Cross-genera amplification and identification of Colpodella sp. with Cryptosporidium primers in fecal samples of zoo felids from northeast China

The protozoans include many intracellular human pathogens. Accurate detection of these pathogens is necessary to treat the diseases. In clinical epidemiology, molecular identification of protozoan is considered a more reliable and rapid method for identification than microscopy. Among these protozoans, Cryptosporidium considered being one of the important water-borne zoonotic pathogens and a major cause of a diarrheal disease named cryptosporidiosis in humans, domestic animals, and wild animals. This study was aimed to identify Cryptosporidium in zoo felids (N= 56) belonging to different zoo of China, but accidentlly Colpodella was encountered in the zoo felids sample and phylogenetic data confirmed this unexpected amplification from fecal samples using two-step nested-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the fact about the specific primers used previously by many researchers and cross-genera amplification. We came to know that genetically sequenced amplicon gives more accurate identification of species. This study suggests more investigation on Colpodella which has been neglected previously but gains the attention of researchers after identified from humans and animals and has been known to correlate with neurological symptoms in patients.

Key concepts for searching evidence: an introduction for healthcare professionals

The currently abundant bibliography on healthcare can make the search process an exhausting and frustrating experience. For this reason, it is essential to learn the basic concepts of research question formulation, information sources, and search strategies to make this process more efficient and user-friendly. The search strategy is an iterative process that allows the incorporation of tools and terms in the strategy design to optimize evidence retrieval. Each strategy varies according to the questions, the language used, the source of information accessed, and the available tools. This article is part of a methodological series of narrative reviews on biostatistics and clinical epidemiology. This narrative review describes the essential elements for developing a literature search strategy and identifying the relevant evidence concerning a clinical question through familiar and accessible sources (such as Google and Google Scholar), as well as search interfaces and technical-scientific databases focused on biomedical knowledge (PubMed and The Cochrane Library).

High Expression of Complement Component C7 Indicates Poor Prognosis of Endometrial Cancer and poor 5-year OS

Background: Corpus Carcinoma is the most commonly diagnosed female cancer worldwide. However, the well-known biomarkers are not enough to meet the needs of precision medicine. Novel targets are desirable and highly valuable for improved patient survival. In this regard, we identified complement component C7 as one of the candidates based on data from the TCGA database.Method: C7 expression was examined by mRNA expression profile in 425 cases of corpus carcinoma, including grade 3 data (such as mRNA-seq, miRNA-seq, and clinical data) from 406 primary corpus carcinoma tissues and 19 normal controls from the dataset. The availability of data is demonstrated by heat maps, and the distribution of genes is demonstrated by volcanic maps. Then the value of C7 was demonstrated on the basis of genomics and clinical epidemiology respectively, confirmed by grade 3 data from TCGA. The relationship between the C7 expression and five-year survival of corpus carcinoma patients was analyzed in order to investigate the function of C7 in corpus carcinoma. Result: In our present study, we reported for the first time that C7 was an independent prognostic factor of corpus carcinoma and the 5-year survival rate of patients with high C7 expression is lower than that of patients with low C7 expressions. (p=0.02265) Conclusion: In summary, high expression of C7 may promote corpus carcinoma development. Our present study laid a foundation to help clinicians improve the identification of patients for C7 in the era of precision medicine.

Clinical Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Control Strategies of Klebsiella pneumoniae Infection

Klebsiella species cause infections at multiple sites, including lung, urinary tract, bloodstream, wound or surgical site, and brain. These infections are more likely to occur in people with preexisting health conditions. Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) has emerged as a major pathogen of international concern due to the increasing incidences of hypervirulent and carbapenem-resistant strains. It is imperative to understand risk factors, prevention strategies, and therapeutic avenues to treat multidrug-resistant Klebsiella infections. Here, we highlight the epidemiology, risk factors, and control strategies against K. pneumoniae infections to highlight the grave risk posed by this pathogen and currently available options to treat Klebsiella-associated diseases.

Problems of evidence in occupational medicine

We devoted this article to the problem of causation and evaluation of causality associations in the occupational epidemiology, exposure assessment, occupational health, and industrial medicine using methodological approaches of clinical epidemiology, for which the term "evidence-based medicine" is wider used in the Russian Federation. The researchers paid some attention to the historical aspects of causality assessment in occupational medicine in the Russian Federation. The authors discuss the issues of evidence in occupational medicine, planning, and implementation of epidemiological studies in occupational therapy using specialized questionnaires and clinical, functional, molecular, and genetic techniques. We analyzed the concept of the "risk factor" of the disease along with the organizational and methodological bases of assessment and management of occupational risks in industrial medicine. The paper also offers applied examples of the relative risk assessment, highlighting the advantages and perils of selected methods in a comparative analysis. Scientists have affected the contribution of systematic reviews aiming to mine evidence-based rationale in occupational epidemiology. The authors speculate and conclude on the importance of risk assessment in the overall morbidity reduction in occupational medicine through efficient prevention programs, along with the underpinnings to include work-related conditions in the national loss of occupational diseases.

Assessing quality and agreement of structured data in automatic versus manual abstraction of the electronic health record for a clinical epidemiology study

Objective We evaluate data agreement between an electronic health record (EHR) sample abstracted by automated characterization with a standard abstracted by manual review. Study Design and Setting We obtain data for an epidemiology cohort study using standard manual abstraction of the EHR and automated identification of the same patients using a structured algorithm to query the EHR. Summary measures of agreement (e.g., Cohen’s kappa) are reported for 12 variables commonly used in epidemiological studies. Results Best agreement between abstraction methods is observed among demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and race, and for positive history of disease. Poor agreement is found in missing data and negative history, suggesting potential impact for researchers using automated EHR characterization. EHR data quality depends upon providers, who may be influenced by both institutional and federal government documentation guidelines. Conclusion Automated EHR abstraction discrepancies may decrease power and increase bias; therefore, caution is warranted when selecting variables from EHRs for epidemiological study using an automated characterization approach. Validation of automated methods must also continue to advance in sophistication with other technologies, such as machine learning and natural language processing, to extract non-structured data from the EHR, for application to EHR characterization for clinical epidemiology.

Clinical and molecular characterization of a large cohort of childhood onset hereditary spastic paraplegias

The present study aimed to characterize clinical and molecular data of a large cohort of subjects with childhood-onset hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs). A multicenter historical cohort was performed at five centers in Brazil, in which probands and affected relatives' data from consecutive families with childhood-onset HSP (onset < 12 years-old) were reviewed from 2011 to 2020. One hundred and six individuals (83 families) with suspicion of childhood-onset HSP were evaluated, being 68 (50 families) with solved genetic diagnosis, 6 (5 families) with candidate variants in HSP-related genes and 32 (28 families) with unsolved genetic diagnosis. The most common childhood-onset subtype was SPG4, 11/50 (22%) families with solved genetic diagnosis; followed by SPG3A, 8/50 (16%). Missense pathogenic variants in SPAST were found in 54.5% of probands, favoring the association of this type of variant to childhood-onset SPG4. Survival curves to major handicap and cross-sectional Spastic Paraplegia Rating Scale progressions confirmed the slow neurological deterioration in SPG4 and SPG3A. Most common complicating features and twenty variants not previously described in HSP-related genes were reported. These results are fundamental to understand the molecular and clinical epidemiology of childhood-onset HSP, which might help on differential diagnosis, patient care and guiding future collaborative trials for these rare diseases.

698. Contemporary Clinical Epidemiology of Pediatric Shigella and Campylobacter Infections in Houston, TX, 2019 and 2020

Background Infections due to Gram-negative, diarrheal pathogens are a significant cause of morbidity in children. Clinical features of pediatric Shigella and Campylobacter infections in urban cities in the United States are not well described. Methods We used a retrospective chart review of records (0-18 years of age) from a network of hospitals in Houston, TX. Only patients with Shigella spp. or Campylobacter spp. isolated from clinical samples in 2019 and 2020 were included. Demographic, clinical, and microbiological data were extracted from the medical record. Results We identified a total of 59 and 16 pediatric patients with Shigella spp. and Campylobacter spp. infections, respectively. Hospital admission occurred in 27.1% (16/59) of Shigella and 25% (4/16) of Campylobacter. Length of stay ranged between 1 and 2 days for both pathogens (Table 1). Of cases with available clinical data, Shigella infections were more likely to report fever during their illness compared to Campylobacter (80% versus 45.4%) (Table 2). Seizures were observed in 4 Shigella infected patients. No episodes of Shigella or Campylobacter bacteremia were identified. Among patients with an identified exposure, daycare attendance and contact with individuals experiencing similar symptoms were most common (Table 2). The vast majority of Shigella species were S. sonnei (96.6%) and all Campylobacter were C. jejuni (Table 3). Resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) was common (40/55, 72.7%) among Shigella isolates tested. No resistance to fluoroquinolones or third generation cephalosporins in any of the Shigella spp. isolates was observed. Susceptibility testing was not performed in Campylobacter due to lack of isolates. The most frequent antibiotic used was azithromycin (in 73.3% and 75% of patients with Shigella and Campylobacter, respectively). Major complications included urinary tract infection (n=1), rectal prolapse (n=1) and splenomegaly (n=1). Conclusion Infections due to Shigella and Campylobacter were a significant burden among pediatric patients between 2019 and 2020 in Houston, TX. The observed high frequency of resistance to TMP-SMX and emergence of multi-drug resistant Shigella in other countries warrants continued surveillance. Disclosures Anthony R. Flores, MD, MPH, PhD, Nothing to disclose Cesar A. Arias, M.D., MSc, Ph.D., FIDSA, Entasis Therapeutics (Grant/Research Support)MeMed Diagnostics (Grant/Research Support)Merk (Grant/Research Support)