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When used in conjunction with clinical and radiographic data, brain natriuretic peptide levels may provide a non-invasive alternative for distinguishing between ARDS and cardiogenic pulmonary edema in patients with severe hypoxemic respiratory failure.
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A dire shortage of mechanical ventilators appears to be the weakest link in any emergency response to an airborne bioterrorism threat or pandemic influenza outbreak, a recently published study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
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Nurses were more likely to report to work in the aftermath of a terrorist attack involving smallpox or a radiological release than face down pandemic influenza, researchers found.
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The standing gallows humor in health care epidemiology is that no really severe outbreak of anything begins until late Friday on a holiday weekend. But emergency planners in Oregon were not laughing after finding that too many local health departments a key component in the state response system were unavailable when contacted after hours about emergency transport of a possible pandemic flu isolate for testing at the state reference lab.
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In response to a drill that showed gaps in planning and communication regarding the transportation of potentially infectious agents, Oregon public health officials have adopted new policies, which were originally developed by public health officials in Lane County, OR. The policy is summarized as follows:
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More than at any previous time in history, global public health security depends on international cooperation and the willingness of all countries to meet the threat of rapidly emerging infectious diseases and acts of bioterrorism, the World Health Organization emphasizes in a new report.
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Although ECG is the standard initial screening test for acute coronary syndromes, its value for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (MI) is difficult to determine because of the vagaries of serum biomarkers.
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Exceptional attention has been paid to the recent publication of the COURAGE Trial (April 2007) regarding the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in stable coronary disease patients, whereas in acute coronary syndromes, including STEMI and unstable angina, there is reasonable consensus as to an interventional approach in patients with either PCI or CABG as opposed to medical therapy.
