Articles Tagged With:
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Major Cardiovascular Event Risk Reduction with Pitavastatin in People Living with HIV
A large randomized, controlled trial (REPRIEVE) conducted by Grinspoon and colleagues showed that in participants living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are at low-to-moderate risk for cardiovascular disease, those who received pitavastatin had a 35% lower risk of experiencing a major adverse cardiovascular event over a follow-up of approximately five years than those who received placebo.
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Fatal Flea-Borne Typhus in California
Three fatal cases of flea-borne typhus, which is endemic in Southern California as well as in Texas and Hawaii, occurred in Los Angeles County in 2022 — the first such fatalities in two decades.
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Increasing Reports of Severe Group A Streptococcal Infection
Around the world, rates of severe illness due to group A Streptococcus are increasing. Possible explanations for the increase include immunity-altering, post-pandemic changes in exposure to respiratory pathogens, as well as the emergence of new pathogenic M strains of Streptococcus.
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Oral Antibiotics in Endocarditis: Hitting the Target
Pharmacodynamic/pharmacokinetic analysis of patients in the POET study provides understanding of the efficacy of intravenous-to-oral stepdown antibiotic therapy in patients with endocarditis.
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Oral Penicillin Challenge Found to Be Noninferior to Skin Testing Followed by Oral Challenge in Low-Risk Patients with Reported Penicillin Allergy
A multicenter, randomized clinical trial that compared direct oral penicillin challenge in low-risk patients to skin testing followed by oral challenge found no significant differences. Direct oral penicillin challenge appears to be a safe and effective way to delabel a penicillin allergy.
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Malaria Vaccination: Dangerous, Dubious, or Ready for Prime Time?
Malaria vaccination with the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine is safe and effective. Implementation of the four-dose vaccination regimen for young children in areas of moderate- and high-intensity malaria transmission is in progress — with the expectation that hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved each year.
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Endometriosis and the Gut Microbiome: Nutritional Prospects in the Treatment of a Chronic Disease
Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrial glands and stroma in any extrauterine site, such as the ovary, fallopian tubes, pelvic peritoneum, rectovaginal space, bowel, and, rarely, lungs and brain. Standard treatment of endometriosis may involve the use of pain relievers such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hormonal therapy and modulators, and/or surgical removal of endometriotic tissue. On average, women seek consultation from three different healthcare providers over several years to receive a diagnosis of endometriosis. The delay in care results in significant long-term morbidity.
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COVID Forced a Unity of Purpose
Writing a “Science Speaks” blog on the website of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Erica Kaufman West, MD, went through highs and lows of the pandemic before ultimately returning to business as usual, rolling a rock senselessly up a hill like the Greek mythic figure Sisyphus.
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Vaccine Mandates: Critical or Counterproductive?
Testifying before a recent congressional committee on vaccine mandates, John Lynch, MD, MPH, FIDSA, medical director of infection prevention and control at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, extolled the many benefits of COVID-19 immunization compared to the risks of morbidity, mortality, and the lingering chronic effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Potential Spread Via Droplets from Dirty to Clean Instruments
Infection preventionists may want to recheck the distance between the separation of dirty and clean activities in cleaning and reprocessing rooms after researchers found contaminated droplets can travel more than seven feet.