Tag: infection
Safety of Early Tracheostomy in Trauma Patients After Anterior Cervical Fusion
Cervical spine injuries (CSIs) can have major effects on the respiratory system and carry a high incidence of pulmonary complications. Respiratory failure can be due to spinal cord injuries, concomitant facial fractures or... read more
A Non-Antibiotic Approach for Treating or Preventing Sepsis
Researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have tested a compound called cilengitide in a preclinical trial. The drug goes by the brand name InnovoSep. Researchers discover the drug has the potential to... read more
Hospital-acquired Infections – Adding Process Metrics
So far, we've only been looking at metrics that are really big and important. This is certainly a good place to start. To move beyond this, I'd like to introduce the concept of Outcome vs Process Metrics. Outcome Metrics... read more
Effect of Piperacillin-Tazobactam vs Meropenem on 30-Day Mortality for Patients With E coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae Bloodstream Infection and Ceftriaxone Resistance
Among patients with E coli or K pneumoniae bloodstream infection and ceftriaxone resistance, definitive treatment with piperacillin-tazobactam compared with meropenem did not result in a noninferior 30-day mortality. These... read more
Association of Vasopressin Plus Catecholamine Vasopressors vs Catecholamines Alone With Atrial Fibrillation in Patients With Distributive Shock
In this meta-analysis, the addition of vasopressin to catecholamine vasopressors compared with catecholamines alone was associated with a lower risk of atrial fibrillation. However, findings for secondary outcomes varied.... read more
Flu Season May Not Have Peaked, and there’s Another Wave of Severe Infections Underway
Flu activity remains high across the nation, and there's a second wave of severe infections striking some states. There were as many as 26.3 million flu illnesses, 12.4 million medical visits and 347,000 flu hospitalizations... read more
Appropriate Treatment for Bloodstream Infections Due to Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella Pneumoniae and Escherichia Coli
Tigecycline monotherapy was a choice if the strains exhibited MIC ≤0.5 mg/L, and colistin monotherapy was not suitable. Our findings can initiate additional clinical studies regarding the efficacy of tigecycline in carbapenem-resistant... read more
Sepsis Test Could Show Results In Minutes
A new rapid test for earlier diagnosis of sepsis is being developed by University of Strathclyde researchers. The device, which has been tested in a laboratory, may be capable of producing results in two-and-a-half minutes,... read more
Antibiotic Treatment of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia
Although more prospective therapy trials of Hospital-acquired Pneumonia (HAP) are needed, based on currently available data, it is possible to use an approach that provides appropriate therapy without the overuse of broad-spectrum... read more
The Clinical Impacts and Risk Factors for Non-central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection in 5046 ICU Patients
Most of the previous studies focused on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), while non-central line-associated bloodstream infection (N-CLABSI) was poorly studied. This study was performed to investigate... read more
Fever Control in Critically Ill Adults
One potential way to protect patients from the physiological demands that are a consequence of fever is to aim to prevent fever and to treat it assiduously when it occurs. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that more... read more
UV Light Reduces Hospital-acquired Infections
A new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) shows that ultraviolet (UV) disinfection technology, called PurpleSun, eliminates up to 97.7 percent of pathogens in the operating room (OR). Using... read more
Flu Has Sickened More Than 13 Million This Season
The CDC estimates that there have been 13.2 million to 15.2 million flu illnesses this season. The CDC estimates there have been 6.2 million to 7.2 million flu medical visits and 155,000 to 186,000 flu hospitalizations this... read more
Study Shows How Bacteria Spread from Sink Drainpipes to Patients
Many recent reports have found multidrug resistant bacteria living in hospital sink drainpipes, putting them in close proximity to vulnerable patients. But how the bacteria find their way out of the drains, and into patients... read more
Reducing Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections in the ICU
Patients in the ICU are at higher risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) due to more frequent use of catheters and lower threshold for obtaining urine cultures. This review provides a summary of CAUTI... read more
One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable
Johns Hopkins Study Shows One of the Deadliest Hospital-Acquired Infections Is Preventable. For some hospital patients, going on a ventilator is often the difference between life and death. About 800,000 hospital patients... read more
Probiotic and Synbiotic Therapy in Critical Illness
Critical illness is characterized by a loss of commensal flora and an overgrowth of potentially pathogenic bacteria, leading to a high susceptibility to nosocomial infections. Probiotics are living non-pathogenic microorganisms,... read more
Widespread use of Chlorhexidine Doesn’t Promote Resistance in S. Aureus
Investigators from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Division of Infectious Diseases recently published reassuring data indicating that use of chlorhexidine (CHG) to bathe hospitalized patients does not lead... read more
Reassessing the death risk related to probiotics in critically ill patients
Probiotics prove to be a very useful weapon to reduce infections in critically ill patients, although strong recommendation in support of their use cannot be drawn yet. Reassessing the risk ratio with the meta-analytic software... read more
Mimics of Sepsis: What do ED Physicians Need to Know?
SIRS and sepsis are common clinical entities. A wide range of estimates for prevalence exists, with 300 to 1000 cases per 100,000 persons per year. Once a septic patient is admitted, more than half will require at least step... read more
Infectious Diseases in the Pediatric ICU
Infants and children are at high risk of acquiring infections and this is most critical on the pediatric intensive care unit, as these infections have serious effects on mortality. Infectious Diseases in the Pediatric Intensive... read more
Host Genetic Variants in Sepsis Risk
Published data revealed that host genetic variants have a substantial influence on sepsis susceptibility. However, the results have been inconsistent. We aimed to systematically review the published studies and quantitatively... read more
