IDSA Spokespersons Offer Perspective on Study Findings for Media

Infectious Disease News spoke with IDSA spokesperson Trish Perl, MD, MSc, FIDSA to get her perspective on recent study findings published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology revealing that carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) colonization can persist for months.

“People remain colonized for long periods of time with this multidrug-resistant organism,” Dr. Perl wrote. “I think the data are not strong enough to make a public policy statement, and it requires a little bit more before we move forward. We need to have more studies like this that corroborate the findings. We, as a community, need to really advocate for more extensive epidemiological work such as this to really understand the roles that all kinds of different infection prevention interventions play...”

Infectious Disease News also spoke with IDSA spokesperson Jennifer Goldman, MD, MS to get her perspective on study results published in JAMA Pediatrics which show physicians being more likely to recommend antihistamines than cough and cold medicines (CCMs) for respiratory infections in younger children.

“It is well known in pediatrics over the past several years that guidelines have been set forth recommending against CCMs, especially in young children, given their lack of efficacy and potential risk,” Dr. Goldman stated. “This study demonstrates that physicians' recommendations for CCMs in children have decreased over time, especially for opioid-containing cough and cold medicines. However, these medications are still being recommended in children aged younger than 6 years, despite the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations to avoid all CCMs in children in this age group.”

These are just two of the news pieces that IDSA and our member spokespersons contributed to, in addition to others in the pipeline. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to see the latest news and opinion pieces featuring IDSA, HIVMA and our members.