Tap Water is an Important Source of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Reservoir

Pseudomonas aerugiosa is as impretant causative pathogen of most of nosocomical infection in intensive care units (ICUs). It is the second most frequently isolated organism which causes ventilator associated pneumonia. It also happens to be the fourth most frequent pathogen causing septicemia, urinary tract infections and surgical wound infections. There has been a change in the pattern of transmission of P. aeruginosa in the past dacade. Stdies demonstrate that approximately 50-92% of nosocomical P. aeruginosa acquisitions may result from transmission theough tap water. The recent studies have confirmed the transmission of P. aeruginosa theough tap water. The studies sduggest that the infection rates can be significantly lowered by eliminating colonized tap water or by intereupting teansmission chains feom water sites.

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 9:32 PM

Acinetobacter Baumannii - A Common Cause of ICU Deaths

Acinetobacter naumannii has emerged in the last decades as a major cause of healthcare-associated infection and nosocominal outbreaks. A baumanii blood infections (AbBI) are associated with significant ICU related mortality. Aguirre-Avalos and co-workers determined the sevarity and course of AbBI in an ICU of a medical care facility. Of the 46 patients identified with AbBI, 31 patients displayed blood infection by A. baumannii. The researchers found that the median time for the acquisition of AbBI was 9+7 days. The major symtoms of the 31 patients were- septic shock (42%), severe sepsis (42%) and sepsis (31%). The results showed that a significant proportion of the A. baumannii isoltes were resistant to inipenem. A high patient mortality was associated with AbBI (45%) alone. In addition about 40% of the patients died due to polymicrobial blood infaction. About 70% of the patients died during the first 72 hours of AbBI due to septic shock. The reseaechers concluded that AbBI displayed an endemic presentation dueing the study. It is associated with a significant increase in death rate of ICU patients.

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 8:49 PM

The Decrease in Incidence of Surgical Site Infection in Spinal Surgery with Antimicrobial Prophylaxis

The prophylaxis of surgical site infection (SS) winth antimicrobial drugs (postoperatively) has long been practiced. The type of antimimicrobial prophylaxis (AMp) and its manner of use in spinal surgery was investigated throught this study. The study included 1415 patients who underwent spinal surgery and the patients were classified into four groups according to the method of AMP administration-group 1, AMP was employed for 7 days, only postoperatively: group 2, initial AMP dosing was adiministered at the time of anesthesia induction, followed by administrstion of AMP for 5 days, including the day of the operation; group 3, initial AMP dosing was adiministered at the time of anesthesia induction, and AMP was adminitered for 3 days, including the day of the o0peration; group 4, the initial dosing was administered at the time of anesthesia induction, and AMP was administered for 2 days, including of the operation. The frequency of SSl was assessed in the four groups.

The frequencies of SSl in group 1-4 were 2.6%, 0.9%, 0% and 0%, respectively. Thus, the frequency of SSl decreased as the duration of the AMP administration period decreased. As a result of thorough implementation of preventive measures against peri0operative occurrence of infections, which include additional preoperative and introperative administration of AMP, the incidence of SSl could be decreased despite shortening the duration of AMP administration to 2 days.

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 9:35 PM

Standardized Evalution of Pain Tool toDifferentiate Radicular from AxialBack Pain

A new pain assessment tool helps to differentiate radicular from axiallow back pain (LBP), according to the results of a study. Adequate pain assessment is critical for evaluating the efficacy of analgesic in clinical practice and during the development of new therapies. Researchers have developed a tool for a standardized assessment of pain-related signs and symptoms that differentiates pain phenotipes independent of etiology. these assessment items were combined in a pain assessment tool that the investigators nemed Standardized Evalution of Pain (StEP). The study involved 130 patients with peripheral neuropathic neuralgia, or radicular LBP, and 57 patients with non-neuropathic, an axial LBP. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to distinct association patterns of signs and symptoms that characterized 6 subtypes of patients with neuropathic pain of 2 with non-neuropathic pain.

In an independent group of 137 patients, StEP was validated for the ability todistinguishradicular LBp from axial LBP. For the identification of radicular pain, the sensitivity of StEP was 92% and apecificity was 97%. the diagnostic accuracy of StEP was superior to that of a dedicated screening tool for neuropathic pain and spinal magnetic resonance imaging. The investigetors were also able to reproduce subtypes of radicular and axial LBP, confirming that StEP is useful for distinguishing specific patterns of symptoms and sign.

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 8:54 PM

What Is Health? What Does Good Health Mean?

The English word "health" comes from the Old English word hale, meaning "wholeness, a being whole, sound or well,". Hale comes from the Proto-Indo-European root kailo, meaning "whole, uninjured, of good omen". Kailo comes from the Proto-Germanic root khalbas, meaning "something divided". Medilexicon's medical dictionary has three definitions for health, the first being "The state of the organism when it functions optimally without evidence of disease or abnormality" (click here to read the other two).

World Health Organization's (WHO's) definition of "health"

The most famous modern definition of health was created during a Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."The Definition has not been amended since 1948. During the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986, the WHO said that health is: "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities."

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 11:09 PM

MEDICAL RESEARCH ADVANCES

The efficacy and safety of aceclofenac-tizanidine fixed dose combination against aceclofenac along in patients with acute iow back pain was evaluted throught a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, comparative, multicentric, parallelgroup study and it include 197 patients of either sex in the age range of 18-70 years with acute low back pain. The patients were randomized to receive either aceclofenac (100 mg)-tizanidine (2 mg) twice a day or aceclofenac (100 mg) alone twice a day for 7 days. The efficacy outcames measures include pain intensity, pain relife, functional imrairment, patients and investigoter globale efficacy assessment.

Aceclofenac-tizanidine was significantly supeiror to acsclofenac for pain intensity (p>0.05) and pain relife, (p=0.00) on days 3 and 7. there was significant increase in spinal flexion in both the geoup feom bselime on days 3 and 7 with significant difference in favour of the combination geoup

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 9:52 PM

MEDICAL r

0 comments RSS Posted by Nilu at 9:40 PM