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Pharyngitis is a very common infection resulting in more than 6 million annual office visits by adults in the United States. The ability to distinguish pharyngitis caused by group A streptococci (GAS) from other etiologies (e.g. viruses) is important because untreated GAS can have serious consequences including peritonsillar abscess and rheumatic fever.
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The healthcare system in Liberia has had to go through a complete reboot after every single hospital in the city of Monrovia closed down to be decontaminated with bleach water as a result of Ebola cases landing in emergency rooms, outpatient clinics and medical wards
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A preliminary report from Missouri suggests that enterovirus 68 is responsible for a large outbreak of respiratory disease in children. Typically, there is a rapid onset of respiratory symptoms with wheezing, and intensive care is required for about 15% of affected patients.
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The Ebola epidemic in Africa is rapidly overwhelming containment efforts, increasing the threat of spread to other countries and continents while giving the virus ample time to mutate as it burns through the human population in a jungled epicenter that borders three nations.
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There are two angles of attack to cutting catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates by 25%, and the harder approach involves changing provider behavior.
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After expanding a successful initiative to cut catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) rates, a New Jersey hospitals catheter days and CAUTIs were cut in half.
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In an August 30, 2014 blog post, Rick Sacra, MD, worried about the many people in Liberia who are at risk because of the Ebola tsunami that swept through an already fragile healthcare system.
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In an urgent addition to the Ebola situation, federal public health officials have issued a checklist for hospitals to prepare for incoming cases from the expanding outbreak in West Africa. The six-page detailed checklist issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is available at: http://1.usa.gov/1qjDiC9.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its Ebola infection control guidelines to include a new section on cleaning and disinfection of the patient environment. (See Hospital Infection Control & Prevention Sept. 2014 issue.)