1,547 research outputs found
A Prospective Surveillance Study of Candidaemia : Epidemiology, Risk Factors, Antifungal Treatment and Outcome in Hospitalized Patients
Funding This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for Medical Mycology and Fungal Immunology 097377/Z/11/Z. Data collection was supported by a grant from Pfizer. GR was also supported by a research fellowship grant from Gilead Sciences. The collection of the isolates was funded by a Gilead Fellowship to GR. Acknowledgments We are grateful to microbiology colleagues throughout Scotland for submitting isolates. Antimicrobial sensitivity testing was performed by the Mycology Reference Laboratory, Public Health England, Bristol.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Prospectus, September 27, 1990
https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1990/1022/thumbnail.jp
Assessment of oral and overall health parameters using the SillHa Oral Wellness System
OBJECTIVE: The study evaluated use of a multipoint saliva analyzer to assess patient wellness in a contemporary dental practice setting.
STUDY DESIGN: Unstimulated saliva from a diverse 104 patient cohort was analyzed using the SillHa Oral Wellness System. The device measures the following 7 analytes present in the patient\u27s oral rinse: cariogenic bacteria, acidity, buffer capacity, blood, leukocytes, protein, and ammonia. Data obtained were compared with validated clinical assessment data independently provided by credentialed dental professionals.
RESULTS: Measured leukocyte and protein levels were higher in patients with periodontal disease and/or deep gingival pockets. Patients with a history of cancer and/or diabetes presented with higher ammonia and lower leukocyte levels. Acidity levels were higher in patients using multiple xerogenic medications and lower in patients with a history of sleep apnea. Sex differences showed female patients exhibiting higher acidity, lower buffer capacity, and lower ammonia than male patients. Increasing age is associated with elevated buffer capacity.
CONCLUSIONS: Multipoint saliva analyzers such as the one used in this study, along with clinical practice examination and medical history, can provide rapid salivary component analysis that augments treatment planning. A follow-up multisite study would provide the opportunity to test this analyzer in clinical sites with different practice workflows
Prospectus, October 24, 1990
https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1990/1024/thumbnail.jp
Workshop to identify critical windows of exposure for children's health: cancer work group summary.
We considered whether there are discrete windows of vulnerability in the development of cancer and which time periods may be of the greatest importance. Cancer was considered broadly, including cancers in childhood as well as adult cancers that may have an in utero or childhood origin. We concluded that there was evidence from animal and epidemiologic studies for causal relationships for preconceptional, in utero, and childhood exposures and cancer occurrence in children and adults. However, the evidence is incomplete and all relevant critical windows may not have been identified. The comprehensive evaluation of the relative importance of specific time windows of exposure is limited. Improvements in the design of epidemiologic studies and additional animal studies of mechanisms are warranted
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A nipple shield delivery system for oral drug delivery to breastfeeding infants : Microbicide delivery to inactivate HIV
A new drug delivery method for infants is presented which incorporates an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)-loaded insert into a nipple shield delivery system (NSDS). The API is released directly into milk during breastfeeding. This study investigates the feasibility of using the NSDS to deliver the microbicide sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), with the goal of preventing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV during breastfeeding in low-resource settings, when there is no safer alternative for the infant but to breastfeed. SDS has been previously shown to effectively inactivate HIV in human milk. An apparatus was developed to simulate milk flow through and drug release from a NSDS. Using this apparatus milk was pulsed through a prototype device containing a non-woven fiber insert impregnated with SDS and the microbicide was rapidly released. The total SDS release from inserts ranged from 70 to 100% of the average 0.07 g load within 50 ml (the volume of a typical breastfeed). Human milk spiked with H9/HIVIIIB cells was also passed through the same set-up. Greater than 99% reduction of cell-associated HIV infectivity was achieved in the first 10 ml of milk. This proof of concept study demonstrates efficient drug delivery to breastfeeding infants is achievable using the NSDS
Escherichia coli O157 Infection and Secondary Spread, Scotland, 1999–2008
To determine the proportion of Escherichia coli O157 cases in Scotland attributable to secondary spread, we analyzed data obtained through entire-population enhanced surveillance. We identified 11% of cases as secondary. Secondary cases in single households were younger than secondary cases in outbreaks affecting >1 household and had similar risk for hemolytic uremic syndrome
Prospectus, December 3, 1990
https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1990/1026/thumbnail.jp
Gene flow in environmental Legionella pneumophila leads to genetic and pathogenic heterogeneity within a Legionnaires' disease outbreak
BACKGROUND: Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by the environmental bacterium Legionella pneumophila. Outbreaks commonly affect people with known risk factors, but the genetic and pathogenic complexity of L. pneumophila within an outbreak is not well understood. Here, we investigate the etiology of the major Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that occurred in Edinburgh, UK, in 2012, by examining the evolutionary history, genome content, and virulence of L. pneumophila clinical isolates. RESULTS: Our high resolution genomic approach reveals that the outbreak was caused by multiple genetic subtypes of L. pneumophila, the majority of which had diversified from a single progenitor through mutation, recombination, and horizontal gene transfer within an environmental reservoir prior to release. In addition, we discover that some patients were infected with multiple L. pneumophila subtypes, a finding which can affect the certainty of source attribution. Importantly, variation in the complement of type IV secretion systems encoded by different genetic subtypes correlates with virulence in a Galleria mellonella model of infection, revealing variation in pathogenic potential among the outbreak source population of L. pneumophila. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our study indicates previously cryptic levels of pathogen heterogeneity within a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, a discovery that impacts on source attribution for future outbreak investigations. Furthermore, our data suggest that in addition to host immune status, pathogen diversity may be an important influence on the clinical outcome of individual outbreak infections. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-014-0504-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
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