Articles Tagged With:
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What Is Causing Acute Flaccid Paralysis Syndrome in Children?
The recent increase of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in pediatric patients has parents distraught and investigators looking at more questions than answers. Typical onset includes weakness in the arms and legs, with the median age of afflicted children being four years old.
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Metagenomics for Prosthetic Joint Infection; Helicobacter pylori: A Mini Primer
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Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle
When the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Early Management Bundle was used to identify patients with severe sepsis or patients in septic shock, delays in lactate measurements for patients with abnormal lactate levels were associated with delayed initiation of antibiotic therapy and increased mortality.
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Healthcare-associated Infections — Better, But Not There Yet
One-day prevalence studies demonstrated that there has been a 16% reduction in the risk of healthcare-associated infections from 2011 to 2015.
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Oral Linezolid for Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia
Investigators evaluated 135 patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) in a prospective cohort study comparing early switch to oral linezolid to continued treatment with standard parenteral therapy (SPT). Patients with complicated SAB and osteoarticular infection were excluded. Early switch to oral therapy yielded similar outcomes to continued SPT and allowed earlier hospital discharge.
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Factors Associated With Urinary Tract Infections Caused by Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative Bacteria
A multicenter, retrospective, cohort study from southern and eastern Europe identified predictive factors for multidrug-resistant complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), which included male sex, cUTI acquisition in a healthcare facility, presence of a Foley catheter, having a UTI in the previous year, and receiving an antibiotic in the preceding 30 days.
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Blastomycosis (But Not That Blastomycosis) in the Western United States
Blastomycosis occurs in western Canada and in the United States well outside the known endemic area, but it is due to Blastomyces helicus, not Blastomyces dermatitidis.
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Optimal Treatment of Vivax Malaria
In glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase-sufficient individuals in Southeast Asia, combined treatment with chloroquine and primaquine provides much more lasting relief from vivax malaria than either chloroquine alone or artesunate.
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Finding a Consensus on ARDS Diagnostics and Determining a Relationship to Hospital Mortality
Critical care physicians reviewed more than 700 mechanically ventilated patients with acute hypoxemia and reached a consensus on the presence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in 15% of patients and nonconsensus on the presence of ARDS in an additional 14% of cases. Hospital mortality was not different between these cohorts (37% and 35%, respectively).
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Preventive Tactics and Management of Acute Kidney Injury in the ICU
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a sudden decline in renal function due to nephron dysfunction and/or damage that results in nitrogenous waste product accumulation and acid-base, electrolyte, and fluid disturbances. It is estimated to occur in 16-67% of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU. Common inciting causes include major surgery, iatrogenic interventions, and sepsis. Advanced age and comorbidities increase kidney susceptibility to various exposures and insults. Severe AKI requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) is associated with a 10-fold increase in mortality and increases length of stay an average of 5.7 days. Preventive tactics and RRT remain the cornerstones of AKI management in critically ill patients.