From intermittent antibiotic point prevalence surveys to quality improvement : experience in Scottish hospitals

In 2008, the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) was established to coordinate a national antimicrobial stewardship programme. In 2009 SAPG led participation in a European point prevalence survey (PPS) of hospital antibiotic use. We describe how SAPG used this baseline PPS as the foundation for implementation of measures for improvement in antibiotic prescribing

A cross-sectional survey of the acceptability of data collection processes for validation of a European point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use

BACKGROUND: Statistical measurements alone are insufficient to ensure robust data for point prevalence surveys (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Data quality is determined by the type of data, data collection methods and available resources. Data collectors’ views regarding the acceptability of data collection process for validation studies are also important to consider. AIM: To explore data collectors’ views on the acceptability of data collection processes used for a European validation PPS of HAI and antimicrobial use (AMU). METHODS: An anonymous online survey was conducted with 67 data collectors from 10 European countries involved in the study. FINDINGS: Twenty-five (64.1%) participants viewed AMU data collection as easy/quite easy whereas only five (12.8%) thought HAI data collection was easy/quite easy. Six (17%) participants indicated that incentives and 21 (56.8%) that disincentives were possibly/definitely present for reporting cases of HAI. Engagement of staff was not thought to have adversely affected data collection as only one (2.6%) and five (15.4%) participants thought involvement of hospital PPS teams and administration was low/very low, respectively. DISCUSSION: Participants believed the approaches used were appropriate but that more training was required prior to data collection, some case definitions should be reviewed and the number of variables reduced

Measuring the psychosocial burden in women with low-grade abnormal cervical cytology in the TOMBOLA trial: psychometric properties of the Process and Outcome Specific Measure (POSM)

Background There is a need for an instrument to measure the psychosocial burden of receiving an abnormal cervical cytology result which can be used regardless of the clinical management women receive. Methods 3331 women completed the POSM as part of baseline psychosocial assessment in a trial of management of low grade cervical cytological abnormalities. Factor analysis and reliability assessment of the POSM were conducted. Results Two factors were extracted from the POSM: Factor 1, containing items related to worry; and Factor 2 containing items relating to satisfaction with information and support received and change in the way women felt about themselves. Factor 1 had good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.769), however reliability of the Factor 2 was poorer (0.482). Data collected at four subsequent time points demonstrated that the factor structure was stable over time. Conclusion This study demonstrates the presence and reliability of a scale measuring worries within the POSM. This analysis will inform its future use in this population and in other related contexts

Zinc Finger Nuclease mediated knockout of ADP dependent Glucokinase in Cancer cell lines: Effects on cell survival and Mitochondrial Oxidative Metabolism

<div><p>Zinc finger nucleases (ZFN) are powerful tools for editing genes in cells. Here we use ZFNs to interrogate the biological function of <i>ADPGK</i>, which encodes an ADP-dependent glucokinase (ADPGK), in human tumour cell lines. The hypothesis we tested is that ADPGK utilises ADP to phosphorylate glucose under conditions where ATP becomes limiting, such as hypoxia. We characterised two ZFN knockout clones in each of two lines (H460 and HCT116). All four clones had frameshift mutations in all alleles at the target site in exon 1 of <i>ADPGK,</i> and were ADPGK-null by immunoblotting. <i>ADPGK</i> knockout had little or no effect on cell proliferation, but compromised the ability of H460 cells to survive siRNA silencing of hexokinase-2 under oxic conditions, with clonogenic survival falling from 21±3% for the parental line to 6.4±0.8% (p = 0.002) and 4.3±0.8% (p = 0.001) for the two knockouts. A similar increased sensitivity to clonogenic cell killing was observed under anoxia. No such changes were found when <i>ADPGK</i> was knocked out in HCT116 cells, for which the parental line was less sensitive than H460 to anoxia and to hexokinase-2 silencing. While knockout of <i>ADPGK</i> in HCT116 cells caused few changes in global gene expression, knockout of <i>ADPGK</i> in H460 cells caused notable up-regulation of mRNAs encoding cell adhesion proteins. Surprisingly, we could discern no consistent effect on glycolysis as measured by glucose consumption or lactate formation under anoxia, or extracellular acidification rate (Seahorse XF analyser) under oxic conditions in a variety of media. However, oxygen consumption rates were generally lower in the <i>ADPGK</i> knockouts, in some cases markedly so. Collectively, the results demonstrate that <i>ADPGK</i> can contribute to tumour cell survival under conditions of high glycolytic dependence, but the phenotype resulting from knockout of <i>ADPGK</i> is cell line dependent and appears to be unrelated to priming of glycolysis in these lines.</p></div

Adjunctive rifampicin for Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (ARREST): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia is a common cause of severe community-acquired and hospital-acquired infection worldwide. We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rifampicin would reduce bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death, by enhancing early S aureus killing, sterilising infected foci and blood faster, and reducing risks of dissemination and metastatic infection. METHODS: In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adults (≥18 years) with S aureus bacteraemia who had received ≤96 h of active antibiotic therapy were recruited from 29 UK hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a computer-generated sequential randomisation list to receive 2 weeks of adjunctive rifampicin (600 mg or 900 mg per day according to weight, oral or intravenous) versus identical placebo, together with standard antibiotic therapy. Randomisation was stratified by centre. Patients, investigators, and those caring for the patients were masked to group allocation. The primary outcome was time to bacteriologically confirmed treatment failure or disease recurrence, or death (all-cause), from randomisation to 12 weeks, adjudicated by an independent review committee masked to the treatment. Analysis was intention to treat. This trial was registered, number ISRCTN37666216, and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: Between Dec 10, 2012, and Oct 25, 2016, 758 eligible participants were randomly assigned: 370 to rifampicin and 388 to placebo. 485 (64%) participants had community-acquired S aureus infections, and 132 (17%) had nosocomial S aureus infections. 47 (6%) had meticillin-resistant infections. 301 (40%) participants had an initial deep infection focus. Standard antibiotics were given for 29 (IQR 18-45) days; 619 (82%) participants received flucloxacillin. By week 12, 62 (17%) of participants who received rifampicin versus 71 (18%) who received placebo experienced treatment failure or disease recurrence, or died (absolute risk difference -1·4%, 95% CI -7·0 to 4·3; hazard ratio 0·96, 0·68-1·35, p=0·81). From randomisation to 12 weeks, no evidence of differences in serious (p=0·17) or grade 3-4 (p=0·36) adverse events were observed; however, 63 (17%) participants in the rifampicin group versus 39 (10%) in the placebo group had antibiotic or trial drug-modifying adverse events (p=0·004), and 24 (6%) versus six (2%) had drug interactions (p=0·0005). INTERPRETATION: Adjunctive rifampicin provided no overall benefit over standard antibiotic therapy in adults with S aureus bacteraemia. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment