Daniel Kelly Benjamin Jr.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · October 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Suspected or complicated intra-abdominal infections are common in young infants and lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Meropenem is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent with excellent activity against pathogens associated with intra-a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Coagulase-negative staphylococcal infections in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Journal article Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · July 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the most commonly isolated pathogens in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). CoNS infections are associated with increased morbidity, including neurodevelopmental impairment. OBJECTIVE: To describ ... Full text Link to item Cite

Repeat lumbar punctures in infants with meningitis in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Journal article J Perinatol · June 2011 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine the results of repeat lumbar puncture in infants with initial positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures in order to determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of infants with repeat positive cul ... Full text Link to item Cite

Safety and pharmacokinetics of multiple-dose anidulafungin in infants and neonates.

Journal article Clin Pharmacol Ther · May 2011 Featured Publication Candida infections are common and often fatal in infants and neonates. Anidulafungin has excellent activity against Candida species, but the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of the drug in infants and neonates are unknown. The object of our study was to de ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fluconazole loading dose pharmacokinetics and safety in infants.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · May 2011 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Invasive candidiasis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill infants. Prompt administration of fluconazole and achievement of the therapeutic target (area under the curve 0 to 24 hours >400 mg*h/L) improve outcomes in ca ... Full text Link to item Cite

Higher clearance of micafungin in neonates compared with adults: role of age-dependent micafungin serum binding.

Journal article Biopharm Drug Dispos · May 2011 Featured Publication Micafungin, a new echinocandin antifungal agent, has been used widely for the treatment of various fungal infections in human populations. Micafungin is predominantly cleared by biliary excretion and it binds extensively to plasma proteins. Micafungin body ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neonatal candidiasis: epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical judgment.

Journal article Pediatrics · October 2010 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Invasive candidiasis is a leading cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality in extremely low birth weight (<1000-g) infants. We quantified risk factors that predict infection in premature infants at high risk and compared clinical judgm ... Full text Link to item Cite

Population pharmacokinetics of micafungin in neonates and young infants.

Journal article Antimicrob Agents Chemother · June 2010 Featured Publication Micafungin is an echinocandin with potent activity against Candida spp. Hematogenous Candida meningoencephalitis (HCME) is a frequent complication of disseminated Candida infection in premature infants. A preclinical model of HCME suggests that micafungin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Outcomes of catheter-associated infections in pediatric patients with short bowel syndrome.

Journal article J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr · April 2010 Featured Publication Children with short bowel syndrome requiring long-term total parenteral nutrition are at high risk for catheter-associated infections. The optimal management of catheter infections in this patient population is unknown. We conducted a retrospective observa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Safety and pharmacokinetics of repeat-dose micafungin in young infants.

Journal article Clin Pharmacol Ther · January 2010 Featured Publication Given the risk of central nervous system infection, relatively high weight-based echinocandin dosages may be required for the successful treatment of invasive candidiasis and candidemia in young infants. This open-label study assessed the safety and pharma ... Full text Link to item Cite

Fluconazole dosing for the prevention or treatment of invasive candidiasis in young infants.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · August 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Young infants are susceptible to developmental factors influencing the pharmacokinetics of drugs. Fluconazole is increasingly used to prevent and treat invasive candidiasis in infants. Dosing guidance remains empiric and variable because limite ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pharmacokinetics of an elevated dosage of micafungin in premature neonates.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · May 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Determining the safety and pharmacokinetics of antifungal agents in neonates is important. A previous single-dose pharmacokinetic study of micafungin in neonates demonstrated that doses of 0.75 to 3 mg/kg produced lower plasma micafungin concen ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical practice guidelines for the management of candidiasis: 2009 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Journal article Clin Infect Dis · March 1, 2009 Featured Publication Guidelines for the management of patients with invasive candidiasis and mucosal candidiasis were prepared by an Expert Panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. These updated guidelines replace the previous guidelines published in the 15 January ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prolonged duration of initial empirical antibiotic treatment is associated with increased rates of necrotizing enterocolitis and death for extremely low birth weight infants.

Journal article Pediatrics · January 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to identify factors associated with the duration of the first antibiotic course initiated in the first 3 postnatal days and to assess associations between the duration of the initial antibiotic course and subsequent necrotiz ... Full text Link to item Cite

Traumatic lumbar punctures in neonates: test performance of the cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell count.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · December 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings are often used to diagnose meningitis in neonates given antibiotics before the lumbar puncture is performed. Traumatic lumbar punctures are common and complicate interpretation of CSF white blood cell counts. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Population pharmacokinetics of fluconazole in young infants.

Journal article Antimicrob Agents Chemother · November 2008 Featured Publication Fluconazole is being increasingly used to prevent and treat invasive candidiasis in neonates, yet dosing is largely empirical due to the lack of adequate pharmacokinetic (PK) data. We performed a multicenter population PK study of fluconazole in 23- to 40- ... Full text Link to item Cite

Safety of placebo controls in pediatric hypertension trials.

Journal article Hypertension · April 2008 Featured Publication Many clinical trials, including those in pediatric populations, use a placebo arm for medical conditions for which there are readily available therapeutic interventions. Several short-term efficacy trials of antihypertensive medications performed in respon ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pediatric antihypertensive trial failures: analysis of end points and dose range.

Journal article Hypertension · April 2008 Featured Publication Historically, drugs prescribed for children have not been studied in pediatric populations. Since 1997, however, a 6-month extension of marketing rights is granted if manufacturers conduct Food and Drug Administration-defined pediatric trials. In nearly ha ... Full text Link to item Cite

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of micafungin in experimental hematogenous Candida meningoencephalitis: implications for echinocandin therapy in neonates.

Journal article J Infect Dis · January 1, 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Hematogenous Candida meningoencephalitis (HCME) is a relatively frequent manifestation of disseminated candidiasis in neonates and is associated with significant mortality and neurodevelopmental abnormalities. The outcome after antifungal thera ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mortality and neurodevelopmental outcome after Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia in infants.

Journal article Pediatr Infect Dis J · December 2007 Featured Publication We compared outcomes in infants with methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. Infants with methicillin-resistant S. aureus infection had a longer median duration of bacteremia (4.5 versus 1 day, P = 0.01), but no di ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predictive value of cerebrospinal fluid parameters in neonates with intraventricular drainage devices.

Journal article J Neurosurg · September 2007 Featured Publication OBJECT: Infection is a common and potentially devastating complication following placement of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) reservoirs in neonates. The goal of this study was to determine the normal ranges for cell count pa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Economic return of clinical trials performed under the pediatric exclusivity program.

Journal article JAMA · February 7, 2007 Featured Publication CONTEXT: In 1997, Congress authorized the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant 6-month extensions of marketing rights through the Pediatric Exclusivity Program if industry sponsors complete FDA-requested pediatric trials. The program has been pra ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Neonatal Candida meningitis: significance of cerebrospinal fluid parameters and blood cultures.

Journal article J Perinatol · February 2007 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters in Candida meningitis and the proportion of candidemia associated with Candida meningitis. STUDY DESIGN: We evaluated the initial lumbar punctu ... Full text Link to item Cite

Peer-reviewed publication of clinical trials completed for pediatric exclusivity.

Journal article JAMA · September 13, 2006 Featured Publication CONTEXT: Much of pediatric drug use is off-label because appropriate pediatric studies have not been conducted and the drugs have not been labeled by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in children. In 1997, Congress authorized the FDA to gra ... Full text Link to item Cite

The association of third-generation cephalosporin use and invasive candidiasis in extremely low birth-weight infants.

Journal article Pediatrics · August 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that incidence of invasive candidiasis varies substantially among centers, and previous use of broad-spectrum antibiotics is a risk factor for candidiasis in extremely low birth-weight infants. Differences in center ... Full text Link to item Cite

A blinded, randomized, multicenter study of an intravenous Staphylococcus aureus immune globulin.

Journal article J Perinatol · May 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVES: Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants are vulnerable to nosocomial infections and subsequent morbidity; including infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus: 85% of nosocomial S. aureus infections are caused by capsular polysaccharide (CPS) type ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neonatal meningitis: what is the correlation among cerebrospinal fluid cultures, blood cultures, and cerebrospinal fluid parameters?

Journal article Pediatrics · April 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Meningitis is a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. Clinicians frequently use the presence of positive blood cultures to determine whether neonates should undergo lumbar puncture. Abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) paramet ... Full text Link to item Cite

Safety and pharmacokinetics of intravenous anidulafungin in children with neutropenia at high risk for invasive fungal infections.

Journal article Antimicrob Agents Chemother · February 2006 Featured Publication Anidulafungin is an echinocandin with activity against Candida species and Aspergillus species. Adult dosages under study are 50 mg/day for esophageal candidiasis and 100 mg/day for invasive candidiasis and aspergillosis. Little is known, however, about th ... Full text Link to item Cite

Neonatal candidiasis among extremely low birth weight infants: risk factors, mortality rates, and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 22 months.

Journal article Pediatrics · January 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Neonatal candidiasis is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality rates. Neurodevelopmental follow-up data for a large multicenter cohort have not been reported. METHODS: Data were collected prospectively for neonates born at <1000 g ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improved neurodevelopmental outcomes following long-term high-dose oral acyclovir therapy in infants with central nervous system and disseminated herpes simplex disease.

Journal article J Perinatol · March 2005 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Infants with neonatal herpes, classified as central nervous system or disseminated disease, have a high incidence of moderate and severe neurologic deficits despite standard acute therapy. STUDY DESIGN: Following completion of parenteral therapy ... Full text Link to item Cite

Mortality following blood culture in premature infants: increased with Gram-negative bacteremia and candidemia, but not Gram-positive bacteremia.

Journal article J Perinatol · March 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To describe survival following nosocomial bloodstream infections and quantify excess mortality associated with positive blood culture. STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter cohort study of premature infants. RESULTS: First blood culture was negative for 464 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Postconception age and other risk factors associated with mortality following Gram-negative rod bacteremia.

Journal article J Perinatol · March 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Neonatal nosocomial Gram-negative rod bacteremia (GNR-b) is considered ominous. DESIGN: Multi-center cohort study of premature infants (N=6172) who had a blood culture after day of life 3 and whose birthweight was < or =1250 g. RESULTS: A total ... Full text Link to item Cite