scholarly journals Performance of Mumps PCR and Serologic Testing During a University-Associated Mumps Outbreak in Charleston, SC

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s19-s19
Author(s):  
Kristen Stoltz ◽  
Shruti Puri ◽  
Scott Curry
Keyword(s):  
Chart Review ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Definition ◽  
Case Finding ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
Duration Of Symptoms ◽  
Serologic Testing ◽  
Buccal Swabs ◽  
The University

Background: Sensitive diagnostic testing is critical in responses to mumps outbreaks. PCR testing of buccal swabs is the most sensitive diagnostic test, but IgM serology remains standard in much of the United States. We provided testing guidance stressing use of mumps PCR to ambulatory clinics and emergency departments in addition to the standard serologic testing for acute mumps beginning in 2018. We compared the performance of PCR and IgM serology to assess cases of parotitis presenting during a community outbreak of mumps in fall 2019 associated with a university in Charleston, SC. Methods: All patients tested for mumps who presented to our facility (ER and ambulatory clinics) with mumps PCR and/or mumps IgM ordered between September 2019 and January 2020 were included. Mumps PCRs were sent to a commercial reference laboratory (ARUP). Confirmed cases were defined as having a positive mumps PCR and/or IgM with parotitis. Clinical characteristics of mumps patients including age, duration of symptoms, MMR history, and association with the university were obtained by chart review. Results: Mumps was confirmed in 15 of 44 tested patients (34%), with 15 of 15 mumps patients (100%) having positive PCR and 1 of 15 patients (7%) and 1 of 15 patients (7%) having positive and equivocal mumps IgM serologies, respectively. Only 1 patient who did not meet our mumps case definition (no CT imaging evidence of parotitis, no fevers, chronic sinus symptoms) had a positive PCR and had recent receipt of a third MMR dose in response to the ongoing outbreak. Median age for mumps patients was 22 years (range, 15–48) with 8 of 15 cases (53%) detected among university students and an additional 2 cases having close connections to the university associated with the outbreak. Only 1 of 15 mumps patients (6.7%) was febrile at presentation (median temperature, 37.2°C) and mumps cases presented for testing ≤3 days for 7 of 15 cases (47%) (range, 0–13 days from symptom onset). No cases were diagnosed by IgM only, and 10 of 15 mumps cases had some recollection of remote MMR immunization, whereas 6 of 15 (40%) had 2 documented MMR doses at <5 years of age. Conclusion: Serologic IgM testing for diagnosis of mumps appears insensitive for detection of cases in outbreaks within highly immunized adult patients. Although our recommended shift to PCR likely enhanced case finding during this outbreak, the potential for false-positive PCRs due to vaccine strain shedding following third-dose MMR immunization may also be considered a threat to the specificity of the test during outbreak situations.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Use of the Optum Labs Data Warehouse To Assess Test Ordering Patterns for Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori Infection in the United States: TABLE 1

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1358-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elitza S. Theel ◽  
Ryan D. Johnson ◽  
Elizabeth Plumhoff ◽  
Curtis A. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Helicobacter Pylori ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Medical Claims ◽  
Serologic Testing ◽  
Testing Practices ◽  
H Pylori ◽  
Test Ordering ◽  
Expert Recommendations

We surveyed nationalHelicobacter pyloridiagnostic testing practices and diagnoses using commercial and Medicare medical claims data from Optum Labs (Cambridge, MA). Serologic testing for antibodies toH. pyloriremains the most commonly ordered diagnostic test despite recent expert recommendations. Changes in reimbursement for serologic testing will likely drive future provider ordering practices.

scholarly journals Characterization of Uterine Cervix Cancers in Women from Appalachian Kentucky

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles A. Kunos ◽  
Denise Fabian ◽  
Mahesh Kudrimoti ◽  
Rachel W. Miller ◽  
Frederick R. Ueland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Uterine Cervix ◽  
Chart Review ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stage At Diagnosis ◽  
University Of Kentucky ◽  
Standard Population ◽  
Appalachian Kentucky ◽  
Seer Data ◽  
The University

Uterine cervix cancer (UCCx) is clinically and socioeconomically diverse among women in the United States (US), which obscures the discovery of effective radiochemotherapy approaches for this disease. UCCx afflicts 7.5 per 100,000 American women nationally but 11.7 per 100,000 women in Appalachian Kentucky (AppKY), when age-adjusted to the 2000 US standard population. Epidemiological chart review was performed on 212 women with UCCx treated at the University of Kentucky (UKY) between January 2001 and July 2021. Demographics, tumor characteristics, and relative radiochemotherapy dose and schedule intensity were compared among AppKY and non-AppKY cohorts as well as Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. One hundred thirty-eight (65%) of 212 women seeking radiochemotherapy treatment for UCCx resided in AppKY. Most (80%) sought external-beam radiochemotherapy close to their AppKY residence. Brachytherapy was then most frequently (96%) conducted at UKY. Cancer stage at diagnosis was significantly more advanced in AppKY residents. Women residing in AppKY had a median 10-week radiochemotherapy course, longer than an 8-week guideline. Estimated survival in women residing in AppKY was 8% lower than US national averages. In summary, this study identified an increased percentage of advanced-stage UCCx cancer at diagnosis arising in AppKY residents, with a confounding population-specific delay in radiochemotherapy schedule intensity lowering survival.

scholarly journals A large outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning associated with eating escolar fish (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum)

2004 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. FELDMAN ◽  
S. B. WERNER ◽  
S. CRONAN ◽  
M. HERNANDEZ ◽  
A. R. HORVATH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Relative Risk ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
The United States ◽  
Case Definition ◽  
Duration Of Symptoms ◽  
Fish Poisoning ◽  
Large Outbreak

In August 2003, an outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning occurred at a retreat centre in California, USA. In a retrospective cohort study, 42 (75%) of the 56 dinner attendees who ate escolar fish (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum) met the case definition. Individuals who ate at least 2 oz of fish were 1·5 times more likely to develop symptoms than those who ate less (relative risk 1·5, 95% confidence interval 0·9–2·6), and to develop more symptoms (median 7 vs. 3 symptoms, P=0·03). Patients who took medicine had a longer duration of symptoms than those who did not (median 4 vs. 1·5 h, P=0·05), and experienced a greater number of symptoms (median 8 vs. 3 symptoms, P=0·0002). Samples of fish contained markedly elevated histamine levels (from 2000 to 3800 ppm). This is one of the largest reported outbreaks of scombroid fish poisoning in the United States and was associated with a rare vehicle for scombroid fish poisoning, escolar.

Towards an interdisciplinary knowledge exchange model

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago DE FRANCISCO ◽  
Diego MAZO
Keyword(s):  
Design Research ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Design Environment ◽  
Interdisciplinary Knowledge ◽  
One Year ◽  
The University ◽  
Common Situation

Universities and corporates, in Europe and the United States, have come to a win-win relationship to accomplish goals that serve research and industry. However, this is not a common situation in Latin America. Knowledge exchange and the co-creation of new projects by applying academic research to solve company problems does not happen naturally.To bridge this gap, the Design School of Universidad de los Andes, together with Avianca, are exploring new formats to understand the knowledge transfer impact in an open innovation network aiming to create fluid channels between different stakeholders. The primary goal was to help Avianca to strengthen their innovation department by apply design methodologies. First, allowing design students to proposed novel solutions for the traveller experience. Then, engaging Avianca employees to learn the design process. These explorations gave the opportunity to the university to apply design research and academic findings in a professional and commercial environment.After one year of collaboration and ten prototypes tested at the airport, we can say that Avianca’s innovation mindset has evolved by implementing a user-centric perspective in the customer experience touch points, building prototypes and quickly iterate. Furthermore, this partnership helped Avianca’s employees to experience a design environment in which they were actively interacting in the innovation process.

Thinking About Scots Law

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Rodger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
British Empire ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The United States ◽  
Memorial Lecture ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
The University

This article is the revised text of the first W A Wilson Memorial Lecture, given in the Playfair Library, Old College, in the University of Edinburgh, on 17 May 1995. It considers various visions of Scots law as a whole, arguing that it is now a system based as much upon case law and precedent as upon principle, and that its departure from the Civilian tradition in the nineteenth century was part of a general European trend. An additional factor shaping the attitudes of Scots lawyers from the later nineteenth century on was a tendency to see themselves as part of a larger Englishspeaking family of lawyers within the British Empire and the United States of America.

‘A Routh O’ Auld Nick-Nackets’ – the antiquarian collection of John Rae

2015 ◽  
Vol 36-37 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-183
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Social Context ◽  
Moral Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Representative Case ◽  
National Museums ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The University

John Rae, a Scottish antiquarian collector and spirit merchant, played a highly prominent role in the local natural history societies and exhibitions of nineteenth-century Aberdeen. While he modestly described his collection of archaeological lithics and other artefacts, principally drawn from Aberdeenshire but including some items from as far afield as the United States, as a mere ‘routh o’ auld nick-nackets' (abundance of old knick-knacks), a contemporary singled it out as ‘the best known in private hands' (Daily Free Press 4/5/91). After Rae's death, Glasgow Museums, National Museums Scotland, the University of Aberdeen Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, as well as numerous individual private collectors, purchased items from the collection. Making use of historical and archive materials to explore the individual biography of Rae and his collection, this article examines how Rae's collecting and other antiquarian activities represent and mirror wider developments in both the ‘amateur’ antiquarianism carried out by Rae and his fellow collectors for reasons of self-improvement and moral education, and the ‘professional’ antiquarianism of the museums which purchased his artefacts. Considered in its wider nineteenth-century context, this is a representative case study of the early development of archaeology in the wider intellectual, scientific and social context of the era.

The Early Years of the Jewish Presence at the University of Illinois

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-245
Author(s):  
Winton U. Solberg
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Characteristic Form ◽  
University Of Illinois ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
Jewish Students ◽  
The University ◽  
The Church

For over two centuries, the College was the characteristic form of higher education in the United States, and the College was closely allied to the church in a predominantly Protestant land. The university became the characteristic form of American higher education starting in the late nineteenth Century, and universities long continued to reflect the nation's Protestant culture. By about 1900, however, Catholics and Jews began to enter universities in increasing numbers. What was the experience of Jewish students in these institutions, and how did authorities respond to their appearance? These questions will be addressed in this article by focusing on the Jewish presence at the University of Illinois in the early twentieth Century. Religion, like a red thread, is interwoven throughout the entire fabric of this story.

Clinical Characteristics of Patients Diagnosed with Strongyloidiasis in a United States Urban Outpatient Dermatology Department: A Case Series

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-160
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Watchmaker ◽  
Sean Legler ◽  
Dianne De Leon ◽  
Vanessa Pascoe ◽  
Robert Stavert
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Case Series ◽  
The United States ◽  
Screening Tools ◽  
Dermatology Department ◽  
Cutaneous Manifestations ◽  
Serologic Testing ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
History Of ◽  
Endemic Areas

Background: Although considered a tropical disease, strongyloidiasis may be encountered in non-endemic regions, primarily amongst immigrants and travelers from endemic areas.  Chronic strongyloides infection may be under-detected owing to its non-specific cutaneous presentation and the low sensitivity of commonly used screening tools. Methods: 18 consecutive patients with serologic evidence of strongyloides infestation who presented to a single urban, academic dermatology clinic between September 2013 and October 2016 were retrospectively included.  Patient age, sex, country of origin, strongyloides serology titer, absolute eosinophil count, presenting cutaneous manifestations, and patient reported subjective outcome of pruritus after treatment were obtained via chart review.  Results: Of the 18 patients, all had non-specific pruritic dermatoses, 36% had documented eosinophila and none were originally from the United States. A majority reported subjective improvement in their symptoms after treatment. Conclusion:  Strongyloides infection and serologic testing should be considered in patients living in non-endemic regions presenting with pruritic dermatoses and with a history of exposure to an endemic area.Key Points:Chronic strongyloidiasis can be encountered in non-endemic areas and clinical manifestations are variableEosinophilia was not a reliable indicator of chronic infection in this case series Dermatologists should consider serologic testing for strongyloidiasis in patients with a history of exposure and unexplained pruritus

Byzantine-period lamps from Antioch-on-the-Orontes and its hinterland

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ani Eblighatian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Doctoral Research ◽  
Princeton University ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
The University ◽  
Roman Syria

The paper is an off-shoot of the author's PhD project on lamps from Roman Syria (at the University of Geneva in Switzerland), centered mainly on the collection preserved at the Art Museum of Princeton University in the United States. One of the outcomes of the research is a review of parallels from archaeological sites and museum collections and despite the incomplete documentation i most cases, much new insight could be gleaned, for the author's doctoral research and for other issues related to lychnological studies. The present paper collects the data on oil lamps from byzantine layers excavated in 1932–1939 at Antioch-on-the-Orontes and at sites in its vicinity (published only in part so far) and considers the finds in their archaeological context.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document