Urological infections after endourological procedures

In the past two decades, endourological procedures such as ureteroscopy (URS) and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) have become the mainstay of managing kidney stone disease (KSD), with URS also used for investigating upper urinary tract lesions. Post-endourological infections affect between 1% and 6% of cases. Numerous risk factors have been identified, including longer operative times and indwelling ureteric stents, but the literature is largely heterogeneous. Identification of risk factors preoperatively include the use of pre-operative urine culture, minimizing stent dwell time and targeted antibiotic use. Intraoperatively, efforts need to be made in minimizing operative times and intra-renal pressures. Although rare, urinary tract infections following endourological procedures remain a risk, with a smaller minority developing potentially deadly urosepsis. Clinical decisions on prevention and treatment of severe sepsis have to be individualized based on the risk factors. Machine learning techniques are currently being utilized to build these tools and might provide an answer in the future.     

The role of immune correlates of protection on the pathway to licensure,policy decision and use of group B Streptococcus vaccines for maternal immunization: considerations from World Health Organization consultations

The development of a group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine for maternal immunization constitutes a global public health priority, to prevent GBS-associated early life invasive disease, stillbirth, premature birth, maternal sepsis, adverse neurodevelopmental consequences, and to reduce perinatal antibiotic use. Sample size requirements for the conduct of a randomized placebo-controlled trial to assess vaccine efficacy against the most relevant clinical endpoints, under conditions of appropriate ethical standards of care, constitute a significant obstacle on the pathway to vaccine availability. Alternatively, indirect evidence of protection based on immunologic data from vaccine and sero-epidemiological studies, complemented by data from opsonophagocytic in vitro assays and animal models, could be considered as pivotal data for licensure, with subsequent confirmation of effectiveness against disease outcomes in post-licensure evaluations. Based on discussions initiated by the World Health Organization we present key considerations about the potential role of correlates of protection towards an accelerated pathway for GBS vaccine licensure and wide scale use. Priority activities to support progress to regulatory and policy decision are outlined.     

化瘀解毒汤对脓毒血症APACHEⅡ评分、ISTH DIC评分及外周血树突状细胞表面物质表达水平的影响

目的探讨化瘀解毒汤对脓毒血症患者APACHEⅡ评分、ISTH DIC评分及外周血树突状细胞表面物质表达水平的影响。方法将66例脓毒症患者随机分为对照组和化瘀解毒组,每组33例。对照组给予抗感染、补充血容量、积极治疗原发疾病、吸氧等综合治疗,化瘀解毒组在上述基础上加用化瘀解毒汤治疗,每日1剂,持续治疗2周。检测血清炎症因子[白细胞介素-6(IL-6)、肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、降钙素原(PCT)]水平变化,应用急性生理与慢性健康状况评分Ⅱ(APACHEⅡ)、DIC评分评估脓毒症患者病情严重程度,应用流式细胞仪分析树突状细胞相关表面分子CD80、CD83、CD86表达情况,比较临床疗效。结果与治疗前比较,两组血清IL-6、TNF-α、PCT水平均降低(P<0.01),APACHEⅡ评分、ISTH DIC评分均降低(P<0.01),CD80、CD86水平均降低(P<0.01),CD83水平无差异(P>0.05);与对照组比较,化瘀解毒组血清IL-6、TNF-α、PCT水平均较低(P<0.01),APACHEⅡ评分、ISTH DIC评分均较低(P<0.01),CD80、CD86水平均较低(P<0.01),总有效率较高(P<0.01)。结论化瘀解毒汤辅助治疗脓毒血症疗效显著,可有效降低APACHEⅡ评分、ISTH DIC评分,可能与调节外周血树突状细胞表面物质表达有关。     

“从肠论治”脓毒症截断扭转防治策略的理论与实践

脓毒症是机体应对感染失控反应所致威胁生命的器官功能障碍,其病死率居高不下,全球大约每年大约有530万患者死亡,故深入探究脓毒症的发病机制和寻找有效的治疗药物是目前医学界的重要课题。中医药治疗脓毒症具有潜在优势,本团队在继承朱良春国医大师、国家非物质文化遗产“顾氏外科”奠基人顾伯华教授学术经验基础上,通过临床实践,首次提出"从肠论治”截断扭转防治脓毒症策略,为中医药治疗脓毒症提供了新的思路。     

Efectividad de la autotoma del exudado vaginorrectal para el cribado prenatal de la infección por Streptococcus agalactiae. Estudio GALL

ObjetiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of vagino-rectal swab autotomy for prenatal screening for GBS infection and to identify the barriers and facilitators encountered by the pregnant woman for this intervention.DesignCross-sectional study of diagnostic tests.Participants and siteA total of 213 pregnant women who attended the primary care midwife's office in 6 health centers of the Basque Health Service/Osakidetza in Bizkaia, who met the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate in the study, participated in the study.Main measurementsThe result of the vagino-rectal culture obtained by the pregnant woman was compared with the result of the vagino-rectal culture taken by the midwife in consultation on the same day, and the barriers and facilitators encountered by the women in the self-test were collected.ResultsSelf-testing as a test for GBS was found to have a sensitivity of 93.3% (95% CI 78.7–98.2), a specificity of 99.4% (95% CI 96.5–99.9), a positive predictive value of 96% (95% CI 82.8–99.4) and a negative predictive value of 98.8% (95% CI 95.6–99.7). 27.3% of respondents encountered some difficulty in the collection, only 4.8% did not feel qualified, 84.2% felt comfortable, 99.5% considered the information provided to be adequate and complete, 94.7% did not find the steps to follow complicated, and 96% were satisfied with the study.ConclusionsSelf-collection of vagino-rectal exudate for GBS detection has proved to be valid and reliable, which would make it possible to offer this option to pregnant women in the systematic screening for GBS infection.     

Interleukin-6 serum levels predict surgical intervention in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis

Background

Symptoms at suspicion of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) are often nonspecific and several biomarkers have been evaluated for their discriminative power to both diagnose and predict the course from NEC suspicion to complicated disease requiring surgical intervention. Thus, we aimed to assess the utility of interleukin-6 (IL-6) to predict surgical intervention in infants suffering from NEC and, furthermore, to discriminate infants with starting NEC or late-onset sepsis (LOS).