Clinical and laboratory data on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), particularly on the temporal progression of abnormal laboratory findings, are limited. We conducted a prospective study on the clinical, radiologic, and hematologic findings of SARS patients with pneumonia, who were admitted to National Taiwan University Hospital from March 8 to June 15, 2003. Fever was the most frequent initial symptom, followed by cough, myalgia, dyspnea, and diarrhea. Twenty-four patients had various underlying diseases. Most patients had elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and lymphopenia. Other common abnormal laboratory findings included leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated levels of aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine kinase. These clinical and laboratory findings were exacerbated in most patients during the second week of disease. The overall case-fatality rate was 19.7%. By multivariate analysis, underlying disease and initial CRP level were predictive of death.

To evaluate the tolerability and liver safety profiles of the systemic antifungal agents commonly used for the treatment of invasive fungal infection, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials published before 31 August 2009. Two reviewers independently applied selection criteria, performed quality assessment, and extracted data. We used the beta-binomial model to account for variation across studies and the maximum likelihood method to estimate the pooled risks. We identified 39 studies with more than 8,000 enrolled patients for planned comparisons. The incidence rates of treatment discontinuation due to adverse reactions and liver injury associated with antifungal therapy ranged widely. The pooled risks of treatment discontinuation due to adverse reactions were above 10% for amphotericin B formulations and itraconazole, whereas they were 2.5% to 3.8% for fluconazole, caspofungin, and micafungin. We found that 1.5% of the patients stopped itraconazole treatment due to hepatotoxicity. Furthermore, 19.7% of voriconazole users and 17.4% of itraconazole users had elevated serum liver enzyme levels, although they did not require treatment discontinuation, whereas 2.0% or 9.3% of fluconazole and echinocandin users had elevated serum liver enzyme levels but did not require treatment discontinuation. The results were similar when we stratified the data by empirical or definitive antifungal therapy. Possible explanations for antifungal agent-related hepatotoxicity were confounded by antifungal prescription to patients with a high risk of liver injury, the increased chance of detection of hepatotoxicity due to prolonged treatment, or the pharmacological entity.

Background. The majority of research about community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infection has focused on skin and

Background. Most literature regarding lung abscess focuses on anaerobic bacterial lung abscess, and aerobic gram-negative bacillary infection is less frequently discussed. This study was conducted to investigate the bacteriology of community-acquired lung abscess and to improve the empirical therapeutic strategy for adults with community-acquired lung abscess.

Background. Observational studies and fatal case reports raise concern about the safety of severe dysglycemia associated with fluoroquinolone use. The objective of this study was to assess the risk of severe dysglycemia among diabetic patients who received different fluoroquinolones. Methods. In a population-based inception cohort study of diabetic patients covering the period from January 2006 to November 2007, outpatient new users of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, moxifloxacin, cephalosporins, and macrolides orally were identified. Study events were defined as emergency department visits or hospitalization for dysglycemia within 30 days following the initiation of antibiotic therapy. Results were analyzed with adjusted multinomial propensity score. Results. A total of 78 433 diabetic patients receiving the antibiotics of interest were included in the study. The absolute risk of hyperglycemia per 1000 persons was 6.9 for moxifloxacin and 1.6 for macrolides. In contrast, the risk of hypoglycemia was 10.0 for moxifloxacin and 3.7 for macrolides. The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and moxifloxacin compared with macrolides were 1.75 (1.12–2.73), 1.87 (1.20–2.93), and 2.48 (1.50–4.12), respectively, for hyperglycemia and 1.79 (1.33–2.42), 1.46 (1.07–2.00), and 2.13 (1.44–3.14), respectively, for hypoglycemia. Patients taking moxifloxacin faced a significantly higher risk of hypoglycemia than those receiving ciprofloxacin. A significant increase in the risk of hypoglycemia was also observed among patients receiving moxifloxacin concomitantly with insulin (AOR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.22–4.24). Conclusions. Diabetics using oral fluoroquinolones faced greater risk of severe dysglycemia. The risk of hypoglycemia varied according to the type of fluoroquinolone administered, and was most commonly associated with moxifloxacin.

Chlorhexidine has been widely used for hand hygiene to prevent transmission of nosocomial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). However, data on longitudinal surveillance of the susceptibility of MRSA isolates to chlorhexidine are limited. A total of 240 nosocomial MRSA isolates obtained in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), a hospital where chlorhexidine gluconate was used for hand hygiene for more than 20 years, were included in the study. Chlorhexidine susceptibility, molecular typing using multilocus sequence typing and distribution of the qacA/B gene of these MRSA isolates were studied. The proportion of tested MRSA with a high MIC of chlorhexidine (≥4 mg/L) was 1.7% in 1990, 50% in 1995, 40% in 2000 and 46.7% in 2005. Among these 83 isolates with high chlorhexidine MICs, 55.4% carried the qacA/B gene. MRSA isolates carrying the qacA/B gene were first detected in 1995 and belonged to a single clone at that time. However, the qacA/B gene was detected in MRSA isolates belonging to seven different clones in 2005. The proportion of tested MRSA isolates with high chlorhexidine MICs at NTUH increased from 1990 to 1995 and remained steady thereafter. The presence of the qacA/B gene may contribute to the spread of specific MRSA clones.