Background On 20 September 2022, the Ugandan Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Sudan ebolavirus.Methods From 6 October 2022 to 10 January 2023, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff conducted public health assessments at five US ports of entry for travellers identified as having been in Uganda in the past 21 days. CDC also recommended that state, local and territorial health departments ('health departments') conduct post-arrival monitoring of these travellers. CDC provided traveller contact information, daily to 58 health departments, and collected health department data regarding monitoring outcomes.Results Among 11 583 travellers screened, 132 (1%) required additional assessment due to potential exposures or symptoms of concern. Fifty-three (91%) health departments reported receiving traveller data from CDC for 10 114 (87%) travellers, of whom 8499 (84%) were contacted for monitoring, 1547 (15%) could not be contacted and 68 (1%) had no reported outcomes. No travellers with high-risk exposures or Ebola disease were identified.Conclusion Entry risk assessment and post-arrival monitoring of travellers are resource-intensive activities that had low demonstrated yield during this and previous outbreaks. The efficiency of future responses could be improved by incorporating an assessment of risk of importation of disease, accounting for individual travellers' potential for exposure, and expanded use of methods that reduce burden to federal agencies, health departments, and travellers.

Abstract Introduction From January 2021 to June 2022, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention required predeparture SARS‐CoV‐2 testing for all air passengers arriving into the United States from a foreign country. Methods Using data collected during a surveillance project, we described predeparture testing behavior among a convenience sample of international air passengers entering the United States from July to September 2021 at six US ports of entry. We analyzed pairwise relationships between self‐reported test type, test timing, demographic and travel characteristics, and COVID‐19 vaccination status using chi‐square and Fisher's exact tests. Results Participants were more likely to get a NAAT versus antigen test if they identified as non‐Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander (68.2%, n = 173), non‐Hispanic Black (62.6%, n = 147), or if they preferred not to report race and ethnicity (60.8%, n = 209) when compared to those who identified as non‐Hispanic White (47.1%, n = 1086, all p < 0.05). Those who identified as Hispanic or Latino (n = 671) were less likely to get a NAAT than the non‐Hispanic White group (39.5% vs. 47.1%, p < 0.05). Participants arriving in the US from the Americas were less likely to get a NAAT (38.5%, n = 871) compared to those arriving from Europe (45.5%, n = 1165, p < 0.05). Participants who reported receiving their predeparture test 2 days or 3 or more days before departure were more likely to report receiving a NAAT (52.2%, n = 879, and 60.2%, n = 410, respectively) than those who reported testing within 1 day (41.4%, n = 1040, all p < 0.001) of departure. Discussion Test type was significantly associated with race and ethnicity, departure region, and test timing. Differences likely reflected regional disparities in the availability of tests at the time of the activity. Discrepancies in predeparture test timing and type worldwide may have consequences for the effectiveness and equity of travel requirements in future pandemics.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Oral vancomycin is a cornerstone of CDI treatment, but dosing strategies in clinical practice may differ from guideline recommendations. This study aimed to determine differences in outcomes between patients treated with standard (125 mg QID) and high-dose ( >= 250 mg QID) oral vancomycin. This dual-centre study evaluated adult patients admitted between January 2013 and July 2017. Patients were included in the study if they had a positive C. difficile toxin PCR, symptomatic infection and received >= 48 h of oral vancomycin. Disease severity was characterised using a variety of classifiers, including guideline definitions. The primary outcome was 90-day CDI recurrence; secondary outcomes included clinical failure, in-hospital mortality and 90-day re-admission. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was conducted to balance differences between groups. A total of 535 patients were included; 261 received standard and 274 received high-dose vancomycin. Baseline demographics were similar between groups, except that patients receiving high-dose vancomycin were more likely to have more severe disease and to be admitted to the ICU. Few patients had fulminant disease (14.4%). No significant differences in recurrence (OR, 1.52, 95% CI 0.82-2.84), clinical failure (OR, 0.64, 95% CI 0.328-1.26), mortality (OR, 1.44, 95% CI 0.78-2.66) or readmission (OR, 1.03, 95% CI 0.70-1.51) were identified between patients receiving standard and high-dose vancomycin in the IPTW analyses. No differences in recurrence, mortality or re-admission were identified between standard and high-dose vancomycin for the treatment of CDI not requiring surgery. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd and International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

The Accelerate Pheno and BacT/Alert Virtuo systems may improve bacteremia management. Here, we evaluated the impact of both devices on outcomes in patients with sepsis and concurrent Gram-negative bacteremia.

PURPOSEAntimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) can be aided by using rapid diagnostics (RDT). However, there are limited data evaluating the impact of ASPs and RDT on sepsis outcomes in the setting of the new Sepsis-3 guidelines. This study evaluates the impact of a low-resource method for ASPs with RDT on sepsis outcomes.METHODSThis was a prospective, quasi-experimental study with a retrospective double pretest. Patients ≥ 18 years old with sepsis and concurrent bacteremia or fungemia were included; patients who were pregnant, had polymicrobial septicemia or who were transferred from an outside hospital were excluded. In the first pretest (O1), polymerase chain reaction was used to identify Staphylococcal species from positive blood cultures, and traditional laboratory techniques were used to identify other species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy and FilmArray were implemented in the second pretest (O2), and twice daily blood culture review was implemented in the posttest (O3).RESULTSA total of 394 patients (157 in O1, 176 in O2, 61 in O3) were enrolled. Clinical response was 73.2%, 83.5%, and 88.5% in O1, O2, and O3, respectively, p = 0.013. By Cox regression, the O3 was associated with improved time to clinical response (hazard ratio, 1.388; 95% confidence interval, 1.004-1.919) as compared with O1. Mortality, hospital length of stay, and intensive care unit length of stay were unchanged between groups.CONCLUSIONTwice-daily blood culture review may be useful for implementing rapid diagnostics within low-resource ASPs. Further research is needed to identify the optimal method of blood culture follow-up within low-resource settings.

Abstract Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. IDSA guidelines recommend oral vancomycin (VAN) for the treatment of CDI, although doses used in practice vary substantially. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in outcomes between patients treated with high dose (HD; ≥250 mg four times daily [QID]) vs. standard dose (SD; 125 mg QID) VAN for CDI. Methods This multicenter study evaluated patients at two hospitals in Albany, NY diagnosed with CDI and treated with oral VAN between January 2013 and August 2017. Hospitalized patients were included if: age ≥18 years, positive C. difficile toxin polymerase chain reaction (PCR), symptomatic infection (e.g., new onset or increased frequency of loose stools), and received ≥48 hours of VAN QID. Patients were excluded if: received ≥48 hours of metronidazole prior to VAN initiation, VAN per rectum, required surgical intervention ≤48 hours from PCR, had a history of fecal microbiota transplant, received ≥1 dose of fidaxomicin or tigecycline prior to or within 48 hours from PCR, or died ≤48 hours from PCR. The primary outcome was 90-day CDI recurrence; secondary outcomes included 30-day all-cause mortality and 90-day readmission. Variables with a P-value <0.2 in univariate analysis were evaluated in multivariate (MV) analyses. Results Four hundred fifty-eight patients were included (site 1: 270; site 2: 188). Two hundred twenty-four patients received SD VAN (48.9%); 234 received HD VAN [250 mg QID: 199 (43.5%); 500 mg QID: 35 (7.6%)]. Baseline demographics were similar between groups. Patients treated with HD were more likely to present with colitis (19.2 vs. 29.5%, P = 0.01) and have higher infection severity based on IDSA (P < 0.01), Zar (P < 0.01), and American College of Gastroenterology (P < 0.02) criteria. Modified APACHE II scores were similar between SD and HD groups (median: 12.2 vs. 12.9, P = 0.17). MV analysis identified no difference in 90-day recurrence with HD (OR 1.65, P = 0.13) after controlling for solid tumor cancers, immunosuppression, and IDSA severity. Similarly, no significant differences between SD and HD were observed for 30-day mortality and 90-day readmission. Conclusion No differences in recurrence, mortality, or readmission were identified between SD and HD oral VAN for the treatment of CDI, though HD VAN patients primarily received 250 mg QID. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.