without compromising patient outcomes. DISCLOSURES: All Authors: No reported disclosure