Infection
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Multicenter Study
The time course of blood C-reactive protein concentrations in relation to the response to initial antimicrobial therapy in patients with sepsis.
C-reactive protein (CRP) may be a useful marker of sepsis but its use in the evaluation of response to therapy remains poorly defined. The aim of this study was to define the time course of CRP levels in septic patients according to their response to initial antimicrobial treatment, and to search for possible correlations between CRP levels and other clinical and biological variables. ⋯ Changes in CRP levels over the first 48 h of therapy can help to evaluate the response to initial antimicrobial therapy in septic patients.
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Intensive care units (ICUs) are unfortunately the epicenters of nosocomial infections. The aim of the study was to investigate device associated infection rates in a small Turkish hospital. Device utilization ratios and device associated infection rates were calculated according to definitions of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). ⋯ In our study ventilator associated pneumonia was the most frequent nosocomial infection with a rate of 59.7 per 1,000 ventilator days. The most frequent pathogen of device associated infection was Candida spp. High rates of device associated infections in a small Turkish hospital clearly indicate the urgent need of the implementation of infection control guidelines.