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Musher and colleagues in Houston examined the usefulness of examination of Gram-stained sputum specimens and of sputum culture for the diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. They included all 105 patients with bacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia seen over 6 years at their VA hospital, and examined the results of the first sputum specimen submitted to the laboratory.
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A patient with a disease resembling anthrax led to the identification of anthrax-like virulence factors in an isolate of Bacillus cereus.
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The FDA has approved Telithromycin, the first Ketolide antibiotic. Ketolides are semisynthetic derivatives of the macrolide erythromycin that have activity against a wide spectrum of respiratory bacterial pathogens including multi-drug resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Telithromycin, which is a once-a-day oral tablet, is marketed by Aventis as Ketek.
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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is nosocomial pneumonia occurring in a mechanically ventilated patient > 48 hours after intubation. It is categorized as early-onset (defined by most experts as 48-96 hours after intubation) and late-onset (> 2-96 hours after intubation): these differ with respect to responsible bacterial agents as well as outcomes.
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Recruiting 21 patients with hypertension from the cardiovascular Risk Factor Reduction Unit of the University of Saskatchewan and 23 controls, Shin and colleagues tested the hypothesis that hot-water immersion would cause greater blood pressure changes in hypertensive patients than in normotensive controls.
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It has been estimated that as many as 50% of hospitalized congestive heart failure patients are malnourished.
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Gastric fundic gland polyps can be visually horrifying when seen on endoscopy, and they are now quite commonly present in patients taking chronic acid suppressive therapy with proton pump inhibitors.
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Numerous published studies have strongly suggested that negative emotions such as depression and anxiety contribute to the development of symptomatic coronary artery heart disease.
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The FDA has approved the first combination NSAID and proton pump inhibitor.
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