Infectious Disease Archives - The Emergency Medical Minute

Infectious Disease

Podcast 877: Viral Respiratory Infections in Children

Contributor: Jared Scott MD Educational Pearls A recently published study assessed the burden of respiratory viruses in a longitudinal cohort of children from 0 to 2 years of age The children in the study received nasal swab PCR testing weekly to determine infectivity They were also monitored for symptoms via weekly text surveys The study…

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Podcast 872: Preseptal and Orbital Cellulitis

Contributor: Meghan Hurley MD Educational Pearls: What is Cellulitis? A common and potentially serious bacterial skin infection. Caused by various types of bacteria, with Streptococcus and Staphylococcus species being the most common. What is Preseptal Cellulitis and why is it more serious than facial cellulitis? Preseptal Cellulitis, also known as Periorbital Cellulitis, is a bacterial…

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Podcast 829: Monkeypox

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Monkeypox transmission is still occurring  in the United States Transmitted by contact to exposed lesion MSM are a high-risk group for monkeypox infection Symptoms include rash and flu like symptoms Monkeypox lesions are often described as blister-like, firm, clear, and rubbery Most commonly develop on the face and/or anogenital…

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Podcast 824: Catheter-Related Blood Infections

Contributor: Travis Barlock, MD Educational Pearls: Catheter related blood infections were thought to be caused by skin flora seeding the catheter. Thus, significant effort is applied to sterility and skin preparation.   However, studies have shown that bacteria growing on the tip of the catheter is not consistent with growth on cultures of skin.   Staphylococcus epidermidis…

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Podcast 819: Indiscriminate Lactate Testing

Contributor: Jared Scott, MD Educational Pearls: Elevated lactate levels can be a useful indicator of critical illness in patients who meet SIRS criteria        Lactate can also be elevated due to other causes including seizures and medications such as albuterol and metformin   A recent study from Switzerland* performed routine point-of-care lactate testing in all elderly patients…

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Podcast 797: Vitamin C in Sepsis

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Prior, smaller studies showed intravenous Vitamin C given to patients with sepsis significantly improved patient mortality and additional outcomes.  A recently published, randomized control trial with >800 ICU patients who received up to 4 days of IV Vit C or placebo concluded that the end points of death or…

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Podcast 796: Fluid Amounts in Septic Shock

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Septic shock management has traditionally endorsed rapid fluid resuscitation and the administration of vasopressors Current guidelines are for patients to initially receive a 30 ml/kg fluid bolus then additional fluid as needed for continued hypotension The ideal volume of fluid needed to maximize patient outcomes has been debated A…

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Podcast 776: Single-Site Blood Cultures

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Traditionally, blood cultures are drawn from two separate sites despite no data to suggest this is better than drawing blood from one site Recent study evaluated multi-site versus single-site blood cultures to determine if there was a difference in accuracy or contamination Positive yield was 20% in the single-site…

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Podcast 763: Sternoclavicular Infection

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD Educational Pearls: Septic arthritis can occur at any joint, including the sternoclavicular joint Sternoclavicular joint infections comprise 1% of all bone and joint infections  Patients who use intravenous drugs have a higher occurrence of this type of infection compared to the general population, accounting for 17% of all sternoclavicular joint infections…

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Don’t Pick Your Brain

don’t pick your brain Chief Complaint: Generalized Weakness HPI: 69-year-old male with a self-diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) presents to the ED via EMS for being “sick”. The patient reports he has not been able to get up so he has not eaten in 4 days. The patient reports he has not seen a doctor…

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