COVID-19-associated mold infection (CAMI) is defined as development of mold infections in COVID-19 patients. Co-pathogenesis of viral and fungal infections include the disruption of tissue barrier following SARS CoV-2 infection with the damage in the alveolar space, respiratory epithelium and endothelium injury and overwhelming inflammation and immune dysregulation during severe COVID-19. Other predisposing risk factors permissive to fungal infections during COVID-19 include the administration of immune modulators such as corticosteroids and IL-6 antagonist. COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA) and COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) is increasingly reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. CAPA usually developed within the first month of COVID infection, and CAM frequently arose 10-15 days post diagnosis of COVID-19. Diagnosis is challenging and often indistinguishable during the cytokine storm in COVID-19, and several diagnostic criteria have been proposed. Development of CAPA and CAM is associated with a high mortality despiteappropriate anti-mold therapy. Both isavuconazole and amphotericin B can be used for treatment of CAPA and CAM; voriconazole is the primary agent for CAPA and posaconazole is an alternative for CAM. Aggressive surgery is recommended for CAM to improve patient survival. A high index of suspicion and timely and appropriate treatment is crucial to improve patient outcome.

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has rapidly evolved into a pandemic to cause over 600 million infections and more than 6.6 million deaths up to Nov 25, 2022. COVID-19 carries a high mortality rate in severe cases. Co-infections and secondary infections with other micro-organisms, such as bacterial and fungus, further increases the mortality and complicates the diagnosis and management of COVID-19. The current guideline provides guidance to physicians for the management and treatment of patients with COVID-19 associated bacterial and fungal infections, including COVID-19 associated bacterial infections (CABI), pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA), candidiasis (CAC) and mucormycosis (CAM). Recommendations were drafted by the 7th Guidelines Recommendations for Evidence-based Antimicrobial agents use Taiwan (GREAT) working group after review of the current evidence, using the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) methodology. A nationwide expert panel reviewed the recommendations in March 2022, and the guideline was endorsed by the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan (IDST). This guideline includes the epidemiology, diagnostic methods and treatment recommendations for COVID-19 associated infections. The aim of this guideline is to provide guidance to physicians who are involved in the medical care for patients with COVID-19 during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence of the mcr-1 gene among carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) isolated from clinical specimens and to further investigate the clinical significance and microbiological characteristics of CRE carrying the mcr-1 gene. Methods: Four hundred and twenty-three CRE isolates were screened for the presence of the mcr-1 gene. After identification, their clinical significance, antibiotic susceptibility, and antibiotic resistance mechanisms including the ESBL gene, carbapenemase gene, outer membrane protein (OMP), and plasmid sequencing were assessed. Results: Only four (0.9%) isolates of carbapenem-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) were found to carry the mcr-1 gene and demonstrated different pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns and sequence types (ST). While one patient was considered as having mcr-1-positive carbapenem-resistant E. coli (CREC) colonization, the other three mcr-1-positive CREC-related infections were classified as nosocomial infections. Only amikacin and tigecycline showed good in vitro activity against these four isolates, and three of them had a minimum inhibitory concentration with colistin of ≥4 mg/L. In the colistin-susceptible isolate, mcr-1 was nonfunctional due to the insertion of another gene. In addition, all of the mcr-1-positive CREC contained various resistant genes, such as AmpC_CMY, bla_NDM, bla_TEM, bla_SHV, and bla_CTX. In addition, one strain (EC1037) had loss of the OMP. Conclusions: The emergence of the mcr-1 gene among CRE, especially E. coli, remains worth our attention due to its resistance to most antibiotics, and a further national survey is warranted.

The 2009 WHO guideline established warning signs (WS) to predict severe dengue (SD). However, their positive predictive value has been found to be low in the general adult population, but they might be higher in a different population. This study investigated the association between WS and SD in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on maintenance dialysis in Taiwan where both diseases are prevalent. This study enrolled ESRD dialysis patients with dengue in 2015. Demographic, laboratory data, symptoms/signs and complication of dengue were retrospectively collected from medical records at our hospital. Of 49 ESRD patients with dengue, 44 patients were receiving hemodialysis and 5 peritoneal dialysis. Older patients (>65 years old) tended to have the WS(56% vs 16.7%, P = 0.007). The rate of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission and in-hospital mortality was 79.6%, 22.5%, and 8.2%, respectively. Eighteen patients (36.7%) presented WS and eighteen patients (36.7%) developed to SD, including ten with plasma leakage, twelve with hemorrhage, and six with organ failure. Patients with WS were seven times more likely to develop SD than those without (OR: 7.06; 95%CI: 1.34-37.21). WS was associated with plasma leakage (OR: 12.36; 95% CI: 1.56-97.74) and severe hemorrhage (OR: 5.1; 95% CI: 1.03-25.18), but not organ failure. Prevalence of SD is high in ESRD dialysis patients. The presence of WSs in this group was highly correlated with SD. Thus, more attention should be paid to treating ESRD patients with dengue fever if they present WSs.

This study assesses the synergistic effect of the combination of cephalosporins and sulbactam with daptomycin against daptomycin-nonsusceptible, vancomycin-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) or heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (h-VISA) isolates. The in vitro activity of daptomycin against daptomycin-nonsusceptible VISA/h-VISA isolates after adding cephalosporins with or without sulbactam was evaluated. The MIC of daptomycin against the VISA/h-VISA isolates was reduced after adding cephalosporins to daptomycin. Except for one VISA and two h-VISA isolates, the other VISA/h-VISA isolates became daptomycin-susceptible (MICs ≤ 1 mg/L). After adding sulbactam to each daptomycin/cephalosporin combination, the MIC of daptomycin against the VISA/h-VISA isolates decreased for 5 (33.3%), 6 (40.0%), 6 (40.0%), and 6 (40.0%) isolates with the cefazolin, cefmetazole, cefotaxime, and cefepime combinations, respectively. Synergism using the checkerboard method was noted in 100% of cefazolin and cefotaxime combinations and 87% and 80% of cefmetazole and cefepime combinations for all the VISA and h-VISA isolates. With the addition of sulbactam, synergism was noted in 100% of cefazolin, cefmetazole, and cefotaxime combinations and 93% of the cefepime combinations for all the VISA and h-VISA isolates. Almost all the FICs for the three-drug combinations were lower than those for the two-drug combinations. Using time-killing methods, a synergistic effect against five h-VISA isolates was observed. A synergistic effect of daptomycin, sulbactam, and each cephalosporin was observed for all VISA isolates. In conclusion, the activity of daptomycin against daptomycin-nonsusceptible VISA/h-VISA isolates can be enhanced by adding cephalosporins, and partially further promoted by sulbactam.

With the introduction of novel antimicrobial agents, the threat posed by multidrug-resistant organisms has rapidly emerged. Among these, metallo-β-lactamase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (MBL-CRE) represent a significant challenge, severely limiting therapeutic options for clinicians. Our aim is to investigate the current burden and molecular epidemiology of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) in Taiwan, with a particular focus on MBL producers. We conducted a multicenter, seven-year longitudinal study from 2018 to 2024, collecting carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales isolates, and screening them for carbapenemase genes. A total of 1743 CPE isolates were included in this study. The most common species were Klebsiella pneumoniae (58.5 %), Escherichia coli (21.2 %), and Enterobacter cloacae complex (7.8 %), primarily recovered from urine and respiratory specimens. Among these isolates, 67.3 % harbored non-MBL genes and 32.7 % harbored MBL genes, with both types increasing significantly over time (both p < 0.001). In addition, a notable emergence of multiple-carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (M-CPE) was observed among various species, particularly K. pneumoniae, which exhibited the greatest diversity of carbapenemase gene combinations while E. coli co-harboring bla_OXA-181 and bla_NDM-5 accounted for the largest proportion of M-CPE isolates. Overall, the proportion of MBL producers among total CPE isolates increased from 22.3 % (95 % CI, 15.2-30.4 %) in 2018-40 % (95 % CI, 34.9-45 %) in 2024 with a statistical significance (p = 0.02). Among the six most frequently identified CPE species, K. pneumoniae and Citrobacter koseri were largely linked to non-MBL genes, while E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae complex, Citrobacter freundii, and Serratia marcescens were almost exclusively associated with MBL genes. The rising prevalence of MBL-CPE underscores the urgent need for strengthened infection control measures, ongoing genomic surveillance, and robust antimicrobial stewardship programs to prevent further emergence and transmission.