Bmc Infect Dis
-
Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
DALI: Defining Antibiotic Levels in Intensive care unit patients: a multi-centre point of prevalence study to determine whether contemporary antibiotic dosing for critically ill patients is therapeutic.
The clinical effects of varying pharmacokinetic exposures of antibiotics (antibacterials and antifungals) on outcome in infected critically ill patients are poorly described. A large-scale multi-centre study (DALI Study) is currently underway describing the clinical outcomes of patients achieving pre-defined antibiotic exposures. This report describes the protocol. ⋯ The DALI study should inform clinicians of the potential clinical advantages of achieving certain antibiotic pharmacokinetic exposures in infected critically ill patients.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
A randomized, controlled non-inferiority trial comparing A(H1N1)pmd09 vaccine antigen, with and without AS03 adjuvant system, co-administered or sequentially administered with an inactivated trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine.
At the time of the influenza A(H1N1)pmd09 pandemic it was not known if concurrent or sequential administration of seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) with pandemic vaccine was preferred. ⋯ Co-administration of TIV and A(H1N1)pmd09 vaccine negatively influenced A(H1N1)pmd09 vaccine immunogenicity but had no effect on TIV responses. The non-adjuvanted and adjuvanted vaccines demonstrated strong immune responses against all vaccine strains for up to six months following the first vaccine dose.
-
⋯ Our findings underscore the potential impact of decreasing admission delays and increasing antiviral use to mitigate the mortality burden of future influenza pandemics.
-
Prior antibiotic exposure has been associated with the emergence of antibiotic resistance in subsequent bacterial infections, whose outcomes are typically worse than similar infections with more antibiotic susceptible infections. The influence of prior antibiotic exposure on hospital length of stay (LOS) and costs in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock attributed to Gram-negative bacteremia has not been previously examined. ⋯ Recent antibiotic exposure is associated with increased LOS and hospital costs in Gram-negative bacteremia complicated by severe sepsis or septic shock. Clinicians and hospital administrators should consider the potential impact of recent antibiotic exposure when formulating empiric treatment decisions for patients with serious infections attributed to Gram-negative bacteria.
-
Some patients have a greater response to viral infection than do others having a similar level of viral replication. Hypercytokinemia is the principal immunopathological mechanism that contributes to a severer clinical course in cases of influenza A/H1N1. The benefit produced, or damage caused, by these cytokines in severe disease is not known. The genes that code for these molecules are polymorphic and certain alleles have been associated with susceptibility to various diseases. The objective of the present study was to determine whether there was an association between polymorphisms of TNF, LTA, IL1B, IL6, IL8, and CCL1 and the infection and severity of the illness caused by the pandemic A/H1N1 in Mexico in 2009. ⋯ The polymorphisms of genes involved in the inflammatory process contributed to the severity of the clinical behavior of infection by the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus.