CP, February 2017, Vol 9, No 2

Clostridium difficile: diagnosis and treatment update

There are around 12,000 cases of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) each year in the UK and during 1999 to 2007, deaths from CDI peaked at around 4,000 per year. This article summarises diagnosis and management, as well as the current therapeutic options for CDI, including faecal microbiota trans…

Shortening antibiotic treatment worsens outcomes in children with ear infection

Researchers found that standard-duration antibiotic treatment for acute otitis media works better than shorter treatments.…

Why some patients are reluctant to take osteoporosis drugs

There are a number of factors that contribute to patients’ fear and reluctance to take osteoporosis drugs, leaving them at increased risk of fractures.…

Non-aspirin NSAIDs outperform aspirin for colorectal cancer prevention

Non-aspirin NSAIDs offer protection against colorectal cancer but carry a high risk of adverse events.…

Ocrelizumab cuts relapse rates and disability progression in MS

Researchers found ocrelizumab to be more effective than interferon beta-1a for treating relapsing MS…

Examining the emerging roles for pharmacists as part of the urgent, acute and emergency care workforce

In the future urgent, acute and emergency medicine clinical workforce, new models of care and care delivery need to be developed, in order to maintain and enhance standards of safe and accessible patient care. A departure from traditional (doctor-led) approaches to workforce planning, and an underst…

Modelling approach could optimise drug combination choice

Researchers used polynomial modelling to simulate complex drug-dose effects and found that they could accurately predict the dose-effect function of drug combinations.…

Antibodies from Zika patient protect mice against disease

Attempts to isolate human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Zika virus have led to broadly neutralising antibodies that also show activity against Dengue virus.…

Daily Vaseline use could be cost-effective way to prevent eczema

Recent attention has turned to ways to prevent atopic dermatitis, which is associated with significant expenditure as well as comorbidities, from developing in children.…

Low vitamin D levels linked to headaches in men

Some evidence has linked headache prevalence to increasing latitude, indicating a possible role for vitamin D exposure. But there are limited data to support this hypothesis.…