The Best Clinical Microbiology Papers of 2022 (JCM Ed.)
Release Date: 12/07/2022
10 Years of Rhodococcus: Clinical Trends and Susceptibility Profiles
Editors in Conversation
Rhodococcus infections are uncommon, however they can cause serious disease in certain patients. There are a number of challenges though when dealing with Rhodococcus infections, including the fact that much of what we know around their susceptibility profiles and the clinical management of infected individuals actually comes from a number case series and in some situations, from the veterinary literature. So today, our two guests are going to tell us about their experiences with Rhodococcus over a 10-year period and bring us up-to-speed on things like: Which species of...
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Why Phage Therapy May Fail
Editors in Conversation
Phage therapy has gained a lot of traction but the challenges created by this approach have not been properly assessed at a big scale. We often read about therapy successes on isolated cases but, rarely, we read or hear about failures. AAC recently published a case series of patients who failed phage therapy. Today, we will discuss this topic with the principal investigator on the research. Topics discussed: Phage therapy as an approach for MDR bacteria. The challenges of phage therapies. Issues that can influence the success of phage therapy Guest: . Director, Solid Organ Transplant...
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Is Lophomonas a Pathogen?
Editors in Conversation
The protozoan Lophomonas has been reported to be a pathogen of humans in a large number of case reports and case series. Most of these case reports describe infections of the respiratory tract. Editors in Conversation is joined by two experts to discuss this possible parasite. Some of the questions addressed include: What are the characteristics of the species in the genus Lophomonas? What are the laboratory and morphological data that suggest that Lophomonas species cause human infections? What are the purported clinical manifestations of Lophomonas? Finally, is Lophomonas truly a pathogen...
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Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis
Editors in Conversation
Tuberculosis is one of the most deadly infectious diseases that still causes significant burden of disease, particularly in the developing world. The emergence of resistance to first line agents severely limits the therapeutic options and threaten the ability to control dissemination of this disease. Fortunately, new drugs and regimens are now emerging as important alternatives against these organisms. Today, we will discuss this topic with outstanding experts in the field. Welcome to the editors in conversation. Topics discussed: The burden of multidrug-resistant TB. New drugs...
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New generation B-lactam/B-lactamase inhibitors: Taniborbactam
Editors in Conversation
A new generation of B-lactamase inhibitors is likely to reach the market in the upcoming year. These broad-spectrum inhibitors exhibit activity against the most feared class B metallo-B-lactamases maintaining the inhibition of other enzymes. Recently AAC has published three papers that describe the mechanistic bases of taniborbactam resistance among metallo-enzymes. This knowledge is crucial to understand the limitation of these compounds in clinical practice. Today, we will discuss this topic with some of the authors of the mentioned papers. Welcome to the editors in conversation. Topics...
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Favorite Clinical Microbiology Papers of 2023 (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
We managed to make it through 2023 without a major epidemic or pandemic, and as we get into the holiday spirit and look forward to the new year, some of us took a look back and picked out one of our favorite JCM paper published in 2023, which I will tell you, was no easy task as there were many of good ones to choose from! And personally, after looking through all the issues over the last year, it never ceases to amaze me the variety of topics that we publish on in JCM – including unique things like the evaluation of a molecular assay for diagnosis of Buruli ulcers, to development of an EIA...
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Antimicrobial Resistance in Neisseria Gonorrhoeae (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Gonorrhea remains one of the more common sexually transmitted infections. In North America, the number of reported cases has generally risen for over ten years, with interruptions in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by returns to rising rates of infection. Under the selective pressure of antimicrobial treatment, antimicrobial resistance has risen, which has led to limited options for treatment Today, we will be discussing antimicrobial resistance in N. gonorrhoeae, including these questions: • How accurate is gradient diffusion...
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New Antifungals (AAC ed.)
Editors in Conversation
In the last few years we have witnessed the rise of very resistant fungal species some of them likely influenced by environmental conditions and climate change. Fortunately, there has been a bit of an explosion in the development of new antifungals and the pipeline has been strengthened in the last decade. We will have the ability to have new molecules with distinct and novel mechanisms of action in the near future that may contribute to combat recalcitrant fungal infections. Topics discussed: The overall threat of fungal resistance. The antifungal pipeline in the last few years. New...
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A Novel Coccidioides Antibody LFA (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Despite the many advances in diagnostic testing for infectious diseases, detection of Coccidoides infections continues to rely on serologic assessment for anti-fungal antibodies, and what is perhaps more astonishing is that the serologic methods we use today, such as complement fixation and immunodiffusion, were first developed about a century ago. These assays are technically challenging to maintain and perform, and as a result few labs offer this testing, and even if performed on-site, testing can take up to 3 days complete, so there is definitely room for improvement. So today, we are...
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Climate Change and Antimicrobial Resistance (AAC ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Climate change is possibly the major threat that planet earth is experiencing in this century with potential catastrophic consequences. As the planet warms, the change in weather patterns is affecting the microbial ecology in such a manner that humans are facing new health threats including emerging diseases and facing species of organisms that are more likely to survive these new climatic conditions and resist clinically useful antimicrobials. Topics discussed: The global threat of global warming. Climate change and change sin microbial ecology. The consequences of climate change and...
info_outlineAs we enter into the holiday season, many of us look forward to celebrating long-standing traditions with family and friends, which is no different from us here on the podcast! While not necessarily as long-standing as some of the other classic holiday traditions, after 2.5 years on air, we on this podcast have established our own end-of-year tradition, which is to take a look back at some of our favorite papers or more intriguing manuscripts published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology over the past year. And so as you’ll see, thanks to the different areas of expertise and general interest among our panel today, we’ve selected quite a variety of papers to discuss, ranging from evaluation of new blood culture systems to use of metagenomics for infective endocarditis and to the potential application of interferon gamma release assays for detection of Histoplasma infections. And so, suffice it to say, there will be something of interest for everyone listening. But, for those watching today, you are clearly getting an extra special treat as you get to see us do this episode wearing our best holiday gear and accessories.
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Nasal Swab Performance by Collection Timing, Procedure, and Method of Transport for Patients with SARS-CoV-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00569-21
Multicenter Postimplementation Assessment of the Positive Predictive Value of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen-Based Point-of-Care Tests Used for Screening of Asymptomatic Continuing Care Staff.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01411-21
Laboratory Safety: Handling Burkholderia pseudomallei Isolates without a Biosafety Cabinet.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00424-21
The clinical utility of 2 high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing workflows for taxonomic assignment of unidentifiable bacterial pathogens in MALDI-TOF MS.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01769-21
Performance of Fully Automated Antimicrobial Disk Diffusion Susceptibility Testing Using Copan WASP Colibri Coupled to the Radian In-Line Carousel and Expert System.
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00777-21
Benefits Derived from Full Laboratory Automation in Microbiology: A Tale of Four Laboratories.
DOI https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01969-20
Reflex Detection of Ciprofloxacin Resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae by Use of the SpeeDx ResistancePlus GC Assay.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00089-21
Comparative Performance of Latest-Generation and FDA-Cleared Serology Tests for the Diagnosis of Chagas Disease.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00158-21
Diagnosing Pulmonary Tuberculosis by Using Sequence-Specific Purification of Urine Cell-Free DNA.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00074-21
Indeterminate QuantiFERON Gold Plus Results Reveal Deficient Interferon Gamma Responses in Severely Ill COVID-19 Patients.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00811-21
Visit journals.asm.org/journal/jcm to read articles and/or submit a manuscript.