Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a pediatric emergency department in Newfoundland and Labrador

BACKGROUND: USA300 community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains causing necrotizing pneumonia have been reported in association with antecedent viral upper respiratory tract infections (URI). METHODS: A case series of necrotizing pneumonia presenting as a primary or coprimary infection, secondary to CA-MRSA without evidence of antecedent viral URI, is presented. Cases were identified through the infectious diseases consultation service records. Clinical and radiographic data were collected by chart review and electronic records. MRSA strains were isolated from sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, pleural fluid or blood cultures and confirmed using standard laboratory procedures. MRSA strains were characterized by susceptibility testing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, spa typing, agr typing and multilocus sequence typing. Testing for respiratory viruses was performed by appropriate serological testing of banked sera, or nucleic acid testing of nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveloar lavage specimens. RESULTS: Ten patients who presented or copresented with CA necrotizing pneumonia secondary to CA-MRSA from April 2004 to October 2011 were identified. The median length of stay was 22.5 days. Mortality was 20.0%. Classical risk factors for CA-MRSA were identified in seven of 10 (70.0%) cases. Chest tube placement occurred in seven of 10 patients with empyema. None of the patients had historical evidence of antecedent URI. In eight of 10 patients, serological or nucleic acid testing testing revealed no evidence of acute viral coinfection. Eight strains were CMRSA-10 (USA300). The remaining two strains were a USA300 genetically related strain and a USA1100 strain. CONCLUSION: Pneumonia secondary to CA-MRSA can occur in the absence of an antecedent URI. Infections due to CA-MRSA are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Clinicians need to have an awareness of this clinical entity, particularly in patients who are in risk groups that predispose to exposure to this bacterium

Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Necrotizing Pneumonia without Evidence of Antecedent Viral Upper Respiratory Infection

BACKGROUND: USA300 community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains causing necrotizing pneumonia have been reported in association with antecedent viral upper respiratory tract infections (URI).METHODS: A case series of necrotizing pneumonia presenting as a primary or coprimary infection, secondary to CA-MRSA without evidence of antecedent viral URI, is presented. Cases were identified through the infectious diseases consultation service records. Clinical and radiographic data were collected by chart review and electronic records. MRSA strains were isolated from sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage, pleural fluid or blood cultures and confirmed using standard laboratory procedures. MRSA strains were characterized by susceptibility testing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, spa typing, agr typing and multilocus sequence typing. Testing for respiratory viruses was performed by appropriate serological testing of banked sera, or nucleic acid testing of nasopharyngeal or bronchoalveloar lavage specimens.RESULTS: Ten patients who presented or copresented with CA necrotizing pneumonia secondary to CA-MRSA from April 2004 to October 2011 were identified. The median length of stay was 22.5 days. Mortality was 20.0%. Classical risk factors for CA-MRSA were identified in seven of 10 (70.0%) cases. Chest tube placement occurred in seven of 10 patients with empyema. None of the patients had historical evidence of antecedent URI. In eight of 10 patients, serological or nucleic acid testing testing revealed no evidence of acute viral coinfection. Eight strains were CMRSA-10 (USA300). The remaining two strains were a USA300 genetically related strain and a USA1100 strain.CONCLUSION: Pneumonia secondary to CA-MRSA can occur in the absence of an antecedent URI. Infections due to CA-MRSA are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Clinicians need to have an awareness of this clinical entity, particularly in patients who are in risk groups that predispose to exposure to this bacterium.Peer Reviewe

Socioeconomic, Clinical, and Molecular Features of Breast Cancer Influence Overall Survival of Latin American Women

Molecular profile of breast cancer in Latin-American women was studied in five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. Data about socioeconomic characteristics, risk factors, prognostic factors, and molecular subtypes were described, and the 60-month overall cumulative survival probabilities (OS) were estimated. From 2011 to 2013, 1,300 eligible Latin-American women 18 years or older, with a diagnosis of breast cancer in clinical stage II or III, and performance status ≦̸1 were invited to participate in a prospective cohort study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted, and clinical and outcome data, including death, were extracted from medical records. Unadjusted associations were evaluated by Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests and the OS by Kaplan–Meier method. Log-rank test was used to determine differences between cumulative probability curves. Multivariable adjustment was carried out by entering potential confounders in the Cox regression model. The OS at 60 months was 83.9%. Multivariable-adjusted death hazard differences were found for women living in Argentina (2.27), Chile (1.95), and Uruguay (2.42) compared with Mexican women, for older (≥60 years) (1.84) compared with younger (≤40 years) women, for basal-like subtype (5.8), luminal B (2.43), and HER2-enriched (2.52) compared with luminal A subtype, and for tumor clinical stages IIB (1.91), IIIA (3.54), and IIIB (3.94) compared with stage IIA women. OS was associated with country of residence, PAM50 intrinsic subtype, age, and tumor stage at diagnosis. While the latter is known to be influenced by access to care, including cancer screening, timely diagnosis and treatment, including access to more effective treatment protocols, it may also influence epigenetic changes that, potentially, impact molecular subtypes. Data derived from heretofore understudied populations with unique geographic ancestry and sociocultural experiences are critical to furthering our understanding of this complexity. Copyright © 2022 de Almeida, Cortés, Vilensky, Valenzuela, Cortes-Sanabria, de Souza, Barbeito, Abdelhay, Artagaveytia, Daneri-Navarro, Llera, Müller, Podhajcer, Velazquez, Alcoba, Alonso, Bravo, Camejo, Carraro, Castro, Cataldi, Cayota, Cerda, Colombo, Crocamo, Del Toro-Arreola, Delgadillo-Cristerna, Delgado, Breitenbach, Fernández, Fernández, Fernández, Franco-Topete, Gaete, Gómez, Gonzalez-Ramirez, Guerrero, Gutierrez-Rubio, Jalfin, Lopez-Vazquez, Loria, Míguez, Moran-Mendoza, Morgan-Villela, Mussetti, Nagai, Oceguera-Villanueva, Reis, Retamales, Rodriguez, Rosales, Salas-Gonzalez, Segovia, Sendoya, Silva-Garcia, Viña, Zagame, Jones, Szklo and United States-Latin American Cancer Research Network (US-LACRN).Fil: de Almeida, Liz Maria. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Cortés, Sandra. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; ChileFil: Vilensky, Marta. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Valenzuela, Olivia. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Cortes-Sanabria, Laura. Hospital de Especialidades, CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: de Souza, Mirian. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Barbeito, Rafael Alonso. Facultad de Medicina; ArgentinaFil: Abdelhay, Eliana. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Artagaveytia, Nora. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Daneri-Navarro, Adrian. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Llera, Andrea S. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Müller, Bettina. Instituto Nacional del Cáncer; ArgentinaFil: Podhajcer, Osvaldo L. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir; ArgentinaFil: Velazquez, Carlos. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Alcoba, Elsa. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Isabel. Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell; ArgentinaFil: Bravo, Alicia I. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Camejo, Natalia. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela. Universidad de la República; UruguayFil: Carraro, Dirce Maria. AC Camargo Cancer Center; BrasilFil: Castro, Mónica. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Cataldi, Sandra. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; UruguayFil: Cayota, Alfonso. Institut Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Cerda, Mauricio. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Colombo, Alicia. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Crocamo, Susanne. Instituto Nacional de Cáncer; BrasilFil: Del Toro-Arreola, Alicia. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Delgadillo-Cristerna, Raul. Hospital de Especialidades. CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Delgado, Lucia. Hospital de Clínicas Manuel Quintela; UruguayFil: Breitenbach, Marisa Dreyer. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Fernández, Elmer. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. CONICET. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunologia; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Jorge. Instituto de Salud Pública; ChileFil: Fernández, Wanda. Hospital San Borja Arriarán; ChileFil: Franco-Topete, Ramon A. OPD Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Gaete, Fancy. Hospital Luis Tisne; ChileFil: Gómez, Jorge. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Gonzalez-Ramirez, Leivy P. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Guerrero, Marisol. Hospital San José; ChileFil: Gutierrez-Rubio, Susan A. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Jalfin, Beatriz. Hospital Regional de Agudos Eva Perón; ArgentinaFil: Lopez-Vazquez, Alejandra. Universidad de Sonora; MéxicoFil: Loria, Dora. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Míguez, Silvia. Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Moran-Mendoza, Andres de J. Hospital de Gineco-Obstetricia CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Morgan-Villela, Gilberto. Hospital de Especialidades. CMNO-IMSS; MéxicoFil: Mussetti, Carina. Registro Nacional de Cancer; UruguayFil: Nagai, Maria Aparecida. Instituto de Câncer de São Paulo; BrasilFil: Oceguera-Villanueva, Antonio. Instituto Jalisciense de Cancerologia; MéxicoFil: Reis, Rui M. Hospital de Câncer de Barretos; BrasilFil: Retamales, Javier. Grupo Oncológico Cooperativo Chileno de Investigación; ChileFil: Rodriguez, Robinson. Hospital Central de las Fuerzas Armadas; UruguayFil: Rosales, Cristina, Hospital Municipal de Oncología María Curie; ArgentinaFil: Salas-Gonzalez, Efrain. Hospital San José; ChileFil: Segovia, Laura. Hospital Barros Luco Trudeau; ChileFil: Sendoya, Juan M. CONICET. Fundación Instituto Leloir,; ArgentinaFil: Silva-Garcia, Aida A. OPD Hospital Civil de Guadalajara. Universidad de Guadalajara; MéxicoFil: Viña, Stella. Instituto de Oncología Angel Roffo; ArgentinaFil: Zagame, Livia. Instituto Jalisciense de Cancerologia; MéxicoFil: Jones, Beth. Yale University. Yale School of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Szklo, Moysés. Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Estados Unido

Mortality after surgery in Europe: a 7 day cohort study

Background: Clinical outcomes after major surgery are poorly described at the national level. Evidence of heterogeneity between hospitals and health-care systems suggests potential to improve care for patients but this potential remains unconfirmed. The European Surgical Outcomes Study was an international study designed to assess outcomes after non-cardiac surgery in Europe.Methods: We did this 7 day cohort study between April 4 and April 11, 2011. We collected data describing consecutive patients aged 16 years and older undergoing inpatient non-cardiac surgery in 498 hospitals across 28 European nations. Patients were followed up for a maximum of 60 days. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcome measures were duration of hospital stay and admission to critical care. We used χ² and Fisher’s exact tests to compare categorical variables and the t test or the Mann-Whitney U test to compare continuous variables. Significance was set at p<0·05. We constructed multilevel logistic regression models to adjust for the differences in mortality rates between countries.Findings: We included 46 539 patients, of whom 1855 (4%) died before hospital discharge. 3599 (8%) patients were admitted to critical care after surgery with a median length of stay of 1·2 days (IQR 0·9–3·6). 1358 (73%) patients who died were not admitted to critical care at any stage after surgery. Crude mortality rates varied widely between countries (from 1·2% [95% CI 0·0–3·0] for Iceland to 21·5% [16·9–26·2] for Latvia). After adjustment for confounding variables, important differences remained between countries when compared with the UK, the country with the largest dataset (OR range from 0·44 [95% CI 0·19 1·05; p=0·06] for Finland to 6·92 [2·37–20·27; p=0·0004] for Poland).Interpretation: The mortality rate for patients undergoing inpatient non-cardiac surgery was higher than anticipated. Variations in mortality between countries suggest the need for national and international strategies to improve care for this group of patients.Funding: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, European Society of Anaesthesiology