Last week we discussed the risks of sepsis in residents with pneumonia, but did you know that urinary tract infections (UTI) can often lead to sepsis as well? Although UTIs are common infections in even healthy adults, not all UTIs are treated quickly and can spread to the kidney, causing pain and severe illness. When this happens, the resident is …
I’m sitting on a plane, and across the aisle are two middle-aged women, having a great visit, laughing, talking about their day at work, how happy they are to be going home and it happens. One of the ladies starts coughing, not that dry, hacky cough from being in a dry hotel room, but a nasty cough, that rumbly, yucky, …
As COVID-19 took hold over the last year, nursing homes used and reused protective equipment, masks, gloves, gowns, etc. to assist in preventing the spread of the virus. Bring on opportunistic, drug-resistant bacteria and fungi! These bacteria and fungi, like COVID-19, prey on older people, those with compromised immune systems. These bacteria and fungi can cling tenaciously to clothing and …
In the United States, an estimated 21 million patients seek medical treatment for respiratory infections each year. Severe respiratory infections such as croup, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia are caused by bacterial and viral agents spread through respiratory droplets. Most viral pneumonias in the United States are caused by influenza and hospital associated infectious agents through respiratory droplets. In order to determine …
In a recent article in Science Translational Medicine, January 2020, a study regarding the need for improved treatments for wound healing identified a product that may actually reduce inflammation and infection. This product is not yet on the market but should give us reason to pause. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if residents with wounds could be free …
