Free Infectious Medicine CME

Target Audience: Physicians focusing on Infectious Diseases. 

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

Clostridioides difficile (formerly known as Clostridium difficile) is a gram-positive obligate anaerobe that produces exotoxins in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract resulting in watery, loose stool, abdominal pain, and nausea. The U.S. incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is about half a million people, with 28% community-acquired, 37% healthcare-associated, and 36% associated with long-term care facilities. Additionally, CDI has incurred one billion dollars in costs to the U.S. healthcare system. Antibiotic exposure causes changes to the GI microflora and increases the risk of developing CDI, which is especially seen in carbapenems, third-/fourth- generation cephalosporins, clindamycin, and fluoroquinolone use. Other risk factors include acid suppressive therapy; age; prolonged hospitalizations or other recent healthcare exposure; recent tube feeding or GI surgery; and immunocompromised states, including recent chemotherapy.

Target Audience:

HCPs including: infectious diseases physicians, gastroenterologists, hospitalists, and intensivists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in the aforementioned areas of specialty; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with CDI. 

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

The WHO defines vaccine hesitancy (VH) as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services.” Despite substantial progress in rates of routine immunization over the decades prior to the most recent one, more recent trends suggest that immunization rates are beginning to plateau. Beyond VH and skepticism, there is also the embrace of outright vaccine rejection or denial fostered by the presence disinformation on conventional and social media platforms including claims that vacines are unsafe or unnecessary. Recent outbreaks of largely eradicated diseases such as measles, mumps, and diphtheria suggest that herd immunity may have suffered, putting those ineligible for vaccination at additional risk of infection. These developments have been attributed in part to VH and denial.

One large group with increasing VH is parents. A 2019 national survey found that approximately 1 in 4 parents reported serious concerns towards vaccinating their children. Another study saw that in up to 35% parents of well-vaccinated children demonstrate VH. Parents may raise issues that many providers feel ill-equipped to answer, due to lack of thorough knowledge of all vaccines or lack of evidence-based communication strategies. Unfortunately, only few evidence-based strategies exist to guide providers in their discussions with vaccine-hesitant parents.

Providers play a crucial role in vaccinating populations, but it is not and should not be their sole responsibility. Clinical practice sites, community organizations, health organizations, and government all contribute to addressing VH. Understanding potential solutions outside the office, such as media campaigns and policy changes, also provide insight into vaccine hesitancy and potential directions for future use.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: Primary care physicians, pediatricians, and public health professionals; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in adult internal medicine and pediatrics; and any other clinicians who commonly encounter patients eligible for protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a phenomenon fueled by the selection pressure leveled against microorganisms through the use and misuse of antimicrobials in clinical and agricultural settings as well as horizontal gene transfer between pathogens. The WHO predicts that there will be 50 million deaths caused by infectious diseases, and the U.N. General Assembly has designated the emergence of AMR the largest world health problem.

The World Health Assembly has endorsed a Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, including one step to address AMR: the sustainable investment in and development of new antimicrobials. Helping the clinician discern the role of these advances merits continuing healthcare professional education, as research suggests that HCPs are oftentimes unable to keep up with the steady publishing of literature and evolution of clinical practice. In so doing, the goal is to educate clinicians about the appropriate role of novel antibiotics so that they may more effectively address the challenge of AMR rather than contributing to it.

Target Audience:

HCPs specializing in: Infectious disease, critical care, and primary care; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in the aforementioned areas of specialty; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who treat patients with antimicrobials.

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

• Identify key findings from the ID Week 2019 conference.
• Apply the changes in CAP guidelines 2019 from 2007.
• Identify novel drugs approved in 2019 and their potential.
• Understand the implications of some current research and paradigm shifts.
• Review HIV progress in the last year.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online CME self-learning activity:

According to the CDC, there are more than 1.1 million people aged thirteen and older living with HIV (PLWH). Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, advances in public health initiatives and treatments have considerably lengthened the life expectancy of PLWH, and as they have begun to live longer, the number of patients with chronic HIV infection has greatly increased. What was once acute inpatient care of the dying has become outpatient chronic disease management with an emphasis on a long-term balancing act that involves the consideration of comorbidities, drug interactions, and adverse drug events in an aging HIV population.

Projections suggest that there may soon be a shortage of HIV providers. To avoid the imminent shortfall of HIV specialists, PCPs to manage HIV infection, comorbidities, and sequelae is critical to meeting the demand for HIV care. The quality of HIV care experienced PCPs provide is substantially similar to that of infectious disease specialists, but research shows that nearly 40% of PCPs and residents do not feel comfortable providing comprehensive services for PLWH in all disease stages.

Target Audience:

HCPs specializing in: primary care; family medicine; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in primary care; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with HIV.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

The term human papillomavirus encompasses a family of DNA viruses that are sexually transmittable and may cause either benign or malignant lesions. They are the leading cause of cervical cancer (CC), with approximately 90% of CC cases attributable to HPV, as well as a major contributor to anogenital and head and neck cancers, although many patients infected with HPV will never develop any related symptoms or disease. The prevalence of HPV in the U.S. is 42.5 million people, and direct medical costs attributed to it are $775 million. HPV 16 accounts for a majority or plurality of HPV-related cancers of both genital tract and head and neck.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends HPV vaccination beginning as early as age nine for both sexes, with the schedule and number of doses dependent on age of first dose.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: Primary care physicians and pediatricians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in the aforementioned areas of specialty; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients who would benefit from HPV vaccination.