scholarly journals Yellow fever in a traveller returning from Suriname to the Netherlands, March 2017

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjan Wouthuyzen-Bakker ◽  
Marjolein Knoester ◽  
Aad P van den Berg ◽  
Corine H GeurtsvanKessel ◽  
Marion PG Koopmans ◽  
...  

A Dutch traveller returning from Suriname in early March 2017, presented with fever and severe acute liver injury. Yellow fever was diagnosed by (q)RT-PCR and sequencing. During hospital stay, the patient’s condition deteriorated and she developed hepatic encephalopathy requiring transfer to the intensive care. Although yellow fever has not been reported in the last four decades in Suriname, vaccination is recommended by the World Health Organization for visitors to this country.

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  

This essay clarifies the author’s objections to COVID-19 vaccine credentials voiced in “The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports.” The author’s objections centered on discriminatory practices based on vaccine status for domestic social and work activities, but he agrees with the World Health Organization that these credentials should not be required for international travel. In addition, there is a significant ethical different between currently available COVID-19 vaccines and the yellow fever vaccine because the former are produced or tested using abortion-derived cell lines. The yellow fever vaccine is much less ethically problematic. This situation could change with the approval of new COVID-19 vaccines without links to abortion-derived cell lines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (03) ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
André Ricardo Araujo da Silva ◽  
Cristina Vieira de Souza Oliveira ◽  
Cristiane Henriques Teixeira ◽  
Izabel Alves Leal

Abstract Objective The recommended percentage of antibiotic use in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) using the World Health Organization (WHO) Access, Watch, and Reserve (AWaRE) classification is not known. Methods We have conducted an interrupted time series analysis in two PICUs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over a period of 18 months. The type of antibiotics used was evaluated using the WHO AWaRE classification, and the amount of antibiotic was measured using days of therapy/1,000 patient-days (DOT/1000PD) after implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). The first and last semesters were compared using medians and the Mann–Whitney's test. The trends of antibiotic consumption were performed using time series analysis in three consecutive 6-month periods. Results A total of 2,205 patients were admitted, accounting for 12,490 patient-days. In PICU 1, overall antibiotic consumption (in DOT/1000PD) was 1,322 in the first 6 months of analysis and 1,264.5 in the last 6 months (p = 0.81). In PICU 2, the consumption for the same period was 1,638.5 and 1,344.5, respectively (p = 0.031). In PICU 1, the antibiotics classified in the AWaRE groups were used 33.2, 57.9, and 8.4% of the time, respectively. The remaining 0.5% of antibiotics used were not classified in any of these groups. In PICU 2, the AWaRE groups corresponded to 30.2, 60.5, and 9.3% of all antibiotics used, respectively. There was no use of unclassified antibiotics in this unit. The use of all three groups of WHO AWaRE antibiotics was similar in the first and the last semesters, with the exception of Reserve group in PICU 2 (183.5 × 92, p = 0.031). Conclusion A significant reduction of overall antibiotic use and also in the Reserve group was achieved in one of the PICU units studied. The antibiotics classified in the Watch group were the most used in both units, representing ∼60% of all the antibiotics consumed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjorn Meijers ◽  
Piergiorgio Messa ◽  
Claudio Ronco

The World Health Organization has recognized the pandemic nature of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) outbreak. A large proportion of positive patients require hospitalization, while 5–6% of them may need more aggressive therapies in intensive care. Most governments have recommended social separation and severe measures of prevention of further spreading of the epidemic. Because hemodialysis (HD) patients need to access hospital and dialysis center facilities 3 times a week, this category of patients requires special attention. In this editorial, we tried to summarize the experience of our centers that hopefully may contribute to help other centers and colleagues that are facing the coming wave of the epidemic. Special algorithms for COVID-19 spreading in the dialysis population, recommendations for isolation and preventive measures in positive HD patients, and finally directions to manage logistics and personnel are reported. These recommendations should be considered neither universal nor absolute. Instead, they require local adjustments based on geographic location, cultural and social environments, and level of available resources.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 302-304
Author(s):  
Meghmala Sadhukhan ◽  
Ranjit K. Joshi ◽  
Prabin P. Pahi

During the current pandemic of Coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, multiple cases of a new condition in children have been reported with multisystem involvement associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2, requiring intensive care admission. The World Health Organization has defined it as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents. Here, we report a similar case of a 15-year-old adolescent who presented with clinical features of Kawasaki-like illness along with multisystem involvement. The echocardiogram suggested the presence of coronary artery dilatation and the patient responded well to Intravenous immunoglobulin. Hence, pediatricians need to be aware of this condition in children with multisystemic involvement and these patients need to be treated as early as possible since they may deteriorate quickly.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esat Namal ◽  
Nur Dinc ◽  
Sezer Saglam ◽  
Ali Vefa Ozturk ◽  
Safiye Koculu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background/Aim: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) has deeply affected life all over the World. The World Health Organization named this disease as COVID-19. The most important factor in the transmission of the disease is asymptomatic carriers. We’ve tested all oncology patients, that receive anti-cancer therapy, for COVİD-19 to prevent asymptomatic oncology patients from spreading infection and to make the decision to postpone chemotherapy in infected patients. Then, we analyzed the clinical and radiological findings of infected patients.Materials and Methods: Oncology patients who have indications of receiving anti-cancer treatment in the hospital were tested for COVID-19, two day prior to their treatment even if they were asymptomatic by collecting nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens for RT-PCR for viral RNA detection. Positive patients, underwent inspiratory phase of chest computed tomography (CT) examination. Infected patients were given the recommended treatment for COVID-19. Anti-cancer treatment of all patients that had positive PCR results was delayed for 14 days.Results: PCR test was positive in 28 of 312 patients that we tested, and the positivity rate was 8.9%. Three patients (10.7%) had symptoms; 2 of whom had dyspnea and cough, and 1 had headache, and 25 patients (89.3%) had no symptoms.Conclusion: In oncology patients, who are receiving anti-cancer treatment, we have to recognize the asymptomatic COVID-19 infection. We recommend testing for COVID-19 in oncology patients receiving chemotherapy, periodically or before each anti-cancer treatment, in order to continue their treatment without any problems and to prevent the risk of transmission.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Melo-Vallès ◽  
Clara Ballesté-Delpierre ◽  
Jordi Vila

On March 12, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic following the exponential increase of SARS-CoV-2 cases. The rapid spread of the virus is due to both its high infectivity and the free circulation of unrecognized infectious cases. Thus, diagnostic testing is a key element to prevent further dissemination of the virus. Urged by WHO's call, laboratories worldwide have been working on nucleic acid tests protocols and immunoassays that became available, albeit poorly validated, within a comparatively short time. Since then, external studies evaluating these diagnostic tests have been published. The present study is a review of the COVID-19 diagnostic approaches, discussing both direct and indirect microbiological diagnoses. A compendium of the literature on commercial assays kits available to date is provided together with the conclusions drawn as well as RT-PCR protocols published by the WHO. Briefly, diagnostic accuracy varies according to time elapsed since symptom onset and evolves together with understanding of the COVID-19 disease. Taking into account all these variables will allow determining the most adequate diagnostic test to use and how to optimize diagnostic testing for COVID-19.


Author(s):  
SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi ◽  
Maryam Ghadimi ◽  
Mehrnaz Asadi Gharabaghi ◽  
Fereshteh Ghiasvand

: Since December 2019, there has been an increasing number of patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) around the world. As of March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection presenting with constrictive pericarditis, possibly from the COVID infection. She was presented after a week of fever, persistent dry cough, and diarrhea. She received a single dose of hydroxychloroquine 400 mg, Oseltamivir 75 mg every 12 hours, lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra) 400/100 mg every 12 hours, and levofloxacin 750 mg daily. After 24 hours, she was immediately transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because of dyspnea and progressive respiratory failure with a drop of the O2 saturation to 70%. After a week of progress, her respiratory condition deteriorated again. She was re-admitted to the ICU and she expired. She died due to isolated constrictive pericarditis, most probably caused by SARS-CoV-2.


2021 ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
Hanna Sahhar ◽  
Karly Derwitz ◽  
Erica Rubin

Since the declaration of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), there has been an emergence of a new syndrome termed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19. MIS-C is defined by the presence of fever, systemic inflammation and multiorgan dysfunction in association with SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 exposure. Knowledge of this syndrome’s presentation and pathophysiology is constantly evolving as more cases are reported in the literature. This case identifies a 3-month-old patient who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 antigen, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and antibodies but qualified for MIS-C diagnosis. To the best of our knowledge and through extensive research at the time of diagnosing and reporting this condition to the healthcare authorities, we report the youngest pediatric patient with MIS-C diagnosis. We document this case to contribute to further understanding the variable manifestations of MIS-C and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Matteo Bolcato ◽  
Marco Trabucco Aurilio ◽  
Anna Aprile ◽  
Giulio Di Mizio ◽  
Bruno Della Pietra ◽  
...  

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection a pandemic on 11 March 2020. As of the end of October 2020, there were 50 million cases of infection and over one million deaths recorded worldwide, over 45,000 of which occurred in Italy. In Italy, the demand for intensive care over the course of this pandemic crisis has been exceptionally high, resulting in a severe imbalance between the demand for and availability of the necessary resources. This paper focuses on elements of preventive medicine and medical treatments in emergency and non-emergency situations which, based on the international scientific literature, may prove to be useful to physicians on a behavioral level and avert professional liability problems. In order to achieve this objective, we have performed a search on MEDLINE to find published articles related to the risks associated with the pandemic that contain useful suggestions and strategies for mitigating risks and protecting the safety of the population. The results have been collocated in line with these specific study areas.


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