Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards COVID-19 Vaccination among adults of Sullia Taluk in Dakshin Kannada District of Karnataka- A Community based Survey)

<p>Background: Vaccination programs for corona virus disease (COVID-19) were initiated globally in a record time unparalleled in the history of immunisation. Thus the community's and perceptions towards COVID-19 vaccinations are poorly understood. This study thus aimed to investigate community knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 vaccinations in Sullia Taluk of Dakshin Kannada.  Methods: An exploratory and anonymous population- based survey was conducted among 600 general  individuals (58.17% male; 41.83% female). The survey was conducted using a validated self- administered questionnaire containing a set of questions pertaining to knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Multiple linear regression was performed to determine the variables predicting knowledge, and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccinations. Results: The mean scores of knowledges and attitudes were 2.73±1.48 and 9.44±2.39 respectively. About a quarter of participants thought that the COVID-19 vaccination available in India is safe, 60% reported that they will continue to have further vaccinations if necessary. About 54% reported recommending it to family and friends. Regression analysis revealed that higher SES, university/ higher levels of education, nuclear families and those with a previous history of essential vaccines uptake were associated with a higher knowledge score; whilst attitudes were significantly associated to gender and previous history of essential vaccines uptake. Just over half of the participants(54%) thought that everyone should be vaccinated. A majority of the population 72.17% population reported vaccine should be administered free of cost in India.</p><p>Keywords:- Covid Vaccination; Survey; Karnatak.</p&gt

Maternal Practices towards Dental Treatment of Primary School Children after the Emergence of Covid 19

<p>Context COVID 19 is a highly contagious viral disease. Dental office has garnered a lot of attention as one of the potential sources of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and dissemination. Due to this, the frequency of dental visits among children and their parents have reduced substantially.Aims To assess maternal practices towards dental treatment of primary school children after the emergence of COVID 19.Settings and Design A school based cross sectional electronic survey, conducted in various schools in Chalakudy town in Kerala.Methods and Material The study was conducted among mothers of primary school children, with a sample size of 709. The data were collected using a validated questionnaire comprised of four parts, part A recorded basic demography, part B mothers' knowledge, part C attitude and part D recorded practices towards dental care and impact covid 19 on dental care.Statistical Analysis Data were analysed using the SPSS version 21. Descriptive measures and chi-square test was conducted separately for each variable. P value was set at < 0.05 level of significance.Results The findings showed that overall knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) scores of the mothers revealed 81.3% had good KAP score. Among them 95.5% had adequate knowledge while 93.1% had positive attitude whereas a mere 40.7% was translated into practice.Conclusions Knowledge of mothers towards dental treatment of primary school children after the emergence of COVID 19 was adequate but the attitude and the practices were not and this probably due to the fear. Expecting similar pandemics in future, standard operating procedure (SOP) which would ensure absolute infection control in a dental clinic and spreading awareness of such SOP'samong parents can reduce their apprehensions to get dental treatments for their kids.</p><p>Keywords:- COVID 19, Primary School Children, Dental Treatment.</p&gt

Genetic insights into biological mechanisms governing human ovarian ageing.

Reproductive longevity is essential for fertility and influences healthy ageing in women1,2, but insights into its underlying biological mechanisms and treatments to preserve it are limited. Here we identify 290 genetic determinants of ovarian ageing, assessed using normal variation in age at natural menopause (ANM) in about 200,000 women of European ancestry. These common alleles were associated with clinical extremes of ANM; women in the top 1% of genetic susceptibility have an equivalent risk of premature ovarian insufficiency to those carrying monogenic FMR1 premutations3. The identified loci implicate a broad range of DNA damage response (DDR) processes and include loss-of-function variants in key DDR-associated genes. Integration with experimental models demonstrates that these DDR processes act across the life-course to shape the ovarian reserve and its rate of depletion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that experimental manipulation of DDR pathways highlighted by human genetics increases fertility and extends reproductive life in mice. Causal inference analyses using the identified genetic variants indicate that extending reproductive life in women improves bone health and reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, but increases the risk of hormone-sensitive cancers. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms that govern ovarian ageing, when they act, and how they might be targeted by therapeutic approaches to extend fertility and prevent disease.Cambridge: Claudia Langenberg and Nicholas J Wareham are funded by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_00006/1). Nicholas J Wareham is a NIHR Senior Investigator. Ken Ong, John Perry, Stasa Stankovic and Felix Day are supported by the Medical Research Council (Unit programmes: MC_UU_12015/2 and MC_UU_00006/2)

Genetic insights into biological mechanisms governing human ovarian ageing.

Reproductive longevity is essential for fertility and influences healthy ageing in women <sup>1,2</sup> , but insights into its underlying biological mechanisms and treatments to preserve it are limited. Here we identify 290 genetic determinants of ovarian ageing, assessed using normal variation in age at natural menopause (ANM) in about 200,000 women of European ancestry. These common alleles were associated with clinical extremes of ANM; women in the top 1% of genetic susceptibility have an equivalent risk of premature ovarian insufficiency to those carrying monogenic FMR1 premutations <sup>3</sup> . The identified loci implicate a broad range of DNA damage response (DDR) processes and include loss-of-function variants in key DDR-associated genes. Integration with experimental models demonstrates that these DDR processes act across the life-course to shape the ovarian reserve and its rate of depletion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that experimental manipulation of DDR pathways highlighted by human genetics increases fertility and extends reproductive life in mice. Causal inference analyses using the identified genetic variants indicate that extending reproductive life in women improves bone health and reduces risk of type 2 diabetes, but increases the risk of hormone-sensitive cancers. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms that govern ovarian ageing, when they act, and how they might be targeted by therapeutic approaches to extend fertility and prevent disease

Multiple independent variants at the TERT locus are associated with telomere length and risks of breast and ovarian cancer

<p>TERT-locus SNPs and leukocyte telomere measures are reportedly associated with risks of multiple cancers. Using the Illumina custom genotyping array iCOG, we analyzed similar to 480 SNPs at the TERT locus in breast (n = 103,991), ovarian (n = 39,774) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (n = 11,705) cancer cases and controls. Leukocyte telomere measurements were also available for 53,724 participants. Most associations cluster into three independent peaks. The minor allele at the peak 1 SNP rs2736108 associates with longer telomeres (P = 5.8 x 10(-7)), lower risks for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative (P = 1.0 x 10(-8)) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.1 x 10(-5)) breast cancers and altered promoter assay signal. The minor allele at the peak 2 SNP rs7705526 associates with longer telomeres (P = 2.3 x 10(-14)), higher risk of low-malignant-potential ovarian cancer (P = 1.3 x 10(-15)) and greater promoter activity. The minor alleles at the peak 3 SNPs rs10069690 and rs2242652 increase ER-negative (P = 1.2 x 10(-12)) and BRCA1 mutation carrier (P = 1.6 x 10-14) breast and invasive ovarian (P = 1.3 x 10(-11)) cancer risks but not via altered telomere length. The cancer risk alleles of rs2242652 and rs10069690, respectively, increase silencing and generate a truncated TERT splice variant.</p>