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An oral selective phosphodiesterase 4 (pde4) inhibi-tor has been approved for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Roflumilast is the first drug of this type to be approved for this indication. It is marketed by Forest Pharmaceuticals as Daliresp.
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In the general population, there is a linear and reversible relationship between salt intake and blood pressure (BP): more salt in begets higher BP, and salt restriction lowers BP.
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Emerging multidrug resistant gram negative bacteria are spreading across the health care continuum, becoming entrenched in non-acute and long term care settings and threatening vulnerable hospital patients with untreatable infections, epidemiologists reported recently in Dallas at the annual conference of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
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In a collaborative effort that may serve as a model for other states, Maryland has linked long-term facilities and hospitals in the fight against multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-Ab).
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Long term care (LTC) settings will be the top priority in the next phase of the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), a public health official reported recently in Dallas at the annual conference of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
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New Delhi carbapenemase-1 (NDM-1) is increasingly seen in media reports as the organisms that produce metallocarbapenemase, which are most prevalent in South Asia but have now appeared in many parts of the world including the United States.
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Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have determined that electronic-eye faucets, which presumably lower bacterial hand contamination via hands-free usemay actually endanger high-risk patients with Legionella infection.
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The Joint Commission has amended an infection control standard that called for hand hygiene compliance of more than 90%, conceding that the expectation was too high after a group of eight leading hospitals could muster only an 82% rate in a performance improvement project.
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Hospitals should provide pertussis vaccines to their health care workers free of charge, but should still treat employees with antibiotics if they have unprotected exposure to patients with pertussis and work with patients at high risk, such as young infants, a federal vaccine advisory panel says.
