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Showing posts from December, 2023

Platelet Disorders: Types, Symptoms, Causes, and More - Verywell Health

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Platelets are one of three types of red blood cells in your body, all of which are produced by stem cells in your bone marrow. Platelets are responsible for forming blood clots to stop bleeding and help repair damaged blood vessels. They also help fight infection by activating immune cells. Platelet disorders happen when there are too many or too few platelets in circulation or the platelets in circulation aren't functioning properly. There are numerous types of platelet disorders, which may either be acquired or inherited. This article details the symptoms and causes of the most common platelet disorders. It also includes information about how platelet disorders are diagnosed and what treatments to expect if you have been diagnosed with one. Charday Penn / Getty Images Common Types of Platelet Disorders The average healthy person has between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. Unlike red blood cells or hemoglobin, normal...

Roundworms in Cats: Causes, Signs & Care (Vet Answer) - Catster

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We occupy the planet with all sorts of creatures, and whilst we don't particularly like to think about it, worms appear to believe that our pets (and even us!) make comfortable and nourishing homes in which they can thrive. However, unfortunately, this belief isn't reciprocated by their hosts, and worms can have deleterious consequences for our feline friends. Roundworms are one of the more common intestinal parasites found in cats, so it is important for them to be on a cat owner's radar. Continue reading to learn more! What Are Roundworms in Cats? Roundworms are a common parasite that takes residence in the intestines of cats. This is the perfect location for roundworms to settle down, where they can consume the food that has been broken down and digested by the cat's stomach, grow into adults, and continue their lifecycle. Roundworms are large white or light-brown worms that average 3–6 inches long and can sometimes be clearly seen with the naked eye in...

Osterholm Update | CIDRAP - University of Minnesota Twin Cities

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In "A Seasonless Virus," Dr. Osterholm and Chris Dall discuss the latest COVID-19 trends in the U.S. and around the world, provide an update on influenza and RSV activity, and review two recent studies on long COVID. Dr. Osterholm also answers a listener question on fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and celebrates a recent event in public health history.  Report underscores financial pressure of long COVID on families (CIDRAP News) 5% of COVID-infected US veterans still had symptoms up to 1 year later (CIDRAP News) SARS-CoV-2 disease severity and transmission efficiency is increased for airborne compared to fomite exposure in Syrian hamsters ( Nature Communications , Port et al) High prevalence of multidrug-resistant infections reported in Ukraine hospitals (CIDRAP News) As we near the end of the year, please consider CIDRAP in your charitable giving. To contribute to this podcast and everything we do here at CIDRAP, visit C...

Intestinal Worms: Gut and Stool Symptoms to Recognize - Verywell Health

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Intestinal worms are parasites that live in the gut and can make you sick. They are some of the world's most common parasites. As a group, these parasitic worms are called helminths . Because they live in the gut, you can sometimes tell you have an infection of intestinal worms by looking at your stool.  Seeing worms or eggs in your poop isn't the only way to tell if you have a parasitic infection. You may also have various digestive and non-digestive symptoms triggered by the worms or your body's reaction to them. This article will review the symptoms of intestinal worms and ways to determine if you have them by examining your stool. It will also cover how intestinal worms are treated.  South_agency / Getty Images Intestinal Worms: How Do You Know You Have Them? Intestinal worms are most common in lower-income countries. The symptoms of intestinal worms may vary based on the worm. Often, people will have no symptom...

Nosocomial infections in the surgical intensive care unit: an observational retrospective study from a large tertiary ... - BMC Infectious Diseases

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Nosocomial infections can spread in a variety of medical settings, including wards, surgical rooms, nursing homes, and others. There are numerous mechanisms by which infection occurs in the healthcare setting. In addition to contaminated tools and equipment, bedding, or aerosols, healthcare personnel can also spread illness [20]. The main objective of our study was to assess the incidence of nosocomial infections in SICU patients between 2020 and 2021. The incidence of infections during stays in the ICU in Jenin, another West Bank district, in 2020 was 55% [21], while in Iran, it was 51.4% [22]. Both results were higher than the rate in our study, which included 352 patients, of whom 95 had either suspected or confirmed infections (26.9%) after staying in the ICU for more than 48 h. The incidence of nosocomial infections in our hospital was somewhat lower than the incidence found in India (33.3%) [8] and Boston City Hospital (31%) [8]. The overall mortality rate in our study w...

Severe Rickettsia typhi Infections, Costa Rica - Volume 29, Number 11—November 2023 - Emerging Infectious ... - CDC

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Author affiliations: Instituto Costarricense de Investigación y Enseñanza en Nutrición y Salud, Cartago, Costa Rica (D. Chinchilla, I. Sánchez) ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (I. Chung, A.N. Gleaton, C.Y. Kato) Murine typhus is an acute febrile, fleaborne disease caused by infection with Rickettsia typhi bacteria. The initial symptoms are nonspecific and resemble those of other common bacterial and viral infections. Murine typhus is generally mild to moderate in severity and has a low case-fatality rate, especially in treated patients ( 1 , 2 ). In untreated patients, the case-fatality rate is reported to be 0.4%, and complications can occur in 6%–30% of patients ( 1 ). In Costa Rica, cases of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever have been reported since 1950, and 6 species of Rickettsia have been identified ( 2 , 3 ). In Central America, there is serologic evidence...

Wounded Israeli Soldier Dies of Fungal Infection; Medical Experts Say Not Exclusive to Gaza - Israel News - Haaretz

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An Israeli soldier, who was seriously wounded in fighting two weeks ago in the Gaza Strip, died from a fungal infection he contracted on the battlefield. Adblock test (Why?)

B.C. CDC warns of high levels of strep infections in kids - Vancouver Sun

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Article content B.C. heath officials are warning of high levels of group A streptococcal infections, especially among children, this season. As of Friday, there have been 51 cases in people under 20, which the B.C. Centre for Disease Control says is more than twice the number recorded last year. Article content The agency says this type of strep typically causes mild illness such as strep throat or impetigo, a skin infection. Article content While most people will recover with antibiotics, these infections can become more dangerous when the bacteria invade the lungs, blood, or spread along the tissue surrounding a muscle. More severe infections can cause pneumonia or sepsis and include conditions such as toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis, according to the B.C. CDC. These conditions can be life-threatening, and health officials say people with chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and chronic heart or lung disease, and those who use medications such as steroids, are a...

Soil-transmitted helminth infections - World Health Organization

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Overview Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are among the most common infections worldwide with an estimated 1.5 billion infected people or 24% of the world's population. These infections affect the poorest and most deprived communities with poor access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in tropical and subtropical areas, with the highest prevalence reported from sub-Saharan Africa, China, South America and Asia. They are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in areas where sanitation is poor. Over 260 million preschool-age children, 654 million school-age children,108 million adolescent girls and 138.8 million pregnant and lactating women live in areas where these parasites are intensively transmitted, and are in need of treatment and preventive interventions. Globally over 600 million people are estimated to be infected by  S. stercoralis ; however, since also this parasite is transmitted in areas where sanitatio...