Biomedical subjects

G F Hayden

Publications and source records attributed to G F Hayden.

75 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis in two pediatric offices using a latex agglutination kit.

The diagnostic accuracy and practicality of a latex agglutination test for the rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis directly from throat swabs were evaluated in two private pediatric practices. Compared with anaerobic throat culture the latex agglutination method had a sensitivity of 93.4%, a specificity of 90.2% and an overall accuracy of 91.8%. Even used as a while-you-wait test, the rapid method fit easily into the routine of busy office practice. Latex agglutination testing for the rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis may prove to be a valuable adjunct to the office microbiology laboratory.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Alliteration in medicine: a puzzling profusion of p's.

PROBLEM: Puzzling, progressive profusion of alliterative "p's" in published papers. PURPOSE: To depict this particular "p" predominance with pinpoint precision. PLAN: Periodic, painstaking perusal of periodicals by a professor of paediatrics. PROPOSAL: The "p" plethora is positively perplexing and potentially perturbing.

Humans↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Changing the needle when inoculating blood cultures. A no-benefit and high-risk procedure.

Although the Centers for Disease Control recommends that needles should never be recapped, many phlebotomists routinely recap and change needles before blood culture inoculation. This study compared the extrinsic contamination rate in blood cultures when the needle was and was not changed. One hundred eight medical students obtained 182 blood specimens from each other by means of standard methods. Each specimen was inoculated into two culture bottles. The first bottle was inoculated with the needle used for phlebotomy, and the second was inoculated after needle change. Four (2.2%) of 182 bottles were contaminated when the needle was not changed, compared with one (0.6%) when the needle was changed. This small difference was not statistically significant, and the likelihood of having failed to detect a 5% difference in contamination rate was small. The risk of needle-stick injury incurred by changing the needle before inoculation of blood culture bottles seems to be unjustified.

Accidents, Occupational↗