A specific diet regimen is a promising way of managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the Mediterranean diet (MD) being a likely candidate due to its potential to modulate gut inflammation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate nutritional habits and dietary attitudes of IBD patients, and to assess their adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The study enrolled 50 Crohn’s disease and 44 ulcerative colitis patients, with clinical and laboratory parameters taken. Dietary attitudes were examined, and adherence to MD was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Service Score (MDSS). Average MDSS score was 6.0 (5.0–7.0), while only nine participants fulfilled criteria for Mediterranean diet adherence. Moreover, all of them were men (p = 0.021). Low percentage of adherence to recommended guidelines was observed for eating olive oil (25.5%), fresh fruit (14.9%), and vegetables (10.6%). Significant positive correlation was observed between total MDSS points and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels (p = 0.002). The majority of the patients (86.2%) considered that a more controlled diet could reduce their IBD symptoms, while 17% visited a nutritionist for diet advice. The majority of patients (84%) would visit educational programs regarding nutrition. In conclusion, adherence to MD was very low, while IBD patients were willing to extend their nutritional knowledge if proper educational programs were organized.

While surgical therapy for head and neck cancer (HNC) is showing improvement with the advancement of reconstruction techniques, the focus in these patients should also be shifting to supportive pre and aftercare. Due to the highly sensitive and anatomically complex region, these patients tend to exhibit malnutrition, which has a substantial impact on their recovery and quality of life. The complications and symptoms of both the disease and the therapy usually make these patients unable to orally intake food, hence, a strategy should be prepared for their nutritional management. Even though there are several possible nutritional modalities that can be administrated, these patients commonly have a functional gastrointestinal tract, and enteral nutrition is indicated over the parenteral option. However, after extensive research of the available literature, it seems that there is a limited number of studies that focus on this important issue. Furthermore, there are no recommendations or guidelines regarding the nutritional management of HNC patients, pre- or post-operatively. Henceforth, this narrative review summarizes the nutritional challenges and management modalities in this particular group of patients. Nonetheless, this issue should be addressed in future studies and an algorithm should be established for better nutritional care of these patients.

The net effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the response to it on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance is yet unknown. Positive impacts on the spread of multiresistant pathogens and infections in general may be observed with the implementation of general preventative measures for the spread of infectious disease such as social distancing, reduced travel and increased personal hygiene. This pandemic has accelerated the development of novel technologies, such as mRNA vaccines, that may be used to fight other diseases. These should be capitalized upon to manage the ongoing antimicrobial resistance pandemic in the background. However, it is likely that the COVID-19 pandemic is fueling the emergence of antimicrobial resistance due to high rates of inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing, the high use of biocides and the interruption of treatment for other conditions. Clinical uncertainty driven by the lack of effective diagnostics and practice of telemedicine may have driven the inappropriate use of antimicrobials. As pathogens know no borders, increased focus is needed for infectious diseases still threatening low- and middle-income countries such as tuberculosis. Stewardship measures for future outbreaks should stress the importance of social distancing and hand washing but discourage the overuse of disinfectants and antimicrobials that are not proven effective.

Among many lifestyle components that professional athletes have to follow, nutrition is gradually growing to be one of the key factors for achieving and maintaining optimal sport performance. The Mediterranean diet (MD) is recognized as one of the healthiest dietary patterns worldwide; however, data regarding adherence to the MD among professional athletes are still scarce. Moreover, with the imposed need for a healthy diet among professional athletes, orthorexia nervosa (ON) could become a rising issue. This cross-sectional study included 150 professional athletes and 150 matched recreational athletes from Croatia. Four questionnaires were used for the assessment: general information, a test for the diagnosis of ON (ORTO-15), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the Mediterranean Diet Serving Score (MDSS). Significantly more professional athletes were adherent to the MD (p < 0.001) and had a tendency to ON (p < 0.001). Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation between the ORTO-15 score and the total MET min/week score (r = −0.524, p < 0.001) and a significant positive correlation between the MDSS score and the total MET min/week score in the professional athlete group (r = 0.478, p < 0.001). All of these results imply that professional athletes are more concentrated on their dietary patterns than recreational athletes, and that due to this dedication, they possibly have a higher adherence to the MD but also possibly a higher risk for developing ON. However, the association between ON and the MD should be further addressed in the future.

Community pharmacists recognize the need to implement antimicrobial stewardship activities in community pharmacies. They are in a unique position to provide triage for common primary care indications and to lower the burden of patients at general practitioners’ offices. However, research shows that, in some areas, dispensing of antimicrobials without valid prescription is still highly prevalent. Regardless of training, every community pharmacist can give his contribution to antimicrobial stewardship. One of the basic elements should be antimicrobial dispensing according to regulations, either prescription only, or according to guidelines where pharmacists have prescribing authority. Patient consultation supported with educational materials, such as leaflets, may reduce patients’ expectations to receive antibiotics for self-limiting infections and reduce pressure on general practitioners to prescribe antibiotics on patients’ demand. Treatment optimization may be achieved in collaboration with the prescribing general practitioners or by providing feedback. At last, pharmacists provided with additional training may be encouraged to provide consultation services to long-term care facilities, to introduce point-of-care testing for infectious diseases in their pharmacies or prescribe antimicrobials for uncomplicated infections. These services are welcomed by patients and communities. Expanding pharmacy services and pharmacists’ prescribing autonomy have shown a positive impact by reducing antibiotics consumption, thus ensuring better compliance with treatment guidelines.

Antimicrobial resistance is recognised as one of the top threats healthcare is bound to face in the future. There have been various attempts to preserve the efficacy of existing antimicrobials, develop new and efficient antimicrobials, manage infections with multi-drug resistant strains, and improve patient outcomes, resulting in a growing mass of routinely available data, including electronic health records and microbiological information that can be employed to develop individualised antimicrobial stewardship. Machine learning methods have been developed to predict antimicrobial resistance from whole-genome sequencing data, forecast medication susceptibility, recognise epidemic patterns for surveillance purposes, or propose new antibacterial treatments and accelerate scientific discovery. Unfortunately, there is an evident gap between the number of machine learning applications in science and the effective implementation of these systems. This narrative review highlights some of the outstanding opportunities that machine learning offers when applied in research related to antimicrobial resistance. In the future, machine learning tools may prove to be superbugs’ kryptonite. This review aims to provide an overview of available publications to aid researchers that are looking to expand their work with new approaches and to acquaint them with the current application of machine learning techniques in this field.