Important to note: anyone can report anything to VAERS
When they dig into 29 *confirmed* cases:
- majority were hospitalized
- 2 required ICU care
- all were eventually discharged
The rates here are a bit misleading because teens are lumped in with twenty- and thirtysomethings. (To be fair, they have to do this because counts are so low.)
It's fair to call vaccine-associated myocarditis rare or very rare. And it's reassuring that most of those who develop it do well.
This would be a nuanced discussion. And no, I will not be having it here with people who’ve paid $8 to have their ill-informed, ideologic, hostile and often grammatically incorrect replies prioritized.
In a patient with hyperthermia, altered mental status and neuromuscular abnormalities, evaluating 3 factors makes the distinction easier
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#1: The drugs
SS: 5-HT agonists, either in large amounts (OD) or in combination - SSRIs, some TCAs, MAOIs (incl. linezolid), opioids, St. John's wort, MDMA, Li⁺, others
Serotonin syndrome: Rapid onset, typically escalating over hours
NMS: Evolves gradually over days or even weeks. Can fluctuate dramatically over the course of the day (eg. mute, withdrawn and rigid in the morning; speaking and moving in the afternoon)
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Saddened to learn of the death of David Bailey, Canada's first four-minute-miler and the scientist who discovered, by sheer serendipity, that grapefruit juice interacts with dozens of medications.
So, who knew that dimenhydrinate (Dramamine, Gravol) is actually two drugs?
A short drug history thread.
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The antihistamine diphenhydramine (Benadryl) was developed in 1940.
It was effective but very sedating, which is why it’s marketed even today as over-the-counter sleep aids like Nytol.
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A few years later, a chemist named John Cusic working for G.D. Searle had an idea: overcome the sedation by combining diphenhydramine with a stimulant.
The stimulant he chose was 8-chlorotheophylline, a methylxanthine not that different from caffeine.