There are few data available regarding the prevalence of infection in multiple myeloma (MM) patients in conjunction with newer generations of immunomodulatory drugs (thalidomide, bortezomib, lenalidomide) or post autologous stem cell transplantation. We retrospectively analyzed 47 patients with MM from March 2006 to June 2009 at our institution. All patients received thalidomide and steroid therapy for at least 6 months. Nine patients received bortezomib and 11 lenalidomide subsequently to thalidomide, because of disease progression and 22 patients underwent autologous stem cell transplantation. The median age was 64 years (range 37-86), with a female–to-male ratio of 18:29. The median residual-serum IgG-level at time of infection was 3.2 g/L, IgA 0.3 g/L and IgM 0.2 g/L. Most patients suffered from recurrent moderate to severe infections. All patients except 3 received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy with a significant decline of the rate of infection thereafter. Our analysis shows that IVIG appears to be an effective strategy to prevent infection in MM patients. Further studies to confirm these findings are warranted.

Skin antisepsis is a simple and effective measure to prevent infections. The efficacy of chlorhexidine is actively discussed in the literature on skin antisepsis. However, study outcomes due to chlorhexidine-alcohol combinations are often attributed to chlorhexidine alone. Thus, we sought to review the efficacy of chlorhexidine for skin antisepsis and the extent of a possible misinterpretation of evidence. We performed a systematic literature review of clinical trials and systematic reviews investigating chlorhexidine compounds for blood culture collection, vascular catheter insertion and surgical skin preparation. We searched PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality website, several clinical trials registries and a manufacturer website. We extracted data on study design, antiseptic composition, and the following outcomes: blood culture contamination, catheter colonisation, catheter-related bloodstream infection and surgical site infection. We conducted meta-analyses of the clinical efficacy of chlorhexidine compounds and reviewed the appropriateness of the authors′ attribution. In all three application areas and for all outcomes, we found good evidence favouring chlorhexidine-alcohol over aqueous competitors, but not over competitors combined with alcohols. For blood cultures and surgery, we found no evidence supporting chlorhexidine alone. For catheters, we found evidence in support of chlorhexidine alone for preventing catheter colonisation, but not for preventing bloodstream infection. A range of 29 to 43% of articles attributed outcomes solely to chlorhexidine when the combination with alcohol was in fact used. Articles with ambiguous attribution were common (8–35%). Unsubstantiated recommendations for chlorhexidine alone instead of chlorhexidine-alcohol were identified in several practice recommendations and evidence-based guidelines. Perceived efficacy of chlorhexidine is often in fact based on evidence for the efficacy of the chlorhexidine-alcohol combination. The role of alcohol has frequently been overlooked in evidence assessments. This has broader implications for knowledge translation as well as potential implications for patient safety.

Background and Purpose Previous infection is discussed as a risk factor for ischemic stroke in children and younger adults. We tested the hypothesis that the role of recent infection in cerebrovascular ischemia is not restricted to younger patients and investigated which infections are mainly relevant in this respect. Methods We performed a case-control study with 197 patients aged 18 to 80 years with acute cerebrovascular ischemia and 197 randomly selected control subjects matched for sex, age, and area of residence. Results Infection within 1 week before ictus or examination was significantly more common among patients (38 of 197) than control subjects (10 of 197; odds ratio [OR], 4.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1 to 9.7). Patients more often had febrile and subfebrile infections (≥37.5°C) than control subjects (29 of 197 versus 5 of 197; OR, 7.0; 95% CI, 2.5 to 20). Respiratory tract infections were most common in both groups. Bacterial infections dominated among patients but not among control subjects. Infection increased the risk for cerebrovascular ischemia in all age groups; this reached significance for patients aged 51 to 60 and 61 to 70 years. The profile of vascular risk factors was similar in patients with and patients without previous infection. Infection remained a significant risk factor when previous stroke, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and current smoking were included as covariates in a logistic model (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.9 to 11.3). Conclusions Recent infection, primarily of bacterial origin, may be a risk factor for cerebrovascular ischemia in older as well as younger patients.

We performed a case-control study to investigate the role of recent infection as stroke risk factor and to identify pathogenetic pathways linking infection and stroke. We examined 166 consecutive patients with acute cerebrovascular ischemia and 166 patients hospitalized for nonvascular and noninflammatory neurologic diseases. Control subjects were individually matched to patients for sex, age, and season of admission. We assessed special biochemical parameters in subgroups of stroke patients with and without recent infection (n = 21) who were similar with respect to demographic and clinical parameters. Infection within the preceding week was a risk factor for cerebrovascular ischemia in univariate (odds ratio [OR] 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.57 to 6.1) and age-adjusted multiple logistic regression analysis (OR 2.9; 95% CI, 1.31 to 6.4). The OR of recent infection and age were inversely related. Both bacterial and viral infection contributed to increased risk. Infection elevated the risk for cardioembolism and tended to increase the risk for arterioarterial embolism. Stroke patients with and without preceding infection were not different with respect to factor VII and factor VIII activity, fibrin monomer, fibrin D-dimer, von Willebrand factor, C4b-binding protein, protein S, anticardiolipin antibodies, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, soluble tumor necrosis factor-α receptor, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and neopterin. In conclusion, recent infection is an independent risk factor for acute cerebrovascular ischemia. Its role appears to be more important in younger age groups. The pathogenetic linkage between infection and stroke is still insufficiently understood.