Posts in category: Uncategorized

When excess surgical site infections (SSIs) were detected among neurosurgery patients at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Mercy in 2019, infection preventionist Katie Palladino, MPH, CPH, CIC, partnered with a hospital neurosurgeon on a multidisciplinary quality and process improvement initiative that led to a steep drop in infection rates over a two-year period. Their successful initiative is being presented at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology’s (APIC’s) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.

To address health inequities that Indigenous and racialized patients can experience, collect data on racial and Indigenous identity at health card application and renewal, suggests a group of authors in Canadian Medical Association Journal.

What if the microbes in your gut could act as an early warning system, alerting you that you could be developing Alzheimer’s disease? This might sound improbable, but recent research has found certain microbes are more common in those with very early signs of the disease, pointing to a potential new method of diagnosis for a disease that affects millions worldwide.

Australian and international experts have released 11 recommendations on when, how, and in what situation it may be appropriate for clinicians to reduce opioid use, by placing the patient at the center of the equation.

The Child Tax Credit expansion, which expired at the end of 2021, has not been renewed due to concerns among legislators over the credit being overly generous, particularly to lower-income families with limited tax liability, and the lack of an associated work requirement. Now, a new study, to be published June 24 in JAMA Health Forum, could inform the debate over the policy’s future, said Dr. Jordan Rook, a fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA and the study’s lead author.

Worldwide, more than a million deaths occur each year due to diarrheal diseases that lead to dehydration and malnutrition. Yet, no vaccine exists to fight or prevent these diseases, which are caused by bacteria like certain strains of E. coli. Instead, people with bacterial infections must rely on the body taking one of two defense strategies: kill the intruders or impair the intruders but keep them around. If the body chooses to impair the bacteria, then the disease can occur without the diarrhea, but the infection can still be transmitted—a process called asymptomatic carriage.

A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine is gaining ground in their search for solutions to the global problem of bacterial antibiotic resistance, which was responsible for nearly 1.3 million deaths in 2019.

Between the first and second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, excess deaths decreased in large metropolitan counties and increased in rural counties in the United States, according to a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).

Scientists at Stanford Medicine conducted a study describing a new category of depression—labeled the cognitive biotype—which accounts for 27% of depressed patients and is not effectively treated by commonly prescribed antidepressants.

By LUCY PHIRI

FORMER Defence Permanent Secretary, Stardy Mwale and five others yesterday appeared at the Lusaka magistrate court in a matter they are charged with willful failure to comply with the Law and Corrupt Acquisition of Public Property or Revenue.