Blind prescribing: a study of junior doctors' prescribing preparedness in an Australian emergency department.

Objectives: The present study examined junior residents' and registrars' preparedness to prescribe in an Australian ED. It measured the medication knowledge of participants and identified antecedent factors relevant to prescribing practice.

Methods: This is a prospective, exploratory study of the prescribing practices of 40 junior doctors.

Evaluation of CDC-recommended approaches for confirmatory testing of positive Neisseria gonorrhoeae nucleic acid amplification test results.

We evaluated three of the CDC approaches for confirming Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococcus [GC])-positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) results: (i) repeating the original test on the original specimen, (ii) testing the original specimen with a different test, and (iii) performing a different test on a duplicate specimen collected at the same visit. For the first approach, clinical specimens were initially tested by Aptima Combo 2 (AC2) (Gen-Probe Inc., San Diego, CA), ProbeTec (strand displacement amplification [SDA]) (Becton Dickinson Co.

Fluoroquinolone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Bali, Indonesia: 2004.

Objectives: In the mid-1990s, fluoroquinolones were introduced in Indonesia for the management of gonorrhea and are now part of the national recommended treatment guidelines. We recently documented introduction of ciprofloxacin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains in female sex workers (FSWs) in Timika, Indonesia, 5 years after treating gonococcal cervicitis with ciprofloxacin and periodically monitoring antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates. To assess the importance of this observation, we determined antimicrobial susceptibilities and strain types of N.