ID PITT STOP

  Recently, the United Nations’ international public health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), released its list of the ten greatest threats to global health in 2019. Their list strongly emphasized the continued threat of infectious diseases to public health. Included in the list were HIV, Dengue, and Ebola – three diseases that most severely … More WHO’s “Threats to Global Health” Highlights the Significance of Infectious Disease Treatment and Research

Going to ID week?  Looking forward to seeing you there! While you are packing and planning and putting the last minute touches on your posters and powerpoint slides, take a look at some of the excellent work done by our Pitt ID faculty and fellows.  Please stop by these presentations in healthcare epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship, … More ID Week Planner- Pitt Presentations

Last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Harris and colleagues (including former University of Pittsburgh professor Dr. David Patterson) published the results of the MERINO trial, a randomized controlled trial involving patients with ceftriaxone-resistant Gram negative organisms in the blood, namely Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli (E coli). Publication has been anticipated … More Which Antibiotic Is Best for ESBL Bloodstream Infections?

  Last week, a Air Emirates flight landed in JFK airport in New York City. Ten or more people had been sick with coughing and fever. These patients were taken to the hospital, and CDC monitored other passengers  to ensure no one else was ill. Immediately news outlets started thinking about Ebola come aware there … More When you hear hooves…

Our Division has welcomed 3 new  General ID Fellows this July: Will Garner, MD Aaron Lucas, MD Julia Zefirova, MD We also welcomed Jonathan Sun, DO as our Transplantation ID Fellow for 2018-2019. As you can see- they are already enjoying the sites of Pittsburgh!

On June 7, our three second year fellows presented their research to the division and then celebrated their graduation. Dr. Iovleva presented data regarding  OXA-2 expression causing ertapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae. She also discussed mechanisms for drug resistant Acinetobacter, part of a submission for grant funding that deals with novel LIPID A modification.   … More Fellow’s Graduation 2018

West Virginia has had 98 confirmed cases of Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection so far in 2018 (Figure 1). This increase in cases has primarily been among injection and non-injection drug users, homeless individuals, those who have been recently incarcerated, and individuals co-infected with hepatitis C. HAV is a RNA picornavirus which can produce either … More Hepatitis A Outbreak in West Virginia, 2018

Over the past 2 months, there has been an outbreak of E.coli within the United States, with 149 people infected with this bacteria in 29 states, based on the most updated information from the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Moreover, 1 death has now been confirmed in the state of California as a result of … More The E. coli Romaine Lettuce Outbreak: What You Need to Know

Please review the question in our most recent post: A sticky situation Then check below for answer: The answer is C. Klebsiella species Certain capsular strains of Klebsiella, most commonly K1 and K2 capsular serotypes, result in the formation of hyperviscous mucoid strains of Klebsiella. This mucoid variant tends to be more resistant to complement … More Diagnostic Dilemma- Answer to A Sticky Situation

  A 37-year-old man from Thailand, visiting his son in the U.S for the past 3 days presents with abdominal pain and distention, fevers and rigors going on for the past 2 days and worsening. His son takes him to his local ER, where imaging shows the presence of a large 5 cm liver abscess. … More Diagnostic Dilemma: A Sticky Situation