scholarly journals Evidence for human-to-human transmission of hantavirus: a systematic review

Author(s):  
Joao Toledo ◽  
Michelle M Haby ◽  
Ludovic Reveiz ◽  
Leopoldo Sosa Leon ◽  
Rodrigo Angerami ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hantavirus is known to be transmitted from rodents to humans. However, some reports from Argentina and Chile have claimed that the hantavirus strain – Andes virus (ANDV) – can cause human-to-human transmission of the disease. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence for human-to-human transmission of hantavirus. Methods We searched PubMed (inception to 28 February 2021), Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, LILACS and SciELO (inception to 3 July 2020) and other sources. We included studies that assessed whether interpersonal contact with a person with laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infection led to human-to-human transmission. Two reviewers conducted screening, selection, data extraction, and risk of bias (RoB) assessment. Results Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity. With the exception of one prospective cohort study of ANDV in Chile with serious RoB, evidence from comparative studies (strongest level of evidence available) does not support human-to-human transmission of hantavirus infection. Non-comparative studies with a critical RoB suggest that human-to-human transmission of ANDV may be possible. Conclusions The balance of the evidence does not support the claim of human-to-human transmission of ANDV. Well-designed cohort and case-control studies that control for co-exposure to rodents are needed to inform public health recommendations.

2021 ◽  
pp. 219256822110668
Author(s):  
Kenney K. L. Lau ◽  
Karlen K. P. Law ◽  
Kenny Y. H. Kwan ◽  
Jason P. Y. Cheung ◽  
Kenneth M. C. Cheung ◽  
...  

Study Design Systematic review and meta-analysis Objectives The present review aimed to summarize the evidence regarding differences in proprioception between children with and without adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Methods Seven electronic databases were searched from their inception to April 10, 2021. Articles were included if they involved: (1) AIS patients aged between 10 and 18 years, (2) measurements of proprioceptive abilities, and (3) comparisons with non-AIS controls. Animal studies, case reports, commentaries, conference proceedings, research protocols, and reviews were excluded. Two reviewers independently conducted literature screening, data extraction, risks of bias assessments, and quality of evidence evaluations. Relevant information was pooled for meta-analyses. Results From 432 identified citations, 11 case-control studies comprising 1121 participants were included. The meta-analyses showed that AIS participants displayed proprioceptive deficits as compared to non-AIS controls. Moderate evidence supported that AIS participants showed significantly larger repositioning errors than healthy controls (pooled mean difference = 1.27 degrees, P < .01). Low evidence substantiated that AIS participants had significantly greater motion detection threshold (pooled mean difference = 1.60 degrees, P < .01) and abnormal somatosensory evoked potentials (pooled mean difference = .36 milliseconds, P = .01) than non-AIS counterparts. Conclusions Consistent findings revealed that proprioceptive deficits occurred in AIS patients. Further investigations on the causal relationship between AIS and proprioception, and the identification of the subgroup of AIS patients with proprioceptive deficit are needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Soo Choo ◽  
Sangjun Yoo ◽  
Hyeong Dong Yuk ◽  
Chang Wook Jeong ◽  
Min Chul Cho ◽  
...  

The role of lymph node dissection (LND) is still controversial for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC), and there are no guidelines regarding its use. This study was conducted to find a higher level of evidence for the survival benefits based on the number of LNs removed during radical nephroureterectomy (RNUx) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. We included studies comparing patients who underwent LND during RNUx for UTUC. We searched the major electronic databases (Pubmed, Embase®, and Scopus®) and conducted manual searches of the electronically available abstracts of the major international urology cancer meetings [American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Urological Association (AUA), and Eropean Association of Urology (EAU)] prior to April 2019 using grouped terms of nephroureterectomy (nephroureterectom*) and lymph node excision (lymphadenectomy; lymph + node*; lymph* + metasta*) with variations in the terms. Study selection, data collection, and risk of bias assessment were performed by two independent authors (A and B). Six retrospective case-control studies included a total of 33,944 patients who underwent RNUx for UTUC, 5071 of whom underwent LND and were finally included in the meta-analysis. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) in these studies revealed that an increased number of LNs removed during RNUx was associated with improved cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with UTUC (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91–0.99; p = 0.07). In addition, increased numbers of LNs removed were associated with improved overall survival (OS) in pN0 patients. However, in pN+ patients, the number of LNs removed showed no survival benefit on CSS, overall survival (OS), or progression-free survival (PFS). Higher numbers of LNs removed during RNUx were associated with improved survival outcomes in patients with UTUC. This study confirmed that LND also has oncological benefits in UTUC patients. Although still a controversial topic, meticulous LND must be considered, and efforts should be made to eliminate as many LNs as possible when administering RNUx for UTUC, especially in patients without clear evidence of LN metastasis.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. e025440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofen Wang ◽  
Kun Tang ◽  
Ling Chen ◽  
Sixiang Cheng ◽  
Huilan Xu

ObjectiveTo explore the association between sepsis and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in premature infants.DesignA systematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesWe performed a systematic search of PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Embase from 1 January, 2000, to 1 January, 2018, with no language restrictions and reported the relationship between sepsis and ROP.Eligibility criteriaOriginal observational studies, including cohort studies and case-control studies.Data extraction and synthesisTwo reviewers independently completed the study selection and data extraction. The OR and corresponding 95% CI were used to measure the risk of sepsis in patients with ROP. The heterogeneity between studies was evaluated using Cochran’s Q test and the I2statistic. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was adopted to evaluate the quality of each of the included studies, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to assess the quality of the evidence.ResultsSixteen studies with a total sample size of 12 466 premature infants and 2494 cases of ROP were included in this meta-analysis. Adjusted analysis showed that sepsis was closely related to any stage of ROP (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.31 to 1.89) and severe stage of ROP (OR = 2.33, 95% CI 1.21 to 4.51) in premature infants, with 56.3% and 81.8% heterogeneity, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that heterogeneity was obvious in prospective cohort studies (I2= 62.1%, p<0.001). In a sensitivity analysis, we found that removing any single study did not significantly change the overall effect value. The quality of the evidence was rated as low for both any stage of ROP and severe stage of ROP.ConclusionsSepsis increases the risk of ROP in preterm infants. However, considering that all included studies are observational and causality can rarely be established, additional evidence is needed to substantiate this finding and provide advice for practice.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tae-Young Choi ◽  
Jong In Kim ◽  
Hyun-Ja Lim ◽  
Myeong Soo Lee

Background. Insomnia is a prominent complaint of cancer patients that can significantly affect their quality of life and symptoms related to sleep quality. Conventional drug approaches have a low rate of success in alleviating those suffering insomnia. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of acupuncture in the management of cancer-related insomnia. Methods. A total of 12 databases were searched from their inception through January 2016 without language restriction. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs were included if acupuncture was used as the sole intervention or as an adjunct to another standard treatment for any cancer-related insomnia. The data extraction and the risk of bias assessments were performed by 2 independent reviewers. Results. Of the 90 studies screened, 6 RCTs were included. The risk of bias was generally unclear or low. Three RCTs showed equivalent effects on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and 2 RCTs showed the similar effects on response rate to those of conventional drugs at the end of treatment. The other RCT showed acupuncture was better than hormone therapy in the numbers of hours slept each night and number of times woken up each night. The 3 weeks of follow-up in 2 RCTs showed superior effects of acupuncture compared with conventional drugs, and a meta-analysis showed significant effects of acupuncture. Two RCTs tested the effects of acupuncture on cancer-related insomnia compared with sham acupuncture. One RCT showed favourable effects, while the other trial failed to do so. Conclusion. There is a low level of evidence that acupuncture may be superior to sham acupuncture, drugs or hormones therapy. However, the number of studies and effect size are small for clinical significance. Further clinical trials are warranted.


Author(s):  
Arshid Yousefi Avarvand ◽  
Mehrdad Halaji ◽  
Donya Zare ◽  
Meysam Hasannejad-Bibalan ◽  
Hadi Sedigh Ebrahim-Saraie

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important pathogen of children, mostly in developing countries. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of invasive S. pneumoniae among Iranian children using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic search was carried out to identify papers published by Iranian authors in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar electronic databases from January of 2010 to December of 2017. Then, seven publications that met our inclusion criteria were selected for data extraction and analysis. Results: Totally, one study was multicenter, and six were single-center based studies. Meanwhile, all of the included studied performed among hospitalized patients. Seven studies reported the prevalence of invasive S. pneumoniae isolated from children, of these the pooled prevalence of S. pneumoniae was 2.5% (95% CI: 0.7%-9.1%). Conclusion: The overall prevalence of invasive S. pneumoniae infections among Iranian children is low (2.5%). However, further clinical studies are required to elucidate the burden of infections among Iranian children, especially in eastern regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Supritha Aithal ◽  
Zoe Moula ◽  
Vicky Karkou ◽  
Themis Karaminis ◽  
Joanne Powell ◽  
...  

Background: The present review provides an original examination of published literature on the use of Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) as an intervention for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).Method: The review was systematically conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. A protocol consisting of four phases: identification; screening and selection; data extraction and synthesis; quality assurance was developed and registered with the PROSPERO. A search strategy was developed using population and intervention as the key concepts and ten databases were searched between 6.1.2018 to 4.4.2018 and 10.07.2021 to 20.07.2021. The intervention characteristics were extracted based on the TIDieR template for intervention description and replication checklist. Quality assessment and level of evidence of all the included studies were evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) and the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) for treatment criteria.Results: Nine research studies with a total of 133 participants were identified through a systematic search process. There was only one mixed-methods study with the component of randomisation found during the literature search. Collected information was synthesised in relation to (a) ways in which dance movement psychotherapists work with children; (b) data collection methods and findings. Results from the reviewed literature suggest that DMP can potentially promote various aspects of well-being in children with ASD. Eight out of nine studies mentioned the effects of DMP on improving different social and communication skills. However, results from quality assessments and synthesised outcomes indicate that research in DMP is still in its infancy.Conclusions: We conclude that further large-scale, high-quality studies are required to generate further evidence that explains the processes involved in DMP, the effectiveness of DMP, the relationship between therapeutic factors of DMP, and research findings for children on the autism spectrum.Systematic Review Protocol Registration: PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42018087912.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicla Manzari ◽  
Karen Matvienko-Sikar ◽  
Franco Baldoni ◽  
Gerard W. O'Keeffe ◽  
Ali S. Khashan

Background: Prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) is defined as the experience of significant levels of prenatal stress, depression or anxiety during pregnancy. PNMS has been associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in exposed offspring. However, these findings are inconsistent and other studies found no association, meaning a clear consensus on the impact of PNMS on ASD and ADHD risk is required. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize and critically review the existing literature on the effects of PNMS on ASD and ADHD risk. Methods: Electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and EMBASE) will be searched for articles following a detailed search strategy. We will include cohort and case-control studies that assessed maternal exposure to psychological and/or environmental stress and had ASD or ADHD as an outcome. Two reviewers will independently screen the titles, abstracts and full articles to identify eligible studies. We will use a standardised data extraction form for extracting data and a bias classification tool for assessing study quality. This systematic review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The generic inverse variance method will be used if possible to perform meta-analyses. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for this study because it will not involve the conduct or inclusion of any experimental or personal data that would require informed consent.  The systematic review will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018084222.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany J. Maguire ◽  
Philippe J. Guérin

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, a strong response from the research community has been observed with the proliferation of independent clinical trials assessing diagnostic methods, therapeutic and prophylactic strategies. While there is no intervention for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 with proven clinical efficacy to date, tools to distil the current research landscape by intervention, level of evidence and those studies likely powered to address future research questions is essential. This living systematic review aims to provide an open, accessible and frequently updated resource summarising the characteristics of COVID-19 clinical trial registrations. Weekly search updates of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and source registries will be conducted. Data extraction by two independent reviewers of trial characteristic variables including categorisation of trial design, geographic location, intervention type and targets, level of evidence and intervention adaptability to low resource settings will be completed. Descriptive and thematic synthesis will be conducted. A searchable and interactive visualisation of the results database will be created, and made openly available online. Weekly results from the continued search updates will be published and made available on the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO) website (COVID-19 website). This living systematic review will provide a useful resource of COVID-19 clinical trial registrations for researchers in a rapidly evolving context. In the future, this sustained review will allow prioritisation of research targets for individual patient data meta-analysis.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. e029311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isobel Marion Harris ◽  
Sophie Beese ◽  
David Moore

ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to evaluate the ability of risk tools to predict the future episodes of suicide/self-harm in adolescents.DesignSystematic review.Data sourcesMEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO were searched from inception to 3 March 2018.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesCohort studies, case–control studies and randomised controlled trials of adolescents aged 10–25 who had undergone risk assessment in a clinical setting following an episode of self-harm were included.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent reviewers extracted data and assessed risk of bias. Data were grouped by tool and narrative synthesis undertaken, with studies appraised using a checklist combining the QUIPS (Quality In Prognosis Studies) and QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) tools.ResultsOf the 17 137 articles initially identified, 11 studies evaluating 10 separate tools were included. The studies varied in setting, population and outcome measure. The majority of the studies were rated as having an unclear risk of bias, and meta-analysis was not possible due to high variability between studies.The ability of the tools to correctly identify those adolescents going on to make a self-harm/suicide attempt ranged from 27% (95% CI 10.7% to 50.2%) to 95.8% (95% CI 78.9% to 99.9%). A variety of metrics were provided for 1–10 points increases in various tools, for example, odds and HRs.ConclusionsThis systematic review is the first to explore the use of assessment tools in adolescents. The predictive ability of these tools varies greatly. No single tool is suitable for predicting a higher risk of suicide or self-harm in adolescent populations.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42017058686


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asaad Sharhani ◽  
Azam Rahmani ◽  
Bahram Armoon ◽  
Zahra Jorjoran Shushtari ◽  
Mehdi Noroozi ◽  
...  

Abstract introduction: HIV and HCV is a health concern in the word. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis protocol study is aimed to estimate the incidence of HIV and HCV among People who inject drugs (PWID) by applying mathematical modeling. The primary purpose of this systematic review is to identify and review existing studies of HIV and HCV incidence in people who inject drugs, that use mathematical modeling. Methods and analysis: Studies including cohort, cross-sectional, case–control studies which were conducted to estimate incidence of HIV and HCV based on mathematical or evaluated effectiveness of mathematical models will be considered to enroll the review; a comprehensive search with Cochrane approach would be applied to identify relevant studies in electronic databases in the period of 2000 to 2019. This protocol was prepared according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) and we will search PubMed, EMBASE, Opengrey, WOS, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Library with no restriction of language. Study selection and data extraction will be performed by two independent reviewers. Assessment of risk of bias will be implemented using three quality test tools including Newcastle Ottawa Scale and ROBIS scale for cross-sectional studies and quantitative studies quality test tool for observational and interventional studies for other study Publication bias will be assessed by funnel plots, Begg’s and Egger’s tests. Heterogeneity will be evaluated using the I2 statistic and the χ2 test. In addition, subgroup analyses will be conducted for population and the secondary outcomes.


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