Overview

My current research is focused on Clostridium difficile infection in children with cancer. Clostridium difficile is a common bacterium in the human gut that usually does not cause infection but in certain circumstances can cause diarrhea. It is significant because it can easily spread from patient to patient in hospitals if infection prevention measures and environmental cleaning practices are suboptimal. We have noted that a higher proportion of oncology patients have this infection compared to other hospitalized patients. We aim to determine whether patients get the infection in hospital or if they come to the hospital with it. This information will help us understand the true burden of C. difficile infection in oncology and improve the quality of care provided to these patients.

Publications

Comparative evaluation of laboratory developed real-time PCR assays and RealStar(®) BKV PCR Kit for quantitative detection of BK polyomavirus.
Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi G and Thomas E and Tilley P
DOI: 10.1016/j.jviromet.2016.04.009
PubMed: 27091098
08/2016

Evaluation of amplification targets for the specific detection of Bordetella pertussis using real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi GN and Thomas E and Tilley P
PubMed: 25285127
07/2014

Granulomatous herpes simplex encephalitis in an infant with multicystic encephalopathy: a distinct clinicopathologic entity?
Schutz PW and Fauth CT and Al-Rawahi GN and Pugash D and White VA and Stockler S and Dunham CP
DOI: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2013.12.008
PubMed: 24485930
04/2014

Carriage of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus by wild urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus).
Himsworth CG and Miller RR and Montoya V and Hoang L and Romney MG and Al-Rawahi GN and Kerr T and Jardine CM and Patrick DM and Tang P and Weese JS
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087983
PubMed: 24498421
2014

AMMI Canada – CACMID Annual Conference: April 2–5, 2014, Victoria, British Columbia.
2014

Clostridium difficile vertebral osteomyelitis.
Al-Najjar A and Al-Rawahi GN and Hoang LM and Kollmann TR
DOI: 10.1097/inf.0b013e318296b424
PubMed: 23594589
09/2013

Optimal use of MRSASelect and PCR to maximize sensitivity and specificity of MRSA detection.
Hasan MR and Brunstein JD and Al-Rawahi G and Tan R and Thomas E and Tilley P
DOI: 10.1007/s00284-012-0241-1
PubMed: 23053488
01/2013

Ten-year review of candidemia in a Canadian tertiary care centre: Predominance of non-albicans Candida species.
Al-Rawahi GN and Roscoe DL
PubMed: 24421833
2013

Short-term stability of pathogen-specific nucleic acid targets in clinical samples.
Hasan MR and Tan R and Al-Rawahi GN and Thomas E and Tilley P
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.02659-12
PubMed: 23052319
12/2012

Severe genital ulceration in an acute epstein-barr virus infection.
Al-Rawahi GN and Dobson SR and Scheifele DW and Rassekh SR and Murphy JJ
DOI: 10.1097/inf.0b013e3181f41b2e
PubMed: 20736877
02/2011

Swift mobilization of infection control, employee health, clinicians, engineering, laboratory and public health averted secondary cases following a large measles exposure at the British Columbia Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Thomas E and Dobson S and Al-Rawahi G and Holmes L and Gustafson R and Papilla S and Hoang L and Tilley P
2011

Community-associated CMRSA-10 (USA-300) is the predominant strain among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains causing skin and soft tissue infections in patients presenting to the emergency department of a Canadian tertiary care hospital.
Al-Rawahi GN and Reynolds S and Porter SD and Forrester L and Kishi L and Chong T and Bowie WR and Doyle PW
DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.09.030
PubMed: 18325716
01/2010

Anaerobic brain abscess following chronic suppurative otitis media in a child from Uganda.
Cox K and Al-Rawahi G and Kollmann T
PubMed: 20808460
2009

Case report: failure of subcutaneous ivermectin in treating Strongyloides hyperinfection.
Leung V and Al-Rawahi GN and Grant J and Fleckenstein L and Bowie W
PubMed: 19052292
12/2008

First report of isolation and characterization of Aurantimonas altamirensis from clinical samples.
Luong ML and Békal S and Vinh DC and Lauzon D and Leung V and Al-Rawahi GN and Ng B and Burdz T and Bernard K
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00337-08
PubMed: 18495852
07/2008

HIV-1 viral load after leukodepletion.
Al-Muharrmi Z and Al-Jabri AA and Al-Rawahi G and Scrimgeor EM and Al-Marhobi A
DOI: 10.1097/qai.0b013e318160a694
PubMed: 18520683
06/2008

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage among injection drug users: six years later.
Al-Rawahi GN and Schreader AG and Porter SD and Roscoe DL and Gustafson R and Bryce EA
DOI: 10.1128/jcm.01596-07
PubMed: 18039800
02/2008

AMMI Canada?CACMID 2008 Annual Conference February 27 ? March 2, 2008 Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre Hotel, Vancouver, British Columbia.
01/2008

Research

Candidemia
Determine the epidemiology of candidemia in adults and children.
Determine the incidence of mixed candidemia.
Determine the correlation of antifungal susceptibility with clinical outcome.

Clostridium difficile in pediatric oncology
To determine the prevalence of C. difficile by PCR (toxin gene) in stools from pediatric oncology patients at admission to hospital.
To determine the true rate of health care associated C. difficile infection and community-associated C. difficile infection in pediatric oncology patients.
Evaluate the evidence of patient to patient transmission based on typing of C. difficile isolates from pediatric oncology patients, using each patient as their own control.

Grants

Evaluation of Four Different Methods." With P. Tilley. 2010.

BC Children's Hospital. Project

BC Children's Hospital. Project

"Health-care associated C. difficile Infection in Pediatric Oncology." With S. Dobson. A. Al-Najjar, R. Deyell, E. Thomas, P. Tilley. 2013.

"Detection of toxigenic Clostridium difficile in Pediatrics

Research Group Members

Michelle Dittrick, Clinical Research Program Manager