Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0032285 (pneumonia)
 54,520 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In this brief viewpoint, I present four examples from my life in the practice of medicine and infectious diseases that illustrate both the miracle of antibiotics and the despair when they fail. There is the patient with pneumococcal pneumonia that was rapidly cured but also a disastrous outbreak of highly resistant Pseudomonas infection in a ward of severely burned patients where antibiotic treatment was ultimately futile. I note the utility of a new antibiotic in treating otherwise highly resistant Serratia infections. Finally, I discuss a patient with extensively resistant tuberculosis who came under my care.
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PMID:Personal View of the Antibiotic Value Proposition. 3252 98

In this case report, an elderly patient with COVID-19 pneumonia and a protracted intensive care course, who was unable to wean from mechanical ventilation, was transferred to the hospice unit for ventilator withdrawal and end of life care. Although symptom management was anticipated to focus on treating acute dyspnea, conditions mandated a shift to addressing the psychological challenges associated with prolonged critical illness. The interventions typical to hospice care-patient centered, family focused, and culturally sensitive-served to alleviate psychological symptoms of demoralization and despair, contributing to an outcome that pointed beyond pulmonary pathophysiology. Thought to be facing imminent death once the ventilator was removed, this patient defied the science behind weaning protocols, which can only be explained by a "will to live," through loving engagement with his family, his favorite music, and a dedicated multidisciplinary hospice team.
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PMID:Prolonged Critical Illness and Demoralization: Curative Factors in Hospice Care in the Age of COVID-19. 3292 91