Machine learning takes a village: Assessing neighbourhood-level vulnerability for an overdose and infectious disease outbreak.

Background: Multiple areas in the United States of America (USA) are experiencing high rates of overdose and outbreaks of bloodborne infections, including HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), due to non-sterile injection drug use. We aimed to identify neighbourhoods at increased vulnerability for overdose and infectious disease outbreaks in Rhode Island, USA. The primary aim was to pilot machine learning methods to identify which neighbourhood-level factors were important for creating "vulnerability assessment scores" across the state.

Avoiding serotonin syndrome: the nature of the interaction between tramadol and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Objective: To investigate the nature of the interaction between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tramadol to mitigate or avoid serotonin syndrome.

Data Sources: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts from January 1990 to August 2012 were searched. Key words used were tramadol, antidepressive agents, antidepressants, drug interactions, selective serotonin uptake inhibitors, and serotonin syndrome.