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During a 5-year period, 45 patients were admitted to an inner-city teaching hospital with angioedema caused by angiotensin-converting inhibitor medications, and 18 (40%) of them required ICU admission for potential upper-airway compromise.
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In this study of anonymously reported adverse occurrences related to intra-hospital transportation of critically ill patients, problems were related to equipment in 39% and to patient/staff management issues in 61%; 31% of the incidents had serious adverse outcomes.
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Erythromycin and the Risk of Sudden Death; Vaccine Shortage Putting Americans At Risk; FDA Actions.
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Clinicians have been criticized for prescribing too much, as well as too little, sedation for critically ill patients, especially patients who require mechanical ventilation. Over-sedation may prolong weaning from ventilatory support, increase ICU and hospital lengths of stay, and predispose to development of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Inadequate sedation predisposes the patient to pain and discomfort and can evoke a stress response that compromises recovery.
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In this article, a leading expert in the area of improving health care quality argues that restricting visiting hours in ICUs is neither caring, compassionate, nor necessary.
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The phenomenon of people searching Internet sites for sex partners apparently is common among the general population and not just among men who have sex with men (MSM), according to a new study. A random digit-dialing survey of more than 900 people in Seattle between the ages of 18 and 39 found that 18% of those surveyed had searched for sex partners on the Internet, and 3% had met with sex partners whom they contacted on-line.
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Developing nations with greater market competition for antiretrovirals and more generic drugs tend to have cheaper antiretrovirals available through the private sector, according to a new study.
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New research in New York City shows that injection drug users (IDUs) are acquiring hepatitis C (HCV) at a faster rate than HIV. Investigators looked for a correlation between HCV and HIV among IDUs in the Bronx, Harlem, and other areas, and were surprised to find that where there were high HCV rates, there were not necessarily high HIV rates.
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When New Orleans investigators analyzed data about HIV patients who were hospitalized and those who werent, what they found was surprising: Only a few significant differences existed between these groups, and one of the most prominent was that depression was more common among the hospitalized group.