scholarly journals Defibrination of Blood Plasma for Use in Serological Tests for Syphilis

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1376-1378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnold R. Castro ◽  
Susan E. Kikkert ◽  
Martha B. Fears ◽  
Victoria Pope
Keyword(s):  
Treponema Pallidum ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reactivity Index ◽  
Plasma Samples ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Antibody Absorption ◽  
Initial Plasma ◽  
General Decline ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Human Sera

ABSTRACT Syphilitic plasma can be salvaged from discarded blood donations and converted to serum by defibrination. Sixty-nine units of plasma were treated with a stock solution of 100 U of thrombin per ml in 1 M calcium chloride and then with a 10% (wt/vol) solution of kaolin. Fibrinogen concentrations detected in initial plasma samples ranged from 94 to 4,970 mg/liter (mean, 2,532 mg/liter) for samples that were reactive by the rapid plasma reagin circle card test (RPR) and from 314 to 2,742 mg/liter (mean 1,528 mg/liter) for samples that were not reactive by the RPR. The treated samples showed no measurable fibrinogen remaining after the defibrination process. In the nontreponemal RPR for syphilis, 86% of the treated plasma samples retained the same endpoint titer as that of the initial plasma sample. When the Treponema pallidum passive-particle-agglutination test was used, 98% retained the same reactivity. In the Captia Syphilis-G enzyme immunoassay, 89% of the treated samples demonstrated no change in reactivity index, and in the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test, 96% showed no reduction in fluorescence. Human sera containing antibodies to syphilis are used at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the preparation of reference controls or as samples for proficiency testing. Finding reactive sera is becoming more difficult due to the general decline of syphilis cases in the United States. The decreasing availability of these sera can be alleviated by salvaging plasma and converting it to serum.

Neurosyphilis presenting as psychiatric symptoms: an unusual case report

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 251-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Mirsal ◽  
Ayhan Kalyoncu ◽  
Özkan Pektaş ◽  
Mansur Beyazyürek
Keyword(s):  
Psychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Treponema Pallidum ◽  
Antibody Test ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Case Presentation ◽  
Antibody Absorption ◽  
Gradual Loss ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Diseases ◽  
Organic Brain

Objective:Neurosyphilis remains a differential diagnosis for a wide variety of psychiatric syndromes, including dementia, mood disorders and psychosis. However, the incidence of neurosyphilis presenting initially with psychiatric symptomalogy is unclear. In this article, a clinical case is reported so as to illustrate some of the issues involved.Case presentation:A 33-year-old married man was admitted because of a depressive episode associated with somatic preoccupations and a gradual loss of ability to function a year prior to his admission. The symptoms described above raised the question of an organic brain syndrome associated with the psychotic depression. Some laboratory and additional examinations were performed. Serological tests for syphilis were positive for both the hemagglutination test, Treponema pallidum hemaglutination (TPHA), and the immunofluorescent antibody test, fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS). Based on these findings, the diagnosis of neurosyphilis was made. The patient was treated with benzathine penicillin (2 400 000 units i.m. once a week) for 3 weeks and venlafaxine (150 mg daily) and olanzapine (5 mg daily). His depression disappeared gradually, and he was discharged in partial remission.Conclusion:High-risk groups such as patients with neuropsychiatric diseases should be screened with serological tests so as to prevent morbidity and help eliminate syphilis.

scholarly journals SPECIFIC AGGLUTINATION OF TREPONEMA PALLIDUM BY SERA FROM RABBITS AND HUMAN BEINGS WITH TREPONEMAL INFECTIONS

1955 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H. Hardy ◽  
E. Ellen Nell
Keyword(s):  
Heat Treatment ◽  
Divalent Cation ◽  
Treponema Pallidum ◽  
Chelating Agent ◽  
Agglutination Test ◽  
Ethylene Diamine ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Human Sera

A method has been described for the preparation of Treponema pallidum suspensions that are suitable for specific agglutination studies and can be stored at 4°C. for months without loss of agglutinability. Such suspensions have been shown to react with two distinct antibodies in the serum of syphilitic animals and man: Wassermann antibody and a specific treponeme agglutinin. It has been demonstrated that the agglutination of treponemes by specific treponeme agglutinin is enhanced by heat treatment or aging of the suspension, and inhibited by a divalent cation, probably Ca++, normally present in serum. This inhibition has been overcome by the use of a chelating agent, ethylene-diamine tetracetate. These findings have been utilized to devise a simple agglutination test for the diagnosis of treponeme infections that is very sensitive and highly specific. This test has been carried out with 430 human sera, and a comparison has been made of the results of the agglutination, treponemal immobilization, and standard serological tests on these sera. The agglutination test appears to have a specificity comparable to the treponemal immobilization test and considerably greater than the standard serological tests.

scholarly journals Users’ Beliefs Toward Physical Distancing in Facebook Pages of Public Health Authorities During COVID-19 Pandemic in Early 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 109019812110144
Author(s):  
Soon Guan Tan ◽  
Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar ◽  
Hwee Lin Wee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Belief Model ◽  
United States Public Health ◽  
Health Belief ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
The Health Belief Model

This study aims to describe Facebook users’ beliefs toward physical distancing measures implemented during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic using the key constructs of the health belief model. A combination of rule-based filtering and manual classification methods was used to classify user comments on COVID-19 Facebook posts of three public health authorities: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States, Public Health England, and Ministry of Health, Singapore. A total of 104,304 comments were analyzed for posts published between 1 January, 2020, and 31 March, 2020, along with COVID-19 cases and deaths count data from the three countries. Findings indicate that the perceived benefits of physical distancing measures ( n = 3,463; 3.3%) was three times higher than perceived barriers ( n = 1,062; 1.0%). Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 ( n = 2,934; 2.8%) was higher compared with perceived severity ( n = 2,081; 2.0%). Although susceptibility aspects of physical distancing were discussed more often at the start of the year, mentions on the benefits of intervention emerged stronger toward the end of the analysis period, highlighting the shift in beliefs. The health belief model is useful for understanding Facebook users’ beliefs at a basic level, and it provides a scope for further improvement.

scholarly journals Verification of Healthcare Personnel Immunity as a Strategy for Measles Preparedness

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s431-s432
Author(s):  
Rachael Snyders ◽  
Hilary Babcock ◽  
Christopher Blank
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Multidisciplinary Team ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Healthcare Personnel ◽  
Serological Tests ◽  
Preparedness Plan ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Measles Outbreaks ◽  
Centralized Database

Background: Immunization resistance is fueling a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, where several large measles outbreaks and 1,282 measles cases were reported in 2019. Concern about these measles outbreaks prompted a large healthcare organization to develop a preparedness plan to limit healthcare-associated transmission. Verification of employee rubeola immunity and immunization when necessary was prioritized because of transmission risk to nonimmune employees and role of the healthcare personnel in responding to measles cases. Methods: The organization employs ∼31,000 people in diverse settings. A multidisciplinary team was formed by infection prevention, infectious diseases, occupational health, and nursing departments to develop the preparedness plan. Immunity was monitored using a centralized database. Employees without evidence of immunity were asked to provide proof of vaccination, defined by the CDC as 2 appropriately timed doses of rubeola-containing vaccine, or laboratory confirmation of immunity. Employees were given 30 days to provide documentation or to obtain a titer at the organization’s expense. Staff with negative titers were given 2 weeks to coordinate with the occupational heath department for vaccination. Requests for medical or religious accommodations were evaluated by occupational heath staff, the occupational heath medical director, and the human resources department. All employees were included, though patient-interfacing employees in departments considered higher risk were prioritized. These areas were the emergency, dermatology, infectious diseases, labor and delivery, obstetrics, and pediatrics departments. Results: At the onset of the initiative in June 2019, 4,009 employees lacked evidence of immunity. As of November 2019, evidence of immunity had been obtained for 3,709 employees (92.5%): serological evidence of immunity was obtained for 2,856 (71.2%), vaccine was administered to 584 (14.6%), and evidence of previous vaccination was provided by 269 (6.7%). Evidence of immunity has not been documented for 300 (7.5%). The organization administered 3,626 serological tests and provided 997 vaccines, costing ∼$132,000. Disposition by serological testing is summarized in Table 1. Conclusions: A measles preparedness strategy should include proactive assessment of employees’ immune status. It is possible to expediently assess a large number of employees using a multidisciplinary team with access to a centralized database. Consideration may be given to prioritization of high-risk departments and patient-interfacing roles to manage workload.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Survey of Saliva Components and Virus Sensors for Prevention of COVID-19 and Infectious Diseases

Biosensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Priya Dave ◽  
Roberto Rojas-Cessa ◽  
Ziqian Dong ◽  
Vatcharapan Umpaichitra
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Saliva ◽  
Field Application ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Close Distance

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers saliva contact the lead transmission mean of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Saliva droplets or aerosols expelled by sneezing, coughing, breathing, and talking may carry this virus. People in close distance may be exposed directly to these droplets or indirectly when touching the droplets that fall on surrounding surfaces and ending up contracting COVID-19 after touching the mucosa tissue of their faces. It is of great interest to quickly and effectively detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in an environment, but the existing methods only work in laboratory settings, to the best of our knowledge. However, it may be possible to detect the presence of saliva in the environment and proceed with prevention measures. However, detecting saliva itself has not been documented in the literature. On the other hand, many sensors that detect different organic components in saliva to monitor a person’s health and diagnose different diseases, ranging from diabetes to dental health, have been proposed and they may be used to detect the presence of saliva. This paper surveys sensors that detect organic and inorganic components of human saliva. Humidity sensors are also considered in the detection of saliva because a large portion of saliva is water. Moreover, sensors that detect infectious viruses are also included as they may also be embedded into saliva sensors for a confirmation of the presence of the virus. A classification of sensors by their working principles and the substances they detect is presented, including the sensors’ specifications, sample size, and sensitivity. Indications of which sensors are portable and suitable for field application are presented. This paper also discusses future research and challenges that must be resolved to realize practical saliva sensors. Such sensors may help minimize the spread of not only COVID-19 but also other infectious diseases.

Inconsistencies in Overdose Suicide Death Investigation Practice and Potential Remedies Using Technology: A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Consultation Meeting Summary

2021 ◽  
pp. 192536212110224
Author(s):  
Melissa C. Mercado ◽  
Deborah M. Stone ◽  
Caroline W. Kokubun ◽  
Aimée-Rika T. Trudeau ◽  
Elizabeth Gaylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
System Integration ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
The United States ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
Undetermined Intent ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Scene Description ◽  
Death Investigation

Introduction: It is widely accepted that suicides—which account for more than 47 500 deaths per year in the United States—are undercounted by 10% to 30%, partially due to incomplete death scene investigations (DSI) and varying burden-of-proof standards across jurisdictions. This may result in the misclassification of overdose-related suicides as accidents or undetermined intent. Methods: Virtual and in-person meetings were held with suicidologists and DSI experts from five states (Spring-Summer 2017) to explore how features of a hypothetical electronic DSI tool may help address these challenges. Results: Participants envisioned a mobile DSI application for cell phones, tablets, or laptop computers. Features for systematic information collection, scene description, and guiding key informant interviews were perceived as useful for less-experienced investigators. Discussion: Wide adoption may be challenging due to differences in DSI standards, practices, costs, data privacy and security, and system integration needs. However, technological tools that support consistent and complete DSIs could strengthen the information needed to accurately identify overdose suicides.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Research Evolution in Response to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 237
Author(s):  
Weirong Li ◽  
Kai Sun ◽  
Yunqiang Zhu ◽  
Jia Song ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Related Research ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Cyclical Trend ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Number Of Authors

In order to understand how these studies are evolving to respond to COVID-19 and to facilitate the containment of COVID-19, this paper accurately extracted the spatial and topic information from the metadata of papers related to COVID-19 using text mining techniques, and with the extracted information, the research evolution was analyzed from the temporal, spatial, and topic perspectives. From a temporal view, in the three months after the emergence of COVID-19, the number of published papers showed an obvious growth trend, and it showed a relatively stable cyclical trend in the later period, which is basically consistent with the development of COVID-19. Spatially, most of the authors who participated in related research are concentrated in the United States, China, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, India, and France. At the same time, with the continuous spread of COVID-19 in the world, the distribution of the number of authors has gradually expanded, showing to be correlated with the severity of COVID-19 at a spatial scale. From the perspective of topic, the early stage of COVID-19 emergence, the related research mainly focused on the origin and gene identification of the virus. After the emergence of the pandemic, studies related to the diagnosis and analysis of psychological health, personal security, and violent conflict are added. Meanwhile, some categories are most closely related to the control and prevention of the epidemic, such as pathology analysis, diagnosis, and treatment; epidemic situation and coping strategies; and prediction and assessment of epidemic situation. In most time periods, the majority of studies focused on these three categories.

How Does the Inclusion of Twins Conceived via Fertility Treatments Influence the Results of Twin Studies?

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 746-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Alexandra Burt ◽  
Kelly L. Klump
Keyword(s):  
Twin Studies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fertility Treatment ◽  
State University ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Vitro Fertilization ◽  
Fertility Treatments ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Twin Families

Rates of twinning have risen dramatically over the last 30 years, from 1 in 53 births in 1980 to 1 in 30 births in 2009 (Martin et al. (January 2012). Three decades of twin births in the United States, 1980–2009. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics). This increase is largely attributable to increases in the use of fertility treatments (i.e., ovulation induction and in vitro fertilization) combined with delays in parenthood. Although this increase means that more twins are available for recruitment into twin studies, it also has potential consequences for the heritability estimates obtained in these studies. This study sought to evaluate this possibility, making use of the ongoing Michigan Twins Project (N = 7,261 families with twins aged 3–17 years), an arm of the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Results revealed that, on average, twins conceived via fertility treatments had lower rates of behavior problems than those conceived naturally, although these behavioral differences could be explained largely by demographic and socio-economic differences across the two types of twin families. Twin similarity did not meaningfully differ across fertility treatment status. We thus conclude that estimates of genetic and environmental influences obtained from twin studies over the last 10–15 years are more or less unaffected by the inclusion of twins conceived via fertility treatments in their samples.

Meningococcal Disease Prevention and Control Strategies for Practice-based Physicians

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Invasive Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Control And Prevention

Localized outbreaks of meningococcal disease in the United States and Canada continue to cause serious alarm within communities as a result of the fulminating pattern of the disease, high mortality rate, and high incidence among adolescents. The increasing number of outbreaks since 1991 has raised questions about the management and prevention of further cases during an outbreak. The purpose of this statement is to guide primary-care physicians in their role in infection control and prevention of both sporadic cases and outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease. This statement provides information on the epidemiology of meningococcal disease, including definitions of sporadic, secondary, and coprimary cases, clusters of cases, and outbreaks. Data are presented on identification of cases, disease risk of contacts, and agents for chemoprophylaxis, and recommendations are given for: (1) risk assessment of contacts, (2) administration of chemoprophylaxis, (3) appropriate use of meningococcal vaccine, (4) appropriate use of the microbiology laboratory, (5) the necessity for timely and appropriate reporting of invasive meningococcal disease to local public health authorities, and (6) information on counseling and public education that may be helpful during an outbreak to minimize public anxiety. An additional section, "Information for Sharing," which uses a question-and-answer format and which may be helpful to parents and community and health care workers during an outbreak, is also provided.

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