first opinion
To tackle burnout, look at health care workers' trauma 
RICARDO ARDUENGO/AP
In health care, trauma is an occupational hazard. Medical professionals witness pain, suffering, injustice, and death, in addition to microaggressions, workplace violence, and moral injury. But for some people, these professional stressors are piled on top of challenging life events, including adverse childhood experiences, primary care physician Sadie Elisseou writes in a First Opinion. Such a history increases the risk of burnout, analogous to the greater risk of PTSD in veterans who have seen combat.
"So far, no single framework has been successful in offering a comprehensive strategy to shield health care workers, and the systems they work in, from burnout," Elisseou says. "Adopting a trauma-informed approach may have a transformative impact on anti-burnout solutions, redirecting the course of the health care crisis." Read what that recognition and response can entail.
in the lab
Gilead's antiviral defused coronaviruses in mice, but human testing is not in the cards
Covid-19 is still with us. Despite the success of Covid vaccines and because of waning interest in boosters, we still need antiviral drugs to combat infections. There are downsides to old stand-bys remdesivir (transfused), Paxlovid (rebound risk), and molnupiravir (weakness), so better solutions are needed for people who are unvaccinated, immunocompromised, or otherwise unable to build an antibody response to a vaccine.
Scientists testing an experimental drug in mice report success in Science Translational Medicine against a range of coronaviruses for their small molecule obeldesivir. Developed in collaboration with Gilead, the drug was also combined at a different dosage with Paxlovid. The cocktail worked better than obeldesivir alone, but plans to test the molecule in people are on hold. "It's really hard to test at this stage in the post-pandemic, because the virus causes so little disease," study author David Martinez told STAT's Annalisa Merelli. Read more.
infectious disease
Fighting antimicrobial resistance, one patient at a time
It shouldn't be shocking, but still: Pretty much every health care building has antimicrobial-resistant bacteria living somewhere inside. Of course, so do we humans, when you consider the bugs residing in our microbiomes. But the danger is higher for hospital patients who might have weakened immunity or open wounds, from trauma or surgery. When the population of microbes living within us expands through greater exposure, that can lead to infections in vulnerable people, particularly when the bacteria are resistant to antibiotics that disrupt the human microbiome and weaken its defenses.
Pathogen reduction, which whittles down the number of resistant bacteria colonizing the human microbiome, is the goal described in a new report from the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Strategies include giving combined oral antimicrobial drugs to patients before elective colorectal surgery and using anti-staphylococcal treatments for patients undergoing orthopedic surgeries or procedures involving the heart and chest.
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