Curēus
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Context Since its inception in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, the etiological agent for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is spreading rapidly both locally and internationally, and became certified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Working in an environment of high risk, coupled with adherence to quarantine and stressors related to the job, has been found to exacerbate the psychological health of frontline healthcare workers. Aims To assess the perceived stressors, combat strategies, and motivating factors among health care service providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Conclusions It is needful that secondarily traumatized team members should be always observed, educated, and properly handled. Certain personal coping strategies adopted by health workers should be well addressed and motivated if scientifically sustainable. We have to include psychiatric preparedness and stress monitoring also for health care teams along with emphasizing hygiene, temperature monitoring, and fever management, in planning to fight the pandemic.
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Background There are no clear consensus guidelines on the indications and types of anticoagulation therapies in patients with bio-prosthetic valves either with concomitant atrial fibrillation (AF) or sinus rhythm. In our meta-analysis, we assessed the safety and efficacy of DOACs as compared to the standard treatment with warfarin in patients with AF and bioprosthetic valves. Methods We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies in the English language, and studies reporting patients with valvular heart disease that included bioprosthetic valvular disease. ⋯ The difference was not statistically significant for all-cause mortality in both groups (HR 1.24; 95% CI, 0.91, 1.67; I2 = 0%). Conclusion Our results showed that there was no difference in the outcomes of stroke and systemic embolism between DOACs and warfarin but there were statistically significantly lower major bleeding events. We conclude that larger clinical trials are needed to assess the true safety and efficacy of DOACs in patients with AF and bioprosthetic valves.
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Introduction The need for pharmacist-led antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) is increasing. Objective We performed a retrospective study to assess whether pharmacist-led ASPs can decrease the duration of treatment for uncomplicated gram-negative bacteremia among patients admitted in a community hospital. Methods This research was conducted at a 325-bed regional general hospital in Japan, from January 2013 to June 2015. ⋯ The de-escalation rates were 11 (32.4%) cases in the pharmacist-led ASP group and 4 (12.5%) cases in the control group. Hence, the trend was higher in the pharmacist-led ASP group than in the control group (p = 0.08). Conclusion The pharmacist-led ASP reduced the number of days of antimicrobial therapy for uncomplicated gram-negative bacteremia among patients admitted in a community hospital without an infectious diseases specialist.
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Background On March 24, 2020, the Government of India declared a nationwide lockdown and a series of measures aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. This led to dynamic changes in patient inflow and management in the emergency department. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the pre-lockdown and lockdown periods on the demography of trauma in a tertiary care teaching hospitaland to compare it with the homologous period of 2019. ⋯ The use of government-sponsored ambulances for transport to the hospital was significantly increased during the lockdown period (p <0.0001). Conclusion Strict administrative measures had a high impact on the number and epidemiology of trauma with remarkable changes. There was a decreased number of trauma cases but the mechanism, type, and management of these cases were significantly altered from the homologous period of the previous year.
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Case Reports
A Case of Severe Metabolic Acidosis due to Jardiance-Induced Euglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Metabolic acidosis is frequently encountered in the inpatient setting. It can occur due to either the accumulation of endogenous acids that consumes bicarbonate (high anion gap metabolic acidosis) or loss of bicarbonate from the gastrointestinal tract or the kidney. ⋯ However recent data has shown that SGLT2 inhibitors, particularly empagliflozin, carry the risk of inducing euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis under certain circumstances such as acute illness, and decreased carbohydrate intake, decrease in dose, or discontinuation of insulin. We herein report a 23-year-old female with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus on empagliflozin, who presented with dyspnea and coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection and found to have severe unexplained euglycemic metabolic acidosis, with elevated urine ketones.