Prevention of Scarring of Lung Parenchyma in COVID-19 Patients through Glucocorticoid Treatment.

Objective: The objective of this research was to determine the impact of glucocorticoid treatment on preventing scarring of lung parenchyma in COVID-19 patients by considering their health behavior. Methods: A sample of 65 Turkish patients who had pneumonia and were hospitalized between March/December 2020 were included in this research. The data for this research was collected after the consent of the hospital. The structural equation model approach was used in data analysis and empirical findings. Results: The research identified that the patients with appropriate health behavior were satisfied with their clinical treatment of scarring of lung parenchyma by the method of glucocorticoid treatment. The research also identified that the patient's health behavior was a significant indicator to improve their perception of the clinical treatment. Conclusion: This study has reliable theoretical implications that are significantly important in the literature because of the nature and uniqueness of the findings. However, this research also has some practical implications related to the patient's lungs mostly infected by COVID-19. Furthermore, the findings of this research can be generalized in a significant way because the respondents of this research belonged to a diverse population.

Use of colistin with rifampicin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and teicoplanin in Acinetobacter mouse infection model.

Background: Infections with multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria such as Acinetobacter baumannii are major cause of morbidity and mortality. Colistin is used commonly to treat these infections. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of different colistin combinations in a A. baumannii infection mouse model. Materials & methods: An A. baumannii mouse infection model was developed in 150 experimental animals. Treatment groups were as follows: colistin, colistin + rifampicin, colistin + trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, colistin + teicoplanin and a control group. The outcome was bacterial burden in the lung and liver tissues. The treatment groups were subdivided into 24-, 48- and 72-h groups. Results: Colistin and combinations reduce the A. baumannii burden significantly in lung and liver tissues compared with the control group. Compared with colistin alone colistin + rifampicin and colistin + TMP-SMX provided significantly better reduction in the bacterial burden. Conclusion: These results may suggest that rifampicin and TMP-SMX combination with colistin may have a potential role in the treatment of A. baumannii infections.

Effectiveness of a multidimensional approach to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia in pediatric intensive care units of 5 developing countries: International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium findings.

BACKGROUND: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common health care-associated infections in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Practice bundles have been shown to reduce VAP rates in PICUs in developed countries; however, the impact of a multidimensional approach, including a bundle, has not been analyzed in PICUs from developing countries. METHODS: This was a before-after study to determine rates of VAP during a period of active surveillance without the implementation of the multidimensional infection control program (phase 1) to be compared with rates of VAP after implementing such a program, which included the following: bundle of infection control interventions, education, outcome surveillance, process surveillance, feedback on VAP rates, and performance feedback on infection control practices (phase 2). This study was conducted by infection control professionals applying the National Health Safety Network's definitions of health care-associated infections and the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium's surveillance methodology. RESULTS: During the baseline period, we recorded a total of 5,212 mechanical ventilator (MV)-days, and during implementation of the intervention bundle, we recorded 9,894 MV-days. The VAP rate was 11.7 per 1,000 MV-days during the baseline period and 8.1 per 1,000 MV-days during the intervention period (relative risk, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-0.96; P = .02), demonstrating a 31% reduction in VAP rate. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that implementation of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium's multidimensional program was associated with a significant reduction in VAP rate in PICUs of developing countries.