Hospital Medicine Alert – October 1, 2007

October 1, 2007

• Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Malaria — It's Finally Here!

  The BinaxNOW^® Malaria test, a 15-minute immunochromatographic test with a high sensitivity for the diagnosis of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum has been approved for use by the FDA.

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• Oral Antibiotics for Pyelonephritis in Children

  Treatment of the first episode of pyelonephritis in children with oral antibiotics alone for 10 days is not inferior to parenteral therapy for 3 days followed by oral therapy for 7 days.

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• SSRIs and Fractures

  Daily use of SSRIs is associated with a 2-fold increase in the risk of fractures.

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• Bone Loss in the Elderly Associated with SSRIs

  Older women taking SSRIs had higher rates of hip bone loss compared to both nonusers and TCA users, when measured twice over an average of 5 years.

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• Nurse Staffing Influences Infection Rates in Elderly

  In this study of 51 adult ICUs, units with higher nurse staffing had a lower incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and decubiti.

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• Beta-Blockers for Asymptomatic LVSD

  Asymptomatic individuals with systolic left ventricular (LV) dysfunction have an increased mortality. Angiotensin converting enzymes inhibitors (ACEI) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) favorably affect such patients, but little is known abut the effect of beta-blockers in this group.

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