Scholars@Duke
Christopher James Hostler

Christopher James Hostler

Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine
Medicine, Infectious Diseases
Box 102359, DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
VA Medical Center, 508 Fulton St.-Bldg 1-Rm.8002, Durham, NC 27705

Scholarly Works - Journal articles

Peripheral blood cytokine profiles predict the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection: an EPIC3 study analysis.

Journal article BMC Infect Dis · May 8, 2025 BACKGROUND: Predicting which patients will develop severe COVID-19 complications could improve clinical care. Peripheral blood cytokine profiles may predict the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but none have been identified in US Veterans. METHODS: We ana ... Full text Link to item Cite

Postoperative outcomes after receipt of ertapenem antimicrobial prophylaxis for colon surgery: a multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Journal article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · October 2024 OBJECTIVE: To evaluate postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing colon surgery who receive perioperative prophylaxis with ertapenem compared to other antibiotic regimens. DESIGN AND SETTING: Multicenter retrospective cohort study among adults underg ... Full text Link to item Cite

Monkeypox: recognition and prevention in sports.

Journal article Br J Sports Med · February 2023 Full text Link to item Cite

Medications Associated with Lower Mortality in a SARS-CoV-2 Positive Cohort of 26,508 Veterans.

Journal article J Gen Intern Med · December 2022 BACKGROUND: Many severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive patients take commonly prescribed medications with properties which may affect mortality. OBJECTIVE: Assess if common medications postulated to affect clinical outcomes ... Full text Link to item Cite

COVID-19 vaccination intention and activation among health care system employees: A mixed methods study.

Journal article Vaccine · August 19, 2022 BACKGROUND: Achieving high COVID-19 vaccination rates among employees is necessary to prevent outbreaks in health care settings. The goal of the study was to produce actionable and timely evidence about factors underlying the intention and decisions to obt ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Effectiveness and use of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction point of care testing in a large-scale COVID-19 surveillance system.

Journal article Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf · May 2022 BACKGROUND: Rapid COVID-19 testing platforms can identify infected individuals at the point of care (POC), allowing immediate isolation of infected individuals and reducing the risk of transmission. While lab-based nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) ... Full text Link to item Cite

Results from a Test-to-Release from Isolation Strategy Among Fully Vaccinated National Football League Players and Staff Members with COVID-19 - United States, December 14-19, 2021.

Journal article MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep · February 25, 2022 During December 2021, the United States experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, coinciding with predominance of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant (1). During this surge, the National Football League (NFL) and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) adjuste ... Full text Link to item Cite

Impact of Implementation of the Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship Within Veterans Health Administration Emergency Departments and Primary Care Clinics on Antibiotic Prescribing and Patient Outcomes.

Journal article Clin Infect Dis · September 7, 2021 BACKGROUND: The Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship provide a framework to improve antibiotic use. We report the impact of core elements implementation within Veterans Health Administration sites. METHODS: In this quasiexperimental controlle ... Full text Link to item Cite

COVID-19-Associated Mortality in US Veterans with and without SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Journal article Int J Environ Res Public Health · August 11, 2021 BACKGROUND: We performed an observational Veterans Health Administration cohort analysis to assess how risk factors affect 30-day mortality in SARS-CoV-2-infected subjects relative to those uninfected. While the risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (C ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Tap Water Avoidance Decreases Rates of Hospital-onset Pulmonary Nontuberculous Mycobacteria.

Journal article Clin Infect Dis · August 2, 2021 We analyzed the impact of a hospital tap water avoidance protocol on respiratory isolation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). After protocol implementation, hospital-onset episodes of respiratory NTM isolation on high-risk units decreased from 41.0 to 9 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimizing SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in the United States: Insights From the National Football League Occupational Health Program.

Journal article Ann Intern Med · August 2021 BACKGROUND: Evidence to understand effective strategies for surveillance and early detection of SARS-CoV-2 is limited. OBJECTIVE: To describe the results of a rigorous, large-scale COVID-19 testing and monitoring program. DESIGN: The U.S. National Football ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surgeon choice in the use of postdischarge antibiotics for prophylaxis following mastectomy with and without breast reconstruction.

Journal article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · April 2021 Multiple guidelines recommend discontinuation of prophylactic antibiotics <24 hours after surgery. In a multicenter, retrospective cohort of 2,954 mastectomy patients ± immediate breast reconstruction, we found that utilization of prophylactic postdischarg ... Full text Link to item Cite

Implementation and Evolution of Mitigation Measures, Testing, and Contact Tracing in the National Football League, August 9-November 21, 2020.

Journal article MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep · January 29, 2021 The National Football League (NFL) and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) began the 2020 football season in July, implementing extensive mitigation and surveillance measures in facilities and during travel and gameplay. Mitigation protocols* were evaluate ... Full text Link to item Cite

Differences in time-to-testing and time-to-isolation between community-onset and hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile cases at a tertiary care VA medical center.

Journal article Am J Infect Control · October 2020 BACKGROUND: Delayed identification and isolation of patients with Clostridiodies difficile infection (CDI) may contribute to in-hospital transmission and delay appropriate therapy. To assess potential points for intervention, we conducted a retrospective c ... Full text Link to item Cite

How to Obtain a Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimen.

Journal article N Engl J Med · July 16, 2020 Full text Link to item Cite

Postdischarge antibiotic use for prophylaxis following spinal fusion.

Journal article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · July 2020 OBJECTIVE: Despite recommendations to discontinue prophylactic antibiotics after incision closure or <24 hours after surgery, prophylactic antibiotics are continued after discharge by some clinicians. The objective of this study was to determine the preval ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1) and Programmed Death-Ligand 1(PD-L1) Inhibitor Therapy in HIV Patients with Advanced Cancer.

Journal article J Oncol · 2019 Due to HAART and consequent decline in mortality from infectious complications, HIV patients have an increasing burden of non-AIDS defining cancers. Data on their safety and efficacy is unknown as these patients were excluded from clinical trials due to co ... Full text Link to item Cite

Feasibility and Value of Developing a Regional Antibiogram for Community Hospitals.

Journal article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · June 2018 OBJECTIVETo determine the feasibility and value of developing a regional antibiogram for community hospitals.DESIGNMulticenter retrospective analysis of antibiograms.SETTING AND PARTICIPANTSA total of 20 community hospitals in central and eastern North Car ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fidaxomicin for treatment of clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and its potential role for prophylaxis.

Journal article Expert Opin Pharmacother · August 2013 INTRODUCTION: Clostridium difficile has become the most important healthcare-associated infection worldwide within the past decade. This is in part due to the emergence of a highly virulent epidemic strain of C. difficile as well as the relative ineffectiv ... Full text Link to item Cite