Conference Highlights: ASM Microbe 2017

The Veterans Aging Cohort Study, Alcohol Use, & HIV

The Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS) index uses age, CD4 cell count, RNA-HIV, and indicators of organ system injury to predict mortality in various populations, including HIV-negative patients. Data are lacking on the impact of alcohol consumption on VACS score in patients with and without HIV. Among more than 1,100 patients with an average age of 44 years, 15 years of alcohol use disorder, and an average alcohol consumption of 200 g/day, the median VACS score was 16 points. In HIV-negative patients, researchers observed a statistically significant negative correlation between VACS score and alcohol consumption levels, suggesting that higher VACS values were associated with lower alcohol use. This association was not statistically significant among HIV-positive patients.

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NICU Type Affects Microbiome

Researchers were conducting a study of the impact of the neonatal intestinal microbiome on early childhood health and disease in the neonatal ICU (NICU) of an older hospital when a new women’s and children’s hospital opened. Microbiomes of the infants from the shared space NICU at the old hospital were compared with those of infants in the private room NICU of the new hospital. Significantly higher levels of STL polyomavirus and MW polyomavirus and a trend toward significance for papillomavirus were observed in the environment of the shared space NICU. Antibiotic resistance genes were significantly different between the two NICUs. Discharge stool samples from infants in the private room NICU had a higher prevalence of beta lactamase genes.

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Detecting Tuberculosis in HIV Patients

Although detection of HIV among patients with tuberculosis is essential to the holistic care of co-infected patients, public health responses to both conditions have been mostly separate. To assess the feasibility of screening all tuberculosis patients for HIV through the rapid result initiative, study investigators invited tuberculosis patients to undergo HIV screening. Among invited patients, nearly 80% were willing to participate in the test, with gender, age, and place of residence as the most significant variables influencing willingness. Other significant influencers of willingness to participate were higher education, being employed, and being marries. The strongest reasons for refusal of HIV screening were “no risk behavior (30%), “too old” (23%), and privacy (12%).

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Antimicrobials, Diabetic Foot Infections, & MDROs

Evidence suggests that multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are common pathogens in diabetic foot infections. For a study, researchers explored associations between several antimicrobial exposures and specific diabetic foot infection MDRO pathogens among adults with a positive culture from a diabetic foot infection site. Among more than 500 participants, about 56% had MDRO infections, with MRSA found to be the most common. Few associations were identified between antimicrobials and MDROs upon multivariable analyses. Among them, prior use of β-lactam was independently associated with diabetic foot infections due to enterobacteriaceae resistant to third generation cephalosporin, and prior quinolone use with infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

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Bacterial Variance in Hookah Tobacco

Use of non-cigarette products, especially water pipes like hookahs, has more than doubled among young adults in the United States in the past 10 years due in part to being promoted as healthier alternatives to cigarettes. Previous research has confirmed the presence of bacteria in hookah tobacco, but whether bacterial content varies by brand or manufacturer has not been defined. The number of observed bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and the Shannon index, measuring the bacterial diversity of the flavors over time—of three flavors of hookah tobacco from the two most popular brands were compared for a study. The dominant bacteria across all products were from the Pseudomonas, Bacillus, and Paenibacillus genera, but compositions differed across flavors and brands. Upon storing all tobacco samples in a pocket, refrigerator, or room for 14 days, the researchers found that the abundance of Pseudomonas spp increased greatly on day 14 for one brand and varied by day for the other brand.

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Renal Function by Gender in Methadone-Treated HIV Patients

The percentage of women among methadone program participants is higher than in the overall HIV population. However, few studies have examined gender differences in this specific group. For a study, researchers reviewed the records of methadone program participants between 1994 and 2005. Women were as likely as men to have HIV RNA of 50 copies/ml after initial response to combination antiretroviral therapy and to abstain from psychoactive substances. However, women were more likely to have impaired renal function, seemingly related to detectable HIV RNA.