Video by Argonne Creative Services
The mummified remains of ancient Egyptians hold many secrets, from the condition of the bodies to the artifacts placed within the burial garments. Now a team of researchers has found a way to unwrap those secrets, without unraveling the mummies themselves.
Three years ago, researchers from Northwestern University, in preparation for an exhibit on campus, carefully transported a 1,900-year-old mummy to the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at DOE s Argonne National Laboratory. There scientists used powerful X-ray beams to peer inside the layers of linen and resin to examine the 2,000-year-old bones and objects buried within.
Change in mental status or falls may be misinterpreted as infection in nursing homes
There is a widespread belief that a change in the mental status or an increase in falls in a nursing home resident may indicate an underlying infection. This contributes to the overuse of antibiotics, according to revised clinical guidance by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. The guidance, published in
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, outlines criteria on evaluating non-localizing symptoms as indicators of infection.
When nursing home residents present with subtle non-specific signs and symptoms, clinicians should consider causes other than infection. However, there are certain signs and symptoms such as fever, that may warrant a work-up for infection.
Why the disparity? First, people of color are more likely to work in essential jobs such as food service, transportation, energy, manufacturing, waste and agriculture. These are not jobs that can be done remotely from the safety of home. Second, people of color experience greater challenges in the social determinants of health (built environment, access to health care, social and community context, education and economic stability). The interplay of these factors has an impact on health outcomes across many diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. With regular medical care disrupted and record high unemployment, these at-risk populations have faced a second epidemic lost and delayed access to the medical care they need to manage these illnesses.
Risk of COVID infection in health care workers is driven by community exposure
Nurses only group with higher risk once community exposure considered. The largest cohort of health care workers risk for SARS CoV-2. Only high-flow oxygen therapy and hemodialysis linked to more antibodies to SARS-CoV-2.
In a well-resourced health system with adequate PPE (Personal Protection Equipment), health care worker risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection was more strongly driven by community exposure than patient exposure early in the pandemic, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
The study of 6,510 health care workers is the largest systematically collected cohort study of health care worker risk for SARS CoV-2 in the United States.