American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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Am J Health Syst Pharm · Jan 1999
Stability of milrinone lactate in the presence of 29 critical care drugs and 4 i.v. solutions.
The stability of milrinone lactate in the presence of 29 critical care drugs during simulated Y-site injection and in 4 i.v. solutions was studied. Ten milliliters of milrinone 400 microg/mL (as the lactate salt) was combined with 10 mL of each of 29 commonly used critical care drugs in 5% dextrose injection. Also, mixtures containing milrinone 400 microg/ mL in lactated Ringer's injection, 5% dextrose injection, 0.45% sodium chloride injection, and 0.9% sodium chloride injection were prepared. ⋯ In all the mixtures, milrinone retained more than 96% of its initial concentration, and the other drugs retained more than 97% of their initial concentrations. Milrinone 400 microg/mL in 5% dextrose injection and 29 critical care drugs were stable for four hours at 22-23 degrees C during simulated Y-site administration. Milrinone 400 microg/mL was stable in lactated Ringer's injection, 5% dextrose injection, 0.45% sodium chloride injection, and 0.9% sodium chloride injection for seven days at 22-23 degrees C.
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Am J Health Syst Pharm · Dec 1998
A cost-effectiveness model for analyzing two varicella vaccination strategies.
A model for estimating the cost-effectiveness of a program for vaccinating employees at a health care institution against varicella zoster virus (VZV) was studied. Three outcomes of varicella vaccination--cost-effectiveness, reduction in employee infections, and reduction in patient exposures--were stratified to estimate the incremental costs of vaccinating three employee groups. The groups consisted of all employees (vaccinate-all group), employees providing direct patient care (direct care group), and employees working in high-risk patient care areas (high-risk group). ⋯ Vaccination of all employees prevented 35 employee infections and 674 patient exposures for every 10,000 potentially susceptible employees. The cost of preventing one employee infection was about $15,000, and the cost of preventing one patient exposure was about $775. An employee vaccination program is a good investment in preventing patient exposures to VZV and may be cost-effective compared with only screening employees.