Association of antibiotic duration and all-cause mortality in a prospective study of patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia in a tertiary-level critical care unit in Southern India.

Objectives: To estimate all-cause mortality in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and determine whether antibiotic duration beyond 8 days is associated with reduction in all-cause mortality in patients admitted with VAP in the intensive care unit.

Design: A prospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with VAP based on the National Healthcare Safety Network definition and clinical criteria.

Setting: Single tertiary care hospital in Southern India.

Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness in Patients Presenting to a Tertiary Care Hospital in South India: Clinical Spectrum and Outcome.

Background: Acute undifferentiated febrile illness (AUFI) may have similar clinical presentation, and the etiology is varied and region specific.

Materials And Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in South India. All adult patients presenting with AUFI of 3-14 days duration were evaluated for etiology, and the differences in presentation and outcome were analyzed.

Duodenal Perforation Precipitated by Scrub Typhus.

Scrub typhus is an acute febrile illness usually presenting with fever, myalgia, headache, and a pathognomonic eschar. Severe infection may lead to multiple organ failure and death. Gastrointestinal tract involvement in the form of gastric mucosal erosions and ulcerations owing to vasculitis resulting in gastrointestinal bleeding is common.