Medical and health informatics services during and after the COVID-19 pandemic should be virtual, tailored, responsive and interactive: a case study in Belgium.

This is part of a new series in this regular feature regarding trends in the provision of information by health science libraries. By sharing expertise and drawing together relevant trends the series intends to serve as a road map for both health science librarians and health informatics professionals. This article shows how a medical and biomedical research library changed practices, and reassessed user needs for the COVID-19 emergency.

Current and future directions in Belgian medical and health sciences librarianship: a user-tailored approach.

This article is part of a new series in this regular feature. The series intend to serve as a road map by sharing expertise and drawing together trends that are relevant to both health science librarians and health informatics professionals. The present article is a collaboration of six medical and health sciences libraries in Belgium and the Flemish library and archive association (VVBAD, n.

Communication satisfaction and job satisfaction among critical care nurses and their impact on burnout and intention to leave: A questionnaire study.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between communication and job satisfaction and their association with intention to leave and burnout among intensive care unit nurses.

Research Methodology/design: A multicentre questionnaire study.

Setting/participants: Intensive care nurses (n = 303) from three Flemish hospitals.

Patient perspectives on electronic health record accessibility and patient participation: a questionnaire survey.

Objectives To explore patient perceptions on personal comfort with participation in their own care process and on support of this patient participation through electronic health record (EHR) accessibility. Methods Explorative quantitative questionnaire study in ambulatory patients visiting the departments of General Internal Medicine or Head, Neck and Maxillo-Facial Surgery of a Belgian tertiary referral center. Results Patients were recruited by convenience sampling of 438 out of the total of 1270 patients visiting either one of these departments within a time period of two weeks.

The patient perspective on the effects of medical record accessibility: a systematic review.

Background: Health care is shifting from a paternalistic to a participatory model, with increasing patient involvement. Medical record accessibility to patients may contribute significantly to patient comanagement.

Objectives: To systematically review the literature on the patient perspective of effects of personal medical record accessibility on the individual patient, patient-physician relationship and quality of medical care.

Communication in healthcare: a narrative review of the literature and practical recommendations.

Objectives: Effective and efficient communication is crucial in healthcare. Written communication remains the most prevalent form of communication between specialised and primary care. We aimed at reviewing the literature on the quality of written communication, the impact of communication inefficiencies and recommendations to improve written communication in healthcare.

Mutual perception of communication between general practitioners and hospital-based specialists.

Background: Communication between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists is an important aspect of qualitative care. Efficient communication exchange is essential and key in guaranteeing continuity of care. Inefficient communication is related to several negative outcomes, including patient harm.

Influence of smart real-time electronic alerting on glucose control in critically ill patients.

Purpose: Hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia are frequently encountered in critically ill patients and associated with adverse outcomes. We configured a smart glycemia alert (S-GLY alert) with our Intensive Care Information System to decrease the number of hyperglycemic values and increase the proportion of time within the glucose interval of 80 to 150 mg/dL.

Materials And Methods: Prospective intervention study in surgical intensive care unit in a tertiary care hospital.

Impact of organ dysfunction on mortality in ICU patients with hematologic malignancies.

Purpose: To compare evolution in organ dysfunction (OD) between hematologic malignancy patients with and without bacterial infection (BI) precipitating intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and to assess its impact on mortality.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was performed. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores from day 1 to 5 were calculated in all consecutive hematologic malignancy patients admitted to the ICU (2000-2006).

Implementation of guidelines for sequential therapy with fluoroquinolones in a Belgian hospital.

Objective: This study measured the impact of three interventions for physicians, in order to implement guidelines for sequential therapy (intravenous to oral conversion) with fluoroquinolones.

Setting: A Belgian university hospital with 1,065 beds. Method The first intervention consisted of the hospital-wide publication of guidelines in the local drug letter towards all prescribers.

Isolation rooms for highly infectious diseases: an inventory of capabilities in European countries.

Isolation of patients with highly infectious diseases (HIDs) in hospital rooms with adequate technical facilities is essential to reduce the risk of spreading disease. The European Network for Infectious Diseases (EUNID), a project co-funded by European Commission and involving 16 European Union member states, performed an inventory of high level isolation rooms (HIRs, hospital rooms with negative pressure and anteroom). In participating countries, HIRs are available in at least 211 hospitals, with at least 1789 hospital beds.

Infection control in the management of highly pathogenic infectious diseases: consensus of the European Network of Infectious Disease.

The European Network for Infectious Diseases (EUNID) is a network of clinicians, public health epidemiologists, microbiologists, infection control, and critical-care doctors from the European member states, who are experienced in the management of patients with highly infectious diseases. We aim to develop a consensus recommendation for infection control during clinical management and invasive procedures in such patients. After an extensive literature review, draft recommendations were amended jointly by 27 partners from 15 European countries.

Epidemiology and outcome of nosocomial bloodstream infection in elderly critically ill patients: a comparison between middle-aged, old, and very old patients.

Background: We investigated the epidemiology of nosocomial bloodstream infection in elderly intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Methods: In a single-center, historical cohort study (1992-2006), we compared middle-aged (45-64 years; n = 524), old(65-74 years; n = 326), and very old ICU patients (> 75 years; n = 134) who developed a nosocomial bloodstream infection during their ICU stay.

Results: Although the total number of ICU admissions (patients aged > or = 45 years) decreased by approximately 10%, the number of very old patients increased by 33% between the periods 1992-1996 and 2002-2006.

Daily cost of antimicrobial therapy in patients with Intensive Care Unit-acquired, laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection.

This study analysed daily antimicrobial costs of Intensive Care Unit (ICU)-acquired, laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (BSI) per patient admitted to the ICU of a university hospital, based on prospectively collected data over a 4-year period (2003-2006). Costs were calculated based on the price of the agent(s) initiated on the first day of appropriate treatment and according to: (i) focus of infection; (ii) pathogen; and (iii) antimicrobial agent. The study included 310 adult patients who developed 446 BSI episodes.

Dynamics of C-reactive protein and white blood cell count in critically ill patients with nosocomial Gram positive vs. Gram negative bacteremia: a historical cohort study.

Background: Nosocomial bacteremia is associated with a poor prognosis. Early adequate therapy has been shown to improve outcome. Consequently, rapid detection of a beginning sepsis is therefore of the utmost importance.

New and re-emerging infectious diseases: epidemics in waiting.

Purpose Of Review: New and emerging diseases, combined with the rapid spread of pathogens resistant to antibiotics and of disease-carrying insects resistant to insecticides, are daunting challenges to human health.

Recent Findings: The new diseases of recent months are West Nile virus conquering the American continent, the introduction of monkeypox in the USA, the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome worldwide, and avian influenza which crossed the species barrier again to claim several victims.

Summary: Emerging infectious diseases are almost instantaneously a global concern because of the speed with which people, animals and products move around the world.

Mycobacterium avium complex with a distinct clinical and iconographic presentation: the Lady Windermere syndrome.

Clinically significant pulmonary disease caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium avium Complex (MAC) usually occurs upon pre-existing lung diseases or immune-deficiency. In 1992, a particular presentation of pulmonary MAC, occuring in otherwise healthy middle-aged women, was described with pulmonary consolidations localized in lingula and middle lobe. For this specific, rare condition, the term Lady Windermere syndrome was introduced.

Effect of fluconazole consumption on long-term trends in candidal ecology.

Background: Fluconazole is an antifungal agent that is widely used for the treatment of Candida infection. Because of its favourable safety profile it is extensively used for prophylaxis in patient populations with a substantial risk for Candida infection. At the individual patient level, exposure to fluconazole selects for Candida non-albicans strains such as Candida glabrata and Candida krusei, with reduced susceptibility or intrinsic resistance to fluconazole.

Recommendations for the use of the 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine in adults: a Belgian consensus report.

A multidisciplinary expert panel, appointed by the High Council for Public Health, evaluated the scientific evidence on which the recommendations for the appropriate use of the pneumococcal vaccine was based and reviewed the studies that became available since previous reports. The conclusions of the working group, presented in this manuscript, resulted in an update of the Belgian recommendations for pneumococcal vaccination.

Colonization status and appropriate antibiotic therapy for nosocomial bacteremia caused by antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria in an intensive care unit.

Objective: Timely initiation of antibiotic therapy is crucial for severe infection. Appropriate antibiotic therapy is often delayed for nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The relationship between knowledge of colonization caused by antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria (ABR-GNB) and rate of appropriate initial antibiotic therapy for subsequent bacteremia was evaluated.

Antifungal drugs and rational use of antifungals in treating invasive aspergillosis: the role of the hospital pharmacist.

Aim: This review discusses the most common used antifungal agents in the treatment of invasive fungal infections. In addition, guidelines for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis, as used in the Ghent University Hospital, are described. Moreover, the importance of determining the effectiveness of antifungal therapy as well as the potential role of the hospital pharmacist in the management of this infection is highlighted.