“Anti-Choke Mug” – Chula Innovation for Neuro Patients to Drink Water Confidently

Chula Medicine has designed an anti-choke mug with calculated angle, amount, and time of water flow from the mug to the patient’s lips hoping to reduce choking that may lead to lung infection, bring peace of mind to caregivers, and make it safer for patients who will have a better quality of life.

MD Anderson Research Highlights for June 7, 2023

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention.

Antibiotics crisis: nanoparticles as therapy guide

In the case of blood poisoning, the bacteria in the blood must be identified as fast as possible so that a life-saving therapy can be started. Empa researchers have now developed “sepsis sensors” with magnetic nanoparticles that detect bacterial pathogens within a short period of time and identify suitable candidates for antibiotic therapies.

AACC Releases Guidance on Procalcitonin Testing to Improve Care for Patients with Bacterial Infections

AACC has issued expert guidance on clinical testing for procalcitonin, a blood marker that helps detect serious bacterial infections and sepsis. By giving clinicians and laboratory professionals much-needed clarity on how to best use procalcitonin tests, the new guidelines could improve the treatment of critically ill patients and those with certain lower respiratory infections.

Critical care specialists debate best management strategy for sepsis and septic shock

In a new Annals ‘Beyond the Guideline’s feature, two critical care specialists discuss and debate conditional guideline recommendations on using lactate to guide resuscitation, the use of balanced crystalloids versus normal saline, and the use of corticosteroids for management of sepsis and septic shock. All ‘Beyond the Guidelines’ features are based on the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston and include print, video, and educational components published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

CYTOVALE REVEALS 10-MINUTE, 510(K) PENDING CYTOVALE SYSTEM AND INTELLISEP TEST FOR SEPSIS AT AACC 2022

Cytovale®, a medical diagnostics company focused on providing rapid and insightful tools to improve early detection of fast-moving and immune-mediated diseases, will reveal its 510(k) pending Cytovale system and 10-minute IntelliSep® sepsis risk stratification test at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) annual meeting, where new data featuring the test will also be shared. The instrument can be seen in the Cytovale booth, no. 5045, in the exhibit hall during Clinical Lab Expo hours. The IntelliSep test was recently named an AACC Disruptive Technology Award Semifinalist and is also being featured in the Disruptive Tech area of the exhibit hall during the meeting.

New nanoparticles aid sepsis treatment in mice

Sepsis, the body’s overreaction to an infection, affects more than 1.5 million people and kills at least 270,000 every year in the U.S. alone. The standard treatment of antibiotics and fluids is not effective for many patients, and those who survive face a higher risk of death.
In new research, the lab of Shaoqin “Sarah” Gong at the University of Wisconsin–Madison reported a new nanoparticle-based treatment that delivers anti-inflammatory molecules and antibiotics.

Sanford Burnham Prebys awarded $13.5 million by NIH to investigate the pathogenesis and treatment of sepsis

Sanford Burnham Prebys professor Jamey Marth, Ph.D., has been awarded $13.5 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to continue his team’s work on sepsis, a condition that occurs when infectious and pathogenic organisms enter the bloodstream. This five-year award is a continuation of a multi-institution initiative, now totaling $27 million, that Marth began in 2016 with the goal of identifying the molecular basis of sepsis to achieve more effective treatments.

Apes show dramatically different early immune responses compared to monkeys

A new study out of the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in humans, chimpanzees, rhesus macaques and baboons has found key differences in early gene expression in response to pathogen exposure, highlighting the importance of choosing the right animal model for the right questions.

Antibiotic-Resistant Strains of Staph Bacteria May Be Spreading Between Pigs Raised in Factory Farms and People in North Carolina

DNA sequencing of bacteria found in pigs and humans in rural eastern North Carolina, an area with concentrated industrial-scale pig-farming, suggests that multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains are spreading between pigs, farmworkers, their families and community residents, and represents an emerging public health threat, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Protein that Keeps Immune System from Freaking Out Could Form Basis for New Therapeutics

Treatment with a peptide that mimics the naturally occurring protein GIV prevents immune overreaction and supports a mechanism critical for survival in mouse models of sepsis and colitis, according to a UC San Diego study.

Study reveals element in blood is part of human — and hibernating squirrel — stress response

A new study published in the journal Critical Care Explorations shows for the first time that part of the stress response in people and animals involves increasing the levels of a naturally circulating element in blood. The discovery demonstrates a biological mechanism that rapidly responds to severe physiologic stress and potentially serves to protect us from further damage due to life-threatening conditions.

New Version of AACN’s Critical Care Orientation Course Includes Stand-alone and Specialty-focused Options

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has released the latest version of its Essentials of Critical Care Orientation online course. Since its initial launch in 2002, ECCO has been used at more than 1,100 hospitals and healthcare facilities as an integral part of their critical care orientation or to supplement classroom-based education.

Early Steroids Improve Outcomes in Patients with Septic Shock

Some critically ill patients with septic shock need medications called vasopressors to correct dangerously low blood pressure. When high doses of vasopressors are needed or blood pressure isn’t responding well, the steroid hydrocortisone is often used. In this situation, earlier treatment with hydrocortisone reduces the risk of death and other adverse outcomes, reports a study in SHOCK®: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, Official Journal of the Shock Society. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Patient Monitoring Systems for Sepsis – Mixed Results on Patient Outcomes

Automated patient monitoring systems (PMSs) have been designed to reduce delays in diagnosis of sepsis in hospitalized patients. But so far, studies evaluating these systems have shown inconsistent effects on mortality rates and other patient outcomes, according to an evidence review in a special September supplement to the Journal of Patient Safety, which was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

Implementation of an Evidence-Based, Nurse-Driven Sepsis Protocol to Reduce Acute Care Transfer Readmissions in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Setting

The aim of this study was to determine if implementing an evidence-based, nurse-driven sepsis protocol would reduce acute care transfer (ACT) readmissions from an inpatient rehabilitation facility compared to nonprotocolized or usual standard of care for adult sepsis patients undergoing physical rehabilitation.

Too Much Haste Leads to Little Speed

Researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have written a new first draft chapter in the book of immunology. They have discovered a protective biological switch that, briefly, turns on the immune response at the first whiff of an invader—an important feature—but can also turn off potentially destructive immune rampage that may also occur. This “off” switch can protect against serious, life threatening inflammation.

New Algorithm Tracks Pediatric Sepsis Epidemiology Using Clinical Data

Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have developed a novel computational algorithm to track the epidemiology of pediatric sepsis, allowing for the collection of more accurate data about outcomes and incidence of the condition over time, which is essential to the improvement of care.

Vitamin C-B1-Steroid Combo Linked to Lower Septic Shock Mortality in Kids

Treating septic shock in children with a combination of intravenous vitamin C, vitamin B1 and hydrocortisone (a commonly used steroid) is associated with lower mortality, according to a study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. This is the first pediatric study of the safe and relatively inexpensive treatment for septic shock, and the preliminary data supports the promising outcomes seen in adults. Findings were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

For Patients with Sepsis, an Infectious Disease Expert May Reduce the Risk of Death

When people with severe sepsis, an extreme overreaction by the body to a serious infection, come to the emergency room (ER), they require timely, expert care to prevent organ failure and even death. When that care includes the early involvement of an infectious disease (ID) specialist, patient mortality can be reduced by as much as 40 percent, according to a new retrospective, single-center study published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Antibody Improves Survival from Sepsis-Related Fungal Infections in Mice

An antibody that blocks the “programmed cell death” pathway may help the immune system fight off sepsis-related fungal infections, according to animal studies reported in SHOCK®: Injury, Inflammation, and Sepsis: Laboratory and Clinical Approaches, Official Journal of the Shock Society. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.