Antimicrobial stewardship in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic : A systematic review protocol on the opportunities and challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the leading threats to global public health and this may increase following COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly the case in Africa where regulations on antimicrobial usage are weak. This protocol outlines the steps to undertake a systematic review to synthesize evidence on drivers of AMR and evaluate existing approaches to strengthening antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). On the basis of the evidence generated from the evidence synthesis, the overarching goal of this work is to provide recommendations to support best practices in AMS implementation in SSA. Methods: A systematic search will be conducted using the following databases: Global Health Library, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, Google Scholar, Global Health, Embase, African Journals Online Library, Web of Science, antimicrobial databases (WHO COVID-19, TrACSS, NDARO, and JPIAMR), and the Cochrane databases for systematic reviews. Studies will be included if they assess AMR and AMS in SSA from January 2000 to January 31, 2023. Results: The primary outcomes will include the drivers of AMR and approaches to AMS implementation in SSA. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses will guide the reporting of this systematic review. Conclusions: The findings are expected to provide evidence on best practices and resource sharing for policy consideration to healthcare providers and other stakeholders both at the local and international levels. Additionally, the study seeks to establish drivers specific to AMR during the COVID-19 era in the SSA, for example, with the observed increasing trend of antimicrobial misuse during the first or second year of the pandemic may provide valuable insights for policy recommendation in preparedness and response measures to future pandemics. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022368853.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

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It is not pneumothorax: Multicystic lung lesion in a six-year-old child

Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) – recently reported as congenital pulmonary airway malformation – is a rare abnormality of lung development. We present a case of a six-year-old child having a cystic lung lesion that proved to be CCAM after surgical resection. The child is performing well on follow-up

A 7-year-old girl with multiple skin ulcers: Case report and literature review

Introduction: There has been an increase in the number of tuberculosis (TB) cases worldwide, but TB of the skin remains rare. Case presentation: A case of 7-year-old girl with multiple ulcerating nodules who presented with four ulcers in the skin of the left elbow. The patient was unresponsive to broad-spectrum antibiotics treatment initially. Because of poor clinical response to conventional therapy, TB was suspected. Although tuberculin skin test was negative, positive QuantiFERON TB Gold test and clinical picture strongly indicated TB. Clinical diagnosis was confirmed by positive culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Conclusion: A high index of clinical suspicion is necessary to suspect TB of the skin. Positive culture remains the gold standard for diagnosis

Chronic oozing skin lesions in children: Possible tuberculosis? Two case reports

Cutaneous tuberculosis is frequently misleading and challenging, as it mimics a wide differential diagnosis. Here, we present two pediatric cases with chronic multiple ulcerating nodules. Proper history, physical examination, and histopathological analysis are included in the workup of suspected skin tuberculosis. Diagnosis was confirmed by positive culture for mycobacteria

Chest and Cardiac Findings on High-Resolution Computed Tomography in Children on Regular Hemodialysis with Abnormal Spirometry

Objective: To study the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings of children on hemodialysis with abnormal spirometry. Methods: This descriptive study included 25 children with chronic kidney disease on regular hemodialysis. They were selected from a pediatric hemodialysis unit during the period from June 2015 to January 2016. Spirometry was done, and those with abnormal values were assessed by HRCT of the chest and echocardiography. Results: Among 25 children with abnormal spirometry on regular hemodialysis, there was a decrease in spirometric indices in patients on hemodialysis with a tendency to the restrictive pattern (19 patients; 76%). The following HRCT findings were detected: bilateral mild lower-lobe air trapping (centrilobular emphysema) in 14 patients (56%), diffuse bilateral ground-glass appearance in 2 patients (8%), mild hilar and perihilar bronchiectasis in 5 patients (20%), and cardiomegaly in 3 patients (12%). Conclusion: Our results suggest that HRCT revealed many pathological findings that could not be detected on the chest X-ray, and some of these findings may explain the abnormal indications observed on spirometry

Formal verification for a PMQTT protocol

The future of Internet of Things (IoT) foresees a world of interconnected people with every physical object in a seamless manner. The security related aspects for the IoT world are still an open field of discussion and research. The Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) application layer protocol is widely used in IoT networks. Since, MQTT standard has no mandatory requirements regarding the security services, therefore, manipulating the security related issues is different in MQTT platforms. This paper proposes a novel security protocol. It is the Protected Message Queue Telemetry Transport (PMQTT) protocol which is based on MQTT with added cryptographic primitives to offer security services for IoT systems. Moreover, a formal verification for a PMQTT protocol is conducted using the ProVerif cryptographic automated verifier tool to prove that the PMQTT protocol satisfies the intended security properties