The risk of Staphylococcus aureus infection was higher for patients in hospital rooms with multiple beds, researchers reported at a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The risk was 9 times higher in four-bed rooms and 3.5 times higher in two-bed rooms, compared with single-bed units.

A meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that common viral infections like influenza, HIV, hepatitis C and shingles may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The review of 155 studies found that flu infections raised the risk of heart attack sixfold in the month after infection. SARS-CoV-2 infections were associated with nearly twice the risk of heart disease or stroke, compared with not having an infection.

A study in JAMA Network Open found that antenatal corticosteroid exposure is linked to a higher risk of respiratory and nonrespiratory infections in children up to age 21. The population-based cohort study analyzed data from more than 1.5 million mother-child pairs, finding that children exposed to antenatal corticosteroids at 34 weeks' gestation or later had a higher risk of infections. The study suggests a need for more stringent criteria for antenatal corticosteroid use and better prediction tools for preterm birth.

What can the mouth tells us about heart health? More than you might think. Maintaining good oral health — and ensuring everyone has access to good oral health — can reduce cardiovascular risks, protecting our heart and overall health.

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Maintaining a high level of satisfaction among patients means paying attention to their needs before, during and after their visits. A Q&A offers practical tips that offices and teams can implement to improve patient communication, access and experiences. Staff engagement, wait times, online reviews and satisfaction measures are examined.

Cardiologist Dr. William Abraham, chief medical officer at Cardiac Dimensions, discusses the growing role of devices in treating heart failure. Abraham also sees advancements in AI, remote monitoring and sensor technology as pivotal in optimizing heart failure management.

A study published in JAMA Network Open demonstrates the potential of AI to enhance sepsis research. Utilizing a large language model, the study extracted sepsis signs and symptoms from over 93,000 patient admission notes with accuracy comparable to manual reviews by physicians. The findings suggest AI could streamline data extraction from clinical notes, aiding in the development of predictive models for sepsis treatment.

Public health experts are concerned that federal funding cuts for programs aimed at improving care for minority communities will widen racial health disparities. Grants have been terminated and federal and state offices focused on minority health have closed, causing states and nonprofits to struggle in maintaining health equity initiatives. "COVID revealed the impact of health disparities to individual health -- as well as how not addressing these disparities undermines the health system for everyone," said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Research published in JACC suggests an association between alcohol cessation and dose-dependent reductions in blood pressure. Effects were studied in both men and women. "In the past, scientists thought that small amounts of alcohol might be okay, but our results suggest that no alcohol is actually best," said investigator Dr. Takahiro Suzuki of the Institute of Science Tokyo.