Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
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There is a paucity of data regarding health consequences of Ebola virus disease among survivors. ⋯ Ebola virus disease survivors frequently reported anorexia and arthralgia. Severity of arthralgia was related to lower functional recovery. There may be a role for focused screening and intervention for symptoms identified in this study of survivors.
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Case Reports
Supportive Care of the First 2 Ebola Virus Disease Patients at the Monrovia Medical Unit.
We describe the first 2 patients admitted to the Monrovia Medical Unit, a facility established to treat Liberian and international response workers with suspected or known Ebola virus disease (EVD). Their recoveries illustrate the value of local point-of-care diagnostics, parenteral therapies, and electrolyte replacement in EVD supportive care.
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Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) due to gram-positive pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to be a major cause of morbid conditions and death. Telavancin is a lipoglycopeptide antibiotic with potent in vitro activity against a range of gram-positive pathogens, including MRSA, methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, and Streptococcus species. In 2 phase 3 clinical trials, telavancin was noninferior to vancomycin in patients with HAP due to gram-positive pathogens. ⋯ It was associated with increased serum creatinine levels and higher mortality rates in patients with moderate to severe renal impairment at baseline; however, on subsequent analysis, the outcomes seemed to have been at least partially affected by the adequacy of empiric gram-negative antimicrobial therapy. Thus, clinicians need to consider the risk-benefit balance when choosing telavancin in patients with severe renal impairment at baseline. Overall, these data support the use of telavancin in the treatment of HAP due to S. aureus, including MRSA and strains with elevated vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations, but clinicians should always weigh the risks and benefits of various treatment options.