Environmental Public Health Commons^™

Molecular Detection Of Pathogenic Bacteria In American Dog Ticks (Dermacentor Variabilis) In Brown County, Nebraska, Nicole Messbarger, Darby Carlson, Keith Geluso, Julie Shaffer

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Ticks carry and transmit disease pathogens that cause many human illnesses. Many of these diseases in humans are accompanied by a wide variety of symptoms making tick-borne illnesses often difficult to diagnose. The rate of reported tick-borne illnesses in humans has increased during the past decades in the United States, alongside a rise in concern for public health and safety. In northern Nebraska, the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) is the primary tick encountered by humans and domestic animals in the region. This species is a known vector for spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsioses and tularemia (Francisella …

Evaluating A High School Mrsa Prevention Program: A Case Study, Jamie Henning

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

MRSA poses a significant health risk to athletes nationwide. This case study examines the application of an online training module to address knowledge gaps regarding Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among key decision-makers for high school athletes. It reviews the development and initial evaluation of a web-based training program designed to empower decision-makers with the knowledge to prevent MRSA infection and respond to suspected cases. Program evaluation recommended expanding the training module to wrestling staff with improved evaluation methods while continuing implementation and effectiveness assessment for the football staff. Despite initial data quality limitations, the online training module evaluation offered valuable …

Association Of Natural Waterways And Legionella Pneumophila Infection In Eastern Wisconsin: A Case-Control Study, Hannah M. William, Kayla Heslin, Jessica J. F. Kram, Caroline P. Toberna, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Preliminary research has suggested possible associations between natural waterways and Legionella infection, and we previously explored these associations in eastern Wisconsin using positive L. pneumophila serogroup 1 urine antigen tests (LUAT) as diagnostic. This case-control study was a secondary analysis of home address data from patients who underwent LUAT at a single eastern Wisconsin health system from 2013 to 2017. Only zip codes within the health system’s catchment area that registered ≥ 3 positive cases and ≥ 50 completed tests, as well as geographically adjacent zip codes with ≥ 2 positive cases and ≥ 50 tests, were included. A 1:3 …

Prevalence Of Infectious Diseases Among 6078 Individuals With Down Syndrome In The United States, Veronica Fitzpatrick, Anne Rivelli, Sagar Chaudhari, Laura Chicoine, Gengjie Jia, Andrey Rzhetsky, Brian Chicoine

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

A recent disease prevalence study of the largest documented Down syndrome (DS) cohort in the United States strongly suggested significant disparity in general infectious disease conditions among individuals with DS versus those without DS. In this follow-up retrospective analysis, we explored these differences in greater detail by calculating prevalence of 52 infectious diseases, across 28 years of data among 6078 individuals with DS and 30,326 age- and sex-matched controls, abstracted from electronic medical records within a large Midwestern health system. We found that the DS cohort had higher prevalence of pneumonias (including aspiration, viral, bacterial, pneumococcal, and unspecified/atypical); otitis externa; …

Association Of Presenting Symptoms With Abnormal Laboratory Values For Vector-Borne Illness — Experience In An Urban Gastroenterology Practice, Michael D. Erdman, Niloofar Kossari, Jessica Ye, Kristen H. Reynolds, Emily Blodget, B. Robert Mozayeni, Farshid Sam Rahbar

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Background: In the clinical setting, it is not common practice to consider a vector bite, such as from a tick or flea, to be a contributing factor to chronic digestive symptoms. This article investigates associations we have observed among symptomatic patients and positive blood tests for vector-borne illness (VBI).

Methods: Patients who visited an urban gastroenterology clinic over a 3-year period were retrospectively reviewed. A total of 270 patients presenting with a constellation of digestive symptoms — and who had no apparent digestive pathology and reported no prior diagnosis or treatments for VBI — were analyzed. Before the initial visit, …

Intensive Animal Farming Conditions Are A Major Threat To Global Health, Cynthia Schuck-Paim

Animal Sentience

Wiebers & Feigin accurately propose that reducing the risks posed by infectious disease outbreaks and other global health challenges will depend critically on transitioning away from intensive animal farming practices. Creating the right incentive structure for this transition to happen is one of the great challenges in the years to come, but a much-needed step to ensure the health and well-being of current and future generations.

Food Safety Risk In An Indoor Microgreen Cultivation System, Gina Marie Misra

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microgreens are immature sprouts of edible plants, sharing some similarities with sprouted seeds and petite leafy greens. Since they are most often grown in containers in buildings or greenhouses, they present a new area for food safety research at the intersection of the built environment and produce farming. Contamination by human pathogens has been extensively studied in other types of produce typically eaten raw, including sprouted seeds, which have been implicated in numerous outbreaks of salmonellosis over the last several decades. There is a paucity of knowledge about the microgreen sector of the fresh-cut industry; thus, it was determined that …

Cryptococcal Antigen Testing In An Integrated Medical System: Eastern Wisconsin, Marianne Klumph, Brian Hoeynck, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Cryptococcosis is a serious environmentally acquired endemic fungal infection commonly associated with immunocompromised hosts. Little is known regarding frequency or distribution in Wisconsin. We explored the geodemographic and clinical features of patients tested with cryptococcal antigen tests (CrAg) — previously shown to be >90% sensitive and >90% specific — within a large health care system located in eastern Wisconsin. To examine this, we retrospectively analyzed 1465 CrAg tests on 1211 unique patients (female: 50.2%; white race: 73.9%; mean age: 53.7 ± 16.5 years). At least one CrAg result was positive in 23 of 1211 patients (1.9%). From these, 21 of …

Oral Fungal Microbiota: To Thrush And Beyond, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The oral microbiota is complex, multikingdom, interactive, and involves extensive biofilm formation. While dominated by bacteria, Candida is a frequent member of this microbiota; however, several other potentially pathogenic fungi (among around 100 identified species) appear to reside in some individuals, including Cryptococcus, Aspergillus, and Fusarium. Oral candidiasis may manifest as a variety of disease entities in normal hosts and in the immunocompromised. These include pseudomembranous candidiasis (thrush), hyperplastic or atrophic (denture) candidiasis, linear gingival erythema, median rhomboid glossitis, and angular cheilitis. The purpose of this review is to describe the oral fungal microbiota (ie, oral mycobiota), …

Use Of Urine Antigen Testing For Blastomyces In An Integrated Health System, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Dennis J. Baumgardner, MD

Purpose: Blastomycosis, an endemic fungal infection, mimics many other diseases. We explored the use of Blastomyces urine antigen (BuAg), reportedly the most sensitive noninvasive test, in clinical practice and compared it to other noninvasive tests.

Methods: A total of 836 BuAg tests performed on unique patients (first test only) at one large integrated health system from June 2013 to May 2016 were retrospectively reviewed to examine test characteristics and demographic features. Of these, 100 cases from 2015, a year containing a large local blastomycosis outbreak, were randomly selected for detailed analysis.

Results: Demographics for the BuAg-tested population: mean age 54.9 …

Use Of Urine Antigen Testing For Blastomyces In An Integrated Health System, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Blastomycosis, an endemic fungal infection, mimics many other diseases. We explored the use of Blastomyces urine antigen (BuAg), reportedly the most sensitive noninvasive test, in clinical practice and compared it to other noninvasive tests.

Methods: A total of 836 BuAg tests performed on unique patients (first test only) at one large integrated health system from June 2013 to May 2016 were retrospectively reviewed to examine test characteristics and demographic features. Of these, 100 cases from 2015, a year containing a large local blastomycosis outbreak, were randomly selected for detailed analysis.

Results: Demographics for the BuAg-tested population: mean age 54.9 …

How Climate Effects The Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease: A Critical And Systematic Review Of The Literature, Anita Desikan, Matias Attene Ramos

GW Research Days 2016 - 2020

Background

Lyme disease (LD) is a common vector-borne disease in North America. Understanding the causes behind inter-annual fluctuations of LD incidence can help warn healthcare providers of upcoming outbreaks.

Objective

Identifying what specific climate variables affects the vector, Ixodes scapularis ticks, and ultimately LD incidence.

Methods

A systematic review was carried out to understand how climate variables affect the tick population variables that are related to LD.

Results

Twenty-one studies met the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was generally rated “low” or “probably low” and quality of evidence was rated “moderate”. Strength of evidence was assessed for tick abundance, a …

Lebanon: Cholera Outbreak, Muhammad Naqvi

Global Public Health

Lebanon is a country that has always been tangled with the ever looming threat of a growing health crisis. With a failing government and massive influx of refugees, mostly the victim of their war torn economy, it seemed inevitable that sanitation procedures would run short. Now the Lebanese people and government face the challenge of the spread of Cholera, a water-borne disease, within the countries vicinity as a result of mass pollution from the formation of informal settlements as well as the country being a hotbed for political instability. These have resulted in limited success in controlling the outbreak engulfing …

Carbohydrates And Fungal Toxin Exposure Influence The Vaginal Microbiota, Metabolome, And Reproductive Health Of Women, Stephanie L. Collins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The reproductive health of women is influenced by microorganisms and their metabolites, namely those representing the vaginal microbiota and those producing toxins that are ingested. To manipulate the vaginal microbiota toward a health-associated, Lactobacillusdominant state, an approach adopting prebiotic lactulose was taken. Using batch culture, lactulose supported Lactobacillus maintenance and positively altered metabolites, while not disrupting indigenous L. crispatus epithelial adherence. The vagina also harbours abundant glycogen, but initial assumptions that lactobacilli utilize it were incorrect. I have now shown that glycogen selectively stimulates organisms associated with dysbiosis and L. iners in a self-limiting manner. Other compounds such as environmental …

Calcium Phosphate As A Key Material For Socially Responsible Tissue Engineering, Vuk Uskoković, Victoria M. Wu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Socially responsible technologies are designed while taking into consideration the socioeconomic, geopolitical and environmental limitations of regions in which they will be implemented. In the medical context, this involves making therapeutic platforms more accessible and affordable to patients in poor regions of the world wherein a given disease is endemic. This often necessitates going against the reigning trend of making therapeutic nanoparticles ever more structurally complex and expensive. However, studies aimed at simplifying materials and formulations while maintaining the functionality and therapeutic response of their more complex counterparts seldom provoke a significant interest in the scientific community. In this review …

Geodemographic Features Of Human Blastomycosis In Eastern Wisconsin, Megan E. Huber, Dennis J. Baumgardner, Jessica J. F. Kram, Melissa A. Lemke

Dennis J. Baumgardner, MD

Purpose

Blastomycosis is an endemic fungal infection. In rural northern Wisconsin, blastomycosis cases are associated with certain environmental features including close proximity to waterways. Other studies have associated blastomycosis with particular soil chemicals. However, blastomycosis also occurs in urban and suburban regions. We explored the geodemographic associations of blastomycosis cases in the more urban/suburban landscape of eastern Wisconsin.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of 193 laboratory-identified blastomycosis cases in a single eastern Wisconsin health system, 2007–2015. Controls were 250 randomly selected cases of community-diagnosed pneumonia from a similar time period. Geographic features of home addresses were explored using Google …

Geodemographic Features Of Human Blastomycosis In Eastern Wisconsin, Megan E. Huber, Dennis J. Baumgardner, Jessica J. F. Kram, Melissa A. Lemke

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose

Blastomycosis is an endemic fungal infection. In rural northern Wisconsin, blastomycosis cases are associated with certain environmental features including close proximity to waterways. Other studies have associated blastomycosis with particular soil chemicals. However, blastomycosis also occurs in urban and suburban regions. We explored the geodemographic associations of blastomycosis cases in the more urban/suburban landscape of eastern Wisconsin.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of 193 laboratory-identified blastomycosis cases in a single eastern Wisconsin health system, 2007–2015. Controls were 250 randomly selected cases of community-diagnosed pneumonia from a similar time period. Geographic features of home addresses were explored using Google …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Newly Implemented, Proactive Approach To Legionellosis Investigations Conducted By The Southern Nevada Health District, Devin Charlotte Raman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project is an evaluation of a new, more proactive approach to legionellosis investigations conducted by the Southern Nevada Health District. The new protocol was conceived, written and adopted in April of 2012 with the goal of preventing outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease that can have a significant impact on public health and the resort industry of Las Vegas. The objectives of this project were to determine if the remediation methods were successful at eliminating the target organism from water systems and maintaining a negative status throughout the monitoring period, to conduct a cost/benefit analysis, and to compare this protocol with …

Investigating The Viability Of Two Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia Isolates After Air-Drying, Samantha Lane, Joanna Brooke

DePaul Discoveries

Abstract

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a water-borne infectious bacterium that is found in both clinical (hospitals) and non-clinical environments. This human pathogen is commonly recovered from respiratory tract infections. A recent study at a hospital in Taiwan suggested that dry patient charts can serve as a vehicle of transmission of this bacterium⁷. As S. maltophilia is not commonly isolated from dry surfaces, this current study tested the hypothesis that this pathogen can remain viable for some time on a dry surface. This study was designed to determine how long S. maltophilia could remain viable after air-drying by observing …

The Effects That Liquid And Solid Cattle Manure Have On The Water Quality Of Drainage Ditches In Putnam County, Ohio, Janelle Horstman

Honors Projects

Lake Erie has experienced harmful algal blooms with increased frequency since the mid-1990s due to excess nutrients from Rivers, such as the Maumee River, and largely agricultural watersheds. Nonpoint source pollution from agriculture contributes to eutrophication, algal blooms, and the degradation of water quality. This creates stress on aquatic fauna, reduced aesthetic quality, odor, and limits of the water for usage of drinking, recreation, and industry. This research paper asks what the contributions of having access to manure application records, soil records, and information about antibiotics have on what is known about manure management and antibiotic resistance, which has been …