Clostridium difficile 027 infection in Central Italy

Background Clostridium difficile (CD) has increasingly become recognised as a significant international health burden, often associated with the healthcare environment. The upsurge in incidence of CD coincided with the emergence of a hypervirulent strain of CD characterized as 027. In 2010, 8 cases of CD 027 infections were identified in Italy. Since then, no further reports have been published. We describe 10 new cases of CD 027 infection occurring in Italy. Methods Since December 2010, stool samples of patients with severe diarrhea and clinical suspicion of the presence of a hypervirulent strain, were tested for CD 027 by the Xpert C. difficile PCR assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA). Clinical, epidemiological and laboratory data were collected. Results From December 2010 to April 2012, 24 faecal samples from 19 patients who fit the above criteria were submitted to our laboratory. Samples were collected from 7 different hospitals. Of these, 17 had a positive PCR for CD and 10 were the epidemic 027 strain (59%). All PCR positive samples had a positive EIA toxin A/B test. Nine of 10 patients were recently exposed to antimicrobials and were healthcare-associated, including 4 with a history of long term care facility (LTCF) admission; the remaining case was community-associated, namely the wife of a patient with hospital-acquired CD 027 infection. Five patients experienced at least one recurrence of CD associated diarrhea (CDAD) with a total of 12 relapsing episodes. Of these, two patients had 5 and 6 relapses respectively. We compared the 10 patients with 027 CDAD versus the 7 patients with non-027 CDAD. None of the 7 patients with non-027 CDAD had a recent history of LTCF admission and no subsequent relapses were observed (p = 0.04). Conclusions Our study shows that CD 027 is emerging in healthcare facilities in Italy. Whilst nosocomial acquisition accounted for the majority of such cases, 4 patients had history of a recent stay in a LTCF. We highlight the substantial risks of this highly transmissible organism in such environments. Moreover, 50% of our patients with CDAD from the 027 strain had high relapse rates which may serve to further establish this strain within the Italian health and social care systems

The interactions of age, genetics, and disease severity on tacrolimus dosing requirements after pediatric kidney and liver transplantation

Purpose: In children, data on the combined impact of age, genotype, and disease severity on tacrolimus (TAC) disposition are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of these covariates on tacrolimus dose requirements in the immediate post-transplant period in pediatric kidney and liver recipients. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected describing tacrolimus disposition, age, CYP3A5 and ABCB1 genotype, and pediatric risk of mortality (PRISM) scores for up to 14 days post-transplant in children receiving liver and renal transplants. Initial TAC dosing was equal in all patients and adjusted using therapeutic drug monitoring. We determined the relationship between covariates and tacrolimus disposition. Results: Forty-eight kidney and 42 liver transplant recipients (median ages 11.5 and 1.5 years, ranges 1.5-17.7 and 0.05-14.8 years, respectively) received TAC post-transplant. In both transplant groups, younger children (<5 years) needed higher TAC doses than older children [kidney: 0.15 (0.07-0.35) vs. 0.09 (0.02-0.20) mg/kg/12h, p = 0.046, liver: 0.12 (0.04-0.32) vs. 0.09 (0.01-0.18) mg/kg/12h, p

Gender differences in the use of cardiovascular interventions in HIV-positive persons; the D:A:D Study

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Buccal vs. nasogastric tube administration of tacrolimus after pediatric liver transplantation

Tacrolimus is an important drug for immunosuppression after liver transplantation. Bioavailability of enterally administered tacrolimus is poor, and further reduced by gastric residuals or by enteral nutrition. Buccal administration might be an alternative route especially in children. Tacrolimus trough levels (TTLs) obtained after buccal administration of tacrolimus after liver transplantation have not been reported. The aim of this study was to determine whether buccal administration of tacrolimus is feasible and to compare TTLs after nasogastric tube (NGT) administration with buccal administration. TTLs after NGT or buccal administration during the first week after pediatric liver transplantation were analyzed from 28 cadaveric liver transplants in 23 pediatric recipients between June 2002 and March 2004. Each level was scored within, under or above the target range. Buccal administration was well tolerated in all patients. A total of 149 TTLs were obtained of which nine were excluded because of incomplete information on target levels. Overall 27% of TTLs was adequate. The percentage of levels under, within and above the target range were comparable in both groups (chi-square test; p = 0.64). Both groups had a decrease in percentages within the target range on day 3 and 4 after liver transplantation with a subsequent rise. Buccal tacrolimus administration is feasible. Similar TTLs are achieved compared with NGT tacrolimus administration during the first week after pediatric liver transplantation

Walking with continuous positive airway pressure

A ventilator-dependent child had been in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) ever since birth. As a result, she had fallen behind considerably in her development. After 18 months, continuous positive airway tracheostomy tube with a novel lightweight device device, the child was discharged home where pressure was successfully administered via a. This enabled her to walk in the PICU. With this she could walk with an action range of 10 m. Subsequently, her psychornotor development improved remarkably. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first case report of a patient, adult or paediatric, who could actually walk with a sufficient radius of action while receiving long-term respiratory support