Tag: infection
The biggest killer you may not know
It kills more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined. A report in 2015 said four in 10 patients being admitted to accident and emergency units were not being reviewed quickly enough and uncovered delays in giving... read more
National ICU Quality Indicators Revisited
The use of QI at a national level is a suitable method to focus on quality in healthcare. Independently of public access to the results, a local or national ICU network will have a lot to gain from engaging in the process... read more
Decreased cytokine production by mononuclear cells after severe gram-negative infections
Failure of circulating monocytes for adequate cytokine production is a trait of sepsis-induced immunosuppression; however, its duration and association with final outcome are poorly understood. Defective TNF-α production... read more
Multifaceted educational intervention shortened time to antibiotic administration in children with sepsis
A multifaceted educational intervention shortened time to antibiotic administration in children with severe sepsis and septic shock: ABISS Edusepsis pediatric study. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) recommends the administration... read more
New Guidelines for Accurate Diagnosis of C. difficile Infection
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a potentially lethal bacterial infection, causes colon inflammation and is responsible for 3,700 deaths in Europe per year. This highly symptomatic infection causes fever, diarrhea,... read more
Updated Guidelines for Sepsis Management
In 2017 the Society for Critical Care Medicine updated its guidelines for sepsis management. These new guidelines differ significantly from ones in the past in that they no longer recommend protocolized resuscitation and... read more
Influenza and Considerations Regarding Infectious Mimics
The patient with headache, myalgia, and URI symptoms may just have the common flu. It's all too common to see and treat multiple patients with influenza-like illness during the flu season. But what could you be missing?... read more
World's most threatening superbugs ranked in new list
The World Health Organization has drawn up a list of the drug-resistant bacteria that pose the biggest threat to human health. Top of the list are gram-negative bugs, such as E. coli, which can cause lethal bloodstream infections... read more
What’s new with stress ulcer prophylaxis in the ICU?
Critically ill patients are at risk of stress-related mucosal erosions. These are typically superficial and asymptomatic but may progress to ulceration and overt and clinically important gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding,... read more
Study Connects Maternal Response to Infection During Pregnancy with Increased Autism Risk
A new study adds to a growing body of research aimed at understanding how a mother’s body’s response to infection influences a growing fetus. In research published this week in mSphere, researchers at Columbia University... read more
GERD Treatment May Reduce Healthcare Visits for Acute Respiratory Infections
Treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may help decrease healthcare visits for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). These are the findings of a new study published... read more
High Levels of Nosocomial Infection Found in Pediatric ICUs
One in six children in pediatric intensive care units (pICU), and one in ten babies in neonatal intensive care units (nICU) develop a hospital-acquired infection (HAI), according to a new study. Researchers at the European... read more
Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections
Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall. Patients who were very vitamin D deficient and those not receiving bolus doses experienced the most benefit. 25 eligible... read more
Rude Surgeons Likely to Make Mistakes
A new study finds surgeons with a history of patient complaints about their personalities or attitude are more likely to make mistakes in the operating room. Researchers compared surgical outcomes with patient reports of... read more
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS): Pearls and Pitfalls
A three-year-old male presents with mom for seven days of fever, diarrhea, and decreased activity. When you walk into the room, you note a listless-appearing boy with pallor. His eyes appear sunken. He is tachycardic, tachypneic,... read more
Wide variations found in evaluation of newborns for sepsis
The evaluation of well-appearing term infants for early-onset sepsis (EOS) varies considerably among hospitals, with some doing extensive work-ups and giving antibiotics while others simply observe and provide newborn routine... read more
MR-proADM Accuracy Superior for Sepsis Mortality Prediction
The use of novel sepsis biomarkers has increased in recent years. However, their prognostic value with respect to illness severity has not been explored. In this work, we examined the ability of mid-regional proadrenomedullin... read more
Candida Auris forms biofilms that enhance its virulence and resistance
In three separate trials, eight samples of each strain of C. auris grew biofilms that constitute a key driver of Candida pathogenicity. C. auris first attracted attention in 2009 because of its resistance to azoles and amphotericin... read more
Sepsis Readmissions Compared With Other Medical Conditions
This study uses data from a US readmissions database to assess whether sepsis hospitalizations account for a higher proportion of unplanned 30-day readmissions than hospitalizations for acute myocardial infarction, heart... read more
How survival of cancer patients in critical care has improved in the last 3 decades
Comprehensive care for critically ill patients with cancer is a collaborative effort, and close cooperation between oncology as well as palliative and critical care is essential. Collaborative decision making is a cornerstone... read more
Thrombocytosis in the ED
Both reactive thrombocytosis and clonal thrombocytosis may be associated with vasomotor symptoms. The key difference is that thrombotic and bleeding events are much more common in myeloproliferative thrombocytosis, whereas... read more
Social Media Helps Forecast Outbreak Transmission Patterns
A new study suggests then when epidemiological data are scarce, social media and Internet reports can be reliable tools for forecasting infectious disease outbreaks. Researchers at Georgia State University and the U.S. National... read more
