scholarly journals Evaluation of Penicillin Allergies and an Allergy Assessment Pilot in the Emergency Department

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. s39-s39
Author(s):  
Ashlyn Norris ◽  
Kalynn Northam ◽  
Lindsay Daniels ◽  
Mildred Kwan ◽  
Gary Burke ◽  
...  

Penicillin (PCN) allergy is one of the most frequently reported medication allergies, with ~10% of the US population reporting a PCN allergy. However, studies have shown that only 1% of the US population have a true IgE-mediated reaction to PCN. Delabeling and appropriately updating patient allergy profiles could decrease the use of alternative broad-spectrum antibiotics, rates of infectious complications [C. difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)], antibiotic resistance, and overall healthcare cost. The emergency department (ED) is an important setting in which to assess PCN allergies and to delabel patients when appropriate because there are >130 million ED visits in the United States each year. We sought to determine the percentage of PCN allergy–labeled patients who could be delabeled through a PCN allergy assessment interview in an ED. Key secondary outcomes included the percentage of interviewed patients who could not be delabeled based on history alone but would be eligible for an amoxicillin oral challenge or a PCN skin test (PST). A prospective PCN allergy assessment pilot was performed for patients aged >18 years presenting to the UNC Medical Center ED between December 1 and December 17, 2020, with a documented PCN allergy. A pharmacist conducted penicillin allergy assessments on a convenience sample of patients presenting to the ED between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays. Based on patients’ reported and documented histories, charts were updated with the most accurate information and allergies were delabeled if appropriate. In total, 95 patients were assessed; 62 (65.3%) were interviewed and 15 (24.2%) were delabeled. In addition, 26 patients (41.9%) were deemed eligible for an oral amoxicillin challenge, 19 (30.6%) qualified for a PST, and 2 (3.2%) patients did not qualify for further assessment due to having a an IgE-mediated reaction in the past 5 years. Of the 15 patients who were delabeled, 6 (40.0%) received antibiotics during their admission: 4 (73.3%) of those patients received a penicillin and 2 (36.7%) received a cephalosporin, all without adverse reactions. Patient assessments took ~20 minutes to complete, including chart review, patient interview, and postinterview chart updating. The results from this pilot study demonstrate the impact of performing PCN allergy assessments in ED. Interdisciplinary opportunities should be explored to develop processes that will improve the efficiency and sustainability of PCN allergy assessments within the ED to allow this important stewardship intervention to continue.Funding: NoDisclosures: None

2020 ◽  
pp. 194589242096196
Author(s):  
P Papagiannopoulos ◽  
A Ganti ◽  
YJ Kim ◽  
RA Raad ◽  
EC Kuan ◽  
...  

Introduction The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus virus has altered all facets of clinical practice in the United States. The goal of this study is to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on rhinologic ambulatory and operative practice. Methods A 27-item survey to assess these objectives was created and approved by the Division of Rhinology faculty at Rush University Medical Center in April 2020. The survey was then distributed to rhinologists in a web based format via www.surveymonkey.com from April 10 through April 23, 2020. Results A total of 277 U.S based rhinologists responded to the survey (23.04%). The most common practice types were single specialty private (44.9%) and academic (24.6%). 90.2% practice in a state under a shelter in place order. Comparing pre-COVID baseline to during-COVID, there was statistically significant reduction in the number of patients of seen daily in clinic ( p < 0.001). The number of nasal endoscopies in the office and surgical procedures fell dramatically. Overall, 5 respondent rhinologists have been infected with COVID-19 and 27 have been furloughed. Conclusion COVID-19 has drastically affected rhinologic practice. There is a dramatic reduction of in person care in the office setting and surgical management of sinonasal and skull base disease. Enhanced PPE is being used in only half of potentially aerosolizing procedures which represents an area of further education. Novel approaches such as use of virtual encounters and point of care testing should be considered as options to facilitate care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. E336-E344
Author(s):  
James Brown ◽  
Bushra Usmani ◽  
George Arnaoutakis ◽  
Derek Serna-Gallegos ◽  
Konstadinos Plestis ◽  
...  

Background: This study examined changes in aortic dissection (AD) mortality from 2006 to 2017 and assessed the impact of weekday versus weekend presentation upon mortality. Methods: This observational study analyzed all records in the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) database. NEDS aggregates discharge data from 984 hospitals in 36 states and the District of Columbia in the United States of America. All patients with thoracic and thoracoabdominal AD recorded as their principal diagnosis were identified via ICD codes. Results: Patient characteristics (weekday|weekend) count: 26,759|9,640, P = 0.016; age (years): 65.2 ± 15.8|64.7 ± 16.2, P = 0.016; women: 11,318 (42.3%)|4,086 (42.4), P = 0.883; Charlson comorbidity index: 2.3 ± 1.7|2.3 ± 1.6, P = 0.025. There were 36,399 ED visits with diagnosed AD. Annual AD diagnoses increased by 70% from 2006 to 2017. From 2012-2017, patients had lower in-hospital mortality (9.9% versus 11.9%, P < 0.001) compared with 2006-2011. Patients reporting during the weekend had higher in-hospital mortality (11.8% versus 10.4%, P < 0.001) compared with weekdays. On multivariable analysis, year of presentation remained independently associated with in-hospital mortality, with 2012-2017 being associated with reduced mortality (odds ratio (OR) 0.90, 95% CI: 0.82, 0.99, P = 0.031), as compared with 2006-2011. Weekend presentation remained independently associated with worse in-hospital mortality (OR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.29, P = 0.003) compared with weekday presentation. Conclusion: Although AD mortality is decreasing, the patients presenting on the weekend were 13% more likely to die in the hospital compared with patients presenting during the week.


Author(s):  
Aref Emamian

This study examines the impact of monetary and fiscal policies on the stock market in the United States (US), were used. By employing the method of Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) developed by Pesaran et al. (2001). Annual data from the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, from 1986 to 2017 pertaining to the American economy, the results show that both policies play a significant role in the stock market. We find a significant positive effect of real Gross Domestic Product and the interest rate on the US stock market in the long run and significant negative relationship effect of Consumer Price Index (CPI) and broad money on the US stock market both in the short run and long run. On the other hand, this study only could support the significant positive impact of tax revenue and significant negative impact of real effective exchange rate on the US stock market in the short run while in the long run are insignificant. Keywords: ARDL, monetary policy, fiscal policy, stock market, United States


Horticulturae ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Amandeep Kaur ◽  
Louise Ferguson ◽  
Niels Maness ◽  
Becky Carroll ◽  
William Reid ◽  
...  

Pecan is native to the United States. The US is the world’s largest pecan producer with an average yearly production of 250 to 300 million pounds; 80 percent of the world’s supply. Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, California, Louisiana, and Florida are the major US pecan producing states. Pecan trees frequently suffer from spring freeze at bud break and bloom as the buds are quite sensitive to freeze damage. This leads to poor flower and nut production. This review focuses on the impact of spring freeze during bud differentiation and flower development. Spring freeze kills the primary terminal buds, the pecan tree has a second chance for growth and flowering through secondary buds. Unfortunately, secondary buds have less bloom potential than primary buds and nut yield is reduced. Spring freeze damage depends on severity of the freeze, bud growth stage, cultivar type and tree age, tree height and tree vigor. This review discusses the impact of temperature on structure and function of male and female reproductive organs. It also summarizes carbohydrate relations as another factor that may play an important role in spring growth and transition of primary and secondary buds to flowers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corentin Cot ◽  
Giacomo Cacciapaglia ◽  
Francesco Sannino

AbstractWe employ the Google and Apple mobility data to identify, quantify and classify different degrees of social distancing and characterise their imprint on the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and in the United States. We identify the period of enacted social distancing via Google and Apple data, independently from the political decisions. Our analysis allows us to classify different shades of social distancing measures for the first wave of the pandemic. We observe a strong decrease in the infection rate occurring two to five weeks after the onset of mobility reduction. A universal time scale emerges, after which social distancing shows its impact. We further provide an actual measure of the impact of social distancing for each region, showing that the effect amounts to a reduction by 20–40% in the infection rate in Europe and 30–70% in the US.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S489-S490
Author(s):  
John T Henderson ◽  
Evelyn Villacorta Cari ◽  
Nicole Leedy ◽  
Alice Thornton ◽  
Donna R Burgess ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There has been a dramatic rise in IV drug use (IVDU) and its associated mortality and morbidity, however, the scope of this effect has not been described. Kentucky is at the epicenter of this epidemic and is an ideal place to better understand the health complications of IVDU in order to improve outcomes. Methods All adult in-patient admissions to University of Kentucky hospitals in 2018 with an Infectious Diseases (ID) consult and an ICD 9/10 code associated with IVDU underwent thorough retrospective chart review. Demographic, descriptive, and outcome data were collected and analyzed by standard statistical analysis. Results 390 patients (467 visits) met study criteria. The top illicit substances used were methamphetamine (37.2%), heroin (38.2%), and cocaine (10.3%). While only 4.1% of tested patients were HIV+, 74.2% were HCV antibody positive. Endocarditis (41.1%), vertebral osteomyelitis (20.8%), bacteremia without endocarditis (14.1%), abscess (12.4%), and septic arthritis (10.4%) were the most common infectious complications. The in-patient death rate was 3.0%, and 32.2% of patients were readmitted within the study period. The average length of stay was 26 days. In multivariable analysis, infectious endocarditis was associated with a statistically significant increase in risk of death, ICU admission, and hospital readmission. Although not statistically significant, trends toward mortality and ICU admission were identified for patients with prior endocarditis and methadone was correlated with decreased risk of readmission and ICU stay. FIGURE 1: Reported Substances Used FIGURE 2: Comorbidities FIGURE 3: Types of Severe Infectious Complications Conclusion We report on a novel, comprehensive perspective on the serious infectious complications of IVDU in an attempt to measure its cumulative impact in an unbiased way. This preliminary analysis of a much larger dataset (2008-2019) reveals some sobering statistics about the impact of IVDU in the United States. While it confirms the well accepted mortality and morbidity associated with infective endocarditis and bacteremia, there is a significant unrecognized impact of other infectious etiologies. Additional analysis of this data set will be aimed at identifying key predictive factors in poor outcomes in hopes of mitigating them. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


Author(s):  
Sergio Petralia

Abstract The pervasive diffusion of electricity-related technologies at the beginning of the twentieth century has been studied extensively to understand the transformative potential of general purpose technologies (GPTs). Most of what we know, however, has been investigated in relation to the diffusion of their use. This article provides evidence on the county-level economic impact of the technological adoption of electrical and electronic (E&E) technologies in the 1920s in the United States (US). It focuses on measuring the impact of a GPT on technological adopters, i.e., those who are able to develop, transform, and complement it. It is shown that places with patenting activity in E&E technologies grew faster and paid higher wages than others between 1920 and 1930. This analysis required constructing a novel database identifying detailed geographical information for historical patent documents in the US since 1836, as well as developing a text-mining algorithm to identify E&E patents based on patent descriptions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s84-s84
Author(s):  
Lorinda Sheeler ◽  
Mary Kukla ◽  
Oluchi Abosi ◽  
Holly Meacham ◽  
Stephanie Holley ◽  
...  

Background: In December of 2019, the World Health Organization reported a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 [SARS-CoV-2)]) causing severe respiratory illness originating in Wuhan, China. Since then, an increasing number of cases and the confirmation of human-to-human transmission has led to the need to develop a communication campaign at our institution. We describe the impact of the communication campaign on the number of calls received and describe patterns of calls during the early stages of our response to this emerging infection. Methods: The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics is an 811-bed academic medical center with >200 outpatient clinics. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, we launched a communications campaign on January 17, 2020. Initial communications included email updates to staff and a dedicated COVID-19 webpage with up-to-date information. Subsequently, we developed an electronic screening tool to guide a risk assessment during patient check in. The screening tool identifies travel to China in the past 14 days and the presence of symptoms defined as fever >37.7°C plus cough or difficulty breathing. The screening tool was activated on January 24, 2020. In addition, university staff contacted each student whose primary residence record included Hubei Province, China. Students were provided with medical contact information, signs and symptoms to monitor for, and a thermometer. Results: During the first 5 days of the campaign, 3 calls were related to COVID-19. The number of calls increased to 18 in the 5 days following the implementation of the electronic screening tool. Of the 21 calls received to date, 8 calls (38%) were generated due to the electronic travel screen, 4 calls (19%) were due to a positive coronavirus result in a multiplex respiratory panel, 4 calls (19%) were related to provider assessment only (without an electronic screening trigger), and 2 calls (10%) sought additional information following the viewing of the web-based communication campaign. Moreover, 3 calls (14%) were for people without travel history but with respiratory symptoms and contact with a person with recent travel to China. Among those reporting symptoms after travel to China, mean time since arrival to the United States was 2.7 days (range, 0–11 days). Conclusion: The COVID-19 outbreak is evolving, and providing up to date information is challenging. Implementing an electronic screening tool helped providers assess patients and direct questions to infection prevention professionals. Analyzing the types of calls received helped tailor messaging to frontline staff.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Guarisco ◽  
Stefoni A. Bavin

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a case study testing the Primary Provider Theory proposed by Aragon that states that: disproportionate to any other variables, patient satisfaction is distinctly and primarily linked to physician behaviors and secondarily to waiting times.Design/methodology/approachThe case study began by creating incentives motivating physicians to reflect and improve behaviors (patient interactions) and practice patterns (workflow efficiency). The Press Ganey Emergency Department Survey was then utilized to track the impact of the incentive programs and to ascertain any relationship between patient satisfaction with the provider and global patient satisfaction with emergency department visits by measuring patient satisfaction over an eight quarter period.FindingsThe findings were two‐fold: firstly, the concept of “pay for performance” as a tool for physician motivation was valid; and secondly, the impact on global patient satisfaction by increases in patient satisfaction with the primary provider was significant and highly correlated, as proposed by Aragon.Practical implicationsThese findings can encourage hospitals and physician groups to place a high value on the performance of primary providers of patient care, provide incentives for appropriate provider behaviors through “pay for performance” programs and promote physician understanding of the links between global patient satisfaction with physician behaviors and business growth, malpractice reduction, and other key measures of business success.Originality/valueThere are no other case studies prior to this project validating the Primary Provider Theory in an urban medical center; this project adds to the validity and credibility of the theory in this setting.


Author(s):  
Arthur M. Hauptman

The 2008 failure of major financial institutions in the United States may have dramatic ramifications on American students and whether/where they attend college. Several sources of funding may be at risk, including potential decreases in federal financial aid, the tightening of private loan availability, lowered home values impinging on equity-based lending, and stock market losses in college-fund savings. Public institutions, whose tuition is much lower than private or for-profit institutions, may see an increase in enrollment.


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