Seeing C. diff Differently: A Case of Clostridioides difficile Bacteremia in Metastatic Melanoma.

BACKGROUND Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common community-acquired and nosocomial infection that usually presents as colitis. C. difficile bacteremia (CDB) is a rare blood infection, with only a few cases recorded in the literature. We seek to expound on the current literature by detailing the clinical course of a patient with metastatic melanoma who developed CDB. CASE REPORT This case highlights the hospital course of a 51-year-old man admitted for a new onset of arrhythmia during the evaluation and management of a malignancy. The patient experienced hemodynamic collapse and rapid deterioration, which progressed to death. The etiology of death is thought to be septic shock due to CDB in the setting of multiple comorbidities. CONCLUSIONS The patient was predisposed to CDI because of the disruption of his intestinal milieu by the administration of a cephalosporin for the treatment of his suspected secondary bacterial peritonitis. His treatment with palliative radiation to his rectal mass placed him further at risk of CDI. We believe either of these could have contributed alone or synergistically to the development of his CDB.

Varicella Zoster aseptic meningitis: Report of an atypical case in an immunocompetent patient treated with oral valacyclovir.

Varicella Zoster when described has the typical presentation of a dermatomal distribution of a rash and can further lead to CNS complications. This can be treated accordingly with the proper protocol, but if the presentation is atypical and the protocol is challenged or changed per specific patient outcomes, new developments can occur. Here we present a case of a 29-year-old Caucasian female that presented to the emergency department with headache, photophobia, and chills for 5 days. She was previously healthy and immunocompetent; CSF PCR analysis revealed a VZV infection causing acute aseptic meningitis with no shingles rash eruption on physical examination. The patient was not willing to stay hospitalized for the duration of the treatment. This gave us an opportunity to treat her with an oral, rather than IV, antiviral. The patient was successfully treated with oral valacyclovir 2 g Q6H after only receiving two days of IV acyclovir. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a patient with VZV-associated meningitis successfully treated with oral valacyclovir.

Predicting Baylisascaris procyonis roundworm prevalence, presence and abundance in raccoons (Procyon lotor) of southwestern Ohio using landscape features.

Raccoon roundworm is a leading cause of a neurological disease known as larva migrans encephalopathy in vertebrates. We determined that roundworm prevalence is significantly lower in Beavercreek Township than other townships surveyed, and that mean patch size and proportion of landscape modified by urbanization or by agriculture are good predictors of roundworm prevalence and abundance in raccoons. The proportion of landscape modified by urbanization was the best predictor of roundworm presence. These data will facilitate predictions regarding roundworm prevalence in areas that have not been previously sampled, and contribute to devising management strategies against the spread of raccoon roundworm.