Susceptibility Testing for Piperacillin-Tazobactam (JCM ed.)
Release Date: 04/08/2023
Metabolomics
Editors in Conversation
It’s that time of year, folks! No, not leaf-peeping season, or pumpkin spice season or even apple picking season – I’m talking respiratory virus season! The symphony of sniffles and coughs is just around the corner! It’s the time of year that clinical laboratories are stocking up on supplies, developing testing algorithms and putting out communications to try to convince people that every kid with the sniffles does not, in fact, warrant a highly-multiplexed respiratory virus panel test. The diagnostic landscape for respiratory viruses has evolved dramatically in the last five years,...
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The First OTC Syphilis Test: Clinical Performance and Impact
Editors in Conversation
Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis, has been around for what seems like forever, causing major outbreaks throughout the millennia and continuing to spread at high rates, globally, into today. When it comes to diagnostic testing, some tests like RPR and VDRL have stood the test of time, having been implemented in the late 1930s and 1940s, and are now used in combination with contemporary methods like EIAs and chemiluminescent assays as the reference standard method to diagnosis syphilis cases. New approaches to screening and diagnosis are needed, however, to increase test...
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Artificial Intelligence in the Microbiology Laboratory (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
The launch of ChatGPT three years ago brought the concept of artificial intelligence into the daily conversation. Today, it seems all industries, including lab medicine, are integrating AI with the promise of making our lives easier. How do we best navigate implementing this technology into clinical microbiology? How will it be regulated? … and, what is AI anyway? Watch this epsiode: Guests: Dr. Susan Sharp Dr. Kendall Bryant Links: Proceedings of the Clinical Microbiology Open 2024: techniques versus standard microscopy in a reference laboratory in clinical bacteriology This...
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What Makes a Great Mini-review? (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
The Journal of Clinical Microbiology has a great tradition of publishing mini-reviews on topics that are important to the clinical microbiology community. Minireviews provide “up to the minute” updates on topics pertinent to clinical microbiologists and serve as fabulous training tools for medical professionals, trainees, and researchers across all disciplines. Dr. Humphries and Dr. Ledeboer discuss what makes a great mini-review, and their favorite mini-reviews published in JCM. Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/sXOrfTkoDGM This episode of Editors in Conversation is brought to you by...
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Emerging Technologies for Rapid Phenotypic AST of Clinical Isolates of Bacteria (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the largest threats to global public health, compromising all other advances in modern medicine. At the forefront of detecting AMR is the clinical laboratory. However, walk into any clinical microbiology laboratory today and you will find this important task being accomplished using techniques that barely evolved from the methods proposed by Alexander Fleming, nearly 100 years ago. Bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials, in an in vitro culture system, and growth inhibition is measured after overnight incubation. In the time of laboratory...
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The Rise of Measles (AAC ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Measles is becoming an important public health problem and it is important to recognize and understand the origins of this problem and how it can affect the population of our country. At the same time, it is critical to have updated and scientifically accurate information on the clinical presentations, risk factors and countermeasures. Today, we will discuss this topic with experts in field. Watch this episode: https://youtu.be/oQDaa8J9v5w Topics: • Define measles as an important public health threat • Explain the origin of the epidemic • Accurate information on...
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Meet the New Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Editors in Conversation
With Alex’s departure to new pastures, which include things like being the incoming President of ASM, we now have a new JCM Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Romney Humphries! Dr. Humphries is currently Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Director of the Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University, as well as a Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology. She is an absolute powerhouse in the AST world as we all know, and as of this month, is the new Editor in Chief of JCM. In this episode, we find out Dr. Humphries’s vision and new ideas for the Journal and where...
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Static vs Cidal Antibiotics: Concepts Revisited
Editors in Conversation
A common description of antibiotic action aims to classify them between “bactericidal” or “bacteriostatic”. Although these phenomena have robust in vitro foundations, the clinical translation of these concepts is sometimes difficult to ascertain. This controversial topic has important conceptual ramifications to treat severe infections. Today, we will discuss this topic with an expert in field. Watch the video version here: Topics discussed: The definitions of “cidal” vs “static” antibiotics The clinical applicability of the above terms in terms of antibiotic choice and...
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Updated FDA Recognition of CLSI Breakpoints (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation
Oversight and guidance for performing antibiotic susceptibility testing can be bewildering. There is an alphabet soup of agencies and bodies involved: FDA, CLSI, and USCAST, to name a few here in the US. How does the Food and Drug Administration, which has regulatory authority over AST, work with a nimble group like the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute? Guests: , Ph.D., D(ABMM), M(ASCP) , Ph.D., D(ABMM) Links: are a win for the fight against antimicrobial resistance for up to 50% off the publication fees when you publish in JCM or any of the ASM journals. Attend This...
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Management of Pneumonia: Past, Present and Future
Editors in Conversation
In the last decade, there have been major changes in the approach of the treatment of pneumonia, in particular, with the availability of new diagnostic tools. Additionally, new drugs have been approved for the treatment of pneumonia. We discuss the approach to the management of pneumonia with a person who has spent most of his professional career working on this topic. Topics discussed: Definitions and nomenclature of pneumonia and evolution of these terms Changes in the diagnosis of pneumonia Ttherapeutic changes and future approaches for the treatment of pneumonia. Guest: Daniel M Musher,...
info_outlineSusceptibility testing for piperacillin-tazobactam has undergone rapid evolution, largely driven by some surprising results from the MERINO trial, which compared the efficacy of piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem for treatment of patients with ceftriaxone-resistant E. coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia. We discuss how the results of the MERINO trial led to reconsideration of breakpoints for pipercillin-tazobactam at the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, or CLSI, how the breakpoints were changed, and how well commercial platforms perform piperacillin-tazobactam testing using FDA or CLSI breakpoints. Spoiler alert: the news isn’t great.
If you are interested in beta-lactam/beta lactamase combinations, you should check out the previous episode of this podcast, hosted by our friend Dr. Cesar Arias, the Editor-in-Chief of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. Cesar and the guests did a great review of recent developments in this fast-moving area.
Guests:
- Dr. Trish Simner - Director of the Medical Bacteriology and Infectious Disease Sequencing Laboratories, Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Dr. Romney Humphries - Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine and the Medical Director of the Microbiology Laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.