Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2015
Clinical predictors for laboratory-confirmed influenza infections: exploring case definitions for influenza-like illness.
To identify clinical signs and symptoms (ie, "terms") that accurately predict laboratory-confirmed influenza cases and thereafter generate and evaluate various influenza-like illness (ILI) case definitions for detecting influenza. A secondary objective explored whether surveillance of data beyond the chief complaint improves the accuracy of predicting influenza. ⋯ A simplified case definition of fever and cough may be suitable for implementation for all ages, while inclusion of rhinorrhea may further improve influenza detection for the 0-4-year-old age group. Finally, ILI surveillance based on the entire EMR is recommended.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2015
Comparative Study Observational StudyOne-week versus 2-day ventilator circuit change in neonates with prolonged ventilation: cost-effectiveness and impact on ventilator-associated pneumonia.
To investigate the impact of 1-week ventilator circuit change on ventilator-associated pneumonia and its cost-effectiveness compared with a 2-day change. ⋯ Decreasing the frequency of ventilator circuit changes from every 2 days to once per week is safe and cost-effective in neonates requiring prolonged intubation for more than 1 week.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2015
Is procalcitonin-guided antimicrobial use cost-effective in adult patients with suspected bacterial infection and sepsis?
Procalcitonin has emerged as a promising biomarker of bacterial infection. Published literature demonstrates that use of procalcitonin testing and an associated treatment pathway reduces duration of antibiotic therapy without impacting mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the financial impact of utilizing a procalcitonin-guided treatment algorithm in hospitalized patients with sepsis. ⋯ The combination of procalcitonin testing with an evidence-based treatment algorithm may improve patients' quality of life while decreasing costs in ICU patients with suspected bacterial infection and sepsis; however, results were highly dependent on a number of variables and assumptions.