Incidence and effects of Varicella Zoster Virus infection on academic activities of medical undergraduates - a five-year follow-up study from Sri Lanka

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The adult population in Sri Lanka is having high level of susceptibility for Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) infection. Among medical undergraduates, 47% are VZV seronegative. The purpose of the present study was to determine the incidence of VZV infection in medical undergraduates in Sri Lanka, and to describe the effects of VZV infection on their academic activities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective cohort of medical undergraduates' susceptible for VZV infection was selected from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Data on the incidence of VZV infection (Chickenpox) during their undergraduate period was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. A second questionnaire was administered to collect data on the details of VZV infection and the impact of it on their academic activities. VZV incidence rate was calculated as the number of infections per 1,000 person years of exposure. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the impact of VZV infection on academic activities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of the 172 susceptible cohort, 153 medical undergraduates were followed up. 47 students reported VZV infection during the follow up period and 43 of them participated in the study. The cumulative incidence of VZV infection during the period of five and half years of medical training was 30.7%. Incidence density of VZV infection among medical undergraduates in this cohort was 65.1 per 1,000 person years of follow-up. A total of 377 working days were lost by 43 students due to the VZV infection, averaging 8.8 days per undergraduate. Total academic losses for the study cohort were; 205 lectures, 17 practicals, 13 dissection sessions, 11 tutorials, 124 days of clinical training and 107 days of professorial clinical appointments. According to their perception they lost 1,927 study hours due to the illness (Median 50 hours per undergraduate).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The incidence of VZV infection among Sri Lankan medical undergraduates is very high and the impact of this infection on academic activities causes severe disruption of their undergraduate life. VZV immunization for susceptible new entrant medical undergraduates is recommended.</p

Evaluation of surveillance case definition in the diagnosis of leptospirosis, using the Microscopic Agglutination Test: a validation study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leptospirosis is endemic in both urban and rural areas of Sri Lanka and there had been many out breaks in the recent past. This study was aimed at validating the leptospirosis surveillance case definition, using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population consisted of patients with undiagnosed acute febrile illness who were admitted to the medical wards of the Teaching Hospital Kandy, from 1^stJuly 2007 to 31^stJuly 2008. The subjects were screened to diagnose leptospirosis according to the leptospirosis case definition. MAT was performed on blood samples taken from each patient on the 7^thday of fever. Leptospirosis case definition was evaluated in regard to sensitivity, specificity and predictive values, using a MAT titre ≥ 1:800 for confirming leptospirosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 123 patients were initially recruited of which 73 had clinical features compatible with the surveillance case definition. Out of the 73 only 57 had a positive MAT result (true positives) leaving 16 as false positives. Out of the 50 who didn't have clinical features compatible with the case definition 45 had a negative MAT as well (true negatives), therefore 5 were false negatives. Total number of MAT positives was 62 out of 123. According to these results the test sensitivity was 91.94%, specificity 73.77%, positive predictive value and negative predictive values were 78.08% and 90% respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of the test was 82.93%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study confirms that the surveillance case definition has a very high sensitivity and negative predictive value with an average specificity in diagnosing leptospirosis, based on a MAT titre of ≥ 1: 800.</p

Small median tumor diameter at cure threshold (<20 mm) among aggressive non-small cell lung cancers in male smokers predicts both chest X-ray and CT screening outcomes in a novel simulation framework

The effectiveness of population-wide lung cancer screening strategies depends on the underlying natural course of lung cancer. We evaluate the expected stage distribution in the Mayo CT screening study under an existing simulation model of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progression calibrated to the Mayo lung project (MLP). Within a likelihood framework, we evaluate whether the probability of 5-year NSCLC survival conditional on tumor diameter at detection depends significantly on screening detection modality, namely chest X-ray and computed tomography. We describe a novel simulation framework in which tumor progression depends on cellular proliferation and mutation within a stem cell compartment of the tumor. We fit this model to randomized trial data from the MLP and produce estimates of the median radiologic size at the cure threshold. We examine the goodness of model fit with respect to radiologic tumor size and 5-year NSCLC survival among incident cancers in both the MLP and Mayo CT studies. An existing model of NSCLC progression under-predicts the number of advanced-stage incident NSCLCs among males in the Mayo CT study (p-value = 0.004). The probability of 5-year NSCLC survival conditional on tumor diameter depends significantly on detection modality (p-value = 0.0312). In our new model, selected solution sets having a median tumor diameter of 16.2ﾖ22.1 mm at cure threshold among aggressive NSCLCs predict both MLP and Mayo CT outcomes. We conclude that the median lung tumor diameter at cure threshold among aggressive NSCLCs in male smokers may be small (<20 mm)

The health benefits of a targeted cash transfer: The UK Winter Fuel Payment.

Each year, the UK records 25,000 or more excess winter deaths, primarily among the elderly. A key policy response is the "Winter Fuel Payment" (WFP), a labelled but unconditional cash transfer to households with a member above the female state pension age. The WFP has been shown to raise fuel spending among eligible households. We examine the causal effect of the WFP on health outcomes, including self-reports of chest infection, measured hypertension, and biomarkers of infection and inflammation. We find a robust, 6 percentage point reduction in the incidence of high levels of serum fibrinogen. Reductions in other disease markers point to health benefits, but the estimated effects are less robust

Predictors of the development of myocarditis or acute renal failure in patients with leptospirosis: An observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Leptospirosis has a varied clinical presentation with complications like myocarditis and acute renal failure. There are many predictors of severity and mortality including clinical and laboratory parameters. Early detection and treatment can reduce complications. Therefore recognizing the early predictors of the complications of leptospirosis is important in patient management. This study was aimed at determining the clinical and laboratory predictors of myocarditis or acute renal failure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a prospective descriptive study carried out in the Teaching Hospital, Kandy, from 1st July 2007 to 31st July 2008. Patients with clinical features compatible with leptospirosis case definition were confirmed using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Clinical features and laboratory measures done on admission were recorded. Patients were observed for the development of acute renal failure or myocarditis. Chi-square statistics, Fisher's exact test and Mann-Whitney <it>U </it>test were used to compare patients with and without complications. A logistic regression model was used to select final predictor variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty two confirmed leptospirosis patients were included in the study. Seven patients (11.3%) developed acute renal failure and five (8.1%) developed myocarditis while three (4.8%) had both acute renal failure and myocarditis. Conjunctival suffusion - 40 (64.5%), muscle tenderness - 28 (45.1%), oliguria - 20 (32.2%), jaundice - 12 (19.3%), hepatomegaly - 10 (16.1%), arrhythmias (irregular radial pulse) - 8 (12.9%), chest pain - 6 (9.7%), bleeding - 5 (8.1%), and shortness of breath (SOB) 4 (6.4%) were the common clinical features present among the patients. Out of these, only oliguria {odds ratio (OR) = 4.14 and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.003-17.261}, jaundice (OR = 5.13 and 95% CI 1.149-28.003), and arrhythmias (OR = 5.774 and 95% CI 1.001-34.692), were predictors of myocarditis or acute renal failure and none of the laboratory measures could predict the two complications.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study shows that out of clinical and laboratory variables, only oliguria, jaundice and arrhythmia are strong predictors of development of acute renal failure or myocarditis in patients with leptospirosis presented to Teaching Hospital of Kandy, Sri Lanka.</p

Is brief advice in primary care a cost-effective way to promote physical activity?

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial.Aim: This study models the cost-effectiveness of brief advice (BA) in primary care for physical activity (PA) addressing the limitations in the current limited economic literature through the use of a time-based modelling approach. Methods: A Markov model was used to compare the lifetime costs and outcomes of a cohort of 100 000 people exposed to BA versus usual care. Health outcomes were expressed in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Costs were assessed from a health provider perspective (£2010/11 prices). Data to populate the model were derived from systematic literature reviews and the literature searches of economic evaluations that were conducted for national guidelines. Deterministic and probability sensitivity analyses explored the uncertainty in parameter estimates including short-term mental health gains associated with PA. Results: Compared with usual care, BA is more expensive, incurring additional costs of £806 809 but it is more effective leading to 466 QALYs gained in the total cohort, a QALY gain of 0.0047/person. The incremental cost per QALY of BA is £1730 (including mental health gains) and thus can be considered cost-effective at a threshold of £20 000/QALY. Most changes in assumptions resulted in the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) falling at or below £12 000/QALY gained. However, when short-term mental health gains were excluded the ICER was £27 000/QALY gained. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that, at a threshold of £20 000/QALY, there was a 99.9% chance that BA would be cost-effective. Conclusions: BA is a cost-effective way to improve PA among adults, provided short-term mental health gains are considered. Further research is required to provide more accurate evidence on factors contributing to the cost-effectiveness of BA.NICE Centre for Public Health Excellenc

The quality of maternity care services as experienced by women in the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternity care is all care in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. In the Netherlands maternity care is provided by midwives and general practitioners (GPs) in primary care and midwives and gynecologists in secondary care. To be able to interpret women's experience with the quality of maternity care, it is necessary to take into account their 'care path', that is: their route through the care system.</p> <p>In the Netherlands a new tool is being developed to evaluate the quality of care from the perspective of clients. The tool is called: 'Consumer Quality Index' or CQI and is, within a standardized and systematic framework, tailored to specific health care issues.</p> <p>Within the framework of developing a CQI Maternity Care, data were gathered about the care women in the Netherlands received during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In this paper the quality of maternity care in the Netherlands is presented, as experienced by women at different stages of their care path.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A sample of 1,248 pregnant clients of four insurance companies, with their due date in early April 2007, received a postal survey in the third trimester of pregnancy (response 793). Responders to the first questionnaire received a second questionnaire twelve weeks later, on average four weeks after delivery (response 632). Based on care provider and place of birth the 'care path' of the women is described. With factor analysis and reliability analysis five composite measures indicating the quality of treatment by the care provider at different stages of the care path have been constructed. Overall ratings relate to eight different aspects of care, varying from antenatal care by a midwife or GP to care related to neonatal screening.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>41.5 percent of respondents remained in primary care throughout pregnancy, labor, birth and the postpartum period, receiving care from a midwife or general practitioner, 31.3% of respondents gave birth at home. The majority of women (58.5%) experienced referral from one care provider to another, i.e. from primary to secondary care or reverse, at least once. All but two percent of women had one or more ultrasound scans during pregnancy. The composite measures for the quality of treatment in different settings and by different care providers showed that women, regardless of parity, were very positive about the quality of the maternity care they received. Quality-of-treatment scores were high: on average 3.75 on a scale ranging from 1 to 4. Overall ratings on a 0 – 10 scale for quality of care during the antenatal period and during labor, birth and the postpartum period were high as well, on average 8.36.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The care path of women in maternity care was seldom straight forward. The majority of pregnant women switched from primary to secondary care and back at least once, during pregnancy or during labor and birth or both.</p> <p>The results of the quality measures indicate that the quality of care as experienced by women is high throughout the care system. But with regard to the care during labor and birth the quality of care scores are higher when women know their care provider, when they give birth at home, when they give birth in primary care and when they are assisted by their own midwife.</p

Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium

This study piloted a hospital-based delirium and falls education program to investigate the impacts on staff knowledge and practice plus patient falls. On a medical ward, staff knowledge was compared before and after education sessions. Other data – collected a day before and after program implementation – addressed documentation of patients' delirium and evidence of compliance with falls risk minimization protocols. These data, and numbers of patient falls, were compared before and after program implementation. Almost all ward staff members participated in education sessions (7 doctors, 7 allied health practitioners, and 45 nurses) and knowledge was significantly improved in the 22 who completed surveys both before and after session attendance. Patients assessed as having delirium (5 before implementation, 4 afterwards) were all documented as either confused or delirious. Small changes eventuated in adherence with falls risk management protocols for confused patients and the number of falls decreased. The program merits a stronger emphasis on staff activities relating to the detection, documentation, and management of delirium to inter-professional roles and communication. Evidence of practice enhancement from program implementation should precede rigorous testing of impacts upon falls

Recent advances in cortical visual impairment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66022/1/j.1469-8749.2001.tb00387.x.pd