Collembola are Unlikely to Cause Human Dermatitis

There have been several unconfirmed case reports of dermatitis caused by Collembola (springtails). We recently investigated two nurses with dermatitis suspected to be caused by Drepanura Schött (Collembola: Entomobryidae). IgE antibodies to Collembola proteins were not detected in sera from the nurses and skin tests with the Collembola extract and crushed whole Collembola were negative in both the nurses and volunteers. This study suggests that the springtail Drepanura may not cause human dermatitis and that other organisms and organic matter that are also found in the moist environment inhabited by Collembola might instead be responsible

Collembola are Unlikely to Cause Human Dermatitis

There have been several unconfirmed case reports of dermatitis caused by Collembola (springtails). We recently investigated two nurses with dermatitis suspected to be caused by Drepanura Schött (Collembola: Entomobryidae). IgE antibodies to Collembola proteins were not detected in sera from the nurses and skin tests with the Collembola extract and crushed whole Collembola were negative in both the nurses and volunteers. This study suggests that the springtail Drepanura may not cause human dermatitis and that other organisms and organic matter that are also found in the moist environment inhabited by Collembola might instead be responsible

Correlates of Complete Childhood Vaccination in East African Countries.

Despite the benefits of childhood vaccinations, vaccination rates in low-income countries (LICs) vary widely. Increasing coverage of vaccines to 90% in the poorest countries over the next 10 years has been estimated to prevent 426 million cases of illness and avert nearly 6.4 million childhood deaths worldwide. Consequently, we sought to provide a comprehensive examination of contemporary vaccination patterns in East Africa and to identify common and country-specific barriers to complete childhood vaccination. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, we looked at the prevalence of complete vaccination for polio, measles, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and DTwPHibHep (DTP) as recommended by the WHO among children ages 12 to 23 months. We conducted multivariable logistic regression within each country to estimate associations between complete vaccination status and health care access and sociodemographic variables using backwards stepwise regression. Vaccination varied significantly by country. In all countries, the majority of children received at least one dose of a WHO recommended vaccine; however, in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda less than 50% of children received a complete schedule of recommended vaccines. Being delivered in a public or private institution compared with being delivered at home was associated with increased odds of complete vaccination status. Sociodemographic covariates were not consistently associated with complete vaccination status across countries. Although no consistent set of predictors accounted for complete vaccination status, we observed differences based on region and the location of delivery. These differences point to the need to examine the historical, political, and economic context of each country in order to maximize vaccination coverage. Vaccination against these childhood diseases is a critical step towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds by 2015 and thus should be a global priority

Mannose-binding lectin in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection

Little is known about the innate immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV) infection. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL), a key molecule in innate immunity, functions as an ante-antibody before the specific antibody response. Here, we describe a case-control study that included 569 patients with SARS and 1188 control subjects and used in vitro assays to investigate the role that MBL plays in SARS-CoV infection. The distribution of MBL gene polymorphisms was significantly different between patients with SARS and control subjects, with a higher frequency of haplotypes associated with low or deficient serum levels of MBL in patients with SARS than in control subjects. Serum levels of MBL were also significantly lower in patients with SARS than in control subjects. There was, however, no association between MBL genotypes, which are associated with low or deficient serum levels of MBL, and mortality related to SARS. MBL could bind SARS-CoV in a dose- and calcium-dependent and mannan-inhibitable fashion in vitro, suggesting that binding is through the carbohydrate recognition domains of MBL. Furthermore, deposition of complement C4 on SARS-CoV was enhanced by MBL. Inhibition of the infectivity of SARS-CoV by MBL in fetal rhesus kidney cells (FRhK-4) was also observed. These results suggest that MBL contributes to the first-line host defense against SARS-CoV and that MBL deficiency is a susceptibility factor for acquisition of SARS. © 2005 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Chinese Americans’ Views and Use of Family Health History: A Qualitative Study

Objective Family health history (FHH) plays a significant role in early disease detection and preven- tion. Although Asian Americans are the fastest growing U.S. immigrant group, no data exists regarding Chinese Americans’ (the largest Asian subgroup) views and use of FHH. This study examines this important issue. Methods Forty-nine adults from southern U.S. Chinese American communities participated in this qualitative, semi-structured, in-depth interview study. Interviews were audio recorded, tran- scribed, and analyzed with a content analysis approach. Results Although the majority of participants perceived the importance of collecting FHH, most lacked FHH knowledge and failed to collect FHH information. Barriers affecting FHH collec- tion and discussion among family members included long-distance separation from family members, self-defined “healthy family,� and Chinese cultural beliefs. Lack of doctors’ inqui- ries, never/rarely visiting physicians, self-defined “healthy family,� perceived insignificance of discussing FHH with doctors, and Chinese cultural beliefs were the obstacles in commu- nicating FHH with physicians. Conclusions Chinese Americans had limited usage of their FHH and faced cultural, distance, knowl- edge-, and healthcare system-related barriers that influenced their FHH use. Developing FHH education programs for Chinese Americans is highly recommended

2-Hour Accelerated Diagnostic Protocol to Assess Patients With Chest Pain Symptoms Using Contemporary Troponins as the Only Biomarker

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine whether a new accelerated diagnostic protocol (ADP) for possible cardiac chest pain could identify low-risk patients suitable for early discharge (with follow-up shortly after discharge). Background Patients presenting with possible acute coronary syndrome (ACS), who have a low short-term risk of adverse cardiac events may be suitable for early discharge and shorter hospital stays. Methods This prospective observational study tested an ADP that included pre-test probability scoring by the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) score, electrocardiography, and 0 + 2 h values of laboratory troponin I as the sole biomarker. Patients presenting with chest pain due to suspected ACS were included. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac event (MACE) within 30 days. Results Of 1,975 patients, 302 (15.3%) had a MACE. The ADP classified 392 patients (20%) as low risk. One (0.25%) of these patients had a MACE, giving the ADP a sensitivity of 99.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 98.1% to 99.9%), negative predictive value of 99.7% (95% CI: 98.6% to 100.0%), specificity of 23.4% (95% CI: 21.4% to 25.4%), and positive predictive value of 19.0% (95% CI: 17.2% to 21.0%). Many ADP negative patients had further investigations (74.1%), and therapeutic (18.3%) or procedural (2.0%) interventions during the initial hospital attendance and/or 30-day follow-up. Conclusions Using the ADP, a large group of patients was successfully identified as at low short-term risk of a MACE and therefore suitable for rapid discharge from the emergency department with early follow-up. This approach could decrease the observation period required for some patients with chest pain. (An observational study of the diagnostic utility of an accelerated diagnostic protocol using contemporary central laboratory cardiac troponin in the assessment of patients presenting to two Australasian hospitals with chest pain of possible cardiac origin; ACTRN12611001069943

Stress related epigenetic changes may explain opportunistic success in biological invasions in Antipode mussels

Different environmental factors could induce epigenetic changes, which are likely involved in the biological invasion process. Some of these factors are driven by humans as, for example, the pollution and deliberate or accidental introductions and others are due to natural conditions such as salinity. In this study, we have analysed the relationship between different stress factors: time in the new location, pollution and salinity with the methylation changes that could be involved in the invasive species tolerance to new environments. For this purpose, we have analysed two different mussels’ species, reciprocally introduced in antipode areas: the Mediterranean blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the New Zealand pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis, widely recognized invaders outside their native distribution ranges. The demetylathion was higher in more stressed population, supporting the idea of epigenetic is involved in plasticity process. These results can open a new management protocols, using the epigenetic signals as potential pollution monitoring tool. We could use these epigenetic marks to recognise the invasive status in a population and determine potential biopollutants

Detection of viral respiratory pathogens in mild and severe acute respiratory infections in Singapore.

To investigate the performance of laboratory methods and clinical case definitions in detecting the viral pathogens for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) from a prospective community cohort and hospital inpatients, nasopharyngeal swabs from cohort members reporting ARIs (community-ARI) and inpatients admitted with ARIs (inpatient-ARI) were tested by Singleplex Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (SRT-PCR), multiplex RT-PCR (MRT-PCR) and pathogen-chip system (PathChip) between April 2012 and December 2013. Community-ARI and inpatient-ARI was also combined with mild and severe cases of influenza from a historical prospective study as mild-ARI and severe-ARI respectively to evaluate the performance of clinical case definitions. We analysed 130 community-ARI and 140 inpatient-ARI episodes (5 inpatient-ARI excluded because multiple pathogens were detected), involving 138 and 207 samples respectively. Detection by PCR declined with days post-onset for influenza virus; decrease was faster for community-ARI than for inpatient-ARI. No such patterns were observed for non-influenza respiratory virus infections. PathChip added substantially to viruses detected for community-ARI only. Clinical case definitions discriminated influenza from other mild-ARI but performed poorly for severe-ARI and for older participants. Rational strategies for diagnosis and surveillance of influenza and other respiratory virus must acknowledge the differences between ARIs presenting in community and hospital settings

A clinical diagnostic model for predicting influenza among young adult military personnel with febrile respiratory illness in Singapore

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