Search Tag: Infections
2022 14 Oct
Infections occur frequently in critically ill patients in the ICU. They may be the reason for admission and could also be due to immunosuppression associated with critical illness. Antibiotics are essential tools for treating both common and complex infections. It is recommended that antibiotics should be administered as soon as possible once an infection...Read more
2022 14 Oct
Severe infections by antibiotic resistant gram-negative bacteria are frequent in ICU patients. They are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Introduction Bacterial infections in patients hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) are frequent, and they elicit an increase in morbidity and mortality. The emerging development...Read more
2020 12 Jun
A study was conducted to evaluate the difference in clinical outcomes in severe/life-threatening COVID-19 patients treated with standard treatment versus standard treatment and convalescent plasma therapy. Convalescent plasma is blood, liquid portion, from people who have recovered from COVID-19. Convalescent plasma has antibodies that the body...Read more
2019 26 Sep
The critically ill patient is often unable to feed by mouth. This condition, in some patients, can range from days to months. It is imperative that these patients receive macronutrients either through enteral or parenteral nutrition. If they don't, there is a risk of an energy deficit that could lead to loss of lean body mass and subsequently, other...Read more
2019 12 Sep
ICUs in the UK have seen an 80% drop in bloodstream infections according to NIHR Guy's and St Thomas' Biomedical Research Centre-funded research. In collaboration with Guy's and St Thomas' clinicians and researchers from ICNARC (Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre), the study analysed 1 million adult patients from 276 NHS ICUs across the...Read more
2018 04 Dec
Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are the leading cause of infectious disease-related deaths worldwide yet remain challenging to diagnose because of limitations in existing microbiologic tests. In critically ill patients, noninfectious respiratory syndromes that resemble LRTIs further complicate diagnosis and confound targeted treatment. New...Read more
2018 17 Oct
Noninvasive diagnostic tests can ensure the early identification and treatment of viral infections in patients with haematological malignancies. New research from France assessed the clinical relevance of a positive virus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on nasal swabs in haematology patients at ICU admission. "Respiratory virus detection in the...Read more
2018 18 Sep
Doctors are responsible for reducing antibiotic usage in their hospital, region and country. At the same time, emergency medicine doctors have the responsibility to treat very sick patients - with suspected sepsis and septic shock, efficiently. This was the conundrum addressed by Christian Backer Mogensen, consultant in infectious medicine and emergency...Read more
2018 26 Mar
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends starting empiric broad-spectrum antibiotics in the initial management of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock (Rhodes et al. 2017). As a consequence, many patients receive unnecessary antibiotics, exposing them to adverse events, while others might be undertreated in spite of broad-spectrum therapy...Read more
2017 22 Nov
Recent trends in virus detection assays and host response biomarkers This article provides an overview of the recent advances in molecular testing for patients with suspected respiratory tract infection. Respiratory tract infections are common reasons for admission to intensive care units. For decades conventional culture techniques were...Read more
2016 27 Sep
Recently a number of new antibiotics or combinations for complicated intra-abdominal infections have been introduced. Here we review the currently available data of these new drugs and discuss how they can be used in critically ill patients with complicated intraabdominal infections. Complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) remain...Read more
2016 03 Aug
The intensive care infection score (ICIS) has potential as a biomarker for infection, according to a study published in critical care. is derived from 5 blood-cell derived parameters that characterise the innate immune response in routine blood samples. Patrick J van der Geest, Erasmus Medical Center, the Netherlands, and colleagues report on the...Read more
2016 27 Apr
Poland’s National Centre for Quality Assessment in Healthcare (NCQA) has revised its accreditation standards for healthcare facilities to include Europe’s first official recommendation that antimicrobial copper touch surfaces are incorporated as an infection prevention and control measure. Poland’s Hospital Accreditation Programme has existed...Read more
2016 06 Jan
Single-patient rooms in the ICU may be more costly to build and operate, but the resultant cost savings from reductions in nosocomial infections outweigh the additional construction and operating expenses, according to a new study published in Journal of Critical Care . Despite recent efforts to improve healthcare quality and safety, there is still...Read more
2015 31 Dec
Kristoffer Strålin, MD, PhD , is Associate Professor and Senior Consultant at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Karolinska Institute is a world renowned medical university, which has the mission of improving people’s health through research and education. Together with Karolinska University Hospital,...Read more
2015 24 Nov
New guidelines on the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria in hospitals have been published by the Journal of Hospital Infection . These guidelines are accredited by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the UK. Gram-negative bacteria (MDRGNB) include common types such as E. coli that are present...Read more
2015 14 Nov
Copper can effectively help to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, which are linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), according to researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK. Their study shows that while human coronavirus 229E — closely related to animal coronaviruses that "host...Read more
2015 19 Oct
New research reveals that invasive methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (S aureus) infection (MSSA) caused more infections and more deaths in hospitalised infants than invasive methicillin-resistant S aureus infection (MRSA). The findings, reported in JAMA Pediatrics , could help to inform the adoption of infection control measures that include...Read more
2015 15 Sep
A team of engineers and scientists at the University of Arizona has developed a new diagnostic device that could reduce the amount of time necessary to diagnose tissue infections. The device's novel approach to molecular diagnostics, called DOTS qPCR, is faster, more efficient and less expensive than methods currently being used in clinics, according...Read more
2015 28 Aug
New research shows that respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can be detected from the clothes worn by caregivers/visitors who are visiting infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The finding was presented at the International Conference on Emerging and Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia. RSV is the leading cause of childhood respiratory...Read more
2015 18 Aug
According to Johns Hopkins researchers, patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) for Clostridium difficile infection were at risk for developing subsequent C. difficile infections. Their finding is reported in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology . “Importantly in this study, colonisation with toxigenic C. difficile on admission...Read more
2015 04 Aug
According to a new study, hospitals using single-use sharps containers had significantly lower rates of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection compared to hospitals using reusable containers. The finding is reported in American Journal of Infection Control . “This is the first study to show a link between use of single-use sharps containers and...Read more
2015 27 Jun
A new UK study published in the journal Thorax has identified an important new approach to diagnose infections in critically ill patients rapidly and accurately. The new method involves chemical analysis of breath specimens from patients in intensive care to detect bacterial infection in the lower respiratory tract of ventilated patients at risk of...Read more
2015 09 Jun
A new study suggests that a person's environment is more important than their genes in determining the bacteria that inhabit their noses. Interestingly, the study also suggests that some common nasal bacteria may prevent the spread of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (or Staph), which can cause infections. The study, published in the AAAS journal Science...Read more
2015 16 Mar
The International Society of Nephrology (ISN) has presented the findings of a new global study on acute kidney injury (AKI), seen by experts as a key step forward in their efforts to eliminate preventable deaths from the condition by 2025 ('0by25 Initiative'), at its annual meeting held in Cape Town, South Africa. AKI is a worldwide problem, killing...Read more
2015 13 Feb
Infections due to multidrug resistant gram negative bacilli (RGNB) in critically ill patients have been reported to be associated with increased morbidity and healthcare costs. A recent study conducted by researchers in Singapore has highlighted the heavy economic burden of RGNB infections to both the patient and hospital. "Nosocomial acquired RGNB...Read more