Tag Archives: Multidrug-resistant organisms

March 2020—While developing into a global health emergency that has killed thousands, the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus identified in China riveted the public and raised awareness of infectious diseases and their perils.

March 2018—When Stephen Brecher, PhD, compares MRSA to carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, the figures of speech come fast and furious. “We are not in Kansas anymore,” he said. “The bar has been raised. I consider MRSA a picnic compared to CP-CRE [carbapenemase-producing CRE].”

March 2018—When it comes to diagnostic tests, everyone wants the same thing Lars Westblade, PhD, wants: A unicorn. “The diagnostic performance of a test is reflected in its sensitivity and specificity,” Dr. Westblade said. “It has to be a very good test. And then we need to think about the speed of the test.” There’s also the cost. When all these factors come together just so, “we get what’s called diagnostic perfection,” he says, or the rare event that Brandi Limbago, PhD, of the CDC calls “a diagnostic unicorn.”