scholarly journals Forgotten Enemies in the shadow of COVID19

Healthline ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-127
Author(s):  
Parimal Patel ◽  
Khushbu Makadia

The fight against the corona pandemic is important from the point of its direct impact in terms of high morbidity and moderate mortality but it also could indirectly result in many more victims by disrupting the architecture of our existing health system. So far, It has been seen that due to unprecedented nature of covid19 pandemic and high transmissibility forced the health authorities to give their almost 100% attention toward covid19 pandemic management and we have either reduced or stopped to pay attention to our known enemies like TB, HIV etc. These are very dangerous infectious diseases that have been known to affect us badly since years with high morbidity and mortality. If we tend to continue forget these known enemies while fighting against the corona, there is a risk of having even greater impact of existing disaster in the coming days.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254737
Author(s):  
Chinwe Juliana Iwu-Jaja ◽  
Anelisa Jaca ◽  
Ishmael Festus Jaja ◽  
Portia Jordan ◽  
Phelele Bhengu ◽  
...  

Introduction Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitutes a significant threat to global health and food security, typically associated with high morbidity and mortality rate. The high burden of infectious diseases coupled with the weak health systems in most countries of Africa magnifies the risk of increasing AMR and its consequences thereof. This scoping review will be aimed at mapping the evidence on interventions used to prevent and manage antimicrobial resistance in Africa, guided by the “One Health” concept. Methods We will consider interventions targeting multiple sectors such as health care systems, the agricultural and veterinary sectors. The outcomes to be considered include reduction of AMR decreased morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases, increased awareness for rational use of antimicrobials and reduced antibiotic consumption. We will include all types of studies regardless of study designs conducted within the context of the WHO African region. Studies will be excluded if they are not conducted in Africa and if they are literature reviews, only describing the concept of AMR without mentioning interventions. We will include studies identified through a comprehensive search of peer-reviewed and grey literature databases. In addition, we will search the reference lists of included studies and relevant reviews. Finally, we plan to do a citation search for included studies. Findings of this review will be narratively synthesized.


Author(s):  
Ibidolapo Afuwape ◽  
Joanne Parsons ◽  
Debra Bick ◽  
Jeremy Dale ◽  
Sarah C. Hillman

The development of vaccines has been one of the major interventions in global health. Since they were first developed over two centuries ago, vaccines have played a prominent role in reducing morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases, including in pregnant women. The development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines has brought with it the possibility of reducing the high morbidity and mortality caused by this virus. This article focuses on the use of vaccines in pregnancy and discusses the benefits of maternal immunisation, recommended vaccines in pregnancy, the factors affecting uptake of vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
I E Kravchenko ◽  
A M Galieva ◽  
A Yu Vafin

The article provides an overview of domestic and foreign literary sources devoted to an urgent challenge in modern health care infectious morbidity. The extraordinary socio-economic importance of infectious diseases at the present stage throughout the world, including in the Russian Federation, based on their global spread and high economic losses associated with disability, treatment costs and anti-epidemic measures. In recent decades, the emergence of previously unknown new infectious diseases and the return of old infections, many of which pose a high epidemiological danger and are characterized by high mortality, have been noted. Among the significant reasons for the emergence of new infections, an increase in infectious diseases, changes in the nature of the course of known diseases, it is necessary to note such reasons as a change in a person's lifestyle and the introduction of new technologies. In Russia, a high incidence of acute respiratory infections is recorded annually. An increase in the incidence of acute intestinal infections of viral etiology and a decrease in the incidence of these diseases of bacterial etiology are noted. An urgent problem is the high level of morbidity and mortality from infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, as well as the incidence of chronic viral hepatitis and an increase in mortality from their unfavorable outcomes. Natural focal infections remain an important problem, among which hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and tick-borne infections occupy a significant place. The threat of the invasion of infections that cause emergencies in the field of sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population into the Russian Federation territory remains. Infectious diseases are becoming one of the leading causes of premature mortality in the working-age population. In 2020, the Russian Federation faced the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19, which led to high morbidity and mortality. Thus, infectious diseases are an urgent problem for the Russian Federation at the present stage, necessitates the development of a targeted program to reduce morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia C Liporagi Lopes ◽  
Preethi Korangath ◽  
Samuel R dos Santos Junior ◽  
Kathleen L. Gabrielson ◽  
Robert Ivkov ◽  
...  

Cryptococcosis is a devastating fungal disease associated with high morbidity and mortality even when treated with antifungal drugs. Bionized nanoferrite (BNF) nanoparticles are powerful immunomodulators, but their efficacy for infectious diseases has not been investigated. Administration of BNF nanoparticles to mice with experimental cryptococcal pneumonia altered the outcome of infection in a dose response manner as measured by colony forming units and survival. The protective effects were higher at lower doses, with reductions in IL-2, IL-4 and TNF-α, consistent with immune modulation whereby reductions in inflammation translate into reduced host damage, clearance of infection and longer survival.


2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 200-206

Oesophagectomy is being used in treatment of several oesophageal diseases, most commonly in treatment of oesophageal cancer. It is a major surgical procedure that may result in various complications. One of the most severe complications is anastomotic dehiscence between the gastric conduit and the oesophageal remnant. Anastomotic dehiscence after esophagectomy is directly linked to high morbidity and mortality. We propose a therapeutic algorithm of this complication based on published literature and our experience by retrospective evaluationof 164 patients who underwent oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer. Anastomotic dehiscence was present in 29 cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S49-S50
Author(s):  
Bruce M Jones ◽  
Emily Plauche ◽  
Susan E Smith ◽  
Christopher M Bland

Abstract Background Penicillin allergy reconciliation is an important aspect of antimicrobial stewardship with ~10% of the population reporting a penicillin allergy. Our facility utilizes a Penicillin Allergy Reconciliation Program (PARP) led by an Infectious Diseases (ID) Pharmacist and pharmacy students to identify patients with penicillin allergies to reconcile and intervene when necessary. Information is collected by interview, electronic medical record (EMR) review, prescription outpatient fill history. This study evaluated reconciliations with and without a PARP in patients in a community health system. Methods This was a retrospective study that compared reconciliations performed on adult patients admitted at least once in 2019 with a self-reported penicillin allergy and ID physician consult at a hospital with a PARP (Institution 1) and one without a formal evaluation and intervention program (Institution 2) within the same community health system with same ID physicians. The primary outcome was documented reconciliation of a patient’s penicillin allergy during an inpatient visit in 2019. Reconciliation was defined as an edit or clarification (updating the severity, reaction, or comments section, as well as deleting) to a patient’s penicillin allergy in the EMR. The secondary outcome evaluated the percentage of total and ID consult patients with a penicillin allergy. Results There were 245 patients who met criteria and were included in the study, 113 from Institution 1 and 132 from Institution 2. For the primary outcome, there were 82 (72.6%) reconciliations at Institution 1 and 15 (11.4%) reconciliations at Institution 2 (p < 0.001). Interventions at Institution 1 and 2 resulted in 74 EMR updates and 8 removals and 14 EMR updates and 1 removal, respectively. Reconciliation was performed on the same visit as the ID consult in 59/82 patients (72%) at Institution 1 and 11/15 patients (73.3%) at Institution 2. All reconciliations at Institution 2 were made by pharmacist (10) or nurses (5). For the secondary outcome, 10.9% of patients with an ID consult and 12.6% of all patients admitted in 2019 had a penicillin allergy (p=0.027). Conclusion A PARP led by an ID pharmacist and students was an effective method to perform penicillin allergy reconciliations, even in the presence of active ID consultation. Disclosures Bruce M. Jones, PharmD, BCPS, ALK-Abello (Research Grant or Support)Allergan/Abbvie (Speaker’s Bureau) Christopher M. Bland, PharMD, FCCP, FIDSA, BCPS, ALK Abello, Inc. (Grant/Research Support)Biomerieux (Consultant)Merck (Consultant, Grant/Research Support, Advisor or Review Panel member, Speaker’s Bureau)Tetraphase (Speaker’s Bureau)


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Rousset ◽  
G Voglino ◽  
E Boietti ◽  
A Corradi ◽  
M R Gualano ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Infectious diseases are more common and severe in patients with HIV, which show different response to vaccines and a diminished protection. It is therefore very important to assess knowledge and attitudes towards vaccination in people with HIV, since precise vaccination coverage and vaccine hesitancy are not well established in this subgroup of patients. Methods A sample of 119 patients with HIV completed a cross-sectional survey. Patients were recruited during their routine medical examination at the infectious diseases clinic in Turin. The survey explored these main areas: demographics and history of HIV infection, vaccination history, attitudes towards vaccination, confidence in the public health system, contagion risk and disease seriousness perception. In this preliminary phase descriptive analysis were conducted. Results Preliminary data show that mean age of the participants was 49.51 years, 80% were males. The median of HIV infection duration was 10 years, while the median of the lymphocyte count was 762.50 cells/mm3. The disease with the highest vaccination coverage was tetanus (88.7%), considered a serious or very serious disease by 85.6% of the participants, despite low or very low contagion risk perception (84.1%). The disease with the lowest vaccination coverage was Herpes Zoster (7.3%), despite high or very high seriousness perception (70%). Furthermore, 99.1% of the participants showed high or very high confidence toward public health system professionals, and the majority of them (59.5%) stated that vaccines are more useful for the community than for the single person. Conclusions Vaccination coverage is still not fully satisfactory regarding diseases considered infrequent or mild. Considering the high level of confidence toward the public health system that has emerged, it is necessary to implement informative and operative strategies about vaccination for European HIV patients, which are particularly at risk regarding infectious diseases. Key messages Vaccination coverage and risk perception in HIV patients is not satisfactory for many diseases and an effort to implement informative strategies in Europe is needed. The role of vaccination in preventing infectious diseases in HIV patients should be recognized and strengthened by relying on the high level of confidence toward European public health systems.


Encyclopedia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 433-444
Author(s):  
Mario Coccia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which appeared in late 2019, generating a pandemic crisis with high numbers of COVID-19-related infected individuals and deaths in manifold countries worldwide. Lessons learned from COVID-19 can be used to prevent pandemic threats by designing strategies to support different policy responses, not limited to the health system, directed to reduce the risks of the emergence of novel viral agents, the diffusion of infectious diseases and negative impact in society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Che-Fang Ho ◽  
Yuan-Yun Tam ◽  
Chia-Chen Wu

Objective. Pneumocephalus is a rare complication that often occurs after traumatic skull base injury, leading to morbidity and mortality. Material and Method. We present the case of a 42-year-old healthy man who injured himself when he stuck a metal stick into his left nasal cavity to relieve prolonged nasal obstruction. Immediate cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea and subsequent meningitis and pneumocephalus occurred later. He was presented at our hospital with fever and meningeal signs. Result. Computed tomography scans revealed left rhinosinusitis and air collection in the subarachnoid space. The patient received the conservative treatment of bed rest, intravenous hydration, head elevation, and broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics. Pneumocephalus and meningitis resolved without any surgery, and he experienced no other sequela or complication. Conclusion. Pneumocephalus is a rare incidence and can lead to high morbidity and mortality. Prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment of pneumocephalus and meningitis proved beneficial for our patient who recovered without any complication or surgery.


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