The Medical journal of Australia
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There is an ongoing investigation into infections with non-tuberculous mycobacteria associated with contaminated heater-cooler units used in cardiac surgery. The overall risk is low, but surgical site and disseminated infections have been reported, including one possible case in Australia, mainly with surgery involving implantation of prosthetic material. ⋯ If cases are confirmed or heater-cooler devices are found to be contaminated, details should be reported to the hospital infection control team, the jurisdictional health department, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian distributor of the affected heater-cooler unit(s). Measures to manage risk should include communicating with relevant hospital departments, ensuring that the manufacturer's updated instructions for use are followed, regular testing of machines, and reviewing the location of machines when in use.
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Targeted therapy has emerged as a highly effective treatment approach for chronic respiratory diseases. Many of these conditions have dismal outcomes; however, targeted therapy shows great results for the subgroup who respond. ⋯ In cystic fibrosis, lung function improves with therapy that targets specific molecular abnormalities in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator to increase the probability that this chloride channel is open. In lung cancer, specifically adenocarcinoma with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation and overexpression of EGFR tyrosine kinase, therapy that inhibits EGFR tyrosine kinase gives better outcomes than conventional chemotherapy.