Drug information

N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel
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A Randomized Clinical Trial
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Among outpatient health care personnel, N95 respirators vs medical masks as worn by participants in this trial resulted in no significant difference in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

These data support the recommendation to use facemasks for routine care of patients with suspected or confirmed influenza.

Source: JAMA, September 3, 2019

Thrombocytopenia in Septic Shock
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Among Septic Shock patients with incident thrombocytopenia, the median time from ICU admission to thrombocytopenia was 2 days (interquartile range, 1–3 d).

Among survivors, the median time from incident thrombocytopenia to platelet recovery was 6 days (interquartile range, 4–8 d).

The median time from liberation of vasopressors to recovery of platelets concentration (≥ 100 × 109/L) was 2 days (interquartile range, 0–4 d).

Source: Critical Care Medicine: April 2019

Antibiotic prophylaxis (400 mg of oral doxycycline and 400 mg of oral metronidazole) before miscarriage surgery did not result in a significantly lower risk of pelvic infection

Source: NEJM, March 14, 2019.

Are Contact Precautions Still Necessary to Reduce Transmission in ESBL Positive Patients?
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New study found that discontinuing the use of contact precautions for patients with ESBL positive organisms did not lead to an increased rate of hospital-associated ESBL transmission.
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The incidence of hospital-associated ESBL positive infections from January 2014 through October 2015 was 0.21/1000 patient days.

The incidence from November 2015 through August 2017 was 0.16/1000 patient days. This rate change was statistically signifcant (P = .022).

Lab ID incidence also demonstrated a slight decrease during the same time periods, although it was not statistically signifcant.
Overall, neither method demonstrated an increase in hospital-associated transmission.

Source: American Journal of Infection Control, June 2018.