ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of antimicrobial resistance on clinical outcomes and medical care costs among patients with imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (IRAB) nosocomial infection.MethodsA retrospective matched case-control study was performed to compare the differences of clinical outcomes and medical care costs between patients with IRAB infection and patients with imipenem-susceptive Acinetobacter baumannii (ISAB) infection in a tertiary care university teaching hospital in China from January 2007 to June 2009.Cases were matched to controls with ratio of 1:1 on the basis of age,sex,severity of underlying diseases,source of infection,duration of hospitalization period and length of hospital stay before onset of infection.The measurement data between groups were compared by t test and rank test.The numeration data between groups were compared by x2 test. Multiple analysis was performed by Logistic regression.ResultsThe total mortality rate of IRAB infection patients was significantly higher than that of ISAB infection patients (39.1％ vs 20.3 ％ ; x2 =11.728,P＜0.01).Among 138 pairs of patients in IRAB group and ISAB group,there were 72 matched case-control pairs survived,which were significantly different in length of total hospital stay (28.5 days vs 23.0 days; x2 =2.886,P＜0.01) and intensive care unit (ICU) stay (14.5 days vs 0 day; x2 =4.844,P＜0.01).For all the 138 case-control pairs,everyday total hospitalization cost and everyday antibiotic therapy cost in IRAB cases were both higher than ISAB controls (RMB 3652 yuan vs RMB 2092 yuan; Z=3.792,P＜0.01 and RMB 555 yuan vs RMB 338 yuan; Z=4.209,P＜0.01).ConclusionIRAB infection can increase the mortality rate,lengthen hospital stay and elevate the medical costs notably.

Objective To analyze the application value of the rapid testing for influenza during 2007-2008 flu season at fever clinic in Beijing Chaoyang hospital Methods 500 patients with diagnosis of influenza-like illness were prospectively enrolled. Pharyngeal swabs were collected for influenza viral culture and rapid testing for influenza. Demographic characteristics, age, symptoms, lab tests, symptom recovery time and medical expense were also collected. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for rapid testing were analyzed. Results A total of 500 patients were enrolled between Dec 2007 and March 2008. Among them 498 cases were used for analysis. Influenza B was most common by virus culture methed(n=208,41.8%) ,followed by influenza A (n=51,10.2%). The average age was 35, and the ratio of male to female was 1.47:1. Compared with the group of positive culture, patients with influenza were more likely to get cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion (t=13.728, 4.014and 4.720,P<0.001 or 0.05, respectively). A total of 260 cases were subjected to rapid testing, Among them 18 cases were influenza A positive and 132 cases were influenza B positive. The rapid testing had a sensitivity of 77.1 % and a specificity of 70.1%. The positive predictive value was 78.6% and the negative predictive value was 68.2%. The rapid testing had enhanced the proportion of anti-viral treatment from 0 to 26% and reduced the proportion of antibiotic use from 63.4% to 20. 7%. Conclusions Influenza B is the most predominant pathogen during 2007-2008 flu season among patients with influenza-like illness in Beijing. The rapid testing with high sensitivity and specificity provides guidance on clinical practice.