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We analyzed 9630 invasive GAS surveillance isolates in the USA. From 2015-2017 to 2018-2019, significant increases in erythromycin-nonsusceptibility (18% vs 25%) and clindamycin-nonsusceptibility (17% vs 24%) occurred, driven by rapid expansions of genomic subclones. Prevention and control of clustered infections appear key to containing antimicrobial resistance., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. All authors: No reported conflicts of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2022.)

In April 2021, we assessed mRNA vaccine effectiveness (VE) in the context of a COVID-19 outbreak in a skilled nursing facility. Among 28 cases, genomic sequencing was performed on 4 specimens on 4 different patients, and all were classified by sequence analysis as the Beta (B.1.351) variant. Adjusted VE among residents was 65% (95% confidence interval: 25-84%). These findings underscore the importance of vaccination for prevention of COVID-19 in skilled nursing facilities., Competing Interests: Potential conflicts of interest. The authors: No reported conflicts of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript have been disclosed., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2022.)

Background: To inform prevention strategies, we assessed the extent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission and settings in which transmission occurred in a Georgia public school district., Methods: During 1 December 2020-22 January 2021, SARS-CoV-2-infected index cases and their close contacts in schools were identified by school and public health officials. For in-school contacts, we assessed symptoms and offered SARS-CoV-2 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing; performed epidemiologic investigations and whole-genome sequencing to identify in-school transmission; and calculated secondary attack rate (SAR) by school setting (eg, sports, elementary school classroom), index case role (ie, staff, student), and index case symptomatic status., Results: We identified 86 index cases and 1119 contacts, 688 (61.5%) of whom received testing. Fifty-nine of 679 (8.7%) contacts tested positive; 15 of 86 (17.4%) index cases resulted in ≥2 positive contacts. Among 55 persons testing positive with available symptom data, 31 (56.4%) were asymptomatic. Highest SARs were in indoor, high-contact sports settings (23.8% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 12.7%-33.3%]), staff meetings/lunches (18.2% [95% CI, 4.5%-31.8%]), and elementary school classrooms (9.5% [95% CI, 6.5%-12.5%]). The SAR was higher for staff (13.1% [95% CI, 9.0%-17.2%]) vs student index cases (5.8% [95% CI, 3.6%-8.0%]) and for symptomatic (10.9% [95% CI, 8.1%-13.9%]) vs asymptomatic index cases (3.0% [95% CI, 1.0%-5.5%])., Conclusions: Indoor sports may pose a risk to the safe operation of in-person learning. Preventing infection in staff members, through measures that include coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination, is critical to reducing in-school transmission. Because many positive contacts were asymptomatic, contact tracing should be paired with testing, regardless of symptoms., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021.)

Background: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a leading cause of acute respiratory conditions that frequently result in antibiotic prescribing. Vaccines against GAS are currently in development., Methods: We estimated the incidence rates of healthcare visits and antibiotic prescribing for pharyngitis, sinusitis, and acute otitis media (AOM) in the United States using nationally representative surveys of outpatient care provision, supplemented by insurance claims data. We estimated the proportion of these episodes attributable to GAS and to GAS emm types included in a proposed 30-valent vaccine. We used these outputs to estimate the incidence rates of outpatient visits and antibiotic prescribing preventable by GAS vaccines with various efficacy profiles under infant and school-age dosing schedules., Results: GAS pharyngitis causes 19.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 17.3-21.1) outpatient visits and 10.2 (95% CI, 9.0-11.5) antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 US persons aged 0-64 years, annually. GAS pharyngitis causes 93.2 (95% CI, 82.3-105.3) visits and 53.2 (95% CI, 45.2-62.5) antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 children ages 3-9 years, annually, representing 5.9% (95% CI, 5.1-7.0%) of all outpatient antibiotic prescribing in this age group. Collectively, GAS-attributable pharyngitis, sinusitis, and AOM cause 26.9 (95% CI, 23.9-30.8) outpatient visits and 16.1 (95% CI, 14.0-18.7) antibiotic prescriptions per 1000 population, annually. A 30-valent GAS vaccine meeting the World Health Organization's 80% efficacy target could prevent 5.4% (95% CI, 4.6-6.4%) of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions among children aged 3-9 years. If vaccine prevention of GAS pharyngitis made the routine antibiotic treatment of pharyngitis unnecessary, up to 17.1% (95% CI, 15.0-19.6%) of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions among children aged 3-9 years could be prevented., Conclusions: An efficacious GAS vaccine could prevent substantial incidences of pharyngitis infections and associated antibiotic prescribing in the United States., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Our objective was to describe the duration of antibiotic therapy for the management of common outpatient conditions. The median duration of antibiotic courses for most common conditions, except for acute cystitis, was 10 days, in many cases exceeding guideline-recommended durations., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020.)

The proportion of antibiotic prescriptions prescribed in US physician offices and emergency departments that were unnecessary decreased slightly, from 30% in 2010-2011 to 28% in 2014-2015. However, a greater decrease occurred in children: 32% in 2010-2011 to 19% in 2014-2015. Unnecessary prescribing in adults did not change during this period., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Improving appropriate antibiotic use is crucial for combating antibiotic resistance and unnecessary adverse drug reactions. Acute respiratory illness (ARI) commonly causes outpatient visits and accounts for ~41% of antibiotics used in the United States. We examined the influence of influenza vaccination on reducing antibiotic prescriptions among outpatients with ARI., Methods: We enrolled outpatients aged ≥6 months with ARI from 50-60 US clinics during 5 winters (2013-2018) and tested for influenza with RT-PCR; results were unavailable for clinical decision making and clinical influenza testing was infrequent. We collected antibiotic prescriptions and diagnosis codes for ARI syndromes. We calculated vaccine effectiveness (VE) by comparing vaccination odds among influenza-positive cases with test-negative controls. We estimated ARI visits and antibiotic prescriptions averted by influenza vaccination using estimates of VE, coverage, and prevalence of antibiotic prescriptions and influenza., Results: Among 37 487 ARI outpatients, 9659 (26%) were influenza positive. Overall, 36% of ARI and 26% of influenza-positive patients were prescribed antibiotics. The top 3 prevalent ARI syndromes included: viral upper respiratory tract infection (47%), pharyngitis (18%), and allergy or asthma (11%). Among patients testing positive for influenza, 77% did not receive an ICD-CM diagnostic code for influenza. Overall, VE against influenza-associated ARI was 35% (95% CI, 32-39%). Vaccination prevented 5.6% of all ARI syndromes, ranging from 2.8% (sinusitis) to 11% (clinical influenza). Influenza vaccination averted 1 in 25 (3.8%; 95% CI, 3.6-4.1%) antibiotic prescriptions among ARI outpatients during influenza seasons., Conclusions: Vaccination and accurate influenza diagnosis may curb unnecessary antibiotic use and reduce the global threat of antibiotic resistance., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Improving antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings is a public health priority. In the United States, urgent care (UC) encounters are increasing and have high rates of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing. Our objective was to characterize antibiotic prescribing practices during UC encounters, with a focus on respiratory tract conditions. This was a retrospective cohort study of UC encounters in the Intermountain Healthcare network. Among 1.16 million UC encounters, antibiotics were prescribed during 34% of UC encounters and respiratory conditions accounted for 61% of all antibiotics prescribed. Of respiratory encounters, 50% resulted in antibiotic prescriptions, yet the variability at the level of the provider ranged from 3% to 94%. Similar variability between providers was observed for respiratory conditions where antibiotics were not indicated and in first-line antibiotic selection for sinusitis, otitis media, and pharyngitis. These findings support the importance of developing antibiotic stewardship interventions specifically targeting UC settings., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2019. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.)

Background: While antibiotics are life-saving drugs, their use is not without risk, including adverse events and antibiotic resistance. The majority of US antibiotic prescriptions are prescribed in outpatient settings, making outpatient antibiotic prescribing an important antibiotic stewardship target. The primary objective of this study was to describe trends in US outpatient oral antibiotic prescriptions from 2011-2016., Methods: We estimated annual oral antibiotic prescription rates using national prescription dispensing count data from IQVIA Xponent, divided by census estimates for 2011-2016. We calculated the ratio of broad- to narrow-spectrum prescriptions by dividing broad-spectrum prescription rates by narrow-spectrum prescription rates. We used Poisson models to estimate prevalence rate ratios, comparing 2011 and 2016 antibiotic prescription rates, and linear models to evaluate temporal trends throughout the study period., Results: Oral antibiotic prescription rates decreased 5%, from 877 prescriptions per 1000 persons in 2011 to 836 per 1000 persons in 2016. During this period, rates of prescriptions dispensed to children decreased 13%, while adult rates increased 2%. The ratio of broad- to narrow-spectrum antibiotics decreased from 1.62 in 2011 to 1.49 in 2016, driven by decreases in macrolides and fluoroquinolones. The proportion of prescriptions written by nurse practitioners and physician assistants increased during the study period; in 2016, these providers prescribed over one-quarter of all antibiotic prescriptions., Conclusions: Outpatient antibiotic prescription rates, especially of broad-spectrum agents, have decreased in recent years. Clinicians who prescribe to adults, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are important targets for antibiotic stewardship., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2019.)

The Food and Drug Administration warned against fluoroquinolone use for conditions with effective alternative agents. An estimated 5.1% of adult ambulatory fluoroquinolone prescriptions were for conditions that did not require antibiotics, and 19.9% were for conditions where fluoroquinolones are not recommended first-line therapy. Unnecessary fluoroquinolone use should be reduced.