Background: Skin, soft tissue, and joint infections are common in pediatric patients and can require invasive procedures to drain purulent fluid. Atypical pathogens (fungal and acid-fast bacilli [AFB]) are important but rare causes of these infections with reported case rates as low as 0.6-1.6 cases/100,000 a year. Despite the rarity of these infections, costly atypical […]

Background: Skin, soft tissue, and joint infections are common in pediatric patients and can require invasive procedures to drain purulent fluid. Atypical pathogens (fungal and acid-fast bacilli [AFB]) are important but rare causes of these infections with reported case rates as low as 0.6-1.6 cases/100,000 a year. Despite the rarity of these infections, costly atypical […]

Background: Detailing has been employed by the pharmaceutical sales industry to increase physician knowledge about new medications. Work‐hour rules and hectic schedules have challenged residency training programs to develop and utilize efficient and effective teaching methods. Academic detailing has been successful in the realm of continuing medical education. Purpose: We chose to employ academic detailing […]

Background: Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) are frequently used to deliver intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy. Infectious disease (ID) physicians are often consulted prior to PICC placement, but whether their engagement influences PICC appropriateness and complications is not known. Methods: Using data from the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium on PICCs placed in hospitalized medical patients […]

Case Presentation: A 12-year-old healthy female presented for three weeks of abdominal pain, loose non-bloody stools accompanied by night sweats and an eight-pound weight loss. Initial exam was only significant for diffuse abdominal pain. An abdominal X-ray demonstrated a unique appearing paravertebral stripe which prompted a follow up MRI abdomen/pelvis. MRI imaging revealed a 5.8 […]

Case Presentation: A 12-year-old healthy female presented for three weeks of abdominal pain, loose non-bloody stools accompanied by night sweats and an eight-pound weight loss. Initial exam was only significant for diffuse abdominal pain. An abdominal X-ray demonstrated a unique appearing paravertebral stripe which prompted a follow up MRI abdomen/pelvis. MRI imaging revealed a 5.8 […]

Case Presentation: A 74 year old male, a nursing home resident was admitted to the hospital for fever and chills for 3 days. His history was significant for end stage renal disease. Patient had an episode of clostridium difficile (C diff) within 3 months prior to this admission. 3 weeks ago he was started on […]

Case Presentation: A 21-year-old man with no previous medical history presented to the emergency department with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea for one week. Labs were significant for white blood cell (WBC) count 3.4 k/ul with decreased lymphocytes along with mild elevation of transaminases and lipase. He was thought to have viral gastroenteritis and was discharged. […]

Case Presentation: A 50 year old man with history of bicuspid aortic valve and failed mechanical valve replacement at age 31 had repeat bioprosthetic porcine aortic valve replacement 2 years later, he developed one week of night sweats, fevers, confusion, a purpuric rash over his lower extremities and swelling in his left wrist and right […]

Case Presentation: Talaromycosis (formerly known as Penicilliosis) is a rare fungal disease that predominantly affects immunocompromised patients, such as those with HIV and low CD4 cell counts, from endemic regions (e.g., Southeast Asia). There have been a limited number of cases reported worldwide, with a travel-related exposure. We present a case of an immunocompetent patient […]