The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and public health and clinical stakeholders have investigated a nationwide outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). 1 As of February 25, 2020, a total of 2,807 hospitalized cases of EVALI have been reported to the CDC from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and two US territories (Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands). Sixty-eight deaths have been confirmed in 29 states and the District of Columbia (as of February 18, 2020).2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Mechanisms for lung injury in this syndrome are still being investigated. Vitamin E acetate (VEA) is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak. VEA has been found in product samples tested by FDA and state laboratories and patient BAL fluid samples tested by the CDC from geographically diverse states. VEA has not been found in the BAL fluid of people who do not have EVALI. However, evidence is not sufficient to rule out the contribution of other chemicals of concern, including chemicals in either tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or non-THC products, in some of the reported EVALI cases. The current article summarizes evidence as of February 25, 2020, for potential toxicants and mechanisms of toxicity for EVALI.

What is already known on this topic? In a recent examination of rehospitalization and death among previously hospitalized patients with e-cigarette or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI), at least one quarter of rehospitalizations and deaths occurred within 2 days of discharge; comorbidities were common among patients who were rehospitalized or who died after discharge. What is added by this report? Updated guidance recommends posthospitalization outpatient follow-up, optimally within 48 hours of discharge, and emphasizes the importance of preparation for hospital discharge and postdischarge care coordination to reduce risk of rehospitalization and death among hospitalized EVALI patients. What are the implications for public health practice? Incorporating this updated guidance into the management of hospitalized EVALI patients might reduce EVALI-associated morbidity and mortality. © 2020 Department of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved.

PURPOSE: With HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates disproportionately high among adolescent sexual minority males (ASMM), it is important to understand how school-based sexual health education may relate to sexual risk-related behavior among this population. This analysis explores reported HIV/AIDS- and condom-related education and sexual risk-related behaviors among ASMM and their adolescent non-sexual-minority male (non-ASMM) peers. METHODS: Students (n = 11,681) from seven Florida high schools completed paper-and-pencil questionnaires. A matched analytic sample of ASMM and non-ASMM students was created by using propensity score-matching techniques (n = 572). Logistic regressions controlling for individual and school characteristics examined reporting having been taught about AIDS or HIV in school, having been taught in school about using condoms, condom use at last sex, HIV/STD testing, and associations between these variables. RESULTS: Compared with matched non-ASMM peers, ASMM students were less likely to report having been taught about AIDS or HIV in school (odds ratio [OR] = 0.58, P = 0.04) and having used a condom at last sex (OR = 0.39, P < 0.01), but were more likely to report having been tested for HIV or STDs (OR = 1.88, P = 0.02). There were no significant differences for reporting having been taught in school about using condoms. Among non-ASMM, reporting having been taught in school about using condoms was associated with a greater likelihood of condom use at last sex (OR = 4.78, P < 0.01); this was not seen for ASMM. CONCLUSIONS: Differential reports of receiving HIV/AIDS education and differential associations between condom-related education and condom use in ASMM and non-ASMM suggest that sexual health education in schools may not be resonating with ASMM and non-ASMM in the same way.

BACKGROUND: Although growing public health efforts have been expended on increasing adolescents' access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, little is known about the current utilization of those services in clinical settings. METHODS: Using 2010 to 2012 New York State Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicaid Analytic eXtract data, we estimated the annual percentage of 13- to 19-year-olds who were tested for HIV, chlamydia (CT), and gonorrhea (GC). A regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with testing utilization. We further examined testing utilization in all adolescent females with 1 or more health care encounter, pregnant females, and adolescents at increased risk for HIV/STI. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2012, HIV, CT, and GC testing rates increased in the overall study population and in most demographic subgroups. Female adolescents, black and Hispanic adolescents, at-risk adolescents, and adolescents with 6 months or longer of enrollment were significantly more likely to be tested. Among adolescent females with 1 or more health care encounter, 19.2% were tested for CT and 16.9% tested for GC in 2012. Among pregnant females, 35.2%, 53.9%, and 46.1% were tested for HIV, CT, and GC, respectively. Among at-risk adolescents, 39.9%, 63.7%, and 54.4% were tested for HIV, CT, and GC, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although progress had been made by New York State providers to adhere to recommended testing for adolescents, there was a clear gap between the recommended level of testing and the actual level of utilization among sexually active females, pregnant females, and at-risk adolescents. Opportunities exist for community provider and public health collaboration to increase adolescent HIV and STI testing.

The Ebola virus disease (Ebola) outbreak in West Africa (2014-2015) prompted domestic planning to address the scenario in which a traveler imports Ebola into the United States. Parental presence at the bedside of a child with suspected or confirmed Ebola emerged as a challenging issue for pediatric health care providers and public health practitioners. At the heart of the issue was the balance of family-centered care and appropriate infection control, which are not easily aligned in the setting of Ebola. In the following dialogue, pediatricians, who participated in discussions about parental presence during the evaluation of pediatric persons under investigation, and a public health ethicist discuss the interplay between family-centered care and appropriate infection control. Reaching a balance between the 2 ideals is difficult and may require the facility and providers to engage in a deliberate conversation to determine how they will handle parental presence for such high-risk scenarios, including Ebola and other high-consequence pathogens, in their institution. © 2016 Elsevier Inc.

OBJECTIVES: To identify a pediatric ventilator-associated condition definition for use in neonates and children by exploring whether potential ventilator-associated condition definitions identify patients with worse outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study and a matched cohort analysis. SETTING: Pediatric, cardiac, and neonatal ICUs in five U.S. hospitals. PATIENTS: Children 18 years old or younger ventilated for at least 1 day. INTERVENTIONS, MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We evaluated the evidence of worsening oxygenation via a range of thresholds for increases in daily minimum fraction of inspired oxygen (by 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30) and daily minimum mean airway pressure (by 4, 5, 6, and 7 cm H2O). We required worsening oxygenation be sustained for at least 2 days after at least 2 days of stability. We matched patients with a ventilator-associated condition to those without and used Cox proportional hazard models with frailties to examine associations with hospital mortality, hospital and ICU length of stay, and duration of ventilation. The cohort included 8,862 children with 10,209 hospitalizations and 77,751 ventilator days. For the fraction of inspired oxygen 0.25/mean airway pressure 4 definition (i.e., increase in minimum daily fraction of inspired oxygen by 0.25 or mean airway pressure by 4), rates ranged from 2.9 to 3.2 per 1,000 ventilator days depending on ICU type; the fraction of inspired oxygen 0.30/mean airway pressure 7 definition yielded ventilator-associated condition rates of 1.1-1.3 per 1,000 ventilator days. All definitions were significantly associated with greater risk of hospital death, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.6 (95% CI, 0.7-3.4) to 6.8 (2.9-16.0), depending on thresholds and ICU type. Each definition was associated with prolonged hospitalization, time in ICU, and duration of ventilation, among survivors. The advisory board of the study proposed using the fraction of inspired oxygen 0.25/mean airway pressure 4 thresholds to identify pediatric ventilator-associated conditions in ICUs. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric patients with ventilator-associated conditions are at substantially higher risk for mortality and morbidity across ICUs, regardless of thresholds used. Next steps include identification of risk factors, etiologies, and preventative measures for pediatric ventilator-associated conditions.

PURPOSE: Specific deviations from United States Pharmacopeia standards were analyzed to investigate the factors allowing an outbreak of Serratia marcescens bloodstream infections in patients receiving compounded amino acid solutions. METHODS: Filter challenge experiments using the outbreak strain of S. marcescens were compared with those that used the filter challenge organism recommended by ASTM International (Brevundimonas diminuta ATCC 19162) to determine the frequency and degree of organism breakthrough. Disk and capsule filters (0.22- and 0.2-mum nominal pore size, respectively) were challenged with either the outbreak strain of S. marcescens or B. diminuta ATCC 19162. The following variables were compared: culture conditions in which organisms were grown overnight or cultured in sterile water (starved), solution type (15% amino acid solution or sterile water), and filtration with or without a 0.5-mum prefilter. RESULTS: Small-scale, syringe-driven, disk-filtration experiments of starved bacterial cultures indicated that approximately 1 in every 1,000 starved S. marcescens cells (0.12%) was able to pass through a 0.22-mum nominal pore-size filter, and about 1 in every 1,000,000 cells was able to pass through a 0.1-mum nominal pore-size filter. No passage of the B. diminuta ATCC 19162 cells was observed with either filter. In full-scale experiments, breakthrough was observed only when 0.2-mum capsule filters were challenged with starved S. marcescens in 15% amino acid solution without a 0.5-mum prefiltration step. CONCLUSION: Laboratory simulation testing revealed that under certain conditions, bacteria can pass through 0.22- and 0.2-mum filters intended for sterilization of an amino acid solution. Bacteria did not pass through 0.2-mum filters when a 0.5-mum prefilter was used.

Nucleic acid testing (NAT) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is recommended for screening of organ donors, yet not all donor infections may be detected. We describe three US clusters of HCV transmission from donors at increased risk for HCV infection. Donor's and recipients' medical records were reviewed. Newly infected recipients were interviewed. Donor-derived HCV infection was considered when infection was newly detected after transplantation in recipients of organs from increased risk donors. Stored donor sera and tissue samples were tested for HCV RNA with high-sensitivity quantitative PCR. Posttransplant and pretransplant recipient sera were tested for HCV RNA. Quasispecies analysis of hypervariable region-1 was used to establish genetic relatedness of recipient HCV variants. Each donor had evidence of injection drug use preceding death. Of 12 recipients, 8 were HCV-infected-6 were newly diagnosed posttransplant. HCV RNA was retrospectively detected in stored samples from donor immunologic tissue collected at organ procurement. Phylogenetic analysis showed two clusters of closely related HCV variants from recipients. These investigations identified the first known HCV transmissions from increased risk organ donors with negative NAT screening, indicating very recent donor infection. Recipient informed consent and posttransplant screening for blood-borne pathogens are essential when considering increased risk donors.

BACKGROUND: Patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are at high risk for healthcare-associated infections. Variability in reported infection rates among NICUs exists, possibly related to differences in prevention strategies. A better understanding of current prevention practices may help identify prevention gaps and areas for further research. METHODS: We surveyed infection control staff in NICUs reporting to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) to assess strategies used to prevent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission and central line-associated bloodstream infections in NICUs. RESULTS: Staff from 162 of 342 NICUs responded (response rate, 47.3%). Most (92.3%) NICUs use central line insertion and maintenance bundles, but maintenance practices varied, including agents used for antisepsis and frequency of dressing changes. Forty-two percent reported routine screening for MRSA colonization upon admission for all patients. Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) use for central line care for at least 1 indication (central line insertion, dressing changes, or port/cap antisepsis) was reported in 82 NICUs (51.3%). Among sixty-five NICUs responding to questions on CHG use restrictions, 46.2% reported no restrictions. CONCLUSIONS: Our survey illustrated heterogeneity of CLABSI and MRSA prevention practices and underscores the need for further research to define optimal strategies and evidence-based prevention recommendations for neonates.

A liver, heart, iliac vessel and two kidneys were recovered from a 39-year-old man who died of traumatic head injury and were transplanted into five recipients. The liver recipient 18 days posttransplantation presented with headache, ataxia and fever, followed by rapid neurologic decline and death. Diagnosis of granulomatous amebic encephalitis was made on autopsy. Balamuthia mandrillaris infection was confirmed with immunohistochemical and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Donor and recipients' sera were tested for B. mandrillaris antibodies. Donor brain was negative for Balamuthia by immunohistochemistry and PCR; donor serum Balamuthia antibody titer was positive (1:64). Antibody titers in all recipients were positive (range, 1:64-1:512). Recipients received a four- to five-drug combination of miltefosine or pentamidine, azithromycin, albendazole, sulfadiazine and fluconazole. Nausea, vomiting, elevated liver transaminases and renal insufficiency were common. All other recipients survived and have remained asymptomatic 24 months posttransplant. This is the third donor-derived Balamuthia infection cluster described in solid organ transplant recipients in the United States. As Balamuthia serologic testing is only available through a national reference laboratory, it is not feasible for donor screening, but may be useful to determine exposure status in recipients and to help guide chemotherapy.

We describe four solid-organ transplant recipients with donor-derived West Nile virus (WNV) infection (encephalitis 3, asymptomatic 1) from a common donor residing in a region of increased WNV activity. All four transplant recipients had molecular evidence of WNV infection in their serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing. Serum from the organ donor was positive for WNV IgM but negative for WNV RNA, whereas his lymph node and spleen tissues tested positive for WNV by RT-PCR. Combination therapy included intravenous immunoglobulin (4 cases), interferon (3 cases), fresh frozen plasma with WNV IgG (2 cases), and ribavirin (1 case). Two of the four transplant recipients survived.Review of the 20 published cases of organ-derived WNV infection found that this infection is associated with a high incidence of neuroinvasive disease (70%) and severe morbidity and mortality (30%). Median time to onset of symptomatic WNV infection was 13 days after transplantation (range 5-37 days). Initial unexplained fever unresponsive to antibiotic therapy followed by rapid onset of neurologic deficits was the most common clinical presentation. Confirmation of infection was made by testing serum and CSF for both WNV RNA by RT-PCR and WNV IgM by serological assays. Treatment usually included supportive care, reduction of immunosuppression, and frequent intravenous immunoglobulin. The often negative results for WNV by current RT-PCR and serological assays and the absence of clinical signs of acute infection in donors contribute to the sporadic occurrence of donor-derived WNV infection. Potential organ donors should be assessed for unexplained fever and neurological symptoms, particularly if they reside in areas of increased WNV activity.

BACKGROUND: Compounding pharmacies often prepare parenteral nutrition (PN) and must adhere to rigorous standards to avoid contamination of the sterile preparation. In March 2011, Serratia marcescens bloodstream infections (BSIs) were identified in five patients receiving PN from a single compounding pharmacy. An investigation was conducted to identify potential sources of contamination and prevent further infections. METHODS: Cases were defined as S. marcescens BSIs in patients receiving PN from the pharmacy between January and March 2011. We reviewed case-patient clinical records, evaluated pharmacy compounding practices, and obtained epidemiologically-directed environmental cultures. Molecular relatedness of available Serratia isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: Nineteen case-patients were identified; nine died. The attack rate for patients receiving PN in March was 35%. No case-patients were younger than 18 years. In October 2010, the pharmacy began compounding and filter-sterilizing amino acid solution for adult PN using non-sterile amino acids due to a national manufacturer shortage. Review of this process identified breaches in mixing, filtration, and sterility testing practices. Serratia marcescens was identified from a pharmacy water faucet, mixing container, and opened amino acid powder. These isolates were indistinguishable from the outbreak strain by PFGE. CONCLUSIONS: Compounding of non-sterile amino acid components of PN was initiated due to a manufacturer shortage. Failure to follow recommended compounding standards contributed to an outbreak of S. marcescens BSIs. Improved adherence to sterile compounding standards, critical examination of standards for sterile compounding from non-sterile ingredients, and more rigorous oversight of compounding pharmacies is needed to prevent future outbreaks.

BACKGROUND: Encephalitozoon cuniculi, a microsporidial species most commonly recognized as a cause of renal, respiratory, and central nervous system infections in immunosuppressed patients, was identified as the cause of a temporally associated cluster of febrile illness among 3 solid organ transplant recipients from a common donor. OBJECTIVE: To confirm the source of the illness, assess donor and recipient risk factors, and provide therapy recommendations for ill recipients. DESIGN: Public health investigation. SETTING: Two transplant hospitals and community interview with the deceased donor's family. PATIENTS: Three transplant recipients and the organ donor. MEASUREMENTS: Specimens were tested for microsporidia by using culture, immunofluorescent antibody, polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. Donor medical records were reviewed and a questionnaire was developed to assess for microsporidial infection. RESULTS: Kidneys and lungs were procured from the deceased donor and transplanted to 3 recipients who became ill with fever 7 to 10 weeks after the transplant. Results of urine culture, serologic, and polymerase chain reaction testing were positive for E. cuniculi of genotype III in each recipient; the organism was also identified in biopsy or autopsy specimens in all recipients. The donor had positive serologic test results for E. cuniculi. Surviving recipients received albendazole. Donor assessment did not identify factors for suspected E. cuniculi infection. LIMITATION: Inability to detect organism by culture or polymerase chain reaction in donor due to lack of autopsy specimens. CONCLUSION: Microsporidiosis is now recognized as an emerging transplant-associated disease and should be considered in febrile transplant recipients when tests for routinely encountered agents are unrevealing. Donor-derived disease is critical to assess when multiple recipients from a common donor are ill.

Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne disease that ranges in severity from asymptomatic infection to fatal sepsis. Ehrlichiosis acquired from transfusion of blood products has not been documented in the literature to date. A case of Ehrlichia ewingii infection likely transmitted by transfusion of leukoreduced platelets is described and public health implications discussed.

OBJECTIVE: To describe rates and pathogen distribution of device-associated infections (DAIs) in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients and compare differences in infection rates by hospital type (children's vs general hospitals). PATIENTS AND SETTING: Neonates in NICUs participating in the National Healthcare Safety Network from 2006 through 2008. METHODS: We analyzed central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), umbilical catheter-associated bloodstream infections (UCABs), and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among 304 NICUs. Differences in pooled mean incidence rates were examined using Poisson regression; nonparametric tests for comparing medians and rate distributions were used. RESULTS: Pooled mean incidence rates by birth weight category (750 g or less, 751-1,000 g, 1,001-1,500 g, 1,501-2,500 g, and more than 2,500 g, respectively) were 3.94, 3.09, 2.25, 1.90, and 1.60 for CLABSI; 4.52, 2.77, 1.70, 0.91, and 0.92 for UCAB; and 2.36, 2.08, 1.28, 0.86, and 0.72 for VAP. When rates of infection between hospital types were compared, only pooled mean VAP rates were significantly lower in children's hospitals than in general hospitals among neonates weighing 1,000 g or less; no significant differences in medians or rate distributions were noted. Pathogen frequencies were coagulase-negative staphylococci (28%), Staphylococcus aureus (19%), and Candida species (13%) for bloodstream infections and Pseudomonas species (16%), S. aureus (15%), and Klebsiella species (14%) for VAP. Of 673 S. aureus isolates with susceptibility results, 33% were methicillin resistant. CONCLUSIONS: Neonates weighing 750 g or less had the highest DAI incidence. With the exception of VAP, pooled mean NICU incidence rates did not differ between children's and general hospitals. Pathogens associated with these infections can pose treatment challenges; continued efforts at prevention need to be applied to all NICU settings.