Background: Although blood cultures (BCs) are the "gold standard" for detecting bacteremia, the utility of BCs in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. This study describes the proportion of patients with CAP and afebrile bacteremia and identifies the clinical characteristics predicting the necessity for BCs in patients who are afebrile.
Methods: Bacteremia rates were determined in 4,349 patients with CAP enrolled in the multinational cohort study The Competence Network of Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAPNETZ) and stratified by presence of fever at first patient contact.
A prospective cohort study (German Clinical Trial Registry, No. 00005273) was performed to determine pre-admission colonization rates, hospital acquisition risk factors, subsequent infection rates and colonization persistence including the respective molecular epidemiology and transmission rates of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (EPE). A total of 342 EPEs were isolated from rectal swabs of 1,334 patients on admission, at discharge and 6 months after hospitalization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A foodborne outbreak of VIM carbapenemase-expressing Citrobacter freundii (CPC) occurred between February 2016 and June 2016 at a major university hospital in Germany.
Methods: An explosive increase in CPC isolated from rectal swabs of patients during weekly routine screening led to the declaration of an outbreak. A hospital-wide prevalence screening was initiated as well as screening of all patients on admission and before transfer to another ward, canteen staff, patient rooms, medical and kitchen inventory, and food.
Med Klin Intensivmed Notfmed
November 2014
Background: Purpura fulminans is a rare life-threatening condition which is characterized by disseminated thrombosis in dermal and systemic microcirculation, cutaneous hemorrhages with progressing necrosis and multiple organ failure. The underlying pathogenesis is based on the disruption of the intrinsic anticoagulation cascade, with protein C deficiency being considered the leading factor in this process. In the majority of cases, the condition emerges as consumptive coagulopathy associated with severe sepsis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSymptoms of endometriosis (ENDO), among others, include pelvic/abdominal and muscle pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents are first-line treatment for this pain. Similar to women, rats with surgically induced ENDO, but not its surgical control, exhibit vaginal hyperalgesia, which in rats is evidenced by a decreased threshold for the visceromotor response (VMR) induced by vaginal distention.
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