Urgent Updates | April 28, 2022

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ANTIBIOTIC USE AND DRIVERS OF CROSS-BORDER PROCUREMENT IN A MEXICAN AMERICAN BORDER COMMUNITY
Antibiotics are one of the most common reported drivers of cross-border healthcare access and a medication of particular concern since indiscriminate or inappropriate use is associated with antimicrobial resistance. Data used in this study were collected during the baseline examination of an ongoing longitudinal cohort study in Starr Country, Texas, one of 14 counties on the Texas-Mexico border. Over 10% of the study cohort reported using antibiotics in the past 30 days with over 60% of all rounds used in the past 12 months sourced from Mexico.
Full Access: Pubmed

ORAL TEBIPENEM PIVOXIL HYDROBROMIDE IN COMPLICATED URINARY TRACT INFECTION
There is a need for oral antibiotic agents that are effective against multidrug-resistant gram-negative uropathogens. In this phase 3, international, double-blind, double-dummy trial, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of orally administered tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide as compared with intravenous ertapenem in patients with complicated urinary tract infection or acute pyelonephritis. Oral tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide was noninferior to intravenous ertapenem in the treatment of complicated urinary tract infection and acute pyelonephritis and had a similar safety profile.
Full Access: NEJM

AN IMPORTANT CAUSE OF WIDE COMPLEX TACHYCARDIA
Rapid and accurate distinction between artifact and ventricular tachycardia (VT) is crucial. Misinterpretation of an artifact as VT can lead to unnecessary medical interventions, including initiation of antiarrhythmic drugs, diagnostic coronary angiograms, and even implantation of implantable cardiac defibrillators. Features that help differentiate artifact from true VT include body movement during the wide complex tachycardia, absence of hemodynamic impairment, presence of normal beats in any ECG lead, and unstable ECG baseline before or after.4 Most importantly, if sharp spikes consistent with QRS complexes can be marched through the wide complex tachycardia, as in this case, the diagnosis is almost certainly artifact.
Full Access: JAMA

CHEST CT OF LUNG INJURY 1 YEAR AFTER COVID-19 PNEUMONIA: THE COVILD STUDY
This was a secondary analysis of a prospective, multicenter observational cohort study conducted from April 29 to August 12, 2020 to assess pulmonary abnormalities on chest CT at approximately 2, 3, 6 months, and 1 year after onset of COVID-19 symptoms.

Out of 142 enrolled participants, 91 participants had a 1-year follow-up CT 49/91 (54%) participants, CT abnormalities were observed: 31/91 (34%) participants showed subtle subpleural reticulation, ground-glass opacities or both and 18/91 (20%) participants revealed extensive ground-glass opacities, reticulations, bronchial dilation and/or microcystic changes. Long-term CT abnormalities were common 1 year after COVID-19 pneumonia.
Full Access: RSNA