In a case that recalls the national hue and cry of the Florida HIV dental outbreak in the early 1990s, investigators have determined that HIV provider-to-patient infections remain exceedingly rare.
On Dec. 30, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first nucleic acid test (NAT) that screens for the presence of two divergent types of HIV in donated blood plasma and human tissue.
Imagine a new disease strikes your community that significantly increases mortality rates, particularly in critically ill patients. This same disease causes patients to suffer more pain, greater heart damage from a myocardial infarction, and, if they are elderly, increases the chance they will be discharged to a nursing home. Such a disease clearly would grab the public's attention, and even in these difficult times, money would be diverted to find a cure. This problem exists today in many of our communities: crowding.
A patient is mistakenly given tenectaplase, an investigational drug, due to it being a "look-alike," with proper protocols not followed.
If a patient comes to your ED with a fractured wrist, you'd probably triage them as low acuity based solely on their chief complaint.
Children under 2 years old with asthma are more likely than other children to return to the ED within seven days, according to a recent analysis of 4,228 visits.1
