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Articles by Alex McAdam
We are just back from the Molecular Virology Workshop in West Palm Beach. This is a terrific meeting that is organized by the Pan-American Society for Clinical Virology or PASCV. The workshop immediately precedes the Clinical Virology Symposium that ASM organizes and many of us like to attend both. Today we’ll be talking about some of the high points of the Molecular Virology Workshop, with two members of the organizing committee from PASCV.
Prevalence and Mortality Associated with Bloodstream Infections
Episode Summary It is estimated that anywhere from 575,000 to 677,000 bloodstream infections occur annually in North America, with approximately 40,000 of those directly linked to patient mortality in the United States, making bloodstream infections the 11th most common cause of death in the US according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis - The Other CAPA (JCM ed.)
When most of us hear the word ‘CAPA’, these days we more than likely immediately start thinking about SARS-CoV-2 variants, trying to remember how important this particular one was in the grand scheme of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, that is not the ‘kappa’ we will be talking about today.
Detection of carbapenemases (JCM ed.)
Editors in Conversation is the official podcast of the American Society for Microbiology Journals. Editors in Conversation features discussions between ASM Journals Editors, researchers and clinicians working on the most cutting edge issues in the microbial sciences.
Testing for COVID-19 During the Age of Omicron
In less than two months since it was discovered, the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 has become the dominant variant of the virus, causing an unprecedented rise in the number of cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and elsewhere. The emergence of this variant has quickly led to some surprising claims about diagnostic testing for omicron and a renewed appreciation of the importance of sequencing the viral genome for typing purposes.
Best Clinical Microbiology Papers of 2021
As we round out yet another year of this pandemic, clinical microbiologists have not slowed down.
SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Clinical Care and Infection Control
Is sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome useful for patient care? What about institutional infection control? And if clinical labs decide to perform SARS-CoV-2 sequencing, how should they do it? How should they report the results? And will they get paid? Until recently, sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes has mainly been done in public health or research laboratories. Now, there is increasing interest in sequencing the viral genome in healthcare settings for uses in patient care and infection control.
COVID-19 Testing - Schools, False Positives, and In-Person Meetings
Today we’re talking about testing in schools for COVID-19, and about recalls of SARS-CoV-2 tests due to false positive results, and, about whether we are ready to go to in-person scientific and medical meetings. Guest: Dr. Elitza Theel, Director of the Infectious Diseases Serology laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota Dr. Melissa Miller is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Testing for COVID-19 Infectivity
How can we determine whether someone who has COVID-19 can transmit the virus to other people? Tests in routine clinical use, such as reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and antigen tests, are designed to determine whether SARS-CoV-2 is present or not, but many people have proposed that these tests be used to determine whether a patient is infectious.
Advances in Serologic Testing for COVID-19
Tests for antibodies, or serological testing, for SARS-CoV-2 have come a long way since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are now several commercial tests available and some laboratories have developed tests for specific purposes. Tests can determine whether a person has had COVID-19 in the past, or whether someone has had an antibody response to vaccination or even whether someone has antibodies that can neutralize the virus, preventing it from infecting host cells.
Mythbusting in Susceptibility Testing
Accurate antibiotic susceptibility testing, or AST, is a key tool in addressing the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. But AST is one of the most complicated and rapidly changing areas in clinical microbiology, and the resulting confusion can make it difficult for clinical laboratories to keep up with best practices. Dr. Romney Humphries joins to talk about controversies and myths about AST. This episode was recorded with a live, remote audience at the World Microbe Forum.
Staphylococcus Argenteus: Another Coagulase Positive Staphylococcus (JCM ed.)
In addition to Staphylococcus aureus, there are a small number of other coagulase-positive staphylococci. We have become increasingly aware of these due to improvements in identification methods used in clinical laboratories. Staphylococcus argenteus is a coagulase-positive Staphylococcus that, until now, had mainly been detected in Australia, the Pacific Islands and Thailand.
Reconciling Genotypic and Phenotypic Susceptibility Tests
Our options for susceptibility testing have greatly increased in recent years. In addition to classical phenotypic susceptibility testing by disk diffusion and measurement of the minimum inhibitory concentration, genotypic tests are increasingly available. Genotypic tests range from tests for a single organism and one resistance gene to tests for 20 or more organisms and multiple resistance genes.
Gaps in Laboratory Diagnosis of Fungal Diseases
The incidence of fungal infections is rising in immunocompromised people, and the morbidity and mortality of these infections are high. Recent threats include multi-drug resistant Candida auris, however antifungal resistance is rising in other species as well, such as Aspergillus fumigatus. But have advances in diagnostic testing kept up with the accelerating threats of fungal infections? Some of the questions we’ll discuss include: What would you select as a disease specific gap?
Optimizing Blood Cultures with Dr. Eric Ransom and Dr. Valeria Fabre
Blood cultures for bacteria and yeast are among the most clinically important and high-volume tests performed by clinical microbiology labs. Because these cultures are so important to clinical care, we want to make sure that blood cultures are performed as quickly and accurately as possible, and that they are ordered, collected and utilized appropriately. We are going talk about two recent papers.
Susceptibility testing for Staphylococci Other Than S. aureus
Susceptibility testing for staphylococci other than S. aureus, or SOSA, has become increasingly complicated, as more laboratories use MALDI-TOF to routinely identify these bacteria to the species level. In particular, accurate identification of methicillin resistance has become more complex as the different species are distinguished by the accuracy of different susceptibility testing methods and breakpoints for interpreting MICs and zone sizes.
2020: A Bad Year with Great Papers in Clinical Microbiology
2020 was a great year… for research in clinical microbiology. The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges, including challenges to clinical laboratories. Clinical microbiologists rapidly created a variety of tests for SARS-CoV-2, figured out innovative ways to collect and transport samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing, and also continued their research in areas outside of the pandemic.
COVID-19: Clinical Labs in the Media Spotlight
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought more media attention to clinical laboratories than at any time in recent history. Today we’ll talk about media coverage of diagnostic testing for COVID-19 with two experts. Some of the questions we’ll discuss include: How has the media coverage of tests for COVID-19 affected the public’s view of these tests? What is the role of social media in talking about testing for COVID-19?
Detection of carbapenemases (JCM Edition)
Editors in Conversation is the official podcast of the American Society for Microbiology Journals. Editors in Conversation features discussions between ASM Journals Editors, researchers and clinicians working on the most cutting edge issues in the microbial sciences.
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