Investigating the Impact of Asymptomatic Carriers on COVID-19 Transmission [preprint]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel human respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Asymptomatic carriers of the virus display no clinical symptoms but are known to be contagious. Recent evidence reveals that this sub-population, as well as persons with mild, represent a major contributor in the propagation of COVID-19. The asymptomatic sub-population frequently escapes detection by public health surveillance systems. Because of this, the currently accepted estimates of the basic reproduction number (Ro) of the virus are inaccurate. It is unlikely that a pathogen can blanket the planet in three months with an Ro in the vicinity of 3, as reported in the literature. In this manuscript, we present a mathematical model taking into account asymptomatic carriers. Our results indicate that an initial value of the effective reproduction number could range from 5.5 to 25.4, with a point estimate of 15.4, assuming mean parameters. The first three weeks of the model exhibit exponential growth, which is in agreement with average case data collected from thirteen countries with universal health care and robust communicable disease surveillance systems; the average rate of growth in the number of reported cases is 23.3% per day during this period

Achieving the WHO/UNAIDS antiretroviral treatment 3 by 5 goal: what will it cost?

The "3 by 5" goal to have 3 million people in low and middle income countries on antiretroviral therapy (ART) by the end of 2005 is ambitious. Estimates of the necessary resources are needed to facilitate resource mobilisation and rapid channelling of funds to where they are required. We estimated the financial costs needed to implement treatment protocols, by use of country-specific estimates for 34 countries that account for 90% of the need for ART in resource-poor settings. We first estimated the number of people needing ART and supporting programmes for each country. We then estimated the cost per patient for each programme by country to derive total costs. We estimate that between US5.1 billion dollars and US5.9 billion dollars will be needed by the end of 2005 to provide ART, support programmes, and cover country-level administrative and logistic costs for 3 by 5

Impact of the implementation of the AAN epilepsy quality measures on the medical records in a university hospital

Background: The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) suggested eight quality measures to be observed at every patient visit. The aim of this work is to compare the percentage of documentation of each measure before and after the implementation of a new worksheet in a third-level center. Methods: Quasi-experimental study including medical records filled by medical school seniors and junior residents supervised by an epileptologist. The authors surveyed 80 consecutive charts of people with epilepsy who were seen in the outpatient clinic before and after the intervention. McNemar change test was used to compare the percentages of documentation of each quality measure–i.e., seizure type and frequency, etiology, EEG, MRI/CT head scans, AED side effects, surgical therapy referral, safety counseling, preconception counseling–and physical exam. Each quality measure was considered to be fulfilled only if it was assessed and properly recorded. Results: Mean age was 35(±13) years, 55% women, mean epilepsy onset at age 18(±15), 82% presented with partial-onset seizures. The reporting rate improved for all quality measures (previous vs new), reaching statistical significance for: seizure type 80vs94% (p < 0.05), AED side effects 8vs24%, etiology 66vs88% (p < 0.01), safety counseling 5vs64%, preconception counseling 4vs20%, and physical exam 63vs94% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: A quality-oriented epilepsy worksheet led to a better practice standardization and documentation of AAN standards for diagnostic and counseling purposes. Further evaluations should be undertaken to assess the impact on medical education and patient care

Draft Genome Sequences of 29 Helicobacter pylori Strains Isolated from Colombia

Here, we present the draft genome sequences of 29 Colombian Helicobacter pylori strains. These strains were isolated in Bogotá, Colombia, from patients diagnosed with chronic gastritis. The genomic characterization of these strains will provide more information on the genetic composition of H. pylori strains from Colombia.We thank the entities that financially supported the development of this work. A.B.M. is a recipient of a scholarship from the Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios Básicos y Aplicados (CEIBA) Foundation, Colombia; and A.B.M., C.A., J.S., and A.A.T.-R. are recipients of a project grant (120380763025/2018) from MinCiencias, Colombia. The work is partially supported by Research Vice-Rectory, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (PPTA_7676) and F.P.I.T. BanRepCultural (project 3956). F.F.V. is financed by national funds from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through an assistant researcher grant (CEECIND/03023/2017), a project grant (PTDC/BTM-SAL/28978/2017), and projects UIDB/04138/2020 and UIDP/04138/2020; these funds partially supported this work. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio