Clinician views on selective decontamination of the digestive tract in mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care units: A survey.

Objective: Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) has been investigated as a strategy to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and other healthcare-associated infections in intensive care unit (ICU) patients receiving mechanical ventilation. There is some evidence to suggest that the use of SDD is associated with a reduction in healthcare-associated infection and mortality; however, the uptake of SDD in ICUs in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) remains low. To better understand the potential reasons, we designed a questionnaire to gather views from specialists in intensive care medicine, infectious diseases, and medical microbiology.

Understanding the Landscape of Cancer Care in Europe: Evaluating Clinical and Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

Background: A comparison of the operations of Clinical Cancer Centers and Comprehensive Cancer Centers across Europe provides novel data on the interrelation between different factors in care delivery.

Method: The analysis is based on a survey of key dimensions in care delivery, comparing routine treatment, advanced technology integration, research participation, and innovation adoption across the two types of centers.

Results: Clinical Cancer Centers excel in providing routine cancer treatment through multidisciplinary teams but struggle with advanced technology integration and research participation.

A national retrospective cohort study comparing of cefepime versus piperacillin-tazobactam on the development of severe acute kidney injury in patients with septic shock.

Background: Cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam are commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat patients with potential gram-negative bacterial sepsis. Piperacillin-tazobactam has been shown to be associated with acute kidney injury (AKI). However, it has not been compared to cefepime in patients with septic shock.

Reducing ethnic inequities: Patterns of asthma medication use and hospital discharges in Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background And Objective: In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) widespread transition to budesonide/formoterol maintenance and/or reliever regimens in clinical practice is temporally associated with reduced rates of asthma hospitalization. It is unknown whether this association is observed in Māori, the indigenous population of NZ, who experience a disproportionate burden from asthma. We investigated patterns in asthma medication use and hospital admissions in Māori in NZ.