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Background: Myriad infectious and noninfectious causes of encephalomyelitis (EM) have similar clinical manifestations, presenting serious challenges to diagnosis and treatment. Metabolomics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was explored as a method of differentiating among neurological diseases causing EM using a single CSF sample. Methodology/Principal findings: 1H NMR metabolomics was applied to CSF samples from 27 patients with a laboratory-confirmed disease, including Lyme disease or West Nile Virus meningoencephalitis, multiple sclerosis, rabies, or Histoplasma meningitis, and 25 controls. Cluster analyses distinguished samples by infection status and moderately by pathogen, with shared and differentiating metabolite patterns observed among diseases. CART analysis predicted infection status with 100% sensitivity and 93% specificity. Conclusions/Significance: These preliminary results suggest the potential utility of CSF metabolomics as a rapid screening test to enhance diagnostic accuracies and improve patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. One hospital's implementation of revised American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines for palivizumab prophylaxis of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is described. Methods. Revised AAP guidelines for RSV prophylaxis in infants and young children at increased risk for RSV infection recommend that up to five doses of palivizumab be administered during the RSV season. The guidelines also recommend that inpatients not receive monthly palivizumab prophylaxis and that infants and young children eligible for prophylaxis during the RSV season receive a dose of palivizumab two or three days before discharge or promptly after discharge. To ensure compliance with the revised AAP guidelines, a 296-bed hospital implemented a quality-improvement project including (1) efforts by the antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist and the chief medical officer to notify and educate healthcare providers regarding institutional adoption of the guidelines, (2) reinforcement of guideline adherence by clinical pharmacists during daily bedside rounds and via prospective review of all palivizumab orders, and (3) a medication-use evaluation (MUE) to assess adherence to the guidelines. The MUE results showed that during the 2014--15 RSV season (after implementation of the practice changes), the number of palivizumab doses administered at the hospital declined by 56% from the previous RSV season, with 97% of doses administered for appropriate indications. Conclusion. Standardized, comprehensive guidelines with defined criteria for palivizumab prophylaxis of RSV infection resulted in $303,227 of cost savings without a discernible change in nosocomial transmission, or morbidity, or mortality. Hospital infection-control practices controlled nosocomial RSV transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]