For this study of bacterial contamination of the cell phones of health care workers in a teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia, the investigators swabbed the screen, dialing pad, and sides of the phones and used standard culture techniques.
There is considerable concern regarding in-stent thrombosis of drug-eluting stents (DES) when aspirin and clopidogrel are stopped for non-cardiac surgery (NCS), but a paucity of data.
Nasal carriage of methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci (MR-CoNS) was investigated in 291 adults upon hospital admission. MR-CoNS carriage was present in 19.2% of patients. SCCmec type IV was found in 22% of the Co-NS isolated, and sequencing revealed extensive structural homology between SCCmec IV in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
A new weight-loss medication may soon be available in the United States. Arena pharmaceuticals has filed a new drug application with the FDA for lorcaserin, a selective serotonin 2C-receptor agonist, and will likely get a formal review this fall.
