Antimicrobial Stewardship and Appropriate Antimicrobial Prescribing in Hospitals

Antimicrobial Stewardship and Appropriate Antimicrobial Prescribing in Hospitals

This study examines whether an antimicrobial stewardship approach grounded in behavioral theory and focusing on preserving prescriber autonomy and participation is associated with appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing... read more

Implications of Prevalent Noncardiac Disease in the Cardiac ICU

Implications of Prevalent Noncardiac Disease in the Cardiac ICU

Half of >1000 patients of admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit (ICU) at a major tertiary-care center over about 1 year also had acute respiratory failure, acute kidney injury, or sepsis. Those with lung or kidney... read more

Strategies for Optimizing Diagnostic Predictive Value of Clostridium difficile

Strategies for Optimizing Diagnostic Predictive Value of Clostridium difficile

Because nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) do not distinguish Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and asymptomatic C. difficile carriage, the diagnostic predictive value of NAATs is limited when used in patients with... read more

Prevalence of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria among nursing home residents

Prevalence of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria among nursing home residents

Multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) are associated with an increasing proportion of infections among nursing home (NH) residents. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to critically... read more

Viral coinfection is shaped by host ecology and virus-virus interactions across diverse microbial taxa and environments

Infection of more than one virus in a host, coinfection, is common across taxa and environments. Viral coinfection can enable genetic exchange, alter the dynamics of infections, and change the course of viral evolution. Yet,... read more

The impact of oral care on oral health status and prevention of VAP in critically ill patients

The impact of oral care on oral health status and prevention of VAP in critically ill patients

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common nosocomial infections which increase mortality rate and length stay of hospitalization. Oral care would not only improve patient’s oral health and well-being,... read more

Plasma metabolomics for the diagnosis and prognosis of H1N1 influenza pneumonia

Plasma metabolomics for the diagnosis and prognosis of H1N1 influenza pneumonia

Metabolomics is a tool that has been used for the diagnosis and prognosis of specific diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine if metabolomics could be used as a potential diagnostic and prognostic tool for H1N1... read more

Big Data Detects Sepsis In Major Hospitals

Big Data Detects Sepsis In Major Hospitals

Data analytics have found that large medical facilities have higher rates of death from sepsis than their smaller hospital counterparts. Researchers from Houston Methodist Hospital recently used Big Data analytics to learn... read more

Use of Patient-Generated Wound Data to Improve Postdischarge SSI Monitoring

Use of Patient-Generated Wound Data to Improve Postdischarge SSI Monitoring

The use of mobile health (mHealth) to convey patient-generated health data (PGHD) offers new enhancements and challenges to the provision of surgical care. The Mobile Post-Operative Wound Evaluator (mPOWEr) is a patient-centered... read more

Admission to the ICU is Associated With Changes in the Oral Mycobiome

Admission to the ICU is Associated With Changes in the Oral Mycobiome

A prospective exploratory study was conducted to characterize the oral mycobiome at baseline and determine whether changes occur after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). We found that ICU admission is associated... read more

Evaluating the Validity of Sepsis-3 Criteria in the Emergency Department

Evaluating the Validity of Sepsis-3 Criteria in the Emergency Department

In this multicenter prospective cohort study involving 879 patients with suspected infection treated at the emergency department, the qSOFA was better at predicting in-hospital mortality with an area under the receiver operating... read more

Antipyretic Therapy in Critically Ill Septic Patients

Antipyretic Therapy in Critically Ill Septic Patients

This meta-analysis aimed to examine the impact of antipyretic therapy on mortality in critically ill septic adults. Inclusion criteria were observational or randomized studies of septic patients, evaluation of antipyretic... read more

Which position is safest for central line placement: subclavian, jugular, femoral?

Which position is safest for central line placement: subclavian, jugular, femoral?

Where to place a central venous catheter is a decision driven mainly by individual experience and preference. The limited evidence available has not established any site as superior; the subclavian position has been reported... read more

Lung Microbiome: Key to Respiratory Ills?

Lung Microbiome: Key to Respiratory Ills?

Recently, JAMA discussed this research and its potential clinical applications with 2 experts on the front lines, Jack Gilbert, PhD, a microbial ecologist at the University of Chicago and director of its new Microbiome Center... read more

Komodo dragon-inspired synthetic peptide DRGN-1 promotes wound-healing of a mixed-biofilm infected wound

Komodo dragon-inspired synthetic peptide DRGN-1 promotes wound-healing of a mixed-biofilm infected wound

Cationic antimicrobial peptides are multifunctional molecules that have a high potential as therapeutic agents. We have identified a histone H1-derived peptide from the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), called VK25. Using... read more

The impact of emergency department crowding on early interventions and mortality in patients with severe sepsis

The impact of emergency department crowding on early interventions and mortality in patients with severe sepsis

Critically ill patients require significant time and care coordination in the emergency department (ED). We hypothesized that ED crowding would delay time to intravenous fluids and antibiotics, decrease utilization of protocolized... read more

The Prevalence of Acute Critical Neurological Disease in Children

The Prevalence of Acute Critical Neurological Disease in Children

Neurologic insults are a significant pediatric international health issue. They are frequent and contribute substantial morbidity and mortality. These data suggest a need for an increased focus on acute critical neurologic... read more