Digital Commons Network^™

An Rna Interference (Rnai) Toolkit And Its Utility For Functional Genetic Analysis Of Leishmania (Viannia), Lon-Fye Lye, Katherine L Owens, Soojin Jang, Joseph E Marcus, Erin A Brettmann, Stephen M Beverley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful tool whose efficacy against a broad range of targets enables functional genetic tests individually or systematically. However, the RNAi pathway has been lost in evolution by a variety of eukaryotes including most Leishmania sp. RNAi was retained in species of the

Promoting Rigor And Sustainment In Implementation Science Capacity Building Programs: A Multi-Method Study., Amy G Huebschmann, Shelly Johnston, Rachel Davis, Bethany M Kwan, Elvin Geng, Debra Haire-Joshu, Brittney Sandler, Demetria M Mcneal, Ross C Brownson, Borsika A Rabin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The field of Implementation science (IS) continues to evolve, and the number and type of IS capacity building Programs (ISCBPs) are in flux. These changes push the field to revisit the accepted IS competencies and to guide sustainment of ISCBPs. Our objectives were: (1) compare characteristics of current ISCBPs; (2) identify recommendations to support ISCBP sustainment; (3) measure how often ISCBPs address IS competencies; (4) identify novel and important IS competencies for the field.

METHOD: This multi-method study included ISCBPs delivering structured, longitudinal IS training, excluding single courses and brief workshops. We used three complementary methods to meet our …

Antibodies Targeting The Neuraminidase Active Site Inhibit Influenza H3n2 Viruses With An S245n Glycosylation Site, Daniel Stadlbauer, Ali H Ellebedy, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Contemporary influenza A H3N2 viruses circulating since 2016 have acquired a glycosylation site in the neuraminidase in close proximity to the enzymatic active site. Here, we investigate if this S245N glycosylation site, as a result of antigenic evolution, can impact binding and function of human monoclonal antibodies that target the conserved active site. While we find that a reduction in the inhibitory ability of neuraminidase active site binders is measurable, this class of broadly reactive monoclonal antibodies maintains protective efficacy in vivo.

Type Iv Pili Are A Critical Virulence Factor In Clinical Isolates Of Paenibacillus Thiaminolyticus, Christine Hehnly, Petra Erdmann Gilmore, R. Reid Townsend, David D. Limbrick, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Hydrocephalus, the leading indication for childhood neurosurgery worldwide, is particularly prevalent in low- and middle-income countries. Hydrocephalus preceded by an infection, or postinfectious hydrocephalus, accounts for up to 60% of hydrocephalus in these areas. Since many children with hydrocephalus suffer poor long-term outcomes despite surgical intervention, prevention of hydrocephalus remains paramount. Our previous studies implicated a novel bacterial pathogen, Paenibacillus thiaminolyticus, as a causal agent of neonatal sepsis and postinfectious hydrocephalus in Uganda. Here, we report the isolation of three

Self-Hybridization In Leishmania Major, Tiago R Ferreira, Ehud Inbar, Jahangheer Shaik, Brendan M Jeffrey, Kashinath Ghosh, Deborah E. Dobson, Stephen M. Beverley, David Sacks

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Genetic exchange between different

Detection Of Biomarkers For Filoviral Infection With A Silicon Photonic Resonator Platform, Krista Meserve, Abraham J Qavi, M Javad Aman, Hong Vu, Larry Zeitlin, John M Dye, Jeffrey W Froude, Daisy W Leung, Lan Yang, Frederick W Holtsberg, Gaya K Amarasinghe, Ryan C Bailey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

This protocol describes the use of silicon photonic microring resonator sensors for detection of Ebola virus (EBOV) and Sudan virus (SUDV) soluble glycoprotein (sGP). This protocol encompasses biosensor functionalization of silicon microring resonator chips, detection of protein biomarkers in sera, preparing calibration standards for analytical validation, and quantification of the results from these experiments. This protocol is readily adaptable toward other analytes, including cytokines, chemokines, nucleic acids, and viruses. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Qavi et al. (2022).

Human Nk Cells Confer Protection Against Hiv-1 Infection In Humanized Mice, Can M. Sungur, Qiankun Wang, Ayşe N. Ozantürk, Hongbo Gao, Aaron J. Schmitz, Marina Cella, Wayne M. Yokoyama, Liang Shan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The role of NK cells against HIV-1 infections remains to be elucidated in vivo. While humanized mouse models potentially could be used to directly evaluate human NK cell responses during HIV-1 infection, improved functional development of human NK cells in these hosts is needed. Here, we report the humanized MISTRG-6-15 mouse model, in which NK cells were quick to expand and exhibit degranulation, cytotoxicity, and proinflammatory cytokine production in nonlymphoid organs upon HIV-1 infection but had reduced functionality in lymphoid organs. Although HIV-1 infection induced functional impairment of NK cells, antiretroviral therapy reinvigorated NK cells in response to HIV-1 rebound …

Tissue Registration And Exploration User Interfaces In Support Of A Human Reference Atlas, Katy Börner, Andreas Bueckle, Bruce W Herr 2nd, Leonard E Cross, Ellen M Quardokus, Elizabeth G Record, Yingnan Ju, Jonathan C Silverstein, Kristen M Browne, Sanjay Jain, Clive H Wasserfall, Marda L Jorgensen, Jeffrey M Spraggins, N Heath Patterson, Griffin M Weber

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Seventeen international consortia are collaborating on a human reference atlas (HRA), a comprehensive, high-resolution, three-dimensional atlas of all the cells in the healthy human body. Laboratories around the world are collecting tissue specimens from donors varying in sex, age, ethnicity, and body mass index. However, harmonizing tissue data across 25 organs and more than 15 bulk and spatial single-cell assay types poses challenges. Here, we present software tools and user interfaces developed to spatially and semantically annotate ("register") and explore the tissue data and the evolving HRA. A key part of these tools is a common coordinate framework, providing standard …

Covid-19 Alcoholic Cirrhosis And Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis Cirrhosis Outcomes Among Hospitalized Patients In The United States: Insight From National Inpatient Sample Database, Devika Kapuria, Karthik Gangu, Prabal Chourasia, Aniesh Boba, Anthony Nguyen, Moon Ryu, Mark Peicher, Mario Flores, Harleen Kaur Chela, Ebubekir S Daglilar, Abu Baker Sheikh, Rahul Shekhar

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Patients with co-morbidities like cirrhosis are at risk of worse outcome from COVID-19 infection. Given limited prior studies, we evaluated outcomes associated with COVID-19 infection in alcoholic and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis cirrhotic (CC+) versus cirrhotic without COVID-19 (CC-). We performed retrospective analysis of 822,604 patients including 28,610 COVID-19 patients from the National Inpatient Sample database with alcoholic and NASH cirrhosis enrolled between 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020, with univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Primary outcome was mortality and secondary outcomes was mechanical ventilation, vasopressor use, length of stay, hospitalization expense and predictors of mortality. In-hospital mortality was three time …

Prevalence Estimates Of Trafficking In Persons Using Statistical Definitions: A Cross-Sectional High-Risk Community Survey In Cape Town, South Africa, Rumi Kato Price, Annah K Bender, Floriana H Milazzo, Edna G Rich, Nicolette V Roman, Sheldon X Zhang, Erica L Koegler

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVES: Current research on trafficking in persons (TIP) relies heavily on legal and prosecutorial definitions. A public health approach has called for population-level assessment; however, identification of TIP victims lacks a standardised operational definition. This study applied the Prevalence Reduction Innovation Forum (PRIF) statistical definitions, developed by the US Department of State, to a community survey in Cape Town, South Africa.

DESIGNS: A high-risk sampling strategy was used. TIP screening questions from two instruments were matched with PRIF domain indicators to generate prevalence estimates. Sensitivity, specificity and receiver operating characteristics analyses were conducted to assess the performance of the two …

Impact Of International Travel And Diarrhea On Gut Microbiome And Resistome Dynamics, Manish Boolchandani, Kevin S Blake, Drake H Tilley, Miguel M Cabada, Drew J Schwartz, Sanket Patel, Maria Luisa Morales, Rina Meza, Giselle Soto, Sandra D Isidean, Chad K Porter, Mark P Simons, Gautam Dantas

2020-Current year OA Pubs

International travel contributes to the global spread of antimicrobial resistance. Travelers' diarrhea exacerbates the risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant organisms and can lead to persistent gastrointestinal disturbance post-travel. However, little is known about the impact of diarrhea on travelers' gut microbiomes, and the dynamics of these changes throughout travel. Here, we assembled a cohort of 159 international students visiting the Andean city of Cusco, Peru and applied next-generation sequencing techniques to 718 longitudinally-collected stool samples. We find that gut microbiome composition changed significantly throughout travel, but taxonomic diversity remained stable. However, diarrhea disrupted this stability and resulted in an increased abundance …

Quantitative Measures Used In Empirical Evaluations Of Mental Health Policy Implementation: A Systematic Review, Meagan Pilar, Eliot Jost, Callie Walsh-Bailey, Byron J Powell, Stephanie Mazzucca, Amy Eyler, Jonathan Purtle, Peg Allen, Ross C Brownson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Mental health is a critical component of wellness. Public policies present an opportunity for large-scale mental health impact, but policy implementation is complex and can vary significantly across contexts, making it crucial to evaluate implementation. The objective of this study was to (1) identify quantitative measurement tools used to evaluate the implementation of public mental health policies; (2) describe implementation determinants and outcomes assessed in the measures; and (3) assess the pragmatic and psychometric quality of identified measures.

METHOD: Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, Policy Implementation Determinants Framework, and Implementation Outcomes Framework, we conducted a systematic …

Approaches To Healthcare Personnel Exemption Requests From Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Vaccination: Results Of A National Survey, Thomas R Talbot, Susan E Beekmann, Hilary M Babcock, Philip M Polgreen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Although a growing number of healthcare facilities are implementing healthcare personnel (HCP) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination requirements, vaccine exemption request management as a part of such programs is not well described.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS: Infectious disease (ID) physician members of the Emerging Infections Network with infection prevention or hospital epidemiology responsibilities.

METHODS: Eligible persons were sent a web-based survey focused on hospital plans and practices around exemption allowances from HCP COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

RESULTS: Of the 695 ID physicians surveyed, 263 (38%) responded. Overall, 160 respondent institutions (92%) allowed medical exemptions, whereas 132 (76%) allowed religious exemptions. …

A Novel, Likely Pathogenic Variant In Ubtf-Related Neurodegeneration With Brain Atrophy Is Associated With A Severe Divergent Neurodevelopmental Phenotype, Rory J Tinker, Tiffany Guess, David C Rinker, Jonathan H Sheehan, Daniel Lubarsky, Binu Porath, Mackenzie Mosera, Ping Mayo, Emily Solem, Laura A Lee, Asha Sharam, Jennifer Brault

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: A de novo, pathogenic, missense variant in UBTF, c.628G>A p.Glu210Lys, has been described as the cause of an emerging neurodegenerative disorder, Childhood-Onset Neurodegeneration with Brain Atrophy (CONDBA). The p.Glu210Lys alteration yields a positively charged stretch of three lysine residues. Functional studies confirmed this change results in a stronger interaction with negatively charged DNA and gain-of-function activity when compared to the wild-type sequence. The CONDBA phenotype reported in association with p.Glu210Lys consists of normal early-neurodevelopment followed by progressive motor, cognitive, and behavioral regression in early-to-middle childhood.

METHODS AND RESULTS: The current proband presented at 9 months of age with …

A Systematic Scoping Review Of Faropenem And Other Oral Penems: Treatment Of Enterobacterales Infections, Development Of Resistance And Cross-Resistance To Carbapenems, Sumanth Gandra, Satoshi Takahashi, Fanny S Mitrani-Gold, Aruni Mulgirigama, Diogo A Ferrinho

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global healthcare concern. Beyond carbapenems as broad-spectrum, often 'last resort' antibiotics, oral penem antibiotics currently are approved only in Japan and India, used for the treatment of indications including urinary tract infections (UTIs). Exploring oral penem use to better understand the impact of antibiotic resistance on public health would help inform the management of infectious diseases, including UTIs.

SCOPING REVIEW METHODOLOGY: This scoping review investigated the impact of faropenem and other oral penems on Enterobacterales infection treatment and evaluated evidence for faropenem resistance and cross-resistance to carbapenems. PubMed, Embase, J-STAGE and CiNii were searched …

Listeria Motility Increases The Efficiency Of Epithelial Invasion During Intestinal Infection, Inge M. N. Wortel, Seonyoung Kim, Annie Y. Liu, Enid C. Ibarra, Mark J. Miller

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) is a food-borne pathogen that causes severe bacterial gastroenteritis, with high rates of hospitalization and mortality. Lm is ubiquitous in soil, water and livestock, and can survive and proliferate at low temperatures. Following oral ingestion of contaminated food, Lm crosses the epithelium through intestinal goblet cells in a mechanism mediated by Lm InlA binding host E-cadherin. Importantly, human infections typically occur with Lm growing at or below room temperature, which is flagellated and motile. Even though many important human bacterial pathogens are flagellated, little is known regarding the effect of Lm motility on invasion and immune evasion. …

Ubiquitin Variants Potently Inhibit Sars-Cov-2 Plpro And Viral Replication Via A Novel Site Distal To The Protease Active Site, Vera J. E. Van Vliet, Nitin Sharma, Safder S. Ganaie, Gaya K. Amarasinghe, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has made it clear that combating coronavirus outbreaks benefits from a combination of vaccines and therapeutics. A promising drug target common to all coronaviruses-including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2-is the papain-like protease (PLpro). PLpro cleaves part of the viral replicase polyproteins into non-structural protein subunits, which are essential to the viral replication cycle. Additionally, PLpro can cleave both ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 from host cell substrates as a mechanism to evade innate immune responses during infection. These roles make PLpro an attractive antiviral drug target. Here we demonstrate that ubiquitin …

Comparing Antigenaemia- And Microfilaraemia As Criteria For Stopping Decisions In Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Programmes In Africa, Wilma A. Stolk, Luc E. Coffeng, Fatorma K. Bolay, Obiora A. Eneanya, Peter U. Fischer, T. Déirdre Hollingsworth, Benjamin G. Koudou, Aboulaye Méité, Edwin Michael, Joaquin M. Prada, Rocio M. Caja Rivera, Swarnali Sharma, Panayiota Touloupou, Gary J. Weil, Sake J. De Vlas

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Mass drug administration (MDA) is the main strategy towards lymphatic filariasis (LF) elimination. Progress is monitored by assessing microfilaraemia (Mf) or circulating filarial antigenaemia (CFA) prevalence, the latter being more practical for field surveys. The current criterion for stopping MDA requires <2% CFA prevalence in 6- to 7-year olds, but this criterion is not evidence-based. We used mathematical modelling to investigate the validity of different thresholds regarding testing method and age group for African MDA programmes using ivermectin plus albendazole.

METHODOLGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We verified that our model captures observed patterns in Mf and CFA prevalence during annual MDA, assuming that CFA tests are positive if at least one adult worm is present. We then assessed how well elimination can be predicted from CFA prevalence in 6-7-year-old children or from Mf or CFA prevalence in the 5+ or 15+ …

Nosocomial Outbreak Of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Faecium (Vre) St796, Switzerland, 2017 To 2020, Vanja Piezzi, Nasstasja Wassilew, Andrew Atkinson, Stéphanie D'Incau, Tanja Kaspar, Helena Mb Seth-Smith, Carlo Casanova, Pascal Bittel, Philipp Jent, Rami Sommerstein, Niccolò Buetti, Jonas Marschall

2020-Current year OA Pubs

A large clonal outbreak caused by vancomycin-resistant

Hiv Care Experiences And Health Priorities During The First Wave Of Covid-19: Clients' Perspectives - A Qualitative Study In Lusaka, Zambia, Njekwa Mukamba, Anjali Sharma, Chanda Mwamba, Herbert Nyirenda, Marksman Foloko, Kasapo Lumbo, Katerina Christopoulos, Sandra Simbeza, Kombatende Sikombe, Charles B Holmes, Elvin H Geng, Izukanji Sikazwe, Carolyn Bolton-Moore, Laura K Beres

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The novel COVID-19 pandemic threatened to disrupt access to human immunodeficiency (HIV) treatment for persons living with HIV (PLHIV), two-thirds of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. To inform a health system response supportive of continuity of care, we sought to understand clients' HIV care experiences and health priorities during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Lusaka, Zambia.

METHODS: Leveraging a study cohort of those who completed periodic SMS surveys on HIV care, we purposefully sampled 25 PLHIV after first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Zambia on 18

RESULTS: All participants were aware of COVID-19, and HIV care …

Immune Phenotypes That Are Associated With Subsequent Covid-19 Severity Inferred From Post-Recovery Samples, Thomas Liechti, Yaser Iftikhar, Massimo Mangino, Margaret Beddall, Charles W Goss, Jane A O'Halloran, Philip A Mudd, Mario Roederer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Severe COVID-19 causes profound immune perturbations, but pre-infection immune signatures contributing to severe COVID-19 remain unknown. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified strong associations between severe disease and several chemokine receptors and molecules from the type I interferon pathway. Here, we define immune signatures associated with severe COVID-19 using high-dimensional flow cytometry. We measure the cells of the peripheral immune system from individuals who recovered from mild, moderate, severe or critical COVID-19 and focused only on those immune signatures returning to steady-state. Individuals that suffered from severe COVID-19 show reduced frequencies of T cell, mucosal-associated invariant T cell (MAIT) and dendritic …

Let's Talk About Antibiotics: A Randomised Trial Of Two Interventions To Reduce Antibiotic Misuse, Kathy Goggin, Emily A. Hurley, Brian R. Lee, Andrea Bradley-Ewing, Carey Bickford, Kimberly Pina, Evelyn Donis De Miranda, David Yu, Kirsten Weltmer, Sebastian Linnemayr, Christopher C. Butler, Jason G. Newland, Angela L Myers

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Children with acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) receive ≈11.4 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions annually. A noted contributor is inadequate parent-clinician communication, however, efforts to reduce overprescribing have only indirectly targeted communication or been impractical.

OBJECTIVES: Compare two feasible (higher vs lower intensity) interventions for enhancing parent-clinician communication on the rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

DESIGN: Multisite, parallel group, cluster randomised comparative effectiveness trial. Data collected between March 2017 and March 2019.

SETTING: Academic and private practice outpatient clinics.

PARTICIPANTS: Clinicians (n=41, 85% of eligible approached) and 1599 parent-child dyads (ages 1-5 years with ARTI symptoms, 71% of eligible approached). …

Imprinted Antibody Responses Against Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Sublineages, Young-Jun Park, Zhuoming Liu, Javier Janer, Sean P J Whelan, Herbert W Virgin, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron sublineages carry distinct spike mutations resulting in escape from antibodies induced by previous infection or vaccination. We show that hybrid immunity or vaccine boosters elicit plasma-neutralizing antibodies against Omicron BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, and BA.4/5, and that breakthrough infections, but not vaccination alone, induce neutralizing antibodies in the nasal mucosa. Consistent with immunological imprinting, most antibodies derived from memory B cells or plasma cells of Omicron breakthrough cases cross-react with the Wuhan-Hu-1, BA.1, BA.2, and BA.4/5 receptor-binding domains, whereas Omicron primary infections elicit B cells of narrow specificity up to 6 months after …

Persistence Of Onchocerciasis In Villages In Enugu And Ogun States In Nigeria Following Many Rounds Of Mass Distribution Of Ivermectin, Uwem F Ekpo, Obiora A Eneanya, Edith N Nwankwo, Islamiat Y Soneye, Gary J Weil, Peter U Fischer, Obioma C Nwaorgu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Onchocerciasis is endemic in most local government areas (LGAs) in Enugu and Ogun states. Most meso- and hyper-endemic LGAs have received many rounds of ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA). This study aimed to determine the current prevalence of onchocerciasis in villages in Enugu and Ogun states that were formerly highly endemic and to assess progress toward elimination of the infection in areas believed to be at high risk for persistence.

METHODS: Cross-sectional community surveys were conducted 8 to 12 months after the last round of MDA in 16 villages (6 in Enugu state and 10 in Ogun state) in …

Preventive Behaviors And Information Sources During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study In Japan, Manae Uchibori, Cyrus Ghaznavi, Michio Murakami, Akifumi Eguchi, Hiroyuki Kunishima, Satoshi Kaneko, Keiko Maruyama-Sakurai, Hiroaki Miyata, Shuhei Nomura

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: individual preventive behaviors are one of the key measures needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This study sought to identify the factors associated with the adoption of COVID-19 preventive measures, focusing specifically on information sources.

METHODS: we conducted a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 30,053 Japanese adults in February 2021. The survey asked about socioeconomic, health-related, and psychological characteristics, attitudes toward immunization, and the use of information sources regarding COVID-19. We have constructed multivariable logistic regression to estimate the factors associated with the adoption of three preventive measures: 3Cs avoidance, hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene.

RESULTS: socioeconomic variables, …

Age-Dependent Rebound In Asthma Exacerbations After Covid-19 Lockdown, Guy Hazan, Carolyn Fox, Huram Mok, Jeffrey Haspel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Virus mitigation measures enacted early in the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic suppressed common respiratory viruses and reduced the number of obstructive lung disease exacerbations. However, many localities began to ease these precautions in the year 2021, leading to a resurgence of non-COVID viruses. How asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) activity responded to this upswing in viral abundance is unclear.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to examine how viral resurgence during the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions affected asthma and COPD exacerbations.

METHODS: We analyzed electronic medical records for emergency department (ED) respiratory virus positivity, asthma visits, and …

Better Operating Room Ventilation As Determined By A Novel Ventilation Index Is Associated With Lower Rates Of Surgical Site Infections, Bernard Surial, Andrew Atkinson, Rüdiger Külpmann, Arnold Brunner, Kurt Hildebrand, Benoît Sicre, Nicolas Troillet, Andreas Widmer, Eveline Rolli, Judith Maag, Jonas Marschall

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess the impact of operating room (OR) ventilation quality on surgical site infections (SSIs) using a novel ventilation index.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies compared laminar air flow with conventional ventilation, thereby ignoring many parameters that influence air flow properties.

METHODS: In this cohort study, we surveyed hospitals participating in the Swiss SSI surveillance and calculated a ventilation index for their ORs, with higher values reflecting less turbulent air displacement. For procedures captured between January 2017 and December 2019, we studied the association between ventilation index and SSI rates using linear regression (hospital-level analysis) and with the …

Ascertainment Of Vaccination Status By Self-Report Versus Source Documentation: Impact On Measuring Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness, Meagan Stephenson, Jennie H Kwon, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, self-reported COVID-19 vaccination might facilitate rapid evaluations of vaccine effectiveness (VE) when source documentation (e.g., immunization information systems [IIS]) is not readily available. We evaluated the concordance of COVID-19 vaccination status ascertained by self-report versus source documentation and its impact on VE estimates.

METHODS: Hospitalized adults (≥18 years) admitted to 18 U.S. medical centers March-June 2021 were enrolled, including COVID-19 cases and SARS-CoV-2 negative controls. Patients were interviewed about COVID-19 vaccination. Abstractors simultaneously searched IIS, medical records, and other sources for vaccination information. To compare vaccination status by self-report and documentation, we estimated percent agreement …

Comparison Of Indirect Fungal Diagnostic Tests In Patients With Proven Histoplasmosis, Gayathri Krishnan, Margaret Power, J Ryan Bariola, Ryan Dare

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Histoplasmosis is a common cause of invasive fungal infection in endemic regions and accurate diagnosis is difficult without direct tissue culture or pathology. Indirect fungal antigen testing for various fungal pathogens are typically performed to assist with diagnostic workup, though cross-reaction can lead to difficulty in interpreting results. We aimed to compare indirect fungal diagnostic tests and evaluate prevalence of positive antigen testing for non-

METHODS: We performed a single-center retrospective review of adult patients with proven histoplasmosis diagnosed by fungal culture and/or cytology from January 2010 to March 2018. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, and results of fungal antigen …

Assessment Of Infectious Diseases Risks From Dental Aerosols In Real-World Settings, Shruti Choudhary, Tracey Bach, Meghan A Wallace, Daniel C Stoeckel, Martin H Thornhill, Peter B Lockhart, Jennie H Kwon, Stephen Y Liang, Carey-Ann D Burnham, Pratim Biswas, Heidi M Steinkamp, Michael J Durkin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Infectious diseases physicians are leaders in assessing the health risks in a variety of community settings. An understudied area with substantial controversy is the safety of dental aerosols. Previous studies have used in vitro experimental designs and/or indirect measures to evaluate bacteria and viruses from dental surfaces. However, these findings may overestimate the occupational risks of dental aerosols. The purpose of this study was to directly measure dental aerosol composition to assess the health risks for dental healthcare personnel and patients.

METHODS: We used a variety of aerosol instruments to capture and measure the bacterial, viral, and inorganic composition …