Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infection associated with antibiotic misuse. Catheter-associated UTI (CAUTI) is the largest reservoir of nosocomial antibiotic-resistant pathogens, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Health-care associated urinary tract infection is also a known risk factor for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and an important entity that has yet to be characterized. The aim of [...]

Background: Between 2007 and 2015, inpatient fluoroquinolone use declined in U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals. Whether fluoroquinolone use at discharge has also declined, in particular since antibiotic stewardship programs became mandated at VA hospitals in 2014, is unknown. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study of hospitalizations with infection between January 1, 2014 and December 31, [...]

Background: Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) account for more than 100,000 inpatient admissions yearly. IDSA guidelines recommend Nitrofurantoin as first line therapy and recent FDA guidelines recommend against Fluoroquinolone (FQ) use due their side effects and growing resistance; however, Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (Bactrim) and Ciprofloxacin are still commonly used to treat uncomplicated UTIs. Therefore we hypothesized that [...]

Case Presentation: A 55-year-old man with a history of asthma, chronic kidney disease and hypocalcemia presented with dyspnea and hypoxemia to the Emergency Room. The patient reported cough, purulent sputum production, and fever. His symptoms began 3 weeks prior and he was diagnosed with pneumonia by his outpatient pulmonologist. He completed a 10 day course [...]

Case Presentation: An 87-year-old woman with a history of pancreatic cancer status post distal pancreatectomy/splenectomy/partial colectomy, chronic kidney disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, and diabetes was admitted following sudden onset of new, uncontrollable bilateral upper extremity shaking and facial twitching. Symptoms started the night before and became progressively worse with dyspnea, nausea, and bilateral lower extremity tremors [...]

Case Presentation: A 54-year old female was hospitalized for 3-week history of abdominal pain, chills, nausea and diarrhea. Her past medical history was significant for multiple self-reported antibiotic allergies, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass complicated by gastrojejunostomy leak, and prior perisplenic abscess requiring percutaneous drainage. On admission, blood pressure was 137/79, heart rate of 80, respirations 20, [...]

Case Presentation: A 70-year-old man with a history of adenoid cystic carcinoma initially presented with a 1-2 week history of olfactory and auditory hallucinations in the setting of intermittent fever. He reported that in addition to those symptoms he had diarrhea, which he attributed to having eaten undercooked meat. His auditory hallucinations involved hearing African [...]