Despite the advances of new drugs and the lowering of carbapenem breakpoints to enhance detection of CRE, there should be no complacency about the future of antibacterial therapy. Without effective counter-measures, the prevalence of carriage of carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) and of CPO infections with bad outcomes can be expected to increase. There are three potentially effective counter-measures - the utilization of new anti-CPO antibiotics, antibiotic stewardship, and infection control. Unfortunately, resistance is emerging to the new antibiotics and companies developing them are going bankrupt. There is a lack of convincing evidence about which antibiotic stewardship strategies are effective for countering antibiotic resistance. Therefore, infection control remains the most effective counter-measure. The most crucial components of infection control are effective hand hygiene and rapid CPO detection leading to appropriate interventions that may include surveillance, contact precautions, and disinfection. This presentation focuses on the role of the microbiology laboratory to prevent the spread of carbapenemase-producing organisms or CPOs, with particular emphasis on detection of CPO carriers. Issues addressed will include when, how, and why the laboratory should do tests to detect CPO carriers.

 

At the completion of the session, attendees will be able to understand:

 

 

 

Stool culture is the traditional method for identification of bacterial gastrointestinal (GI) pathogens. Many of these pathogens are fastidious and can be rendered non-viable during transport to the microbiology laboratory. This is especially problematic as most patients submitting specimens for bacterial GI testing are in the outpatient setting. Traditional GI pathogen testing can take 3 days to report a negative specimen. Exploring a hybrid testing approach using a mix of traditional and molecular microbiology techniques may decrease turnaround time on negative specimens.

 

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Vaginitis / vaginosis (V/V) is defined as a spectrum of conditions that cause vaginal and sometimes vulvar symptoms, such as itching, burning, irritation, odor, and vaginal discharge. Vulvovaginal complaints are one of the most common reasons for women to seek medical care, resulting in approximately 10 million visits to healthcare providers annually in the United States. V/V comprises an array of conditions including bacterial vaginosis (BV), vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC), and trichomoniasis (TV). Though VVC often presents as an uncomplicated infection with sporadic or infrequent episodes, a subset of women may also experience complicated infections characterized as recurrent infections (four or more episodes in a single year), severe infections, and non-albicans VVC infections. Due to overlap in symptom manifestation, it can be difficult to accurately diagnosis V/V, even by the experienced healthcare provider. In this webinar, traditional and new diagnostics methodologies for vaginitis and their impacts on patient management and treatment will be reviewed. 

 

 

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Over the past few years the gastroenterology diagnostic market has witnessed an increase in commercial multiplex diagnostic assays for the detection of a large array of enteric pathogens. These multiplex assays differ in many aspects, one important difference being the number of enteric pathogens that the assays detect. Updated IDSA/SHEA guidelines for the management of infectious diarrhea describe a targeted approach, directing proper test utilization for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea. The guidelines can assist with the development of targeted testing algorithms to diagnose the enteric pathogens most likely causing disease. This patient centric targeted testing approach can be supported by using the BD MAX ™ system, which uses separate testing panels for the detection of C. difficile, bacterial, parasitic, and viral pathogens.

 

By the end of this presentation one will: