Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most commonly encountered hospital-acquired infections in intensive care units and is associated with significant morbidity and high costs of care. The pathophysiology, epidemiology, treatment and prevention of VAP have been extensively studied for decades, but a clear prevention strategy has not yet emerged. In this article we will review rec...

Selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) has been subject of numerous randomized controlled trials in critically ill patients. Almost all clinical trials showed SDD to prevent pneumonia. Nevertheless, SDD has remained a controversial strategy. One reason for why clinicians remained reluctant to implement SDD into daily practice could be that mortality was reduced in only 2 trials....

Chemical and biological warfare agents (CBWA's) are diverse in nature; volatile acute low-molecular-weight toxic compounds, chemical warfare agents (CWA's, gaseous choking and blood agents, volatile nerve gases and blister agents, nonvolatile vomit agents and lacrymators), biological toxins (nonvolatile low-molecular-weight toxins, proteinous toxins) and microbes (bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae...

The occurrence of nucleic acid cross contamination in the laboratory resulting in false positive results of diagnostic samples is seriously problematic. Despite precautions to minimize or even avoid nucleic acid cross contaminations, it may appear anyway. Until now, no standardized strategy is available to evaluate the efficacy of commercially offered decontamination reagents. Therefore, a prot...

This study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of antimicrobial coatings for inactivation of Salmonella on the surface of tomato stem scars. Scars were inoculated with a four-strain cocktail of Salmonella (serovars Montevideo, Newport, Saintpaul, and Typhimurium) and coated with acid-chitosan solutions. The chitosan coating with three acids (3A plus chitosan), the chitosan coating with o...

In Korea, there are not detailed analysis data on soil contamination in nuclear power plant(NPP) and suitable treatment criteria of contaminated soils. When the soils of NPP were contaminated, they have been simply collected and kept in radioactive waste building. But contamination of soils in NPP is inevitable and enormous amounts of contaminated soils can be produced during decommissioning. T...

The spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria poses a significant threat to human health. Plasma activated liquids (PAL) could be promising alternative for microbial decontamination, where different PAL can possess diverse antimicrobial efficacies and cytotoxic profiles, depending on the range concentration their reactive chemical species. In this research, biological activity plasma water (PAW) t...

conservation of deciduous teeth with pulp alterations caused by caries or trauma is a major therapeutic challenge in pediatric dentistry. it is essential that the sanitizers used in root canal procedures perform well in eliminating bacteria. antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (pdt) is an emerging and promising adjuvant therapy for endodontic treatment in an attempt to eliminate microorganisms p...