Patterns of Early Crystalloid Resuscitation Provided to Sepsis and Septic Shock Patients

Patterns and Outcomes Associated With Timeliness of Initial Crystalloid Resuscitation in a Prospective Sepsis and Septic Shock Cohort. Crystalloid was initiated significantly later with comorbid heart failure and renal failure,... read more

PPIs do not increase risk for C. difficile infection in ICU

Proton pump inhibitors are not associated with an increased risk for Clostridium difficile infection in ICU patients, according to the results of a retrospective cohort study. PPI use was not associated with a significant... read more

Imaging platform captures hard-to-track bacterial lung infections in real time

Ahsan Akram and colleagues have created a fluorescent imaging probe that can quickly and accurately detect hard-to-trace Gram-negative bacteria (one of the major bacterial groups) in human lungs within minutes. Their first-in-human... read more

Proton-Pump Inhibitor Prophylaxis in the ICU

Critical illness can disrupt local and systemic mechanisms that protect against upper gastrointestinal bleeding, a condition that may be associated with increased mortality, particularly among patients receiving extracorporeal... read more

Decontamination Strategies and Bloodstream Infections With Antibiotic-Resistant Microorganisms in Ventilated Patients

In this cluster randomized multicenter study in 13 European ICUs, decontamination strategies with either antibiotics (SDD or SOD) or CHX mouthwash were not associated with reductions in ICU-acquired BSI with MDRGNB, nor mortality,... read more

Decontamination of Oral or Digestive Tract for Patients in the ICU

The study by Wittekamp and colleagues in this issue of JAMA evaluating strategies for decontamination of mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) fills an important gap in the evidence regarding these... read more

An Incurable Disease Is On The Rise In California, And Scientists Say Climate Change Could Cause It To Spread To Much Of The Western US

A fungus that thrives in dry soil and warm weather has caused a record number of infections in California. Experts fear climate change will cause it to spread across the western US. Valley fever, a fungal disease that infects... read more

Last Year, The Flu Put Him In A Coma. This Year He’s Getting The Shot

Charlie Hinderliter wasn't opposed to the flu shot. He didn't have a problem with vaccinations. He was one of about 53 percent of Americans who just don't get one. An estimated 80,000 Americans died of the flu, or flu-related... read more

Comparison between procalcitonin and C-reactive protein to predict blood culture results in ICU patients

Biomarkers represent an essential tool for identification of patients developing infection and to determine their clinical severity. Procalcitonin (PCT) levels appeared to be correlated with the development of severe bacterial... read more

Meet the trillions of viruses that make up your virome

If you think you don’t have viruses, think again. It may be hard to fathom, but the human body is occupied by large collections of microorganisms, commonly referred to as our microbiome, that have evolved with us since... read more

Early PREdiction of Sepsis Using Leukocyte Surface Biomarkers

From a large panel of leukocyte biomarkers, immunosuppression biomarkers were associated with subsequent sepsis in ED patients with suspected acute infection. Between January 2014 and February 2016, we recruited 272, 59 and... read more

Six Reasons to Avoid Fluoroquinolones in the Critically Ill

As an internal medicine resident and pulmonary/critical care fellow, I loved fluoroquinolones. They were effective, easy to prescribe, and had 100% oral bioavailability. However, working full-time in the ICU has forced me... read more

Viral Sepsis in Children

Sepsis in children is typically presumed to be bacterial in origin until proven otherwise, but frequently bacterial cultures ultimately return negative. Although the incidence of viral-induced sepsis is not precisely known,... read more

Circulating Biomarkers May be Unable to Detect Infection at the Early Phase of Sepsis in ICU Patients

During the study period, 363 patients with SIRS were screened, 84 having exclusion criteria. Ninety‑one patients were classified as having non‑septic SIRS and 188 as having sepsis. Eight biomarkers had an area under... read more

New World Sepsis Day Infographics

The new World Sepsis Day Infographics are now available for download, just in time for World Sepsis Day this Thursday. Please download them and feel free to use them as you see fit, on your social media channels, printed... read more

ICU Usage for Pneumonia Doubles Length of Hospital Stay

A recently released report using data from the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) verifies existing data on the prevalence of pneumonia in hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits and provides the first-ever... read more

New York State Sepsis Reporting Mandate Appears to Improve Care and Reduce Deaths

A New York State requirement that all hospitals report compliance with protocols to treat severe sepsis and septic shock appears to improve care and reduce mortality from one of the most common causes of death in those who... read more

Rapid Diagnosis of MRSA

Current standard laboratory methods for detection of oxacillin resistance require for isolation, identification, and susceptibility testing at least 48–72 h, although the multiplex PCR assay used is a rapid, sensitive,... read more

Sepsis Around the Cradle of Humankind

While representing the cutting edge of civilization everywhere, mothers and their newborn infants are a population particularly vulnerable to sepsis.1 By recognizing the importance of antiseptic prophylaxis (handwashing),... read more

Drug-resistant Superbug Spreading in Hospitals

A superbug resistant to all known antibiotics that can cause "severe" infections or even death is spreading undetected through hospital wards across the world, scientists in Australia warned on Monday. Researchers at the... read more

MRSA Protocols – Methods in Molecular Biology

Presenting the most up-to-date techniques for the detection, genotyping, and investigation of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), this second edition of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Protocols collects... read more

MRSA Protocols – Methods in Molecular Biology

Trends in Visits to Acute Care Venues for Treatment of Low-Acuity Conditions

From 2008 to 2015, total acute care utilization for the treatment of low-acuity conditions and associated spending per member in the United States increased, and utilization of non-ED acute care venues increased rapidly.... read more