"Oldest old" patients in intensive care: prognosis and therapeutic activity.

Objective: In view of ethical considerations and the limited resources in intensive care medicine, the present investigation aims to give a descriptive overview of the prognosis and therapeutic activity for the oldest age group of elderly patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) in comparison with younger ICU patients.

Patients And Methods: 3069 patients admitted to the ICU during a seven-year period were categorized into four age groups: under 65 years (48%), 65 to 74 years (26%), 75 to 85 years (22%) and 85 years or older (5%). Type and reason for ICU admission, length of ICU stay, severity of illness as measured by the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS)-II, level of provided care as measured by the simplified therapeutic intervention scoring system (TISS)-28, and vital status at the date of ICU discharge were recorded.

Lack of impact of ABO blood group or corresponding isoantibodies on the immune response after rabies vaccination.

Demand for rabies hyperimmunoglobulin has increased recently, requiring optimization of vaccination schemes for immunized plasma donors. Possible resemblance of rabies vaccine to blood group antigens and consequential association of the immune response to rabies vaccine and blood group or corresponding isoantibodies has not yet been investigated. We analyzed antirabies antibodies after rabies vaccination and ABO blood group in 142 individuals, and isoantibody titers in 92 of those individuals.