Several strategies have proven effective in reducing transmission of HIV, including access to confidential testing and counseling, early introduction of HIV medications, and male circumcision. Three new studies show what actually affects the spread of HIV in populations, and results vary between different African settings.
For emergency physicians, anaphylaxis can be a challenging diagnosis to make. This article will present the most current information for diagnosing allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, and how to treat them properly.
Cancer patients undergoing treatment are immunocompromised and at high risk for developing early complications leading to critical illness. Compared to complications encountered with conventional chemotherapy, new-generation immunotherapies pose unique diagnostic challenges because their presentation can be vague and nonspecific or can mimic autoimmune diseases.
Foot problems are a common chief complaint. Patients may present to the ED when they do not have access to other sources of care or when an exacerbation becomes painful enough. Although these foot problems rarely are considered emergencies, it is useful for the emergency physician to be knowledgeable about these conditions to provide sound advice to patients and appropriate referral.
A before-and-after intervention study compared 170 patients treated with either oxacillin IV or vancomycin IV for six weeks (plus gentamicin IV given during the first five days) to 171 patients who were treated with TMP/SMZ IV plus clindamycin IV for the first week followed by TMP/SMZ PO (without clindamycin) to complete a six-week course. Mortality and hospital length of stay were significantly less in the TMP/SMZ-treated patients.
Pyuria is common in asymptomatic children with neurogenic bladders, especially after bladder surgery. The simple presence of pyuria does not necessarily indicate a need for antibiotic treatment.
In a large, randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial, researchers found that isavuconazole did not meet the primary endpoint of noninferiority compared to caspofungin for candidemia and invasive candidiasis.
Depression is a multifaceted recurrent disease of growing prevalence. The World Health Organization reports that depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020.
Newly released research indicates that a certain combination of drugs, gentamicin and azithromycin, may work as well as ceftriaxone alone for cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea.
About 80% of new HIV transmissions can be linked to people whose infection is undiagnosed or is not currently treated, according to findings from a just-published analysis.
