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Physicians at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) report a cluster of 5 cases of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in illegal immigrants from East Africa, which surprisingly turned out to be consistent with New World Leishmaniasis, although all 5 had come from an area endemic for Old World Leishmaniasis. How did this occur?
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Add Tdap to the growing list of recommended (and often required) vaccinations for health care workers (HCWs) in hospital, including MMR, hepatitis B, influenza, and possibly varicella. In April, the American College of Immunization Practices (ACIP) issued provisional recommendations for pertussis vaccination (Tdap) of all hospital HCWs, regardless of age and prior vaccine history (i.e., regardless of the time since last Td dose).
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In the ICUs of a well-staffed academic medical center committed to quality improvement, in which closed staffing, multidisciplinary rounds, and the daily use of checklists were already in place, implementation of a 24-hour ICU telemedicine system that was well accepted by the medical staff was associated with impressive improvements in adherence to best practice standards as well as with reductions in hospital mortality and lengths of stay.
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The authors advocate that cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging using specific criteria may be useful as a diagnostic tool for patients with stress cardiomyopathy at the time of acute clinical presentation.
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In this study, the authors attempt to develop a risk stratification score to predict bleeding in patients treated with warfarin oral anticoagulation.
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Intensivists experienced significantly less burnout, work-home life imbalance, and job distress under an interrupted schedule vs a continuous (half-month) schedule. ICU length of stay and mortality were non-significantly higher under continuous scheduling.
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Current American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) Guidelines recommend withholding non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) from patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction (MI) and substitution of another analgesic such as acetaminophen. If NSAID therapy is unavoidable, the guidelines recommend the shortest duration possible.
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This single-center, double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover trial demonstrated that administration of 100% oxygen to stable patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome leads to decreased minute ventilation, increasing dead-space to tidal volume ratio, and worsening hypercapnia.
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With the advent of new vaccines, the incidence of bacterial meningitis has declined, particularly in children, but the mortality rate has remained the same.
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Proton pump inhibitor use in clopidogrel-treated post-percutaneous coronary intervention patients was not associated with an increased risk of all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, or major adverse cardiovascular events.
