Infectious Diseases Society of America, Oct. 16-19

The annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America was held this year from Oct. 16 to 19 in Los Angeles, drawing participants from around the world, including scientists, physicians, and other health care professionals. The conference featured education courses and comprehensive educational programs that focused on the latest advances in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious diseases. The meeting also provided insight into emerging infections, new diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutic interventions.

In one study, Timothy Afable, Pharm.D., of Loma Linda University in California, and colleagues found that patients residing in areas of high social vulnerability face disproportionate socioeconomic obstacles that may affect initial Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) outcomes.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) tool was used to assess how social determinants of health impact initial CDI outcomes, including disease severity and mortality. The researchers observed greater frequencies of severe and fulminant initial CDI and higher all-cause mortality among patients with high SVI scores (≥0.5).

“Worse CDI severity and mortality rates are observed among patients with high vulnerability scores across the four themes included in the CDC SVI tool,” Afable said. “However, racial and ethnic minority status is the strongest predictor of poor CDI outcomes.”

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As part of the BALANCE trial, Nick Daneman, M.D., of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, and colleagues found that seven days of antibiotic treatment is noninferior to 14 days of antibiotic treatment for patients with bloodstream infections.

The authors compared the safety and efficacy of antibiotic approaches among more than 3,600 patients with bloodstream infections across 74 hospitals in seven countries. The investigators found that patients with bloodstream infections randomly assigned to receive seven days of antibiotic treatment had outcomes comparable to those seen in patients assigned to 14 days of treatment.

“The BALANCE trial results should immediately set the treatment duration paradigm for patients with bloodstream infection around the world,” Daneman said. “The results can be rapidly implemented into clinical practice, and should lead to massive reductions in antimicrobial use globally, which can hopefully translate into reductions in antimicrobial harms and antimicrobial resistance for current and future patients.”

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In another study, Joana Dimo, D.O., of Children”s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, and colleagues found that the implementation of electronic health record (EHR) preset treatment orders is a low-cost, highly effective quality improvement intervention that can decrease antibiotic use.