Publications by authors named "Elena Xu"

Article Synopsis
  • Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) is a common hospital-acquired infection that significantly affects patient health and hospital costs, particularly in intensive care units.
  • The review focuses on advancements in diagnosing NP, including the use of lung ultrasound, low radiation CT scans, and rapid microbiological methods like multiplex PCR, which are compared to traditional cultures.
  • It also highlights new antibiotic treatments approved in the past decade for NP, such as ceftobiprole and meropenem/vaborbactam, emphasizing their importance in managing infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens.
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Aims: The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of evidence supporting the 2019 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and 2016 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) recommendations for medical nutrition therapy in critically ill patients. Secondary objectives are to assess the differences between 2019 ESPEN and 2016 ASPEN recommendations and to inform relevant stakeholders of areas requiring improvement in the research.

Methods: The 2019 ESPEN and 2016 ASPEN guidelines were identified and downloaded from the official websites.

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Introduction: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guidelines, released in 2017, are a combination of expert opinion and evidence-based medicine, adopted by many institutions as a standard of practice. The aim was to analyse the quality of evidence supporting recommendations on the management of sepsis.

Methods: The strength and quality of evidence (high, moderate, low-very low and best practice statements) of each recommendation were extracted.

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Ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis (VAT) is an infection commonly affecting mechanically ventilated intubated patients. Several studies suggest that VAT is associated with increased duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and a presumptive increase in healthcare costs. Uncertainties remain, however, regarding the cost/benefit balance of VAT treatment.

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Antimicrobial agents are currently the mainstay of treatment for bacterial infections worldwide. However, due to the increased use of antimicrobials in both human and animal medicine, pathogens have now evolved to possess high levels of multi-drug resistance, leading to the persistence and spread of difficult-to-treat infections. Several current antibacterial agents active against Gram-positive bacteria will be rendered useless in the face of increasing resistance rates.

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On 18 August 2019, an article was published in presenting novel, approved anti-Gram-positive antibiotics. On 19 August 2019, the U.S.

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Increasing multidrug-resistance to Gram-positive pathogens, particularly to staphylococci, enterococci and streptococci, is a major problem, resulting in significant morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. In recent years, only a small number of novel antibiotics effective against Gram-positive bacteria has been approved. This review will discuss the current evidence for novel branded antibiotics that are highly effective in the treatment of multidrug-resistant infections by Gram-positive pathogens, namely ceftobiprole, ceftaroline, telavancin, oritavancin, dalbavancin, tedizolid, besifloxacin, delafloxacin, ozenoxacin, and omadacycline.

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Unfortunately, the Acknowledgements section was not included in the original version of the article. The said section is given here.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects approximately 65 million people from which > 25% will require intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the commonest ICU infection and results in increased morbidity/mortality and costs. The literature on the interaction between COPD and VAP is scarce and controversial.

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