Sepsis and infection-related research has been ongoing for over 10 years at St. Paul’s.  Ongoing sepsis studies include: the role of biomarkers for identifying patients at risk for bacteremia;  a multi-center randomized controlled trial of  the use of point-of-care C-reactive protein to decrease the use of blood cultures in patients with sepsis; a multi-center trial of the utility of blood cultures obtained after the administration of antibiotics to patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.   Other areas of research include non-targeted HIV point of care testing in the emergency department, prevalence of HIV infection, HIV prohylaxis, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, skin and soft tissue infections,  and novel antibiotics for MRSA infections.

Sample publications:

Stenstrom R, Ling D, Grafstein E, Barrios R, Gustafson R, Sherlock C, Osati F, Poureslami I, Anis A. Prevalence of HIV infection and feasibility of point-of-care testing in a Canadian inner-city emergency department. Can J Public Health 2016;107(3):e291–e295 doi: 10.17269/CJPH.107.5318

O’Donnell S, Bhate T, Grafstein E, Lau W, Stenstrom R, Scheuermeyer F. Missed Opportunities for HIV Prophylaxis Among Emergency Department Patients With Occupational and Nonoccupational Body Fluid Exposures. Ann Emerg Med. 2016 Apr 21. pii: S0196-0644(16)00225-0. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.03.027.

Stenstrom R, Choi J, Grafstein E, Kawano T, Sweet D,  Bischoff T, Leung V, Halim S. Use of C-reactive protein can safely decrease the number of emergency department patients with sepsis who require blood cultures. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine 2017. 19(S1).  https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2017.109

Rush B, Wormsbecker A, Stenstrom R, Kassen B. Moxifloxacin Use and Its Association on the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in an Inner City Emergency Department. J Emerg Med 2016:50(3):371-375

Wilmer A, Lloyd-Smith E, Romney MG, Champagne S, Wong T, Zhang W, Stenstrom R, Hull MW. Reduction in community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus rates in an urban Canadian hospital setting. Epidemiol Infect.  2014 Mar;142(3):463-7. doi: 10.1017

Djogovic  D, Green R, Keyes R, Gray S,  Stenstrom R, Sweet  D, Davidow J, Patterson E, Easton D, MacDonald  S, Gaudet J, Kolber M, Lechelt  D, Howes D. Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians sepsis treatment checklist: optimizing sepsis care in Canadian emergency departments. Can J Emerg Med. 2012. 14(1):36-39.

Ho K, Marsden J, Jarvis-Selinger S, Novak Lauscher H, Kamal N, Stenstrom R, Sweet D, Goldman RD, Innes G. A collaborative quality improvement model and electronic community of practice to support sepsis management in emergency departments: investigating care harmonization for provincial knowledge translation. JMIR Res Protoc. 2012 Jul 12;1(2):e6. doi: 10.2196/resprot.1597.

MacRedmond R, Hollohan K, Stenstrom R, Nebre R, Jaswal D, Dodek P. Introduction of a comprehensive management protocol for severe sepsis is associated with sustained improvements in timeliness of care and survival. Qual Saf Health Care. 2010 Oct;19(5):e46. Epub 2010 Jul 29.

Stenstrom R, Grafstein E, Romney M, Fahimi J, Harris D, Hunte G, Innes G, Christenson J.. Prevalence of and risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin and soft tissue infection in a Canadian emergency department. Can J Emerg Med. 2009. 11(5): 430-438.

Green RS, Djogovic D, Gray S, Howes D, Brindley P, Stenstrom R, Patterson E, Easton D, Davidow J, on behalf of the CAEP Critical Care Committee. The optimal management of severe sepsis in Canadian emergency departments.  Can J Emerg Med. 2008. 10(5):443-59

Wong WN, Sek AC, Lau RF, LI KM,  Leung JK, Tse ML, Ng AH, Stenstrom R.  Clinical   and laboratory Predictors of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.  Can J Emerg Med. 2003. 6(1) 12-21.

Wong WN, Sek AC, Lau RF, LI KM,  Leung JK, Tse ML, Ng AH, Stenstrom R.     Accuracy of clinical diagnosis versus the World Health Organization case definition in   the Amoy Garden SARS cohort.  Can J Emerg Med. 2003. 5(6)384-391.