Background Acute hospitalizations of elderly people are increasing, resource-demanding, and potentially harmful. There is an ongoing interest in alternatives to admissions and in reducing the length-of-stay. Before suggesting alternatives more knowledge is requested, especially concerning admission patterns and whether short stay is associated with increased risk of re-admission. The aim was to...

BACKGROUND Intensive care unit (ICU) re-admission identifies a high-risk group in terms of hospital mortality, length of stay, and resource utilization. Only hospital and ICU mortality are well described in the literature on critically ill patients needing re-admission. METHODS With ethical committee approval, from a prospectively collected database of all admissions to a combined medical and...

INTRODUCTION Hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections remain one of the leading causes of preventable patient mortality in the US. Eradication of MRSA through decolonization could prevent both MRSA infections and transmission; however, there is currently no consensus within the infectious disease community on the proper role of decolonization in the preven...

BACKGROUND Patients who are admitted with a suspicion of a severe infection usually enter the hospital through the emergency department (ED). The recognition of prognostic factors in an early stage affects further treatment and might improve clinical outcomes. AIMS WE EXAMINED POSSIBLE PROGNOSTIC FACTORS FOR FOUR IMPORTANT OUTCOMES: intensive care unit (ICU) admission, positive blood cultures...