October 2016

Researchers studying treatment-modifying covariates using network meta-regression analyses for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation reported disappointing results.

Study results show that gonorrhea may soon develop resistance to the most commonly recommended antibiotic treatments – oral azithromycin and single-injection ceftriaxone.

Although 35% of US patients hospitalized for an asthma exacerbation were current smokers, only 55% of current smokers received a smoking cessation intervention during their hospital stay.

A study out of the University of Montreal explores newer, more accurate methods of targeting "HIV reservoirs" and tests two drugs, originally developed for cancer treatment, for their ability to bring the virus out of hiding.

The authors of a recently published study claim a novel, existing class of drugs, known as salicylanilides, are effective against C. difficile infection.

Patient selection, proper up-titration, and insurance barriers must be considered by cardiologists and other physicians seeking to treat patients with the new combo medication.

Chronic alcohol consumption of 2 or more drinks per day is associated with up to 30% higher risk for atrial fibrillation.

The study identified several characteristics to observe in HIV patients who develop broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies (bnAbs), which occur naturally in about one percent of those infected with the disease and could be key in an eventual vaccine. Black patients were found more likely to develop them than white.

The Penn Medicine clinical trial uses kidneys from deceased donors who were infected with the hepatitis C virus. The first person in the trial received a kidney transplant in July and then underwent treatment with a regimen of Zepatier, one of the direct acting antiviral drugs approved recently to treat the virus.

A retrospective cohort analysis showed patients with severe asthma and elevated eosinophil levels accounted for only 3% of all asthma patients but an estimated $1.3 billion in costs due to hospital admission for asthma exacerbation.