Fungemia and other invasive fungal infections in Icelandic children. A nationwide study

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenIntroduction: Invasive fungal infections are increasing in incidence. Among those who are at increased risk of fungal blood stream infections (fungemia) and disseminated fungal infections are premature infants and immunosuppressed children. These infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Invasive fungal infections have not yet been studied in Iceland. Material and methods: We studied all cases of fungemia and/or disseminated fungal infections in Icelandic children (16 years) during a 20 year period. Histopathology reports and autopsies were reviewed. Information on predisposing factors, symptoms, treatment and outcome was collected. All obtainable fungal blood stream isolates were subcultured and their susceptibility to common antifungals determined. Results: In the 20 year period from 1980-1999, 19 episodes of invasive fungal infections were diagnosed in 18 infants and children in Iceland. Twelve episodes of fungemia occured in 11 children and the nationwide annual incidence increased from 0.28 to 1.90 cases/100,000/year (p=0.037) during the study period. Half of the children were premature infants. All patients had a central venous catheter at the time of blood culture and most had received intravenous antibiotics or corticosteroids. Candida albicans was the most commonly isolated species (nine of 12 episodes, 75%). In addition to patients with fungemia, three children were diagnosed with disseminated fungal infection by histology or autopsy. Two cases of fungal meningitis, without fungemia, were identified. Furthermore, two children had invasive infections with Aspergillus fumigatus and both patients survived. Three children (3/16; 19%) with invasive Candida-infections died. Conclusions: In this study of invasive fungal infections among Icelandic children we demonstrate that the incidence of fungemia has risen significantly in the past 20 years. Diagnosis of invasive fungal infections can be complicated and negative blood cultures do not exclude disseminated infection. Given the high attributable mortality, timely diagnosis and aggressive treatment is extremely important.Inngangur: Tíðni ífarandi sveppasýkinga fer vaxandi víðast hvar í hinum vestræna heimi. Fyrirburar og ónæmisbæld börn eru í hættu á að fá blóðsýkingar af völdum sveppa og í kjölfarið dreifðar sýkingar. Sýkingar af þessum toga hafa í för með sér háa dánartíðni. Þær hafa ekki verið rannsakaðar hjá börnum hérlendis. Efniviður og aðferðir: Farið var yfir sjúkraskrár allra barna 16 ára og yngri á Íslandi er greindust með blóðsýkingar og/eða dreifðar sýkingar af völdum ger- og myglusveppa á árunum 1980-1999. Niðurstöður krufninga og vefjarannsókna voru einnig kannaðar. Skráðar voru upplýsingar um áhættuþætti, einkenni, meðferð og afdrif sjúklinga. Allir tiltækir sveppastofnar voru ræktaðir og næmi þeirra fyrir sveppalyfjum kannað. Niðurstöður: Alls greindust 18 börn með 19 ífarandi sveppasýkingar á þessu 20 ára tímabili. Tólf blóðsýkingar greindust hjá 11 börnum og jókst nýgengið marktækt á rannsóknartímabilinu úr 0,28 í 1,90 sýkingar á 100.000 börn á ári (p=0,037). Tæpur helmingur barna með blóðsýkingu voru fyrirburar. Öll börn með sannaða blóðsýkingu voru með djúpa æðaleggi og flest höfðu fengið næringu í æð, sýklalyf og barkstera. Candida albicans ræktaðist í níu tilvikum af 12 (75%). Þrjú börn af 11 fengu dreifða sýkingu. Til viðbótar greindust þrjú börn með dreifða Candida sýkingu við krufningu eða vefjarannsókn. Að auki fengu tvö börn heilahimnubólgu af völdum Candida albicans án sannaðrar blóðsýkingar. Tvö börn greindust með ífarandi sýkingar af völdum myglusveppsins Aspergillus fumigatus og læknuðust þau bæði. Þrjú börn af þeim 16 sem fengu ífarandi Candida sýkingar létust. Ályktanir: Þessi rannsókn á ífarandi sveppasýkingum hjá börnum er sú fyrsta er nær til heillar þjóðar. Veruleg hækkun hefur orðið á nýgengi sveppasýkinga í blóði hjá börnum hérlendis á síðastliðnum 20 árum. Greining alvarlegra sveppasýkinga er oft torveld og neikvæð blóðræktun útilokar ekki dreifða sýkingu. Í ljósi hækkandi nýgengis og hárrar dánartíðni er mikilvægt að hafa umræddar greiningar í huga hjá mikið veikum börnum

Illness severity and risk of mental morbidities among patients recovering from COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in the Icelandic population.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadObjective: To test if patients recovering from COVID-19 are at increased risk of mental morbidities and to what extent such risk is exacerbated by illness severity. Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. Setting: Iceland. Participants: A total of 22 861 individuals were recruited through invitations to existing nationwide cohorts and a social media campaign from 24 April to 22 July 2020, of which 373 were patients recovering from COVID-19. Main outcome measures: Symptoms of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder Scale) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; modified Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5) above screening thresholds. Adjusting for multiple covariates and comorbidities, multivariable Poisson regression was used to assess the association between COVID-19 severity and mental morbidities. Results: Compared with individuals without a diagnosis of COVID-19, patients recovering from COVID-19 had increased risk of depression (22.1% vs 16.2%; adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.48, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.82) and PTSD (19.5% vs 15.6%; aRR 1.38, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.75) but not anxiety (13.1% vs 11.3%; aRR 1.24, 95% CI 0.93 to 1.64). Elevated relative risks were limited to patients recovering from COVID-19 that were 40 years or older and were particularly high among individuals with university education. Among patients recovering from COVID-19, symptoms of depression were particularly common among those in the highest, compared with the lowest tertile of influenza-like symptom burden (47.1% vs 5.8%; aRR 6.42, 95% CI 2.77 to 14.87), among patients confined to bed for 7 days or longer compared with those never confined to bed (33.3% vs 10.9%; aRR 3.67, 95% CI 1.97 to 6.86) and among patients hospitalised for COVID-19 compared with those never admitted to hospital (48.1% vs 19.9%; aRR 2.72, 95% CI 1.67 to 4.44). Conclusions: Severe disease course is associated with increased risk of depression and PTSD among patients recovering from COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19; epidemiology; mental health; public health.Icelandic government NordFors

Molecular Typing of Beta-Hemolytic Streptococci from Two Patients with Lower-Limb Cellulitis: Identical Isolates from Toe Web and Blood Specimens▿

Intertriginous toe webs harboring cellulitis-causing bacteria constitute a risk factor for lower-limb cellulitis. Molecular typing of Streptococcus pyogenes and S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis isolates from blood and toe webs of two cellulitis patients revealed identical strains for each species. This finding supports the role of toe webs as a potential site of entry for cellulitis pathogens

Case of the month: a red eye that resisted conventional treatment [case reports]

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)Rúmlega tvítugur, áður hraustur, karlmaður leitaði til heimilislæknis vegna verkja og roða í vinstra auga. Hann notaði augnlinsur að staðaldri. Hafin var meðferð með augndropum sem innihéldu hýdrókortisón, terramycín og polymyxín B, í vinstra auga. Tveimur vikum síðar voru engin merki um bata og leitaði hann því aftur læknis sem ávísaði augnsmyrsli með sýklalyfjum. Einkenni létu ekki undan og var honum þá vísað til augnlæknis sem framkvæmdi nákvæma augnskoðun. Sáust þá hvítir blettir á hornhimnu (mynd 1) sem fór fjölgandi næstu vikuna og mynduðu hring á hornhimnunni (mynd 2).

Case of the month: a red eye that resisted conventional treatment [case reports]

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn Skoða/Opna(view/open)Rúmlega tvítugur, áður hraustur, karlmaður leitaði til heimilislæknis vegna verkja og roða í vinstra auga. Hann notaði augnlinsur að staðaldri. Hafin var meðferð með augndropum sem innihéldu hýdrókortisón, terramycín og polymyxín B, í vinstra auga. Tveimur vikum síðar voru engin merki um bata og leitaði hann því aftur læknis sem ávísaði augnsmyrsli með sýklalyfjum. Einkenni létu ekki undan og var honum þá vísað til augnlæknis sem framkvæmdi nákvæma augnskoðun. Sáust þá hvítir blettir á hornhimnu (mynd 1) sem fór fjölgandi næstu vikuna og mynduðu hring á hornhimnunni (mynd 2).

Chlamydia trachomatis in iceland : Prevalence, clinico-epidemiological features and comparison of cobas 480 ct/ng and aptima combo 2 (ct/ng) for diagnosis

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Medical Journals/Acta D-V. All rights reserved.The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of, and risk factors for, Chlamydia trachomatis in at-tendees recruited prospectively from October 2018 to January 2019 at the only sexually transmitted infections clinic in Iceland (in Reykjavík), and to eva-luate the cobas 4800 CT/NG Test and Aptima Combo 2 Assay for C. trachomatis detection in male urine and female vaginal swabs. Prevalence of C. trachomatis was 15.8% among 487 women and 13.6% among 491 men (no Neisseria gonorrhoeae positive patients were found). C. trachomatis detection was independently and positively associated with being tested for contact tracing, 18–24 years of age, and reporting ≥ 6 sexual partners within 12 months. Reporting sex with non-residents of Iceland was associated with a lower risk of C. trachomatis infection. Both assays had a high sen-sitivity in detection of C. trachomatis (Aptima Combo 2: 100%; cobas 4800 CT/NG: 95.1%) and high speci-ficity (100% and 99.6%, respectively). The high local prevalence of C. trachomatis and increased acquisition risk following sex with residents are of public health concern.Peer reviewe

Fungemia and other invasive fungal infections in Icelandic children. A nationwide study

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenIntroduction: Invasive fungal infections are increasing in incidence. Among those who are at increased risk of fungal blood stream infections (fungemia) and disseminated fungal infections are premature infants and immunosuppressed children. These infections are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Invasive fungal infections have not yet been studied in Iceland. Material and methods: We studied all cases of fungemia and/or disseminated fungal infections in Icelandic children (16 years) during a 20 year period. Histopathology reports and autopsies were reviewed. Information on predisposing factors, symptoms, treatment and outcome was collected. All obtainable fungal blood stream isolates were subcultured and their susceptibility to common antifungals determined. Results: In the 20 year period from 1980-1999, 19 episodes of invasive fungal infections were diagnosed in 18 infants and children in Iceland. Twelve episodes of fungemia occured in 11 children and the nationwide annual incidence increased from 0.28 to 1.90 cases/100,000/year (p=0.037) during the study period. Half of the children were premature infants. All patients had a central venous catheter at the time of blood culture and most had received intravenous antibiotics or corticosteroids. Candida albicans was the most commonly isolated species (nine of 12 episodes, 75%). In addition to patients with fungemia, three children were diagnosed with disseminated fungal infection by histology or autopsy. Two cases of fungal meningitis, without fungemia, were identified. Furthermore, two children had invasive infections with Aspergillus fumigatus and both patients survived. Three children (3/16; 19%) with invasive Candida-infections died. Conclusions: In this study of invasive fungal infections among Icelandic children we demonstrate that the incidence of fungemia has risen significantly in the past 20 years. Diagnosis of invasive fungal infections can be complicated and negative blood cultures do not exclude disseminated infection. Given the high attributable mortality, timely diagnosis and aggressive treatment is extremely important.Inngangur: Tíðni ífarandi sveppasýkinga fer vaxandi víðast hvar í hinum vestræna heimi. Fyrirburar og ónæmisbæld börn eru í hættu á að fá blóðsýkingar af völdum sveppa og í kjölfarið dreifðar sýkingar. Sýkingar af þessum toga hafa í för með sér háa dánartíðni. Þær hafa ekki verið rannsakaðar hjá börnum hérlendis. Efniviður og aðferðir: Farið var yfir sjúkraskrár allra barna 16 ára og yngri á Íslandi er greindust með blóðsýkingar og/eða dreifðar sýkingar af völdum ger- og myglusveppa á árunum 1980-1999. Niðurstöður krufninga og vefjarannsókna voru einnig kannaðar. Skráðar voru upplýsingar um áhættuþætti, einkenni, meðferð og afdrif sjúklinga. Allir tiltækir sveppastofnar voru ræktaðir og næmi þeirra fyrir sveppalyfjum kannað. Niðurstöður: Alls greindust 18 börn með 19 ífarandi sveppasýkingar á þessu 20 ára tímabili. Tólf blóðsýkingar greindust hjá 11 börnum og jókst nýgengið marktækt á rannsóknartímabilinu úr 0,28 í 1,90 sýkingar á 100.000 börn á ári (p=0,037). Tæpur helmingur barna með blóðsýkingu voru fyrirburar. Öll börn með sannaða blóðsýkingu voru með djúpa æðaleggi og flest höfðu fengið næringu í æð, sýklalyf og barkstera. Candida albicans ræktaðist í níu tilvikum af 12 (75%). Þrjú börn af 11 fengu dreifða sýkingu. Til viðbótar greindust þrjú börn með dreifða Candida sýkingu við krufningu eða vefjarannsókn. Að auki fengu tvö börn heilahimnubólgu af völdum Candida albicans án sannaðrar blóðsýkingar. Tvö börn greindust með ífarandi sýkingar af völdum myglusveppsins Aspergillus fumigatus og læknuðust þau bæði. Þrjú börn af þeim 16 sem fengu ífarandi Candida sýkingar létust. Ályktanir: Þessi rannsókn á ífarandi sveppasýkingum hjá börnum er sú fyrsta er nær til heillar þjóðar. Veruleg hækkun hefur orðið á nýgengi sveppasýkinga í blóði hjá börnum hérlendis á síðastliðnum 20 árum. Greining alvarlegra sveppasýkinga er oft torveld og neikvæð blóðræktun útilokar ekki dreifða sýkingu. Í ljósi hækkandi nýgengis og hárrar dánartíðni er mikilvægt að hafa umræddar greiningar í huga hjá mikið veikum börnum

Advances in lung cancer diagnosis and treatment - a review

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadLungnakrabbamein er annað algengasta krabbameinið á Íslandi hjá konum og þriðja hjá körlum. Þótt hægt hafi á nýgengi sjúkdómsins á undanförnum árum dregur ekkert krabbamein fleiri Íslendinga til dauða. Einkenni lungnakrabbameins geta verið staðbundin en eru oftar almenns eðlis og á það stóran þátt í hversu margir sjúklingar greinast með útbreiddan sjúkdóm. Á síðustu árum hafa orðið miklar framfarir í greiningu og meðferð lungnakrabbameins. Tilkoma jáeindaskanna og berkjuómspeglunar hafa bætt stigun sjúkdómsins og gert meðferð markvissari. Lungnaskurðaðgerðir með brjóstholssjá hafa stytt legutíma og fækkað fylgikvillum, auk þess sem nýjungar í geislameðferð nýtast betur sjúklingum sem ekki er treyst í skurðaðgerð. Mestar nýjungar hafa þó orðið í lyfjameðferð útbreidds lungnakrabbameins. Þar hafa öflug líftæknilyf komið til sögunnar sem gera kleift að klæðskerasauma meðferðina út frá mælingum á stökkbreytingum og lífmörkum í æxlunum. Loks hafa nýlegar skimunarrannsóknir með lágskammta tölvusneiðmyndum sýnt marktæka lækkun á dánartíðni. Hér eru helstu nýjungar í greiningu og meðferð lungnakrabbameins reifaðar með hliðsjón af þeim framförum sem orðið hafa og er sérstaklega vísað til íslenskra rannsókna.Lung cancer is the second and third most common cancer in Iceland for females and males, respectively. Although the incidence is declining, lung cancer still has the highest mortality of all cancers in Iceland. Symptoms of lung cancer can be specific and localized to the lungs, but more commonly they are unspecific and result in significant diagnostic delay. Therefore, majority of lung cancer patients are diagnosed with non-localized disease. In recent years, major developments have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Positive emission scanning (PET) and both transbroncial (EBUS) or transesophageal ultrasound (EUS) biopsy techniques have resulted in improved mediastinal staging of the disease and minimal invasive video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has lowered postoperative complications and shortened hospital stay. Technical developments in radiotherapy have benefitted those patients who are not candidates for curative surgery. Finally, and most importantly, recent advances in targeted chemotherapeutics and development of immunomodulating agents have made individual tailoring of treatment possible. Recent screening-trials with low-dose computed tomography show promising results in lowering mortality. This evidence-based review focuses on the most important developments in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, and includes Icelandic studies in the field