Tag: infection
Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!
An excellent analogy on how doing nothing can be the best option. Penalty kicks in soccer can make fans crumple with anguish or weep with elation. The kicker sends the ball rocketing toward the goal and goalkeepers lunge... read more
Selepressin – An Effective Substitute for Norepinephrine
Selepressin, a novel selective vasopressin V1A agonist, is an effective substitute for norepinephrine in a phase IIa randomized, placebo-controlled trial in septic shock patients. Vasopressin is widely used for vasopressor... read more
NIH Herpesvirus Study Leads to Discovery of Potential Broad-Spectrum Antiviral
Scientists studying how regulated herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection unexpectedly found that inhibiting EZH2/1 suppressed viral infection. The research group, from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases... read more
Antibiotic Guidelines Improve Prescription Practices for Vulnerable Infants
Yale University School of Medicine neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) significantly reduced the number of cases of late-onset sepsis, a leading cause of death among pre-term infants, by implementing guidelines designed to... read more
Incidence, Prevalence, and Management of MRSA Bacteremia Across Patient Populations
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is still a major global healthcare problem. Of concern is S. aureus bacteremia, which exhibits high rates of morbidity and mortality and can cause metastatic or... read more
A Methodological Study to Develop a Standard Protocol for Central Line Catheter Care of ICU Patients
This study aims to develop a standard operational protocol (SOP) for central line catheter care for nurses. Central line based infection is the most significant complication in critical care setting. It is a challenge for... read more
Candida Auris a “Perfect Storm” Superbug
How an invasive fungus got health officials' attention. Try as they might, the infection control specialists at Royal Brompton Hospital could not eradicate the invasive fungus that was attacking already gravely ill patients... read more
Can Electronic Alerts Help Identify Sepsis in Sick Children?
A two-step electronic alert system successfully reduced missed sepsis diagnoses in children by 76 percent. The new pediatric protocol, which incorporates the use of vital signs, risk factors, and a clinician's judgment,... read more
A Brief Review of Troponin Testing for Clinicians
Current American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines state that troponin is the preferred biomarker for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (MI). Troponin T (TnT) and I molecules have amino... read more
This Startup Could Revolutionize How We Fight Infectious Diseases
Karius Test has raised $50 million to develop a novel technology that can detect more than 1,000 infectious diseases, without requiring the usual trial-and-error tests. The test is expensive at $2,000, and is meant for use... read more
Better Detection & Response to Outbreaks with Enhanced Data
Established in 2016, CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) supports nationwide lab capacity to rapidly detect antibiotic resistance in healthcare, food, and the community, and inform local responses... read more
Readmissions for Recurrent Sepsis: New or Relapsed Infection?
Sepsis hospitalizations are frequently followed by hospital readmissions, often for recurrent sepsis. However, it is unclear how often sepsis readmissions are for relapsed/recrudescent vs. new infections. The aim of this... read more
Mechanisms of Severe Mortality-associated Bacterial Co-infections Following Influenza Virus Infection
The mechanisms of severe morbidity following influenza-bacteria co-infections mainly include failure of an antibacterial immune response and pathogen synergy. Moreover, failure to resume function and tolerance might be one... read more
Link Between Diabetes and Hospital Readmission Rates
Patients with diabetes have higher rates of hospital readmission compared with patients without diabetes, according to a pilot study published in Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology. In the first study, the readmission rate... read more
Growing Concerns of Hepatitis E in Europe
Cases of Hepatitis E in Europe have increased by 10x over 10 years, with 5617 cases in 2015. Testing, case definitions, diagnosis, and surveillance for HEV infection vary extensively across Europe, with only 20 member states... read more
Contact Precautions for Endemic MRSA and VRE
Physical barriers have been used to prevent infectious diseases dating back to leather gloves and coats used during the Black Death in medieval Europe. In the United States, isolation of persons with infections coincided... read more
Sepsis Prediction in Critically Ill Patients by Platelet Activation Markers on ICU Admission
Platelets have been involved in both immune surveillance and host defense against severe infection. To date, whether platelet phenotype or other hemostasis components could be associated with predisposition to sepsis in critical... read more
Optimal Timing of RRT in Patients with AKI in the Context of Sepsis
Among 620 patients enrolled in AKIKI, 494 (80%) had sepsis and 413 (67%) septic shock. This can help to suggest recommendations in septic patients with AKI. AKIKI showed no significant difference in mortality between early... read more
Recent Developments in Management of Critical Burn Injuries
Recent reports emphasize the dangers of over resuscitation in the setting of burn injury. No new medical therapy for inhalation injury has been generally adopted, but new standards for description of burn-related infections... read more
Sepsis-Associated 30-Day Risk-Standardized Readmissions
One third of sepsis survivors were readmitted and wide variation exists between hospitals. Several demographic and structural factors are associated with this variation. Measures of higher quality in-hospital care were correlated... read more
Rescue Strategy for Treating Severe Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella Pneumoniae Infections
Recent reports have suggested the efficacy of a double carbapenem (DC) combination, including ertapenem, for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-Kp) infections. We aimed to evaluate the clinical... read more
Evaluating Transfusion Strategies
Cancer patients are at increased risk of septic shock. Therefore, Bergamin et al set out to assess whether a restrictive strategy of red blood cell (RBC) transfusion reduces 28-day mortality when compared with a liberal strategy... read more
