Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients may experience ceftriaxone underexposure but clinical outcomes data are lacking. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of ceftriaxone dosing on clinical outcomes amongst ICU patients without central nervous system (CNS) infection.

Methods: A retrospective study of ICU patients receiving intravenous, empiric ceftriaxone for non-CNS infections was conducted. Patients ≥18 years of age who received ≤2 grams of ceftriaxone daily for ≥72 hours were included and categorized as receiving ceftriaxone 1 gram or 2 grams daily. The primary, composite outcome was treatment failure: inpatient mortality and/or antibiotic escalation due to clinical worsening. Propensity score matching was performed based on the probability of receiving ceftriaxone 2 grams daily. Multivariable logistic regression determined the association between ceftriaxone dose and treatment failure in a propensity-matched cohort.

Results: A total of 212 patients were included in the propensity-matched cohort. The most common diagnoses (83.0%) were pneumonia and urinary tract infection. Treatment failure occurred in 17.0% and 5.7% of patients receiving 1 gram and 2 grams daily, respectively (p=0.0156). Overall inpatient mortality was 8.5%. Ceftriaxone 2 gram dosing was associated with a reduced likelihood of treatment failure (adjusted odds ratio=0.190; 95% confidence interval: 0.059 – 0.607). Other independent predictors of treatment failure included sequential organ failure assessment score (aOR 1.440, 95% CI 1.254 – 1.653) and creatinine clearance at 72 hours from ceftriaxone initiation (aOR 0.980, 95% CI (0.971 – 0.999).

Conclusions: Ceftriaxone 2 grams daily when used as appropriate antimicrobial coverage may be appropriate for ICU patients with lower mortality risk.

The hackers have been using files and emails that warn about a new coronavirus strain to trick users into opening them. Doing so can secretly deliver malware to the victim's machine.

Google's Takeout service was designed to let people download their data, but accidentally sent videos from Google Photos accounts to strangers.

Malware on an air-gapped computer can transmit data like Morse code by changing screen brightness in a way that's invisible to the naked eye but easily recorded with a camera.

Parenting styles run the gamut and so do the features in parental control and monitoring utilities. We've tested the top hardware- and software-based services to help you choose the right one for your family.

Unprecedented demand for online services and entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, along with a scramble for haven investments, have helped set South African stocks on course for a record month.

On the currency market, the rand traded softer against the greenback as it slipped to a session low of R18.77/$.

BACKGROUND:

For children who cannot be discharged from the emergency department, definitive care has become less frequent at most hospitals. It is uncertain whether this is true for common conditions that do not require specialty care. We sought to determine how the likelihood of definitive care has changed for 3 common pediatric conditions: asthma, croup, and gastroenteritis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Children with medical complexity (CMC) comprise only 6% of the pediatric population, account for ~40% of pediatric health care spending, and provide an important opportunity for cost saving. Savings in this group can have an important impact on pediatric health care costs. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a multicenter care management program on spending and use in CMC.

Penn State Health today resumed construction of Penn State Health Cocoa Outpatient Center, an expansion of medical services at the former CocoaPlex Center location.

Your smooth-talking builder may promise you the world, but you could end up in a world of pain, writes Angelique Ruzicka.

New research has found that inequality in SA has increased, with wealth becoming ever more concentrated among the rich.

Reducing indebtedness and improving savings in South Africa is a major socio-economic challenge, warns an industry expert.

Payments Association of South Africa has warned consumers to be cautious when sharing personal information which can be used by fraudsters to make unauthorised debit orders.

For bank account holders who have been victims of debit order fraud, the big four banks share their remedies.

This list looks at seven top South African products disrupting the traditional way of doing finance.

Jessica L. Barrington-Trimis
May 1, 2020; 145:e20191652-e20191652
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Kristina R. Olson
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For Norwegian international striker Ada Hegerberg, inspiring the next generation of women's players is a personal goal. In an interview which appears in the Women's U17 EURO tournament programme, we hear that the Olympique Lyonnais star wants budding young players to feel her same love of the game.

Remittances from overseas are a lifeline for many South Africans, says Richard Ambrose, CEO of Azimo.

Dedication to student print journalism paid off for several Penn State Greater Allegheny student reporters and designers.

Community and university leaders collaborate to help students and parents residing in the McKeesport Area School District.

Katie Marshall, Penn State World Campus mental health case manager, connects students learning online to resources in their own communities.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the nation, nurses worldwide are coming to the frontlines of health care to help patients every day. Penn State student nurses, Megan Lucas and Lorrie Youngs, are among the ones helping those in need and their experiences have reinforced their passions about becoming a nurse in the first place.

It is crucial that all children are provided with high-quality and safe health care. Pediatric inpatient needs are unique in regard to policies, equipment, facilities, and personnel. The intent of this clinical report is to provide recommendations for the resources necessary to provide high-quality and safe pediatric inpatient medical care.

With iOS 13.1 and iPadOS, Apple adds an Audio Sharing feature that lets you share with a friend what you're listening to on your Apple AirPods or select Beats headphones.

If your battery capacity ever drops below 80 percent when you have AppleCare+, you're in luck!

The big difference between Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited is Amazon offers an affordable tier of service available on just one Echo device. Here's how else they differ.

If you want to keep your kids safe online, you need a parental control solution that monitors all of their devices, including phones and tablets. These apps are the top cross-platform performers in our testing.

You don't have to fork over a bunch of cash to get a bunch of storage. PNY flash drives, SD cards, and portable drives are on sale at Amazon, with prices starting as low as $5.84.

A new plan from Democratic presidential candidate and former special educator Elizabeth Warren touches on some glaring issues in special education: graduation disparities, hard-to-access school buildings, and discipline practices that disproportionately affect black, Latino, and Native American stud

The Government Accountability Office finds that parents often have a hard time initiating complaints about special education services, but that these barriers don't affect all parents in the same way.

Rural families are less likely to use special education or early intervention services than children living in urban areas, a new Centers for Disease Control survey reveals.

With the coronavirus pandemic pressing tens of thousands of the nation's school districts into extended closures, education administrators across the nation are wrestling with a complex and legalistic problem: how to keep services flowing for students with disabilities.

A leading autism researcher and former special education teacher offers advice to help students cope with the abrupt changes brought on by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

THE SPFL were tonight criticised for giving Scotland’s clubs hope that league reconstruction was a possibility in their controversial end-of-season resolution.

A sixth resident has died from coronavirus in a care home on Skye.

Researchers examined nearly 22,000 pieces of class work in hundreds of schools. More than 70 percent of those assignments were below grade level, according to a new report from a teacher-training group.

An educator's experience teaching math is important, but performance on math-content-certification tests is the best predictor of how well a teacher's students will perform in early algebra, finds a new study by the Regional Educational Laboratory Central at Marzano Research.

While Beane’s and Hunsicker’s paths to Penn State Berks were somewhat different, they arrived at the same destination, well prepared for careers in education.

Indiana has one of the largest voucher programs in the country, with over 34,000 students receiving tax dollars to pay for private schools. With the Trump administration favoring school choice, many wonder if vouchers help or hurt education.

Vouchers were once used in New Zealand but had a series of unintended consequences.

So many years after vouchers began, we still can't agree on their benefits.

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Douglas K. Richardson
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Paul W. Newacheck
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COMMENTARY