December 24th, 2009 by Paul Auerbach, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Children, Infectious Disease, NEJM, Pediatrics, Typhoid, Vaccine, Vi Typhoid
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Vaccination against infectious diseases is perhaps the most important reason why millions of additional persons do not succumb with morbidity and mortality from viral and bacterial infections in the modern world. Vaccines are most effective when they are administered with sufficient distribution and frequency to protect as many people as possible.
In the July 23, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 2009;361:335-44, there appeared an article reporting a study by Dipika Sur, MD and colleagues entitled “A Cluster-Randomized Effectiveness Trial of Vi Typhoid Vaccine in India.” The premise of the study was that typhoid fever, caused by infection with the bacteria Salmonella enterica serotype typhi (S. typhi), causes up to 600,00 deaths per year, mostly in developing countries. Injectable Vi polysaccharide vaccine has up to this time been used in a limited fashion in public health programs, and there have been unanswered questions about its effectiveness in children (ages 2 to 5 years) and in particular its use to cause “herd” immunity (e.g., if it is given to a large population living in close proximity, will it promote immunity in the nonimmunized “herd” of people). Read more »
This post, Vi Typhoid Vaccine: Safe And Effective For Young Children, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Paul Auerbach, M.D..
December 22nd, 2009 by Nicholas Genes, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: ACEP, Emergency Medicine, Injuries, NYT, Plastic Surgery, Technology, Texting
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Today the NY Times printed a piece that pokes fun at, and highlights the dangers of, the new habit of texting-while-walking:
This summer, the American College of Emergency Room Physicians released a statement expressing concern about the issue, citing a Chicago doctor who was seeing a lot of face, chin, eye and mouth injuries among young people who reported texting and tumbling.
Hmm… I’m a member of ACEP, but I’ve never heard of ACERP. Is it some rival organization of emergency physicians whose practice is confined to four walls? Or, in its rush to condemn new technologies that enable communication on-the-go, has the New York Times abandoned the traditional practices of editing and fact-checking? 
*This blog post was originally published at Blogborygmi*
December 22nd, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, Medical Art, News
Tags: Bacteria, Clean Hands, Design Award, Hospital, Miscea, Miscea B.V., Nosocomial Infections, Red Dot
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Keeping hands clean in the hospital is a bit more complicated and much more important thing to do than doing it at home. Nosocomial organisms can easily jump from clinician to clinician to patient via faucet handles and soap dispensers. Miscea B.V., out of Augsburg, Germany, won this year’s red dot best of the best design award for its MISCEA touch-free faucet.
The touch-free operation concept of this innovative, clear and aesthetically designed hygiene system allows users to choose between water, soap and disinfectant with just one hand, thus preventing causative organisms from being accidentally transmitted and causing new infections. Operation of this faucet is self-explanatory and comfortable; choosing soap or disinfectant is interactively guided: a softly pulsating LED indicates whether the system is ready for use and each dispensing mode is accompanied by a light impulse. The design of this hygiene system thus merges a high degree of comfort with a maximum reduction of cross-contamination risk. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 21st, 2009 by MotherJonesRN in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
Tags: Culver, Hospitals, Iowa, Krogmeier, Mental Health, Nursing Homes, Psychiatry
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I took this picture a couple of years ago during a trip to Iowa. This is the old Clarinda Asylum for the Insane. The name was changed for obvious reasons a long time ago to the Clarinda Treatment Complex. I grew up in Iowa, so let me tell you a few things about my home state. Among other things, Iowans grow corn, raise hogs, and sometimes elect people to the Iowa State House who need a little schooling about mental illness and the needs of the mentally ill.
Iowa currently has four state hospitals for the mentally ill. Now that number is being cut down to three. Iowa State Legislators, who have no clue about what they’re doing, ordered the head of the Department of Human Services, Charles Krogmeier, to shut down one of the state’s mental hospitals. The Clarinda facility and three other hospitals were put on the chopping block. Krogmeier didn’t want to shut down any of the hospitals. He said that the move wouldn’t save money or improve patient care, but the politicians gave him no choice. Mr. Krogmeier suggested the elimination of the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Nurse Ratched's Place*
December 20th, 2009 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: College Student, Death, H1N1 Flu, Infectious Disease, Influenza, Vaccines
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If you think that the H1N1 pandemic is slowing down and have grown complacent with vaccination now that vaccines are more widely available, please learn something from last night’s tragic loss of local college student from Rhode Island, Lillian Chason:
A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student, who friends said was battling complications from the H1N1 virus, died Wednesday evening, according to UNC Hospitals and a Facebook post made by her father.
Freshman Lillian Chason had been in critical condition at UNC Hospitals for weeks. Friends told WRAL News on Tuesday that she started feeling bad before Thanksgiving and went into the hospital on Nov. 20. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
Vaccination against infectious diseases is perhaps the most important reason why millions of additional persons do not succumb with morbidity and mortality from viral and bacterial infections in the modern world. Vaccines are most effective when they are administered with sufficient distribution and frequency to protect as many people as possible.
