Classifying and Treating an initial Clostridium difficile Infection

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

There are no accepted guidelines for defining the severity of C. diff. Below I share a few found in the literature. The following table is from: https://gi.org/guideline/diagnosis-and-management-of-c-difficile-associated-diarrhea-and-colitis/ C. Diff....

Risk Factors For Pseudomonas Infection

HOSPITAL MEDICINE, INFECTIOUS DISEASES

A compromised immune system (eg, HIV-infected patients, solid organ or hematopoietic cell transplant recipients, neutropenic hosts, and those on immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory agents such as TNF-alfa inhibitors) Recent antibiotic use in the last 3 months....

Risk Factors for MRSA

HealthCare, INFECTIOUS DISEASES

History of colonization or infection with MRSA Recent (within 3 months) hospitalization or concurrent prolonged hospitalization > 2 weeks Prolonged hospital stay Residence in a long-term care facility (e.g. transfer from a nursing home or subacute facility) Recent...

Screening for STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) and Treating STIs

Clinic A/P, adults, INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Screening and Treating STIs  Ordering STD or STI tests Chlamydia DNA probe Gonorrhea DNA probe HIV Test Syphilis (RPR or VRDL) Hepatitis B Testing (if not immunized) Trichomonas RNA PCR (NAAT) is new CDC recommendation. Vaginal Wet prep is okay but misses many true...

Antibiotic Treatment Duration By Disease State and Location

HOSPITAL MEDICINE, INFECTIOUS DISEASES, Pharmacy and Therapeutics

The following table was originally created by Dr. Kerkar, Dr. Mdluli, and Kyna Ngo, PharmD for use at DRMC as guidelines for the entire hospital. I have made a few additions to it from well-respected texts.   Disease State Duration Comments Kidneys, bladder, urethra...

SOFA Criteria

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

*The SOFA criteria are basically the same as the main organ dysfunction symptoms in the old definition of severe sepsis. SOFA Criteria. This is an image showing the 6 elements of SOFA and how to calculate it. A SOFA score of  ≥ 2 with suspected infection indicates...