Seropositivity in animals and risk of occupational brucellosis among abattoirs personnel associated with poor work practices and absence of safety policy in Egypt

Background Occupational hazards are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among abattoirs personnel and animal workers. These hazards result from direct or indirect exposure to potential infection and several distressing events during routine procedures.

Objectives To serologically investigate the potential occupational brucellosis hazard at Egyptian abattoirs. To provide an insight on the needed biosafety practices that should be implemented to mitigate the spread of occupational brucellosis among abattoir workers.

Methods Two hundred and thirty (n = 230) blood samples were collected from animals in two Egyptian abattoirs. The rose Bengal test was used to evaluate the seroprevalence of Brucella in abattoir animals. A questionnaire was distributed among abattoir personnel to address biosafety gaps and deficiencies as a cause of occupational brucellosis.

Results The overall seroprevalence of Brucella using the rose Bengal test was 75.2% in the two targeted abattoirs. It was obvious that there are gaps of malpractices and inconvenient behavior among individuals of the targeted community.

Conclusions The current findings reveal the missing role of concerned authorities and lack of written safety policy. The data highlights the need for further research, including isolation and characterization of the causative agents, and reliable epidemiological studies.     

Assessing Community-Based Injury Prevention Services in U.S. Children's Hospitals

ObjectiveNot-for-profit hospitals are required to meet federal reporting requirements detailing their community benefit activities, which support their tax-exempt status. Children''s hospitals have long provided community injury prevention (IP) programming and thus can inform public health outreach work in other areas. This work describes IP programming as a community service offered by children''s hospitals in the U.S.MethodsThe IP specialist at 232 US-based member institutions of the Children''s Hospital Association were invited to complete an assessment of their hospital''s IP outreach programming.Results47.7 percent of hospitals request financial data from IP programming for tax reporting purposes. Almost all offer injury prevention (IP) services; the majority are in the community (60.3%) and 34.5% are hospital-based. Most IP units are independent (60.3%) and 71.8% are responsible for their own budgets.ConclusionsBy integrating dissemination and implementation sciences and community health needs assessments, these findings can help advance community services provided by hospitals to impact public health.     

Antibiofilm and Protein-Repellent Polymethylmethacrylate Denture Base Acrylic Resin for Treatment of Denture Stomatitis

Candida albicans (C. albicans) biofilm is a common etiological factor in denture stomatitis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of incorporating 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) as a protein repellent into a new high-impact denture acrylic (HIPA) resin on the surface roughness, solution pH, and C. albicans biofilm adhesion to the denture base. The new acrylic denture resin base was formulated by mixing MPC into HIPA resin at mass fractions of 1.5%, 3%, and 4.5%. Surface roughness was measured using a Mitutoyo surface roughness tester. C. albicans biofilm growth and viability were assessed via colony forming unit counts. The pH of the biofilm growth medium was measured using a digital pH meter. Adding MPC to the HIPA resin at percentages of 1.5% and 3% increased the roughness values significantly (p < 0.05), while adding 4.5% MPC resulted in no difference in roughness values to that of the control group (p > 0.05). All experimental groups demonstrated neutral pH values (pH ≅ 7) and were not significantly different from each other (p > 0.05). Incorporating 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine at 4.5% resulted in a significant (≅1 log) colony-forming unit reduction compared with the control group with 0% MPC (p < 0.05). A fungal-retarding denture acrylic resin was developed through the incorporation of MPC for its protein-repelling properties. This newly developed denture acrylic material has the potential to prevent oral microbial infections, such as denture stomatitis.     

Outcomes of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients in National Guard Health Affairs,Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Objectives:To evaluate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient tracheostomy outcomes.Methods:All COVID-19 patients at the National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, were retrospectively recruited. Those who had tracheostomies between April and December 2020 were included.Results:The population was 45 patients, of which 30 (66.7%) were males, 15 (33.3%) were females and the mean age was 66.76±12.74 years. The tracheostomy indications were anticipated prolonged weaning in 40 (88.9%) and failed extubation in 5 (11.1%) of the patients. The mean intubation to tracheostomy duration was 20.62±7.21 days. Mortalities were high, with most attributed to COVID-19. Mortality and a pre-tracheostomy C-reactive protein (CRP) uptrend were significantly related (p=0.039). Mortality and intubation to tracheostomy duration were not significantly related. The mean post-tracheostomy time to death was 10.64±6.9 days. Among the survivors, 20 (44.4%) males and 11 (24.4%) females were weaned off mechanical ventilation; 9 (20%) remained on ventilation during the study. The mean ventilation weaning time was 27.92±20 days.Conclusion:The high mortality rate was attributed to COVID-19. Mortality and a pre-tracheostomy CRP uptrend were significantly related; uptrend patients experienced far more mortalities than downtrend patients. Unlike previous findings, mortality and intubation to tracheostomy duration were not significantly related.     

Analysis of Heterozygous BRCA1 5382ins Founder Mutation in a Cohort of Egyptian Breast Cancer Female Patients Using Pyrosequencing Technique

Background: Up to half of the heritable mutations in breast cancer (BC) are attributed to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The mutation prevalence is variable based on ethnicity and may be influenced by founder mutations. The aim of this pilot study is to determine for the first time, the prevalence of BRCA1 5382insC founder mutation in a cohort of Egyptian familial breast cancer patients (FBC). Methods: Female patients were selected to have familial type of breast cancer. Twenty healthy females were included as a control group. Peripheral blood samples were withdrawn from all studied females and were analyzed for BRCA1 5382insC founder mutation detection using pyrosequencing technique. Results: Eighty Egyptian FBC females were eligible to be enrolled in the study with a mean age of 48.31 ± 10.97years.We found a BRCA1 5382insC mutation carrier frequency of 5% of total studied FBC patients (4 out of 80 patients) with 95% confidence interval (1.61-12.99). There was a high statistical significant difference between carriers and non-carriers concerning the number of affected family members by BC, (p=0.001).  Conclusion: BRCA1 5382insC founder mutation is not uncommon among Egyptian FBC females. The carrier frequency is comparable to that reported worldwide; however it is lower than those from previous Egyptian studies using different molecular techniques. The strong association between the mutation and the number of affected family members suggest wider screening of the mutation among high risk families using the reliable pyrosequencing technique.