The Yale journal of biology and medicine
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Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) has entered the spotlight as a globally pervasive drug-resistant pathogen. While historically associated exclusively with hospital-acquired infections in immunocompromised hosts, the methicillin-resistant form of S. aureus has been spreading throughout communities since the 1990s. Indeed, it has now become a common household term: MRSA. ⋯ Its presence in the community has been rising similarly, posing a significant public health burden. The growing incidence of MRSA unfortunately has been met with dwindling efforts to develop new, more effective antibiotics. The continued emergence of resistant strains of bacteria such as MRSA demands an urgent revival of the search for new antibiotics.
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Good pain control after surgery is important to prevent negative outcomes such as tachycardia, hypertension, myocardial ischemia, decrease in alveolar ventilation, and poor wound healing. Exacerbations of acute pain can lead to neural sensitization and release of mediators both peripherally and centrally. ⋯ The new pharmacological products to treat postoperative pain include extended-release epidural morphine and analgesic adjuvants such as capsaicin, ketamine, gabapentin, pregabalin dexmetomidine, and tapentadol. Newer postoperative patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) in modes such as intranasal, regional, transdermal, and pulmonary presents another interesting avenue of development.
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The role of medical anthropology in tackling the problems and challenges at the intersections of public health, medicine, and technology was addressed during the 2009 Society for Medical Anthropology Conference at Yale University in an interdisciplinary panel session entitled Training, Communication, and Competence: The Making of Health Care Professionals.
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In order to consider the ethical issues around vaccine distribution during an influenza pandemic, it is critical to have an understanding of the role of influenza vaccine in a pandemic, the rate at which vaccine is likely to be come available, who will likely produce and "own" the vaccine, how vaccine distribution and administration might be accomplished, and which are the groups that might be deemed highest priority to be vaccinated against influenza. The United States and Connecticut have been considering the more challenging of these issues and have learned from Canada, which previously discussed and made decisions on the challenges related to vaccine distribution. Although there is still some critical advance thinking that needs to be done, planning for the response to an influenza pandemic is now at an advanced stage. The keys to preparedness at this stage are to be aware of the vaccine distribution options, to know the benefits and limitations of each option, and to be flexible but nimble in dealing with a real pandemic.