Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccination in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients: A Modified Delphi Consensus of Experts

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Rick ◽  
Devea R. De ◽  
Terri Shih ◽  
Afsaneh Alavi ◽  
Joslyn S. Kirby ◽  
...  

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) patients may be at increased risk of COVID-19 infection and complications from their medications and comorbidities. There is a lack of expert consensus on recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine for HS patients. Herein, we aim to provide expert-driven consensus recommendations regarding COVID-19 vaccinations in HS patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A modified Delphi consensus survey developed by a core committee of 7 dermatologist HS experts consisting of 4 demographic questions and 12 practice statements was distributed to the US HS Foundation-sponsored provider listserv. Participants were attending physician HS experts. Survey results were to be reviewed by the core group and revised and resubmitted until consensus (≥70% agreement) was achieved. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Among the 33 survey participants, there were 30 (87%) dermatologists, 1 general surgeon, 1 plastic surgeon, and 1 rheumatologist. Consensus for all 12 statements on vaccine counseling and HS treatment counseling was achieved after the first round. <b><i>Discussion/Conclusion:</i></b> For now, this consensus can serve as a resource for clinicians discussing COVID-19 vaccination with their HS patients. These recommendations will need to be updated as new evidence on COVID-19 emerges.

2020 ◽  
pp. 135245852095231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agostino Riva ◽  
Valeria Barcella ◽  
Simone V Benatti ◽  
Marco Capobianco ◽  
Ruggero Capra ◽  
...  

Background: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at increased risk of infection. Vaccination can mitigate these risks but only if safe and effective in MS patients, including those taking disease-modifying drugs. Methods: A modified Delphi consensus process (October 2017–June 2018) was used to develop clinically relevant recommendations for making decisions about vaccinations in patients with MS. A series of statements and recommendations regarding the efficacy, safety and timing of vaccine administration in patients with MS were generated in April 2018 by a panel of experts based on a review of the published literature performed in October 2017. Results: Recommendations include the need for an ‘infectious diseases card’ of each patient’s infectious and immunisation history at diagnosis in order to exclude and eventually treat latent infections. We suggest the implementation of the locally recommended vaccinations, if possible at MS diagnosis, otherwise with vaccination timing tailored to the planned/current MS treatment, and yearly administration of the seasonal influenza vaccine regardless of the treatment received. Conclusion: Patients with MS should be vaccinated with careful consideration of risks and benefits. However, there is an urgent need for more research into vaccinations in patients with MS to guide evidence-based decision making.


Author(s):  
Michael Mascarenhas

Three very different field sites—First Nations communities in Canada, water charities in the Global South, and the US cities of Flint and Detroit, Michigan—point to the increasing precariousness of water access for historically marginalized groups, including Indigenous peoples, African Americans, and people of color around the globe. This multi-sited ethnography underscores a common theme: power and racism lie deep in the core of today’s global water crisis. These cases reveal the concrete mechanisms, strategies, and interconnections that are galvanized by the economic, political, and racial projects of neoliberalism. In this sense neoliberalism is not only downsizing democracy but also creating both the material and ideological forces for a new form of discrimination in the provision of drinking water around the globe. These cases suggest that contemporary notions of environmental and social justice will largely hinge on how we come to think about water in the twenty-first century.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 851.1-851
Author(s):  
G. Singh ◽  
M. Sehgal ◽  
A. Mithal

Background:Irreversible joint damage in gout has been linked to a possible increase in knee and hip joint replacements1. In addition, the strong association between gout and osteoarthritis2,3 could also lead to an increased risk of joint replacements in patients with gout. Population-based data from the UK and Taiwan have shown hazard rates of 1.14 and 1.16 respectively for knee replacements in patients with gout compared to age and gender matched controls1. However, there is little national data in the US on clinical and economic burden of joint replacements in patients with gout.Objectives:To evaluate total or partial hip and knee joint replacements in patients with gout in the US and to estimate their economic impactMethods:The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) is a stratified random sample of all US community hospitals. It is the only US national hospital database with information on all patients, regardless of payer, including persons covered by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and the uninsured. Detailed information including clinical and nonclinical data elements on each hospital stay including International Classification of Diseases (ICD)10 diagnosis and procedure codes, age, gender, length of stay, payer, charges, comorbidities etc. is available. We examined hospitalizations in patients with gout with hip and knee joint replacements in NIS 2018, the most recent year of data.Results:In 2018, there were 914,510 hospitalizations with primary or secondary diagnosis of gout in the US. Of these 43,615 were for joint replacement surgeries (knee (24,840) and hip (18,755)). Patients with knee replacement were on an average 68.5 years old (95% confidence intervals 68.2 years -68.8 years). Patients with hip replacement were slightly older (mean age 70.3 years, 95% confidence intervals 69.8 years -70.7 years). Unlike general population statistics, men formed a majority of these joint replacements (68% for the knee and 72% for the hip). The average charge per hospitalization was $69,279 and $72,944 for knee and hip replacement respectively. The total annual national cost estimate was $3.09 billion, with government insurances (Medicare and Medicaid) responsible for 67% of knee replacement and 70% of hip replacement costs.Conclusion:Joint replacements in gout patients have a large clinical and economic burden in the US. This calls for an increased awareness and management of associated hip and knee arthritis in patients with gout.References:[1]Kuo CF, Chou IJ, See LC, et al. Urate-lowering treatment and risk of total joint replacement in patients with gout. Rheumatology. Dec 1 2018;57(12):2129-2139.[2]Howard RG, Samuels J, Gyftopoulos S, et al. Presence of gout is associated with increased prevalence and severity of knee osteoarthritis among older men: results of a pilot study. Journal of clinical rheumatology: practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases. Mar 2015;21(2):63-71.[3]Roddy E, Zhang W, Doherty M. Are joints affected by gout also affected by osteoarthritis? Annals of the rheumatic diseases. Oct 2007;66(10):1374-1377.Disclosure of Interests:Gurkirpal Singh Shareholder of: Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, Grant/research support from: Horizon, Maanek Sehgal: None declared, Alka Mithal: None declared.


Author(s):  
Gayathri S. Kumar ◽  
Jenna A. Beeler ◽  
Emma E. Seagle ◽  
Emily S. Jentes

AbstractSeveral studies describe the health of recently resettled refugee populations in the US beyond the first 8 months after arrival. This review summarizes the results of these studies. Scientific articles from five databases published from January 2008 to March 2019 were reviewed. Articles were included if study subjects included any of the top five US resettlement populations during 2008–2018 and if data described long-term physical health outcomes beyond the first 8 months after arrival in the US. Thirty-three studies met the inclusion criteria (1.5%). Refugee adults had higher odds of having a chronic disease compared with non-refugee immigrant adults, and an increased risk for diabetes compared with US-born controls. The most commonly reported chronic diseases among Iraqi, Somali, and Bhutanese refugee adults included diabetes and hypertension. Clinicians should consider screening and evaluating for chronic conditions in the early resettlement period. Further evaluations can build a more comprehensive, long-term health profile of resettled refugees to inform public health practice.


Author(s):  
Kosuke Inoue ◽  
Roch Nianogo ◽  
Donatello Telesca ◽  
Atsushi Goto ◽  
Vahe Khachadourian ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective It is unclear whether relatively low glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels are beneficial or harmful for the long-term health outcomes among people without diabetes. We aimed to investigate the association between low HbA1c levels and mortality among the US general population. Methods This study includes a nationally representative sample of 39 453 US adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1999–2014, linked to mortality data through 2015. We employed the parametric g-formula with pooled logistic regression models and the ensemble machine learning algorithms to estimate the time-varying risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by HbA1c categories (low, 4.0 to &lt;5.0%; mid-level, 5.0 to &lt;5.7%; prediabetes, 5.7 to &lt;6.5%; and diabetes, ≥6.5% or taking antidiabetic medication), adjusting for 72 potential confounders including demographic characteristics, lifestyle, biomarkers, comorbidities and medications. Results Over a median follow-up of 7.5 years, 5118 (13%) all-cause deaths, and 1116 (3%) cardiovascular deaths were observed. Logistic regression models and machine learning algorithms showed nearly identical predictive performance of death and risk estimates. Compared with mid-level HbA1c, low HbA1c was associated with a 30% (95% CI, 16 to 48) and a 12% (95% CI, 3 to 22) increased risk of all-cause mortality at 5 years and 10 years of follow-up, respectively. We found no evidence that low HbA1c levels were associated with cardiovascular mortality risk. The diabetes group, but not the prediabetes group, also showed an increased risk of all-cause mortality. Conclusions Using the US national database and adjusting for an extensive set of potential confounders with flexible modelling, we found that adults with low HbA1c were at increased risk of all-cause mortality. Further evaluation and careful monitoring of low HbA1c levels need to be considered.


Author(s):  
Michael Osei Mireku ◽  
Alina Rodriguez

The objective was to investigate the association between time spent on waking activities and nonaligned sleep duration in a representative sample of the US population. We analysed time use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), 2015–2017 (N = 31,621). National Sleep Foundation (NSF) age-specific sleep recommendations were used to define recommended (aligned) sleep duration. The balanced, repeated, replicate variance estimation method was applied to the ATUS data to calculate weighted estimates. Less than half of the US population had a sleep duration that mapped onto the NSF recommendations, and alignment was higher on weekdays (45%) than at weekends (33%). The proportion sleeping longer than the recommended duration was higher than those sleeping shorter on both weekdays and weekends (p < 0.001). Time spent on work, personal care, socialising, travel, TV watching, education, and total screen time was associated with nonalignment to the sleep recommendations. In comparison to the appropriate recommended sleep group, those with a too-short sleep duration spent more time on work, travel, socialising, relaxing, and leisure. By contrast, those who slept too long spent relatively less time on each of these activities. The findings indicate that sleep duration among the US population does not map onto the NSF sleep recommendations, mostly because of a higher proportion of long sleepers compared to short sleepers. More time spent on work, travel, and socialising and relaxing activities is strongly associated with an increased risk of nonalignment to NSF sleep duration recommendations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Fusco ◽  
◽  
Vincenzo Leuzzi ◽  
Pasquale Striano ◽  
Roberta Battini ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency is a rare and underdiagnosed neurometabolic disorder resulting in a complex neurological and non-neurological phenotype, posing diagnostic challenges resulting in diagnostic delay. Due to the low number of patients, gathering high-quality scientific evidence on diagnosis and treatment is difficult. Additionally, based on the estimated prevalence, the number of undiagnosed patients is likely to be high. Methods Italian experts in AADC deficiency formed a steering committee to engage clinicians in a modified Delphi consensus to promote discussion, and support research, dissemination and awareness on this disorder. Five experts in the field elaborated six main topics, each subdivided into 4 statements and invited 13 clinicians to give their anonymous feedback. Results 100% of the statements were answered and a consensus was reached at the first round. This enabled the steering committee to acknowledge high rates of agreement between experts on clinical presentation, phenotypes, diagnostic work-up and treatment strategies. A research gap was identified in the lack of standardized cognitive and motor outcome data. The need for setting up an Italian working group and a patients’ association, together with the dissemination of knowledge inside and outside scientific societies in multiple medical disciplines were recognized as critical lines of intervention. Conclusions The panel expressed consensus with high rates of agreement on a series of statements paving the way to disseminate clear messages concerning disease presentation, diagnosis and treatment and strategic interventions to disseminate knowledge at different levels. Future lines of research were also identified.


Author(s):  
John P Mills ◽  
Laura J Rojas ◽  
Steve H Marshall ◽  
Susan D Rudin ◽  
Andrea M Hujer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite the recent emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance, the epidemiology and mechanisms of colistin-resistant Enterobacterales (CORE) infections remain poorly understood. Methods A case-case-control study was conducted utilizing routine clinical isolates obtained at a single tertiary health system in Ann Arbor, MI. Patients with CORE isolates from January 1st 2016 to March 31st 2017 were matched 1:1 with patients with colistin-susceptible Enterobacterales (COSE) and uninfected controls. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compare clinical and microbiologic features of patients with CORE and COSE to controls. A subset of available CORE isolates underwent whole genome sequencing to identify putative colistin resistance genes. Results Of 16,373 tested clinical isolates, 166 (0.99%) were colistin-resistant, representing 103 unique patients. Among 103 CORE isolates, 103 COSE isolates, and 102 uninfected controls, antibiotic exposure in the antecedent 90 days and age &gt; 55 years were predictors of both CORE and COSE. Of 33 isolates that underwent WGS, a large variety of mutations associated with colistin resistance were identified, including 4 mcr-1/mcr-1.1 genes and 4 pmrA/B mutations among 9 Escherichia coli isolates; 5 mgrB and 3 PmrA mutations among 8 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates. Genetic mutations found in Enterobacter species were not associated with known phenotypic colistin resistance. Conclusions Increased age and prior antibiotic receipt were associated with increased risk for patients with CORE, and for patients with COSE. Mcr-1, pmrA/B, and mgrB were the predominant colistin resistance-associated mutations identified among E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively. Mechanisms of colistin resistance among Enterobacter species could not be determined.


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