Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2016/11/news-scan-nov-16-2016
News Scan for Nov 16, 2016
Vitamin D and respiratory illness; More Burkholderia cepacia cases
Filed Under:
Respiratory Illness; Burkholderia cepacia
[h=3]Vitamin D tied to lower respiratory illness rate in older patients[/h] High doses of vitamin D were associated with a reduced incidence of acute respiratory illness (ARI) by 40% in elderly, long-term?care residents, according to a study today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In the first clinical trial to study vitamin D's impact in a nursing home population, researchers looked at 107 residents in Colorado long-term care facilities over the course of 1 year. The patients were all 60 years and older, with an average age of 84. Although ARI was the primary outcome measured, the scientists also tracked falls and fractures, hypercalcemia, and kidney stones as secondary outcomes.
Fifty-five residents received high doses of vitamin D?100,000 units monthly (3,300 to 4,300 units daily)?and 52 received standard doses (400 to 1,000 units per day). Those with higher doses saw ARIs cut 40%, but those patients also fell more compared with the residents who received lower doses of vitamin D. The other secondary outcomes did not vary between the two groups.
The authors of the study said the next step would be reproducing the results in a confirmatory trial and further exploring the risk of falls. But the study results are encouraging for clinicians who have little recourse over viral ARI, especially influenza and bronchitis, which are some of the leading causes of morbidity among older adult populations who live in nursing homes, they added.
Nov 16 Jour Am Ger Soc study
Nov 16 University of Colorado press release
[h=3]Burkholderia cepacia outbreak from saline syringes sickens 149 in 5 states[/h] A multistate Burkholderia cepacia bloodstream infection outbreak linked to contaminated prefilled saline flushes has now sickened 149 people in five states, according to a Nov 9 update from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most of the infections have occurred in patients in 58 nursing home or rehabilitation facilities. Six deaths have been reported among the patients, though it's not clear if they were cause by B cepacia infection or other underlying health condition.
The saline flush syringes, used for patients receiving intravenous fluids or antibiotics through central venous catheters, investigated as the source of the bacteria, were made by Nurse Assist, based in Haltom City, Tex. On Oct 4 the company recalled its products.
Affected states are Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The CDC has urged local and state health authorities to report any B cepacia bloodstream infections in patients treated in facilities that used the products and whose symptoms began after Aug 1.
B cepacia is resistant to many common antibiotics, and the same bacterium was implicated in a healthcare-related outbreak over the summer linked to the liquid stool softener docusate.
Nov 9 CDC outbreak update
News Scan for Nov 16, 2016
Vitamin D and respiratory illness; More Burkholderia cepacia cases
Filed Under:
Respiratory Illness; Burkholderia cepacia
[h=3]Vitamin D tied to lower respiratory illness rate in older patients[/h] High doses of vitamin D were associated with a reduced incidence of acute respiratory illness (ARI) by 40% in elderly, long-term?care residents, according to a study today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In the first clinical trial to study vitamin D's impact in a nursing home population, researchers looked at 107 residents in Colorado long-term care facilities over the course of 1 year. The patients were all 60 years and older, with an average age of 84. Although ARI was the primary outcome measured, the scientists also tracked falls and fractures, hypercalcemia, and kidney stones as secondary outcomes.
Fifty-five residents received high doses of vitamin D?100,000 units monthly (3,300 to 4,300 units daily)?and 52 received standard doses (400 to 1,000 units per day). Those with higher doses saw ARIs cut 40%, but those patients also fell more compared with the residents who received lower doses of vitamin D. The other secondary outcomes did not vary between the two groups.
The authors of the study said the next step would be reproducing the results in a confirmatory trial and further exploring the risk of falls. But the study results are encouraging for clinicians who have little recourse over viral ARI, especially influenza and bronchitis, which are some of the leading causes of morbidity among older adult populations who live in nursing homes, they added.
Nov 16 Jour Am Ger Soc study
Nov 16 University of Colorado press release
[h=3]Burkholderia cepacia outbreak from saline syringes sickens 149 in 5 states[/h] A multistate Burkholderia cepacia bloodstream infection outbreak linked to contaminated prefilled saline flushes has now sickened 149 people in five states, according to a Nov 9 update from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Most of the infections have occurred in patients in 58 nursing home or rehabilitation facilities. Six deaths have been reported among the patients, though it's not clear if they were cause by B cepacia infection or other underlying health condition.
The saline flush syringes, used for patients receiving intravenous fluids or antibiotics through central venous catheters, investigated as the source of the bacteria, were made by Nurse Assist, based in Haltom City, Tex. On Oct 4 the company recalled its products.
Affected states are Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The CDC has urged local and state health authorities to report any B cepacia bloodstream infections in patients treated in facilities that used the products and whose symptoms began after Aug 1.
B cepacia is resistant to many common antibiotics, and the same bacterium was implicated in a healthcare-related outbreak over the summer linked to the liquid stool softener docusate.
Nov 9 CDC outbreak update