Preventable adverse drug events in critically ill HIV patients: Is the detection of potential drug-drug interactions a useful tool?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a strategy to identify adverse drug events associated with drug-drug interactions by analyzing the prescriptions of critically ill patients. METHODS: This retrospective study included HIV/AIDS patients who were admitted to an intensive care unit between November 2006 and September 2008. Data were collected in two stages. In the first stage, three prescriptions administered throughout the entire duration of these patients’ hospitalization were reviewed, with the Micromedex database used to search for potential drug-drug interactions. In the second stage, a search for adverse drug events in all available medical, nursing and laboratory records was performed. The probability that a drug-drug interaction caused each adverse drug events was assessed using the Naranjo algorithm. RESULTS: A total of 186 drug prescriptions of 62 HIV/AIDS patients were analyzed. There were 331 potential drug-drug interactions, and 9% of these potential interactions resulted in adverse drug events in 16 patients; these adverse drug events included treatment failure (16.7%) and adverse reactions (83.3%). Most of the adverse drug reactions were classified as possible based on the Naranjo algorithm. CONCLUSIONS: The approach used in this study allowed for the detection of adverse drug events related to 9% of the potential drug-drug interactions that were identified; these adverse drug events affected 26% of the study population. With the monitoring of adverse drug events based on prescriptions, a combination of the evaluation of potential drug-drug interactions by clinical pharmacy services and the monitoring of critically ill patients is an effective strategy that can be used as a complementary tool for safety assessments and the prevention of adverse drug events

Fatal Brazilian spotted fever in a healthy military man during field training in Rio de Janeiro city, southeastern Brazil

Brazilian spotted fever, a zoonotic disease transmitted by ticks, is caused by Rickettsia rickettsii. We report a fulminant case of this zoonosis in a healthy 46-year-old military man in the urban region of Rio de Janeiro city, in October, 2021. Ticks and capybaras (Amblyomma sculptum, Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, respectively) were identified in the military fields, pointing to the participation of this large synanthropic rodent, recognized as an efficient amplifier host of Rickettsia rickettsii in Brazil. As the military population is considered a risk group for spotted fever, it is necessary to alert health professionals to the importance of the early detection of the disease and its adequate management, mainly in populations that are particularly at risk of exposure to ticks, in order to avoid fatal outcomes

Uso de albumina humana em pacientes graves: controvérsias e recomendações Albumin in critically ill patients: controversies and recommendations

O uso de albumina humana como terapêutica nas unidades de terapia intensiva é tradicional há mais de 50 anos. No entanto, estudos no final dos anos 90 apontaram um possível malefício em relação ao seu uso em pacientes graves. O efeito da controvérsia causado por esta publicação perdurou mesmo após a publicação de outras meta-análises e estudos randomizados e controlados, que não encontraram relação de prejuízo para o uso desta solução coloide. No Brasil, vários serviços públicos e privados seguiram recomendações da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária sobre usos adequados ou não da albumina venosa. Nesta revisão, procuramos abordar as razões da administração de albumina, assim como reunir evidências metabólicas e imunomoduladoras de possíveis efeitos deste coloide no paciente grave. Os estudos de maior impacto desde 1998 até os dias atuais foram pormenorizados, demonstrando que não parece existir aumento de mortalidade com o uso de albumina venosa, em relação às soluções cristaloides. As indicações da Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária foram discutidas diante das evidências atuais sobre o uso de albumina no doente crítico.<br>Human albumin has been used as a therapeutic agent in intensive care units for more than 50 years. However, clinical studies from the late 1990s described possible harmful effects in critically ill patients. These studies' controversial results followed other randomized controlled studies and meta-analyses that showed no harmful effects of this colloid solution. In Brazil, several public and private hospitals comply with the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency) recommendations for appropriate administration of intravenous albumin. This review discusses indications for albumin administration in critically ill patients and analyzes the evidence for metabolic and immunomodulatory effects of this colloid solution. We also describe the most significant studies from 1998 to the present time; these reveal an absence of incremental mortality from intravenous albumin administration as compared to crystalloid solutions. The National Health Surveillance Agency indications are discussed relative to the current body of evidence for albumin use in critically ill patients

Epidemiology of sepsis in Brazil: Incidence, lethality, costs, and other indicators for Brazilian Unified Health System hospitalizations from 2006 to 2015

<div><p>Background</p><p>Sepsis is considered a major worldwide health burden, with high mortality and associated costs. Health indicators are essential to define strategies to improve the treatment of diseases, and the epidemiology information of sepsis in developing countries is scarce. Thus, the aim of this work is to assess trends in the incidence, lethality, costs, and other indicators of sepsis for Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS—<i>Sistema Único de Saúde</i>) hospitalizations for the period from January 2006 to December 2015.</p><p>Materials and methods</p><p>We conducted this study using data from the SUS hospital information system. We selected registries of SUS hospitalizations of patients diagnosed with sepsis (total of 724,458 cases from 4,271 public and private Brazilian hospitals).</p><p>Results</p><p>From 2006 to 2015, the annual sepsis incidence increased 50.5% from 31.5/100,000 to 47.4/100,000 persons. The mean hospital length of stay (LOS) was 9.0 days. A total of 29.1% of the hospitalizations had admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) with a mean ICU LOS of 8.0 days. The mean cost per hospitalization was US$624.0 and for hospitalizations requiring intensive care was U$1,708.1. The overall sepsis lethality rate was 46.3%, and for hospitalizations with admission to the ICU, it was 64.5%. During the study period, the lethality rate for children/teenagers decreased 40.1%, but for all other age groups it increased 11.4%. The sepsis lethality rate in public hospitals (55.5%) was higher than private hospitals (37.0%) (p < 0.001). The mean hospitalization LOS for public hospitals (10.3 days) was higher than private hospitals (7.6 days) (p < 0.001).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The incidence and lethality rate of sepsis increased in SUS hospitalizations during the study period. The SUS’s low reimbursement to hospitals for treating sepsis may be one of the reasons for the high lethality rate.</p></div

Incidence and mortality per 100,000 persons, and lethality rates by patient characteristics from 2006 to 2015.

<p>Incidence and mortality per 100,000 persons, and lethality rates by patient characteristics from 2006 to 2015.</p

Treatment efficiency matrix for sepsis per hospital size and type.

<p>Letters refer to the size of hospitals: M = medium size; L = large size; S = small size; V = very large size. LOS = length of stay.</p

Number of sepsis cases and lethality rates per hospital type and size from 2006 to 2015.

<p>Number of sepsis cases and lethality rates per hospital type and size from 2006 to 2015.</p

Incidence, mortality (per 100,000 persons) and lethality of sepsis from 2006 to 2015.

<p>Incidence, mortality (per 100,000 persons) and lethality of sepsis from 2006 to 2015.</p

Flow diagram for a selection of sepsis cases.

<p>CIHI = Canadian Institute for Health Information; ICD-10 = International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems Tenth Revision.</p