Intensive Care News and Research

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Genes involved in antibiotic resistance vary within a species

The recent emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacteria that causes infections primarily among seriously ill patients in the intensive care unit who may have reduced immune systems, has raised concern in health care settings worldwide.

16 Dec 2008

Australians warned of rabies outbreak in Bali

The warning comes from the head of the Northern Territory's Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Peter Markey, who says anyone bitten or scratched on the island by an animal should seek medical advice; the warning also applies to people who have been to Bali recently.

14 Dec 2008

Women waiting longer to start a family

The latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's Mothers and Babies 2006 - says that women are waiting longer to start a family.

9 Dec 2008

Analysis of intensive care units shows drug and alcohol abuse double risk of admission

While the personal health and safety risks of drug and alcohol abuse are well-documented, a new study by researchers at LDS Hospital and Brigham Young University suggests substance dependence increases medical costs by way of the intensive care unit.

5 Dec 2008

Use of rapid response team in hospital not linked with reduction in cardio arrests or deaths

Although there is an effort to implement rapid response teams in hospitals throughout the country, new research suggests that they do not result in a reduced rate of cardiopulmonary arrests or deaths, according to a study in the December 3 issue of JAMA.

3 Dec 2008

Six bad bugs increasingly escaping effects of antibiotics

Infectious disease experts warn that new drugs are urgently needed to treat six drug-resistant bacteria that cause most hospital infections and increasingly escape the effects of antibiotics.

1 Dec 2008

Babies exposed to tobacco in utero more irritable, difficult to soothe

Previous studies have shown that babies exposed to tobacco in utero are more likely to have a low birth weight and are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

1 Dec 2008

High levels of prenatal smoking exposure affects sleep in early babies

A study in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Sleep is the first to show that high levels of prenatal smoking exposure strongly modify sleep patterns in preterm neonates, which places infants at a higher risk for developmental difficulties that could persist throughout early and middle childhood.

1 Dec 2008

Parents of new babies should be considered for a whooping cough booster, say experts

A booster vaccination for parents of new babies and other household members may be the most effective way of preventing the fatal form of whooping cough in young infants, say a group of paediatric intensive care doctors on bmj.com.

28 Nov 2008

Breakthrough for dialysis patients

Suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a growing number of patients at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), have become the beneficiaries of a North American breakthrough: high efficacy hemodiafiltration (HDF).

28 Nov 2008

Discovery of new species of bacterium that causes leprosy

A new species of bacterium that causes leprosy has been identified through intensive genetic analysis of a pair of lethal infections, a research team reports in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

24 Nov 2008

First simulation of the the ageing process

The first simulation of how it feels to age decades in minutes will be run by staff from Eisai at the new University of Hertfordshire simulation centre tomorrow (19 November).

18 Nov 2008

Predicting the future for patients with severe traumatic brain injury

"How will our loved one come out of this?" After an accident that results in severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI), the answer to this simple question can change everything for a family.

17 Nov 2008

Medicine, math and engineering combine to reveal how sepsis and less severe infections occur

It's a leading cause of death, but no one knows for sure how and why it happens. It's a major source of health care costs, adding days or weeks to the hospital stays and lost work time of millions of people. But no one fully understands how best to fight it.

11 Nov 2008

Terminally ill teenager wins the right to die with dignity

A British teenager who is terminally ill has won the right to refuse treatment and forced a hospital to drop its High Court case.

11 Nov 2008

Solutions to inequities in kidney transplant allocation

Depending on where they live in the United States, patients needing a kidney transplant can wait just one year for a deceased donor's kidney or up to 10 years.

7 Nov 2008

A probiotic bacterium reduces hospital infections

A probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum 299, has been used to out-compete the dangerous bacteria that cause respiratory illness in ventilated patients.

6 Nov 2008

California Pacific Medical Center opens pediatric ER

California Pacific Medical Center is opening the first Emergency Department in San Francisco designed specifically to treat and meet the needs of children ages birth to 18 and their families.

6 Nov 2008

Long-term benefits of morphine treatment in infants confirmed

A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgia State University is the first of its kind to demonstrate that administration of preemptive morphine prior to a painful procedure in infancy blocks the long-term negative consequences of pain in adult rodents.

4 Nov 2008