Better oral care on medical wards cut non-ventilator hospital pneumonia in a cluster trial

The edition in brief

The HAPPEN stepped-wedge cluster trial, published in June, rolled out an enhanced oral care bundle across nine wards in three Australian hospitals. Among 8,870 patients staying at least 48 hours, non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia fell from 1.0% to 0.7%, a cumulative hazard ratio of 0.40 (0.19–0.82), as protocol completion rose from 16% to 62%. A cluster-randomised trial in Côte d'Ivoire found that nets combining a pyrethroid with chlorfenapyr cut malaria in children aged 6 months to 9 years (IRR 0.57, 0.43–0.75), and nets with piperonyl butoxide had a smaller effect (IRR 0.72, 0.52–0.99), against pyrethroid-only nets. A systematic review of Nipah virus pulled together 23 outbreaks, a median incubation of about 8.8 days and case-fatality estimates from 9% to 82%. The FDA lists a supplement to the linezolid licence dated 23 October, with no change in indication shown. The pearl covers why oral care belongs in infection prevention for non-ventilated patients.