32 research outputs found
Forgotten but not gone : yersinia infections in England, 1975 to 2020
Background
Yersiniosis is one of the most common food-borne zoonoses in Europe, but there are large variations in the reported incidence between different countries.
Aim
We aimed to describe the trends and epidemiology of laboratory-confirmed Yersinia infections in England and estimate the average annual number of undiagnosed Yersinia enterocolitica cases, accounting for under-ascertainment.
Methods
We analysed national surveillance data on Yersinia cases reported by laboratories in England between 1975 and 2020 and enhanced surveillance questionnaires from patients diagnosed in a laboratory that has implemented routine Yersinia testing of diarrhoeic samples since 2016.
Results
The highest incidence of Yersinia infections in England (1.4 cases per 100,000 population) was recorded in 1988 and 1989, with Y. enterocolitica being the predominant species. The reported incidence of Yersinia infections declined during the 1990s and remained low until 2016. Following introduction of commercial PCR at a single laboratory in the South East, the annual incidence increased markedly (13.6 cases per 100,000 population in the catchment area between 2017 and 2020). There were notable changes in age and seasonal distribution of cases over time. The majority of infections were not linked to foreign travel and one in five patients was admitted to hospital. We estimate that around 7,500 Y. enterocolitica infections may be undiagnosed in England annually.
Conclusions
Findings suggest a considerable number of undiagnosed yersiniosis cases in England, with possibly important changes in the epidemiology. The apparently low incidence of yersiniosis in England is probably due to limited laboratory testing
Influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients: systematic review and meta-analysis from a public health policy perspective.
Immunocompromised patients are vulnerable to severe or complicated influenza infection. Vaccination is widely recommended for this group. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients in terms of preventing influenza-like illness and laboratory confirmed influenza, serological response and adverse events
Influenza vaccination for immunocompromised patients: summary of a systematic review and meta-analysis
Vaccination of immunocompromised patients is recommended in many national guidelines to protect against severe or complicated influenza infection. However, due to uncertainties over the evidence base, implementation is frequently patchy and dependent on individual clinical discretion. We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis to assess the evidence for influenza vaccination in this patient group. Healthcare databases and grey literature were searched and screened for eligibility. Data extraction and assessments of risk of bias were undertaken in duplicate, and results were synthesised narratively and using meta‐analysis where possible. Our data show that whilst the serological response following vaccination of immunocompromised patients is less vigorous than in healthy controls, clinical protection is still meaningful, with only mild variation in adverse events between aetiological groups. Although we encountered significant clinical and statistical heterogeneity in many of our meta‐analyses, we advocate that immunocompromised patients should be targeted for influenza vaccination
Volumetric Titrations Using Electrolytically Generated Reagents for the Determination of Ascorbic Acid and Iron in Dietary Supplement Tablets: An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment
A stochastic analysis of catalyst deactivation in presence of external transfer limitations
The paper analyzes the simplest case of concentration independent deactivation of a catalyst surface in the presence of external transport limitations and accounts for the variations around the mean value of the activity of the catalysts leading to a stochastic formulation. The results reveal interesting features which would not be evident from the conventional deterministic analysis
Role of external white and nonwhite poisson noise in the behaviour of chemically reacting systems: the case of single variable multistationary systems
The present paper analyses some common forms of the rate function to assess the influence of white and nonwhite Poisson noise on the behaviour of reacting systems. The results afford a comparison with the corresponding results for the case of Gaussian noise and show the variations between the two types of noise. The first example analysed shows the opposing influences of the intensity of Gaussian and Poisson noise in bringing about a noise-induced transition in the system, while the second shows that the new transitions, not permissible in the case of white Gaussian noise, can be induced due to Poisson noise. The role of time-correlation effects of the two types of noise has also been analysed and discussed
A stochastic approach to the analysis of chemically reacting systems-VII. Influence of external noise on the behaviour of a fluid bed with nonlinear reaction rates
The basic model of Ligon and Amundson (1981, Chem. Engng Sci.36, 653-660) has been employed to assess the influence of white and nonwhite external noise on the behaviour of a fluidized bed where nonlinear reaction occurs. The paper presents a self-consistent linearization scheme for such problems and illustrates its use by considering an example. The analysis gives a quick and easy solution for such complex cases. The analysis for other examples indicates that white and coloured (or nonwhite) noise have different effects on the reactor's behaviour and also reveals that the presence of noise destroys features such as multistationary behaviour which exists in the absence of noise