1,004 research outputs found
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tuberculosis management in Spain
Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Impacte; TuberculosiCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Impacto; TuberculosisCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Impact; TuberculosisBackground
The impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis and management of tuberculosis (TB) patients is unknown.
Methods
Participating centres completed a structured web-based survey regarding changes to TB patient management during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also included data from participating centres on patients aged â„18 diagnosed with TB in 2 periods: March 15 to June 30, 2020 and March 15 to June 30, 2019. Clinical variables and information about patient household contacts were retrospectively collected.
Results
A total of 7 (70%) TB units reported changes in their usual TB team operations. Across both periods of study, 169 patients were diagnosed with active TB (90 in 2019, 79 in 2020). Patients diagnosed in 2020 showed more frequent bilateral lesions in chest X-ray than patients diagnosed in 2019 ( P =â0.004). There was a higher percentage of latent TB infection and active TB among children in households of patients diagnosed in 2020, compared with 2019 ( P =â0.001).
Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial changes in TB care. TB patients diagnosed during the COVID-19 pandemic showed more extended pulmonary forms. The increase in latent TB infection and active TB in children of patient households could reflect increased household transmission due to anti-COVID-19 measures.This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.MLA was supported by a postdoctoral grant âRio Hortegaâ and ASM was supported by a postdoctoral grant âJuan RodĂ©sâ (JE18/00022) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the Spanish Ministry of economy and competitiveness
Indirect determination of biochemistry reference intervals using outpatient data
Creatinine; Urea; Clinical chemistryCreatinina; Urea; QuĂmica clĂnicaCreatinina; Urea; QuĂmica clĂnicaThe aim of this study was to determine reference intervals in an outpatient population from Vall dâHebron laboratory using an indirect approach previously described in a Dutch population (NUMBER project). We used anonymized test results from individuals visiting general practitioners and analysed during 2018. Analytical quality was assured by EQA performance, daily average monitoring and by assessing longitudinal accuracy between 2018 and 2020 (using trueness verifiers from Dutch EQA). Per test, outliers by biochemically related tests were excluded, data were transformed to a normal distribution (if necessary) and means and standard deviations were calculated, stratified by age and sex. In addition, the reference limit estimator method was also used to calculate reference intervals using the same dataset. Finally, for standardized tests reference intervals obtained were compared with the published NUMBER results. Reference intervals were calculated using data from 509,408 clinical requests. For biochemical tests following a normal distribution, similar reference intervals were found between Vall dâHebron and the Dutch study. For creatinine and urea, reference intervals increased with age in both populations. The upper limits of Gamma-glutamyl transferase were markedly higher in the Dutch study compared to Vall dâHebron results. Creatine kinase and uric acid reference intervals were higher in both populations compared to conventional reference intervals. Medical test results following a normal distribution showed comparable and consistent reference intervals between studies. Therefore a simple indirect method is a feasible and cost-efficient approach for calculating reference intervals. Yet, for generating standardized calculated reference intervals that are traceable to higher order materials and methods, efforts should also focus on test standardization and bias assessment using commutable trueness verifiers
COVID-19 Clinical Profile in Latin American Migrants Living in Spain: Does the Geographical Origin Matter?
COVID-19; Latin America; SeverityCOVID-19; AmĂšrica Llatina; GravetatCOVID-19; AmĂ©rica Latina; GravedadThe aim of this study was to describe and compare the clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia according to their geographical origin. This is a retrospective case-control study of hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia treated at Vall dâHebron University Hospital (Barcelona) during the first wave of the pandemic. Cases were defined as patients born in Latin America and controls were randomly selected among Spanish patients matched by age and gender. Demographic and clinical variables were collected, including comorbidities, symptoms, vital signs and analytical parameters, intensive care unit admission and outcome at 28 days after admission. Overall, 1080 hospitalized patients were registered: 774 (71.6%) from Spain, 142 (13.1%) from Latin America and the rest from other countries. Patients from Latin America were considered as cases and 558 Spanish patients were randomly selected as controls. Latin American patients had a higher proportion of anosmia, rhinorrhea and odynophagia, as well as higher mean levels of platelets and lower mean levels of ferritin than Spanish patients. No differences were found in oxygen requirement and mortality at 28 days after admission, but there was a higher proportion of ICU admissions (28.2% vs. 20.2%, p = 0.0310). An increased proportion of ICU admissions were found in patients from Latin America compared with native Spanish patients when adjusted by age and gender, with no significant differences in in-hospital mortality.Isabel Campos-Varelaâs research activity is funded by grant PI19/00330 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III. CIBERehd is supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III. The work was independent of all funding. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors
Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory
A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding
eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers
with zenith angles greater than detected with the Pierre Auger
Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum
confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above
eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law with
index followed by
a smooth suppression region. For the energy () at which the
spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence
of suppression, we find
eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger
Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers.
These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of
the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray
energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30
to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of
the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is
determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated
using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due
to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components.
The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of
the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the
AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air
shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy
-- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy
estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the
surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator
scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent
emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for
the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at
least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy
We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio
emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate
energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of
15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV
arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling
quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from
state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our
measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric
energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with
our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector
against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI.
Supplemental material in the ancillary file
Specialist laboratory networks as preparedness and response tool - The emerging viral diseases-expert laboratory network and the chikungunya outbreak, Thailand, 2019
We illustrate the potential for specialist laboratory networks to be used as preparedness and response tool through rapid collection and sharing of data. Here, the Emerging Viral Diseases-Expert Laboratory Network (EVD-LabNet) and a laboratory assessment of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in returning European travellers related to an ongoing outbreak in Thailand was used for this purpose. EVD-LabNet rapidly collected data on laboratory requests, diagnosed CHIKV imported cases and sequences generated, and shared among its members and with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Data across the network showed an increase in CHIKV imported cases during 1 October 2018-30 April 2019 vs the same period in 2018 (172 vs 50), particularly an increase in cases known to be related to travel to Thailand (72 vs 1). Moreover, EVD-LabNet showed that strains were imported from Thailand that cluster with strains of the ECSA-IOL E1 A226 variant emerging in Pakistan in 2016 and involved in the 2017 outbreaks in Italy. CHIKV diagnostic requests increased by 23.6% between the two periods. The impact of using EVD-LabNet or similar networks as preparedness and response tool could be improved by standardisation of the collection, quality and mining of data in routine laboratory management systems
Jardins per a la salut
Facultat de FarmĂ cia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de FarmĂ cia. Assignatura: BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica. Curs: 2014-2015. Coordinadors: Joan Simon, CĂšsar BlanchĂ© i Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquĂ es presenten sĂłn el recull de les fitxes botĂ niques de 128 espĂšcies presents en el JardĂ Ferran Soldevila de lâEdifici HistĂČric de la UB. Els treballs han estat realitzats manera individual per part dels estudiants dels grups M-3 i T-1 de lâassignatura BotĂ nica FarmacĂšutica durant els mesos de febrer a maig del curs 2014-15 com a resultat final del Projecte dâInnovaciĂł Docent «Jardins per a la salut: aprenentatge servei a BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica» (codi 2014PID-UB/054). Tots els treballs sâhan dut a terme a travĂ©s de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pels professors de lâassignatura. Lâobjectiu principal de lâactivitat ha estat fomentar lâaprenentatge autĂČnom i col·laboratiu en BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica. TambĂ© sâha pretĂšs motivar els estudiants a travĂ©s del retorn de part del seu esforç a la societat a travĂ©s dâuna experiĂšncia dâAprenentatge-Servei, deixant disponible finalment el treball dels estudiants per a poder ser consultable a travĂ©s dâuna Web pĂșblica amb la possibilitat de poder-ho fer in-situ en el propi jardĂ mitjançant codis QR amb un smartphone
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