Enteric Fever

The records of 104 patients with culture-proven enteric fever were reviewed and evaluated as to the clinical signs, laboratory findings, pathologic features and complications of the disease. One patient with fatal disseminated intravascular coagulation and enteric fever is also presented. Fever and bradycardia were the leading clinical signs followed by splenomegaly, hepatomegaly and rose spots. The principal complications of enteric fever included anemia, typhoid hepatitis, relapse and bleeding. Evidence of typhoid hepatitis was present in 30% of the patients tested. The pathology consisted of typhoid nodules of variable frequency and size depending upon the severity of the condition. The relationship of typhoid hepatitis to relapse seems to be more than coincidental as four out of seven patients who had relapse had abnormal liver tests. The occurrence of disseminated intravascular coagulation in enteric fever is rare; however, awareness of such a potential complication may be life-saving to the patient.     

Poor food hygiene and housing as risk factors for typhoid fever in Semarang, Indonesia

To identify risk factors for typhoid fever in Semarang city and its surroundings, 75 culture-proven typhoid fever patients discharged 2 weeks earlier from hospital and 75 controls were studied. Control subjects were neighbours of cases with no history of typhoid fever, not family members, randomly selected and matched for gender and age. Both cases and controls were interviewed at home by the same trained interviewer using a standardized questionnaire. A structured observation of their living environment inside and outside the house was performed during the visit and home drinking water samples were tested bacteriologically. Univariate analysis showed the following risk factors for typhoid fever: never or rarely washing hands before eating (OR = 3.28; 95% CI = 1.41-7.65); eating outdoors at least once a week (OR = 3.00; 95% CI = 1.09-8.25); eating outdoors at a street food stall or mobile food vendor (OR = 3.86; 95% CI = 1.30-11.48); consuming ice cubes in beverage in the 2-week period before getting ill (OR = 3.00, 95% CI = 1.09-8.25) and buying ice cubes from a street vendor (OR = 5.82; 95% CI = 1.69-20.12). Water quality and living environment of cases were worse than that of controls, e.g. cases less often used clean water for taking a bath (OR = 6.50; 95% CI = 1.47-28.80), for brushing teeth (OR = 4.33; 95% CI = 1.25-15.20) and for drinking (OR = 3.67; 95% CI = 1.02-13.14). Cases tended to live in houses without water supply from the municipal network (OR=11.00; 95% CI = 1.42-85.2), with open sewers (OR = 2.80; 95% CI = 1.0-7.77) and without tiles in the kitchen (OR = 2.67; 95% CI = 1.04-6.81). Multivariate analysis showed that living in a house without water supply from the municipal network (OR = 29.18; 95% CI = 2.12-400.8) and with open sewers (OR = 7.19; 95% CI = 1.33-38.82) was associated with typhoid fever. Never or rarely washing hands before eating (OR = 3.97; 95% CI = 1.22-12.93) and being unemployed or having a part-time job (OR = 31.3; 95% CI = 3.08-317.4) also were risk factors. In this population typhoid fever was associated with poor housing and inadequate food and personal hygiene.     

Association between Helicobacter pylori infection and increased risk of typhoid fever

Helicobacter pylori infection has been reported to increase the risk of cholera. This nested case-control study was conducted to determine whether H. pylori infection is associated with occurrence of typhoid fever. Eighty-three case subjects of culture-proven typhoid fever were identified through a 1-year surveillance of subjects aged 0-40 years in an urban slum. Two age- and sex-matched neighborhood control subjects were concurrently selected for each case subject. Serum anti-H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies were measured in case and neighborhood control subjects. For determining other risk factors, 2 additional community control subjects per case were selected. There was a significant association between the presence of serum anti-H. pylori immunoglobulin G antibodies and typhoid fever (adjusted odds ratio, 2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-4.01). Illiteracy, being part of a nuclear family, nonuse of soap, and consumption of ice cream were also associated with a significantly greater risk of typhoid fever. This study provides the first empiric evidence that H. pylori infection is associated with an increased risk of typhoid fever.     

Culture-confirmed typhoid fever and pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: The relationship between pregnancy and typhoid fever is not well defined. The objective of this study was twofold: to assess the effect of the pregnant and postpartum host on typhoid disease expression, and to explore the relationship between typhoid fever and pregnancy outcome. METHODS: Over an 11-year period, all 181 adult women with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever admitted to a university hospital in Karachi, Pakistan were studied; those with pregnancy-related disease were compared to the non-pregnant women. The relationship between typhoid fever and pregnancy outcome was evaluated by comparing 80 pregnant women with typhoid, with 194 randomly selected pregnant women without typhoid who were matched for age and study year. RESULTS: In adult females with bacteremic typhoid disease, a significant proportion was pregnancy-related (47%). These women were less likely to have other co-morbid illnesses (2% vs. 27%, p<0.001) and were almost exclusively treated with ampicillin/amoxicillin or third-generation cephalosporins, while the non-pregnant women with typhoid fever preferentially received quinolones. The mean duration of antimicrobial therapy was similar in both groups (14 days) but the non-pregnant group defervesced earlier (4.2 days vs. 5.6 days, p=0.011). Complications of typhoid fever were significantly more likely in the non-pregnant group (23% vs. 8%, p=0.005) and primarily involved lower gastrointestinal bleeding. On comparing the pregnant women with typhoid with randomly selected age-matched pregnant women without typhoid, there were no apparent effects of typhoid fever on pregnancy outcome as measured by gestational age at delivery, pregnancy complications, modes of delivery, neonate gender, birth weight, or birth Apgar scores. CONCLUSIONS: While pregnancy is a risk factor for and effects typhoid disease expression, typhoid fever does not appear to affect pregnancy outcome.     

Prediction of complications following nonemergency percutaneous coronary interventions

Previous models for prediction of complications after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) have included in-hospital mortality and major in-hospital complications. In general, these models have excluded elevated cardiac biomarkers as a complication. We sought to determine whether a risk model could predict complications, including biomarker elevation, in patients undergoing nonemergency PCI. We examined the outcomes of nonemergency PCI performed on patients at Mayo Clinic from 2000 to 2003. The primary end point was in-hospital complications of death, myocardial infarction (MI) (Q-wave MI, or post-PCI creatine kinase-MB elevation >or=3 times the upper limit of normal), emergency coronary artery bypass grafting, or stroke. We used the Hosmer-Lemeshow test to demonstrate the adequacy of the model fit, and the c-index for discriminatory ability of the model. Of 2,894 nonemergency PCIs, the end point was noted in 232 (8%). The final prediction model included vein graft intervention (odds ratio [OR] 2.19), angiographic thrombus (OR 2.12), preprocedure stenosis of a minor (OR 1.98) or major (OR 1.62) side branch, and type C lesion (OR 1.48). The model had modest ability to discriminate between event and nonevent patients (c = 0.641). In the 500 bootstrap samples for internal validation, the c-index was 0.642 +/- 0.020, indicating only fair discriminatory ability. The average number of observed events was 232.0 +/- 14.7 compared with 232.1 +/- 2.5 expected events (average difference -0.06 +/- 14.5). In conclusion, the 5 risk variables associated with an increased risk of complications in patients undergoing elective PCI included vein graft intervention, presence of angiographic thrombus, stenosis of a major or minor side branch, and type C lesion; however, the discriminatory ability of the model derived from the variables was only modest.     

Blood culture confirmed typhoid fever in a provincial hospital in the Philippines

Epidemiological features of blood culture confirmed typhoid fever and antibiotic sensitivity of isolated Salmonella typhi strains were investigated in Bohol Province in Central Philippines from where no earlier information of these was avialable. Typhoid fever is endemic elsewhere in the Philippines (eg Metropolitan Manila and surroundings) where also multidrug resistant S. typhi strains have been detected. A laboratory for surveillance of invasive bacterial infections was established in a tertiary care government hospital, in Bohol, Central Philippines, in 1994. Patients with suspected typhoid fever or other serious infection were managed and blood cultures from them were taken according to clinicians' judgment. Blood cultures were processed and the isolated bacteria identified using generally accepted methods. S. typhi and other Salmonella isolates were identified using commercial antisera. Patient data were collected from hospital records. Of a total of 4,699 blood cultures done during a period of 3 3/4 years, 1,530 (32%) were requested for suspected typhoid fever. S. typhi was the most common pathogen isolated from 422 patients (8.9%), followed by S. paratyphi A from 55 patients (1%). Most patients were young adults (43%) and school age children (28%). Male:female ratio was 1.5:1. Among the 422 patients, there were 9 (2%) deaths due to typhoid fever, all with complications. All S. typhi isolates were sensitive to chloramphenicol, cotrimoxazole, and ampicillin. Our observation on blood culture confirmed typhoid fever demonstrates its importance as a major infectious disease in Bohol and gives a sound basis for treatment of typhoid patients and for further clinical and epidemiologic studies of typhoid fever and for following antibiotic sensitivity of S. typhi in Bohol and elsewhere in the Philippines.     

Epidemiology and risk factors for endemic typhoid fever in Uzbekistan

BACKGROUND: To investigate the risk factors for infection with endemic typhoid fever in the Samarkand region of Uzbekistan. METHODS: Case-control study of culture-confirmed bloodstream infection with Salmonella Typhi. Patients were compared to age-matched community controls. Salmonella Typhi isolates were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility. RESULTS: We enrolled 97 patients and 192 controls. The median age of patients was 19 years. In a conditional regression model, consumption of unboiled surface water outside the home [adjusted odds ratio (aOR)=3.0, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.1-8.2], use of antimicrobials in the 2 weeks preceding onset of symptoms (aOR=12.2, 95% CI 4.0-37.0), and being a student (aOR=4.0, 95% CI 1.4-11.3) were independently associated with typhoid fever. Routinely washing vegetables (aOR 0.06, 95% CI 0.02-0.2) and dining at a tea-house (aOR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-1.0) were associated with protection against illness. Salmonella Typhi resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole was identified in 6 (15%) of 41 isolates tested. CONCLUSIONS: Endemic typhoid fever in Uzbekistan is transmitted by contaminated water. Recent use of antimicrobials also increased risk of infection. Targeted efforts at improving drinking water quality, especially for students and young adults, are likely to decrease transmission of typhoid fever. Measures to decrease the unnecessary use of antimicrobials would be expected to reduce the risk of typhoid fever and decrease the spread of multiple drug-resistant Salmonella Typhi.     

Rapid diagnosis of typhoid fever by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection of Salmonella serotype typhi antigens in urine

We developed and evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies to capture somatic antigen 9 (O9), flagellar antigen d (Hd), and the Vi capsular polysaccharide antigen (Vi) from the urine of persons with and without typhoid fever. Sequential urine samples were collected from 44 patients with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever and from two control groups. The first control group included patients with brucellosis (n = 12) and those with clinically diagnosed, non-typhoid, acute, febrile illness (n = 27). The second control group was a sample of healthy volunteer laboratory workers (n = 11). When assessed relative to date of fever onset, sensitivity was highest during the first week for all three antigens: Vi was detected in the urine of nine (100%) patients, O9 in 4 (44%) patients, and Hd in 4 (44%) patients. Sequential testing of two urine samples from the same patient improved test sensitivity. Combined testing for Vi with O9 and Hd produced a trend towards increased sensitivity without compromising specificity. The specificity for Vi exceeded 90% when assessed among both febrile and healthy control subjects, but was only 25% when assessed among patients with brucellosis. Detection of urinary Vi antigen with this ELISA shows promise for the diagnosis of typhoid fever, particularly when used within the first week after fever onset. However, positive reactions for Vi antigen in patients with brucellosis must be understood before urinary Vi antigen detection can be developed further as a useful rapid diagnostic test.     

Detection of Salmonella typhi by nested polymerase chain reaction in blood, urine, and stool samples

A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi was used for the detection of the pathogen in blood, urine, and stool samples from 131 patients with clinical suspicion of typhoid fever. The sensitivity of blood culture, the PCRs with blood, urine, and feces, and the Widal test were 61.8%, 84.5%, 69.3%, 46.9%, and 39.0%, respectively. The sensitivity of the PCRs with blood (P < 0.001) and urine (P = 0.01) were significantly higher, and the sensitivity of the PCR with feces (P > 0.05) was similar to that of blood culture. Combined, the PCRs on urine and feces showed positive results for 16 (70%) of 23 typhoid patients with negative results with blood culture and PCR with blood. These results show that the PCR with blood is a sensitive method for the diagnosis of typhoid fever, and that the PCRs with urine and feces could be useful complementary tests.     

Open study on efficacy and safety of levofloxacin in treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever

The main objective of this study was to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of levofloxacin in an open setting for typhoid fever cases. Patients with clinical signs and symptoms of typhoid fever without previous antimicrobial treatment admitted to affiliated hospitals of the Faculty of Medicine, University Indonesia were included in this study. Adults, 18 years or above, were screened for any serious underlying conditions, pregnancy or possible complications of typhoid fever before final enrollment. Fifty-three subjects were screened, 48 were enrolled. The final diagnosis of enteric fever was made by positive blood culture, polymerase chain reaction or serology, was obtained in 31 cases, in whom one had a concomitant sinus infection and had to be excluded. Thirty patients (11 males, 19 females) aged between 18-58 years (mean 31.7 years) with a history of fever between 1 and 10 days (mean 6.1 days) showed excellent clinical response, becoming afebrile at an average of 2.43 days (range 1-5 days). Adverse effects noted were nausea in 4 patients, vomiting in one and meteorism in another one, which were all difficult to distinguish from the enteric infection. A pruritic rash occurring in two patients may be related to levofloxacin, and insomnia in another patient may be related. Microbiological clearance was obtained both immediately after treatment and at one month. No carrier states were detected in the cases positive for Salmonella typhi or paratyphi. None of the treated typhoid fever cases experienced a clinical relapse. In this open study of levofloxacin 500 mg/day for one week in treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever, a 100% clinical efficacy was obtained in 30 patients with minimal adverse reactions warranting more intensive studies for this new indication of an old but well known disease in the developing world.     

Prevalence of typhoid fever in febrile patients with symptoms clinically compatible with typhoid fever in Cameroon

Typhoid fever is difficult to differentiate from other causes of infection such as malaria because their signs and symptoms often overlap. There has been an unprecedented increase in the number of typhoid fever cases diagnosed in Cameroon. Febrile patients are often treated for malaria and typhoid fever simultaneously. This cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of typhoid fever in 200 consecutive patients with fever and symptoms clinically compatible with typhoid fever to verify recent estimates of a high prevalence of typhoid fever in Cameroon. Patients were enrolled in three of the 10 provinces of Cameroon. Blood culture, thick and thin blood smears and Widal tests using acute sera were performed in all cases; stool culture for 120 patients. Typhoid fever was confirmed in only 2.5% as evidenced either by culture (four cases) or high salmonella antibody titres (one case); malaria was diagnosed in 94 (47%) patients. Typhoid fever is not as endemic in Cameroon as recently feared.     

Fever in returned travelers: review of hospital admissions for a 3-year period.

We reviewed 232 consecutive patients admitted to a tertiary-care hospital under the care of an infectious diseases unit for management of febrile illness acquired overseas. A total of 53% presented to hospital within 1 week of return and 96% within 6 months. Malaria was the most common diagnosis (27% of patients), followed by respiratory tract infection (24%), gastroenteritis (14%), dengue fever (8%), and bacterial pneumonia (6%). Pretravel vaccination may have prevented a number of admissions, including influenza (n=11), typhoid fever (n=8) and hepatitis A (n=6). Compared to those who had not traveled to Africa, those who had were 6 times more likely to present with falciparum than nonfalciparum malaria. An itinerary that included Asia was associated with a 13-fold increased risk of dengue, but a lower risk of malaria. Palpable splenomegaly was associated with an 8-fold risk of malaria and hepatomegaly with a 4-fold risk of malaria. As a cause of fever, bacterial pneumonia was > or =5 times more likely in those who were aged >40 years.     

Baseline elevated leukocyte count in peripheral blood is associated with poor survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a prognostic model

PURPOSE: We aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of several baseline variables in stage IIIB-IV non-small cell lung cancer to create a model based on independent prognostic factors. METHODS/RESULTS: A total of 320 patients were treated with last generation chemotherapy regimens. The majority of patients received treatment with cisplatin + gemcitabine or gemcitabine alone if older than 70 years or with an ECOG performance status (PS) = 2. Performance status of 2, squamous histology, number of metastatic sites >2, presence of bone, brain, liver and contralateral lung metastases and elevated leukocyte count in peripheral blood were all statistically significant prognostic factors in univariate analyses whereas the other tested variables (sex, stage, age, presence of adrenal gland and skin metastases) were not. Subsequently, a multivariate Cox's regression analysis identified PS 2 (P < 0.001, hazard ratio 2.57), elevated leukocyte count (P < 0.001, hazard ratio 1.79), squamous histology (P = 0.005, hazard ratio 1.45) and presence of brain metastases (P = 0.035, hazard ratio 1.5) as independent prognostic factors for poor survival. Patients were assigned to one of three risk groups according to the cumulative risk defined as the sum of simplified risk scores of the four independent prognostic factors. Low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients achieved a median survival of 10.2 months (95% confidence interval (CI) 8.9-11.6), 5.1 months (95% CI 4.0-6.2) and 2.8 months (95% CI 0.5-5.2), respectively. The high-risk group encompassed PS 2 patients with two or three adjunctive unfavourable independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Performance status, white blood cells count, histology and brain metastases resulted in our series prognostic factors of survival in NSCLC patients treated with chemotherapy at a multivariate analysis. Leukocyte count resulted the stronger factor after performance status. If prospectly validated, the proposed prognostic model could be useful to stratify performance status 2 patients in specific future trials.     

The Spectrum of Hepatic Injury in Enteric Fever

Thirty six patients with culture-proven enteric fever and 15 patients of fever with etiology other than enteric fever as a control group were studied, with special reference to hepatic dysfunction and its relation to clinical features of the disease. Hepatomegaly was observed in 55% of enteric fever patients, and was slightly more common than splenomegaly (50%). Its incidence in typhoid fever (67%) was three times higher than in paratyphoid fever (22%). Hepatic dysfunction occurred in 55% of cases. Jaundice was noted in only 8% of the cases, whereas hyperbilirubinemia (serum bilirubin greater than 1.8 mg %) was present in 17%. Although hepatic manifestations of enteric fever were mild, a small but important group had sufficient hepatic involvement to mimick the clinical picture seen in viral hepatitis, amebic liver disease, and malaria with jaundice. It may be considered of clinical significance, since enteric hepatitis responds very well to specific therapy.     

The epidemiology of typhoid fever in the Dong Thap Province, Mekong Delta region of Vietnam

A population-based surveillance for typhoid fever was conducted in three rural communes of Dong Thap Province in southern Vietnam (population 28,329) for a 12-month-period starting on December 4, 1995. Cases of typhoid fever were detected by obtaining blood for culture from residents with fever > or = 3 days. Among 658 blood cultures, 56 (8.5%) were positive for Salmonella typhi with an overall incidence of 198 per 10(5) population per year. The peak occurrence was at the end of the dry season in March and April. The attack rate was highest among 5-9 year-olds (531/10(5)/year), and lowest in > 30 year-olds (39/10(5)/year). The attack rate was 358/10(5)/year in 2-4 year-olds. The isolation of S. typhi from blood cultures was highest (17.4%) in patients with 5 to 6 days of fever. Typhoid fever is highly endemic in Vietnam and is a significant disease in both preschool and school-aged children.     

Cytokine release by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated whole blood from patients with typhoid fever

The ex vivo cytokine response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of whole blood from patients with typhoid fever was investigated. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha release by LPS-stimulated blood was found to be lower during acute typhoid fever than after a course of antimicrobial therapy (P相似文献   

直肠癌患者术后近期并发症危险因素分析及列线图预测模型的构建

目的探讨直肠癌患者术后近期并发症发生的相关危险因素并构建临床预测列线图模型。 方法采用回顾性研究方法,收集分析2015年1月至2018年9月在南京医科大学第二附属医院普外科行直肠癌根治术的患者临床病理资料及相关手术信息资料。共纳入204例患者,其中男性患者135例,女性患者69例;病理TNM分期0期11例,Ⅰ期42例,Ⅱ期62例,Ⅲ期89例。根据2009版改良Clavien-Dindo手术并发症分级标准对患者术后出现的并发症进行分级,将Ⅱ级以上的并发症定义为临床有意义并发症。分析患者一般基线特征、病理特征及手术相关信息特征与临床有意义并发症发生之间的关系,对临床变量采用单因素、多因素分析。运用R软件（R4.0.3）绘制列线图临床预测模型,采用ROC曲线及C-index验证和评价列线图模型。 结果204例患者中,共有39例（19.11%）患者出现临床有意义并发症,术后常见的并发症依次为吻合口漏（14例,9.03%;行Dixon术式和结肠肛管吻合术共155例）、肠梗阻（14例,6.86%）、肺部感染（13例,6.37%）、肠造口相关并发症（5例,5.95%;包括Miles术式、Hartmann术式预防性造口共84例）、术后出血（9例,4.41%）、腹腔感染/盆腔感染（6例,2.94%）、排尿困难/尿潴留/尿路感染（5例,2.45%）、切口感染（3例,1.47%）、静脉血栓（1例,0.49%）。单因素分析显示：合并基础疾病（χ²=6.677,P=0.010）、既往腹部手术史（χ²=5.260,P=0.022）、术前白蛋白＜40 g/L（χ²=9.495,P=0.002）、术前CEA增高（χ²=4.976,P=0.026）、肿瘤下缘距肛缘距离≤7 cm（χ²=6.683,P=0.010）、术中出血量＞100 mL（χ²=10.694,P=0.001）是直肠癌术后出现临床有意义并发症的相关危险因素。多因素分析结果提示：合并基础疾病（OR=2.770,95% CI：1.175~6.531,P=0.020）、既往腹部手术史（OR=2.538,95% CI：1.023~6.295,P=0.044）、肿瘤下缘距肛缘距离≤7 cm（OR=2.376,95% CI：1.077~5.239,P=0.032）、术中出血量＞100 mL（OR=3.154,95% CI：1.339~7.427,P=0.009）、术前白蛋白＜40 g/L（OR=3.403,95% CI：1.514~7.653,P=0.003）是直肠癌根治术后出现临床有意义并发症的独立危险因素。由此构建直肠癌术后有临床意义并发症列线图临床预测模型,合并基础疾病78分、既往腹部手术史72分、肿瘤下缘距肛缘距离≤7 cm为74分、术前白蛋白＜40 g/L为100分、术中出血量＞100 mL为80分,各因素积分总和即为总分,总分对应的概率即为该模型预测直肠癌根治术后有临床意义并发症发生率。区分度测试结果显示该模型AUC值为0.775（95% CI：0.694~0.855）,重复抽样内部验证校正后C-index指数为0.747,校正曲线显示该列线图模型的预测结果与实际结果之间具备较好的一致性。 结论合并基础疾病、既往腹部手术史、肿瘤下缘距肛缘距离≤7 cm、术中出血量＞100 mL、术前白蛋白＜40 g/L是直肠癌根治术后出现临床有意义并发症的独立危险因素。充分的术前评估、营养支持和术中精细操作、减少出血量是降低直肠癌患者术后出现临床有意义并发症的有效措施。本研究构建的列线图预测模型对直肠癌根治术后出现临床有意义并发症的概率有较高的预测价值。     

Trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole in the treatment of enteric fever.

Twenty-three patients with typhoid fever diagnosed by blood culture were treated with co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole, 1 :5) at a dosage of 10 mg trimethoprim/kg/day in two divided daily doses for 10 days. Twenty-two patients responded, the mean period to defervescence being three days and to relief of toxaemia being 1-7 days. Another nineteen patients with similarly proven typhoid were treated with chloramphenicol (100 mg/kg/day) in four divided daily doses for 10 days. Eighteen patients responded, defervescence occurring in an average of 4-1 days and relief of toxaemia in a mean of 2-6 days. None of the patients included in the study developed complications, relapses or became a convalescent carrier during the period of observation.     

Development and validation of a nomogram model for early postoperative hyperlactatemia in patients undergoing cardiac surgery

BackgroundPostoperative hyperlactatemia (POHL) is common in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, associated with adverse outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify predictors for POHL after cardiac surgery and to develop and validate a predictive model.MethodsAdult patients who underwent open heart surgery at our institution between 2016 and 2019 were retrospectively included. The patients were randomly divided into training and validation groups at a 2:1 ratio. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors for POHL in the training set. A nomogram was then constructed and was validated in the validation set.ResultsPOHL developed in 713 of the 5,323 patients (13.4%). The mortality rate was higher in patients with POHL compared with patients without that (9.5% vs. 2.1%, P<0.001). Age, white blood cell (WBC) count, left ventricular ejection fraction, renal insufficiency, cardiac surgery history, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time were identified as independent risk factors. The nomogram based on these predictors indicated good discrimination in both the training (c-index: 0.787) and validation (c-index: 0.820) sets. The calibration was reasonable by both visual inspection and goodness-of-fit test. The decision and clinical impact curves demonstrated good clinical utility.ConclusionsWe identified 7 independent risk factors and derived a prediction model for POHL in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The model may contribute significantly to early risk assessment and clinical intervention.     

Typhoid fever in children: some epidemiological considerations from Karachi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The morbidity of typhoid fever is highest in Asia with 93% of global episodes occurring in this region. Southeast Asia has an estimated incidence of 110 cases/100,000 population, which is the third highest incidence rate for any region. Pakistan falls into this region. There is also a considerable seasonal variation of typhoid fever, carrying significant public health importance. Children are worst affected. Population-based data from Pakistan are scarce. METHODS: From June 1999 to December 2001 a fortnightly surveillance system was established in two squatter settlements in Karachi, Pakistan, with two study centers, each staffed by a doctor and five community health workers. Cases of continuous high-grade fever for three or more days were referred to these centers and screened clinically. Blood culture and Typhidot tests were done. RESULTS: One-third of the 4198 cases with febrile episodes of three or more days detected in the community were screened at the centers; 341 were clinically suspected of having typhoid fever. Forty-nine were positive by culture whereas 161 were positive by serology. Ten cases were multi-drug resistant. Incidence of culture-proven typhoid was estimated to be 170 (95% CI: 120, 220)/100,000 population, whereas serology-based incidence was 710 (95% CI: 620, 810)/100,000 population. Peak incidence was noted in October followed by May and June. CONCLUSION: Passive surveillance, even when augmented by household visits, misses a significant portion of suspected cases. Morbidity of typhoid is quite high in Pakistan and needs public health intervention. Hot months have higher incidence of typhoid. Healthcare behavior studies will help to develop a better surveillance system.