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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes infections of the lower respiratory tract. A group particularly vulnerable to severe infection are young children under 2 years of age and the elderly. The infection can cause the entire spectrum of respiratory symptoms from upper respiratory tract infections to severe courses requiring assisted breathing. Until recently, the only form of protection against infection was passive immunization, i.e. administration of immunoglobulins. Chief among these are palivizumab and nirsevimab. In May u June 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for use 2 vaccines against RSV are Arexvy and Abrysvo. In this study, we focus on presenting and describing the clinical evidence supporting the effectiveness of these immunization methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy drinks are carbonated or non-carbonated beverages containing stimulants designed to improve energy and concentration. These drinks are gaining popularity, specifically among teenagers and young adults. However, despite their easy availability on store shelves, there is growing concern about the safety and health effects of consuming energy drinks in particular. Energy drinks appear to have the greatest impact on the cardiovascular system, leading to increased blood pressure and increased heart rate, and on the mental state of consumers, in the long term causing increased levels of anxiety. The paper also addresses the effects of energy drinks on the nervous and gastrointestinal systems. Despite many studies, the health effects of energy drinks have still not been fully investigated, so there is a need for further research on the subject and for age-appropriate regulation of consumers and their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rapid emergence and global spread of COVID-19 have underscored the critical need for understanding patient characteristics, clinical outcomes, and the microbiological landscape within intensive care settings. The study aims to identify the most common microbes causing pulmonary coinfections in COVID-19 ICU patients and to determine the optimal empirical antimicrobial treatment for this patient population. Material and methods: In the following single-center retrospective cohort study, we collected medical data on 201 patients admitted to the ICU due to COVID-19. Further, we Identified the primary causative pathogens of pulmonary coinfection. The study outcomes were death or ICU discharge. Results: The study analyzed 201 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, revealing a balanced distribution between those with (52%) and without (48%) pulmonary infections. In our cohort, the mean BMI was 33.0. The subgroup with pulmonary coinfections did not show statistically significant differences in the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension compared to those without such coinfections. Patients with pulmonary infections exhibited more severe respiratory compromise, necessitating increased mechanical ventilation and extended ICU stays. Pathogen isolation highlighted Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter cloacae, and Enterococcus faecalis as predominant, with a notable shift towards resistant strains like Klebsiella pneumoniae ESBL and Acinetobacterbaumannii MDR post-48 hours of admission. Antibiotic susceptibility testing underscored the effectiveness of specific agents against MSSA, while revealing variable resistance patterns among Enterobacter cloacae and Enterococcus faecalis, particularly against Daptomycin and Levofloxacin. The most commonly used antibiotics were ceftriaxone and levofloxacin. Conclusions: The number of used antibiotics, including broad-spectrum, increased the occurrence of multi-drug resistant bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of General Medicine & Health Sciences / Medycyna Ogólna i Nauki o Zdrowiu is the property of Witold Chodzki Institute of Rural Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lubelski Rocznik Pedagogiczny is the property of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of infections and a need for medical consultations forced the society to implement remote forms of contact with patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the experiences and preferences of patients regarding the doctor-patient relationship. A quantitative study was conducted using the CAWI technique. The study involved 1011 adult patients who were consulted by their family physicians. The patients generally declared unfavorable changes regarding their access to medical services. While comparing the experiences before and during the pandemic, most patients (70.3%) revealed that they had difficulties accessing their family physicians. Many patients (83.1%) preferred a personal visit as a form of consultation. Identification of the constraints relating to the COVID-19 pandemic can contribute to optimizing the health care system, particularly the organization of remote medical consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introdcution: A specific difficulty in the standardization of nasal allergen challenge tests as measured by acoustic rhinometry is the lack of reference values measured according to dependent changes, for example height and weight/height- or weight-dependent changes. Human growth and development rates and other changes the human body undergoes throughout the lifetime depend closely on the environment, sex, and race. Aim: To assess selected anthropometric (body weight and height) and rhinometric (nasal cross-sectional areas) measurements concerning subject age and sex. Material and methods: The study was conducted in 633 subjects selected in multistage, stratified sampling (324 females and 309 males). Body weight and height were measured with a sliding weight scale and height measure. Nasal cavity cross-sectional areas were measured via acoustic rhinometry. Results: We observed parallel increases in the evaluated anthropometric measurements and nasal cavity cross-sectional areas both in males and females aged ≤ 14 years, with the two sexes starting to differ significantly in terms of those measurements over the age of 14 (p < 0.0001; p < 0.000001). The evaluated rhinometric measurements showed a greater correlation with height than with body weight. The time of the most diversified and dynamic changes in anthropomorphic measurements was the age of > 12 years: with boys demonstrating significantly higher mean values of height and body weight than girls. Conclusions: Height showed a better correlation with rhinometric measurements (cross-sectional area of the nasal cavity) in younger subjects (at their age of development) than in older ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SARS-Cov-2 pandemic caused many changes in the area of the health care system. Social distancing had a significant impact on the organization and course of doctor's appointments, increasingly carried out in the form of tele-consultations. The purpose of the study was to analyze the impact of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic on the doctor-patient relationship in the context of the organization and implementation of tele-medical consultations. The quantitative research was conducted with the use of the proprietary research tool. The data was obtained using the CAWI technique. The study included 722 adult patients from all over the country who consulted their general practitioners from 20th March 2020 to 21st September 2021. Comparing the experiences before and during the pandemic, the patients revealed difficulties in access to general practitioners. Most of the respondents (87%) had a telephone consultation. 56 percent of respondents claimed that the waiting time for an appointment was longer. According to 42% of patients, the quality of communication with a doctor deteriorated. Half of the patients (50.3%) admitted that they had not been informed about the possibility of choosing the form of visit. Almost 85% of people preferred direct contact with a doctor, although 72% would like the telephone consultation to be available as a form of medical advice after the pandemic ends. Identification and recognition of difficulties related to limitations caused by SARS-Cov-2 may contribute to the improvement of the health care system, with particular emphasis on the organization of tele-medical consultations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTIs) pose a significant challenge in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with COVID-19., Objective: The study aims to assess the prevalence of CA-UTIs, identify the causative pathogens and their resistance profiles, and determine the risk factors and outcomes associated with CA-UTIs in ICU patients with COVID-19., Design: Single-center, retrospective cohort study., Methods: The study included 201 adult ICU patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2021. Patients were categorized into CA-UTI ( n  = 56) and non-CA-UTI ( n  = 145) groups. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical course, treatment, and outcomes were collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for CA-UTI., Results: CA-UTIs developed in 28% of patients ( n  = 56). Incidence density of 15.8 episodes per 1000 catheter days. The average onset occurrence is 7.2 days after ICU admission. Patients with CA-UTI had longer ICU stays (18.8 days vs 10.5 days, p  < 0.001) and more elevated mortality rates (75.0% vs 54.5%, p  = 0.010), higher mechanical ventilation (MV) usage (98.2% vs 88.3%, p  = 0.027), a longer average duration of MV (16.6 days vs 9.1 days, p  < 0.001). Longer ICU and hospital stays were significant risk factors for CA-UTI. Other factors, such as the use of corticosteroids, chronic organ insufficiency or immunocompromized status, female sex, age, diabetes mellitus, and the duration of urinary catheterization, did not show significant associations with CA-UTI risk in this cohort. Gram-negative bacteria, particularly Klebsiella pneumoniae (28 cases), was the most common pathogen, with a high prevalence of multidrug resistance (38.8%) with type ESBL, MBL, NDM, and OXA-48. The occurrence of multidrug resistant (MDR) organisms was 68.8%., Conclusion: The findings of this study underscore the prevalence of CA-UTIs in ICU patients with COVID-19, significantly impacting patient outcomes. Effective infection control and targeted antimicrobial therapy are crucial to managing these infections., (© The Author(s), 2024.)

Introduction: Acoustic rhinometry is a non-invasive method of measuring intranasal spaces. As one of the objective techniques for nasal patency, it plays a critical role in evaluating the nasal allergen challenge.Aim: To establish the typical ranges of selected AR parameters for age and sex., Material and Methods: The study was conducted in a group of 583 randomly selected subjects (329 females and 254 males). Acoustic rhinometry was done before and 15 min after a two-time application of 0.1% solution of the decongestant xylomethazoline. The evaluated AR parameters (the cross-sectional area 1 (CSA-1) at the level of the isthmus nasi and the distance between the external nares and the isthmus nasi (dCSA-1)) were measured separately for both nasal cavities. Another evaluated parameter was the mean CSA measured 3 cm beyond CSA-1 on the AR curve (CSA-3)., Results: The site of the minimum CSA on the acoustic rhinometry curve in the study group was the second notch on the acoustic rhinometry curve (CSA-1), corresponding to the nasal isthmus. With increasing age of the subjects, we observed a systematic increase in nasal spaces. The difference between sexes reached statistical significance at the ages of 17 years and older., Conclusions: The evaluated males show larger nasal cavity volumes than females. The difference between the sexes reaches statistical significance at older ages., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Termedia.)

The adsorption of fibrinogen on polystyrene latex particles was studied using the concentration depletion method combined with the AFM detection of residual protein after adsorption. Measurements were carried out for a pH range of 3.5-11 and an ionic strength range of 10(-3)-0.15 M NaCl. First, the bulk physicochemical properties of fibrinogen and the latex particle suspension were characterized for this range of pH and ionic strength. The zeta potential and the number of uncompensated (electrokinetic) charges on the protein were determined from microelectrophoretic measurements. It was revealed that fibrinogen molecules exhibited amphoteric characteristics, being on average positively charged for pH <5.8 (isolectric point) and negative otherwise. However, the latex particles did not show any isoelectric point, remaining strongly negative for this pH range. Afterward, systematic measurements of the electrophoretic mobility of fibrinogen-covered latex were carried out as a function of the amount of adsorbed protein, expressed as the surface concentration. A monotonic increase in the electrophoretic mobility (zeta potential) of the latex was observed in all cases, indicating a significant adsorption of fibrinogen on latex for pH below 11. It was also proven that fibrinogen adsorption was irreversible, with the maximum surface concentration varying between 2.5 and 5 × 10(3) μm(-2) (weight concentration of a bare molecule was 1.4 to 2.8 mg m(-2)). These measurements revealed two main adsorption mechanisms of fibrinogen: (i) the unoriented (random) mechanism prevailing for lower ionic strength, where adsorbing molecules significantly penetrate the fuzzy polymeric layer on the latex core and (ii) the side-on adsorption mechanism prevailing for pH > 5.8 and a higher ionic strength of 0.15 M. It was also shown that in the latter case, variations in the zeta potential with the protein coverage could be adequately described in terms of the electrokinetic model, previously formulated for planar substrate adsorption. On the basis of these experimental data, an efficient procedure of preparing fibrinogen-covered latex particles of controlled monolayer structure and coverage was envisaged.