Changing trends in bacterial infections: Staphylococcus aureus, bacterial pneumonia, Clostridium difficile

Changing bacterial diseases in the general population of which HIV practitioners should be aware include: new staphylococcal syndromes caused by community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA300 strains (eg, necrotizing skin infections, pneumonia, fasciitis); continued high rates of community-acquired pneumonia in the potent antiretroviral therapy era; increase rates and severity of Clostridium difficile-associated disease due to the fluoroquinolone-resistant NAP1 strain, and the new scare from extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, primarily as a potential threat to health care in Africa. This article summarizes a presentation on important bacterial infections made by John G. Bartlett, MD, at the International AIDS Society-USA course in New York in March 2007.