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Latent Tuberculosis Treatment With Four Months of Rifampin Compared to Nine Months of Isoniazid

In an open-label trial, adults with latent tuberculosis infection were randomized to either four months of treatment with rifampin or nine months of treatment with isoniazid. The four-month rifampin regimen was non-inferior to nine months of isoniazid for prevention of active tuberculosis. It also was associated with a higher treatment completion rate and superior safety.

Measles From Coast to Coast: Risks, Costs, and Potential Interventions

It is expensive to respond to and control measles outbreaks in the United States. Primary outbreak prevention should focus on vaccination of travelers and encouragement of routine vaccine acceptance by those who currently are hesitant to have their children vaccinated.

Infectious Disease Alert Updates

Worse Than Snake Oil; Contract Tracing Using WHO Network; Preparing Your Hospital for Candida auris

Re-evaluating Steroid Therapy in Septic Shock

Two recent trials have provided more data regarding steroid therapy for septic shock.

Encephalitis, Fever, and Doxycycline

Scrub typhus is a significant cause of acute encephalitis in north India and other parts of Asia and Africa. Doxycycline is a safe and effective treatment option.

The Viral World Keeps on Going — Some Recent Activity

Ebola makes a comeback, but meets a vaccine. Lassa fever and Rift Valley fever also make their mark, while Keystone virus infects a teenager in Florida.

Using Multilocus Sequence Typing for Surveillance and Discovery of Borrelia Species

Broad polymerase chain reaction screening followed by multilocus sequence typing is a useful method to understand the geographic distribution of Borrelia species causing human disease. Candidatus B. johnsonii (carried by bat ticks) was not known previously to infect humans. Its identification in a human patient suggests it may cause a relapsing fever syndrome.

A Negative Nares Screen for MRSA Helps Exclude MRSA Pneumonia

A meta-analysis determined that nares screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has a high specificity and negative predictive value for MRSA pneumonia. MRSA nasal screening can be a useful tool for antimicrobial stewardship personnel to de-escalate empiric anti-MRSA therapy.

Infectious Disease Alert Updates

Utility of GI Multiplex Assay; ‘The World Is Covered by a Thin Layer of Feces’

Why IDSA Did Not Support the Surviving Sepsis Campaign

The Infectious Diseases Society of America withheld its support for the Surviving Sepsis guidelines. The general concerns included vagueness and inconsistency in definition of sepsis, “one size fits all” prescription of time to administer antibiotics, lack of clarity around drawing blood cultures through IV catheters, recommendation of combination antibiotics, lack of definition around when to use procalcitonin levels, when and how to use pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data effectively, prolonged antibiotic “prophylaxis,” and duration of therapy.