Blood Infection News and Research

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Study says lower-cost hospitals don't have lower quality care for certain illnesses

A study Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine found little difference in outcomes between hospitals with longer patient stays and shorter ones, which could make it "possible to lower costs in the U.S. system without hurting patients," Reuters reports.

24 Feb 2010

CSPI urges Congress to support FDA's efforts in protecting consumers from contaminated oysters

The Center for Science in the Public Interest was joined today by victims, consumer advocacy, and public health organizations in urging Congress to support the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) efforts to protect consumers from contaminated oysters that each year cause scores of serious illnesses and deaths. The blood infection caused by Vibrio vulnificus bacteria in oysters is one of the most deadly foodborne illnesses, killing half of the people infected. Those who survive can have painful lesions and fluid-filled blisters all over their bodies, sometimes requiring limbs to be amputated. Four methods of post-harvest processing have proven effective at destroying the bacteria without harming the texture or flavor of the oysters.

10 Nov 2009

Average cost of patient deaths much higher than patients who were discharged alive

One of every three people who died in 2007 in the United States were in the hospital for treatment at the time of their deaths, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The cost of their hospital stays was about $20 billion.

6 Nov 2009

Low adiponectin levels may increase sepsis related complications

A new Canadian study has found that lower-than-normal levels of a naturally-occurring fat hormone may increase the risk of death from sepsis-an overwhelming infection of the blood which claims thousands of lives each year.

24 Oct 2009

Voices of Meningitis urges parents to vaccinate preteens and teens for protection against meningococcal diseases

School nurses and families affected by a potentially deadly form of meningitis today launched a national consumer education initiative, called Voices of Meningitis. The initiative strongly urges parents to vaccinate preteens and teens, who are at greater risk of getting meningococcal disease, including meningococcal meningitis -- a rare, but serious bacterial infection.

24 Aug 2009

Research sheds new light on causes of sepsis

New research from Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine is helping physicians unravel the cause of a deadly and mysterious bowel disease that strikes medically fragile newborn babies.

27 Apr 2009

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

Plane diverted for woman with meningococcal disease

According to Australian Health authorities a woman who became ill on a flight from Auckland to Perth last night is suspected to have had meningococcal disease.

26 Feb 2008

FDA approves Voluven for blood loss post surgery

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Voluven, an intravenous solution that prevents and treats a dangerous loss of blood volume, a condition that sometimes occurs during and after surgery.

28 Dec 2007

Uptake of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine among children in the 1998-2002 United States birth cohorts

Since its addition to the list of routine immunizations in 2000, one childhood vaccine has helped prevent some pneumococcal-related illness, including pneumonia and otitis media.

27 Nov 2007

Rapid test to screen blood approved by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given it's approval for the first rapid test to detect bacterial contamination in blood platelets prior to transfusion.

20 Sep 2007

FDA clears for marketing rapid test to screen for bacterial contamination in blood platelets

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing the first rapid test to detect bacterial contamination in blood platelets prior to transfusion.

18 Sep 2007

Researchers discover how a protein modulates the inflammatory response in acute respiratory distress syndrome

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how a protein modulates the inflammatory response in sudden, life-threatening lung failure.

17 Aug 2007

New mathematical model of sepsis

A new mathematical model of sepsis can help predict deaths, discharges, and disease progression in hospital patients with this serious bacterial blood infection. It's hoped the model, described in the online open access journal Critical Care, will help clinicians assess which interventions are likely to be best for their patients.

17 Jun 2007

Statins lower risk of sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis

Researchers at Johns Hopkins may have discovered an unintended benefit in the drugs millions of Americans take to lower their cholesterol: The medications, all statins, seem to lower the risk of a potentially lethal blood infection known as sepsis in patients on kidney dialysis.

7 Apr 2007

Check out hospital rating before checking in

According to the latest study, the gap between the best and worst performing hospitals in the United States has widened by as much as 5 percent since last year.

17 Oct 2006

Gut protein protects against infection and intestinal breakdown

A protein that binds to bile in the small intestine may hold the key to preventing infection and intestinal breakdown in people with conditions such as obstructive jaundice or irritable bowel syndrome, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered.

12 Feb 2006

Findings do not support the hypothesis of increased risk of nontargeted infectious disease hospitalization after childhood vaccination

New research does not support a belief that children receiving multiple vaccines increase their risk of hospitalization for a nontargeted infectious disease, according to a study in the August 10 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

9 Aug 2005

Millions of hospital patients could be spared the humiliation and infection risk that come with a urine-collecting catheter

...a new study finds, if hospitals used a simple reminder system to prompt doctors to remove the devices after two days.

29 Jul 2005

Most accurate estimates of the causes of child deaths to date

The most accurate estimates of the causes of child deaths to date, published in this week’s issue of The Lancet, reveal that worldwide more than 70% of the 10·6 million child deaths that occur annually are attributable to six causes: pneumonia (19%), diarrhoea (18%), malaria (8%), neonatal sepsis or pneumonia (10%), preterm delivery (10%), and asphyxia at birth (8%).

28 Mar 2005