Infectious Disease
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Chagas — Multifaceted Approach Needed
Prolonged recurrent exposure to Trypanosoma cruzi leads to an increased risk of inflammatory cardiomyopathy, but to decreased congenital transmission of T. cruzi. As housing and vector control improve, concurrent attention to early treatment is needed in order to reduce both cardiomyopathy and congenital infection.
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Procalcitonin and Differentiating Bacterial from Viral Meningitis
ABSTRACT & COMMENTARY: A meta-analysis found an elevated serum procalcitonin to be an accurate test. Details inside.
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CDC issues core elements for antibiotic stewardship in nursing homes
It’s no exaggeration to say that antibiotic stewardship programs in nursing homes will literally save lives.
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Measles can cause costly chaos even if no transmission occurs
Considering everything that went absolutely wrong — and that’s a lot — it’s something of a minor miracle that more than 1,000 people were exposed to measles in May 2014 at Inova Health System in Fairfax, VA, without a single case of transmission. Not one.
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APIC: IPs should use bold new ANA vaccine statement to open discussion of APIC policies
Infection prevention leaders say the field has been given a critical opportunity to open vaccine policy discussions and improve both patient and worker safety by the surprisingly strong stance recently taken by the American Nurses Association.
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CDC, FDA sound alarm on recurrent problems in reprocessing
Warning that continuing infection control lapses are endangering patients, the CDC and the FDA recently issued a joint alert calling for healthcare facilities to review policies and practices in cleaning and processing reusable medical devices.
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Legionella Infections Surge and the CDC Revises its Guidance
Several issues are on the table, including the task of beginning outbreak investigations earlier based on a single confirmed infection.
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Clinical Briefs
In this issue: preventing recurrence of depression; predicting which patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease will progress; and treating premature ejaculation with tramadol.
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Cryptogenic Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation
Recent study results support monitoring patients > 60 years of age with evidence of prior stroke on brain imaging to look for atrial fibrillation.
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Alirocumab Injection (Praluent)
Alirocumab provides a new mechanism of action for lowering cholesterol in patients who have not achieved adequate lowering on maximum dose of statins.