Xpert Ultra Assay on Stool to Diagnose Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children

Background: The World Health Organization recommends the Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra assay for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in children. Though stool is a potential alternative to respiratory specimens among children, the diagnostic performance of Xpert Ultra on stool is unknown. Thus, we assessed the diagnostic performance of Xpert Ultra on stool to diagnose PTB in children. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among consecutively recruited children (< 15 years of age) with presumptive PTB admitted in 4 tertiary care hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh, between January 2018 and April 2019. Single induced sputum and stool specimens were subjected to culture, Xpert, and Xpert Ultra. We considered children as bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum if any test performed on induced sputum was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and bacteriologically confirmed if M. tuberculosis was detected on either induced sputum or stool. Results: Of 447 children, 29 (6.5%) were bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum and 72 (16.1%) were bacteriologically confirmed. With "bacteriologically confirmed on induced sputum"as a reference, the sensitivity and specificity of Xpert Ultra on stool were 58.6% and 88.1%, respectively. Xpert on stool had sensitivity and specificity of 37.9% and 100.0%, respectively. Among bacteriologically confirmed children, Xpert Ultra on stool was positive in 60 (83.3%), of whom 48 (80.0%) had "trace call."Conclusions: In children, Xpert Ultra on stool has better sensitivity but lesser specificity than Xpert. A high proportion of Xpert Ultra assays positive on stool had trace call. Future longitudinal studies on clinical evolution are required to provide insight on the management of children with trace call

Time to exacerbation of heart failure is longer in Malaysian population on dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor

Context: Diabetes mellitus is a recognized risk factor for heart failure. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) are used in patients with diabetes largely due to its efficacy in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) reduction, neutral weight effect, and lower hypoglycemic events. New antidiabetic medications such as the glitazones have been linked with increasing mortality and heart failure exacerbations. The effect of DPP4i in heart failure has not been shown in a heterogenous Asian population. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess incidence of heart failure and cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with diabetes with known coronary artery disease (CAD) treated with DPP4i. Subjects and Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective analysis of patients with diabetes mellitus attending various specialist clinics in Universiti Teknologi MARA treated with available DPP4i agents from January 2013 to July 2015. Medical records were reviewed and data collected for demographic, anthropometric, laboratory, and treatment modalities. Endpoints include changes in body weight, body mass index, lipid, renal profile, and CV events during follow-up. Results: Three hundred and twenty-three patients with diabetes were screened and 307 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Fifty-four were on linagliptin, 115 were on vildagliptin, and 154 were on saxagliptin. Majority of patients (87.6%) had uncontrolled diabetes at baseline (HbA1c, %) (8.9 ± 2.07). There was a significant reduction in HbA1c from baseline to visit 1 at 3 months (P = 0.000). Similarly, significant improvement in HbA1c seen from baseline to visit 1 (P = 0.000). A higher CV event rate was found between 20 and 30 weeks of therapy with DPP4i. The cumulative survival was 99.5% at 20 weeks and reduced to 98.75% at 30 weeks (P = 0.033). There were seven reported events (0.98%) due to heart failure or acute coronary syndrome. These participants had higher baseline HbA1c and creatinine compared to the overall cohort. Conclusions: Higher CV events were seen in diabetic patients with known CAD treated with DPP4i between 20 and 30 weeks of therapy and occurred earlier in patients with chronic kidney disease. This is later than published data and raises the need to monitor this group of patients for symptoms of heart failure beyond conventional monitoring

Availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines and the effect on blood pressure control in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: an analysis of the PURE study data

Background: Hypertension is considered the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but its control is poor worldwide. We aimed to assess the availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines, and the association with use of these medicines and blood pressure control in countries at varying levels of economic development. Methods: We analysed the availability, costs, and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines with data recorded from 626 communities in 20 countries participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study. Medicines were considered available if they were present in the local pharmacy when surveyed, and affordable if their combined cost was less than 20% of the households' capacity to pay. We related information about availability and affordability to use of these medicines and blood pressure control with multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models, and compared results for high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income countries. Data for India are presented separately because it has a large generic pharmaceutical industry and a higher availability of medicines than other countries at the same economic level. Findings: The availability of two or more classes of blood pressure-lowering drugs was lower in low-income and middle-income countries (except for India) than in high-income countries. The proportion of communities with four drug classes available was 94% in high-income countries (108 of 115 communities), 76% in India (68 of 90), 71% in upper-middle-income countries (90 of 126), 47% in lower-middle-income countries (107 of 227), and 13% in low-income countries (nine of 68). The proportion of households unable to afford two blood pressure-lowering medicines was 31% in low-income countries (1069 of 3479 households), 9% in middle-income countries (5602 of 65 471), and less than 1% in high-income countries (44 of 10 880). Participants with known hypertension in communities that had all four drug classes available were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·23, 95% CI 1·59–3·12); p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·53, 1·13–2·07; p=0·054), and have their blood pressure controlled (2·06, 1·69–2·50; p<0·0001) than were those in communities where blood pressure-lowering medicines were not available. Participants with known hypertension from households able to afford four blood pressure-lowering drug classes were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted OR 1·42, 95% CI 1·25–1·62; p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·26, 1·08–1·47; p=0·0038), and have their blood pressure controlled (1·13, 1·00–1·28; p=0·0562) than were those unable to afford the medicines. Interpretation: A large proportion of communities in low-income and middle-income countries do not have access to more than one blood pressure-lowering medicine and, when available, they are often not affordable. These factors are associated with poor blood pressure control. Ensuring access to affordable blood pressure-lowering medicines is essential for control of hypertension in low-income and middle-income countries. Funding: Population Health Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient Oriented Research through the Ontario SPOR Support Unit, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, pharmaceutical companies (with major contributions from AstraZeneca [Canada], Sanofi Aventis [France and Canada], Boehringer Ingelheim [Germany amd Canada], Servier, and GlaxoSmithKline), Novartis and King Pharma, and national or local organisations in participating countries