The Impact of Diet and Fibre Fractions on Plasma Adipocytokine Levels in Prediabetic Adults

The impact of diet and fibre fractions on adipocytokines in obese subjects with a risk of diabetes has not been investigated in detail yet. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of a 12-month lifestyle intervention with different fibre profiles (resistant starch (RS)—rich fibre, or ordinary food fibre profiles) on adipocytokine levels. Fifty participants are divided into two groups (RS group and Fibre group). The groups differ only in the percentage of the recommended level of the RS consumed as a fraction of the same total fibre amount. The applied dietary intervention includes intake of 7531 KJ/daywith a total fibre portion of 25–35 g/dayfor both groups that includes 15 g/day of RS for the RS group only. The levels of leptin, adiponectin, apelin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and C-reactive protein (CRP) are measured, and their relationship to anthropometric and biochemical parameters is estimated. Along with significant body weight loss, only leptin is significantly reduced by 13% in the RS group while in the Fibre group, apelin levels are significant (−21%). Polynomial regression shows a negative correlation between RS intake and adiponectin (R2 = 0.145) and resistin level (R2 = 0.461) in the RS group. This study indicates the possibility that fibre fractions differently influence the outcome of lifestyle interventions, as well as their adipocytokine levels, in obese prediabetic adults.     

Association between Fruit and Vegetable Intakes and Mental Health in the Australian Diabetes Obesity and Lifestyle Cohort

Increasing prevalence of mental health disorders within the Australian population is a serious public health issue. Adequate intake of fruits and vegetables (FV), dietary fibre (DF) and resistant starch (RS) is associated with better mental and physical health. Few longitudinal studies exist exploring the temporal relationship. Using a validated food frequency questionnaire, we examined baseline FV intakes of 5845 Australian adults from the AusDiab study and estimated food group-derived DF and RS using data from the literature. Perceived mental health was assessed at baseline and 5 year follow up using SF-36 mental component summary scores (MCS). We conducted baseline cross-sectional analysis and prospective analysis of baseline dietary intake with perceived mental health at 5 years. Higher baseline FV and FV-derived DF and RS intakes were associated with better 5 year MCS (p < 0.001). A higher FV intake (754 g/d vs. 251 g/d, Q4 vs. Q1) at baseline had 41% lower odds (OR = 0.59: 95% CI 0.46–0.75) of MCS below population average (<47) at 5 year follow up. Findings were similar for FV-derived DF and RS. An inverse association was observed with discretionary food-derived DF and RS. This demonstrates the association between higher intakes of FV and FV-derived DF and RS with better 5 year mental health outcomes. Further RCTs are necessary to understand mechanisms that underlie this association including elucidation of causal effects.     

TB prevention cascade at a district hospital in rural Eastern Cape,South Africa

SETTING:Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa.OBJECTIVE:To identify steps in the TB preventive care cascade from routinely collected data among TB patients at a district hospital prior to the implementation of a novel TB program.DESIGN:This was a retrospective study. We adapted the TB prevention cascade to measure indicators routinely collected at district hospitals for TB using a cascade framework to evaluate outcomes in the cohort of close contacts.RESULTS:A total of 1,722 charts of TB patients were reviewed. The majority of patients (87%) were newly diagnosed with no previous episodes of TB. A total of 1,548 (90%) patients identified at least one close contact. A total of 7,548 contacts were identified with a median of 4.9 (range 1–16) contacts per patient. Among all contacts identified, 2,913 (39%) were screened for TB. Only 15 (0.5%) started TB preventive therapy and 122 (4.4%) started TB treatment. Nearly 25% of all medical history and clinical information was left unanswered among the 1,722 TB charts reviewed.CONCLUSION:Few close contacts were screened or started on TB preventive therapy in this cohort. Primary care providers for TB care in district health facilities should be informed of best practices for screening and treating TB infection and disease.     

An Overview of the Treatment Options Used for the Management of COVID-19 in Pakistan: Retrospective Observational Study

BackgroundSince the first reports of COVID-19 infection, the foremost requirement has been to identify a treatment regimen that not only fights the causative agent but also controls the associated complications of the infection. Due to the time-consuming process of drug discovery, physicians have used readily available drugs and therapies for treatment of infections to minimize the death toll.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to provide a snapshot analysis of the major drugs used in a cohort of 1562 Pakistani patients during the period from May to July 2020, when the first wave of COVID-19 peaked in Pakistan.MethodsA retrospective observational study was performed to provide an overview of the major drugs used in a cohort of 1562 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the four major tertiary-care hospitals in the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region of Pakistan during the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 in the country (May-July 2020).ResultsAntibiotics were the most common choice out of all the therapies employed, and they were used as first line of treatment for COVID-19. Azithromycin was the most prescribed drug for treatment. No monthly trend was observed in the choice of antibiotics, and these drugs appeared to be a random but favored choice throughout the months of the study. It was also noted that even antibiotics used for multidrug resistant infections were prescribed irrespective of the severity or progression of the infection. The results of the analysis are alarming, as this approach may lead to antibiotic resistance and complications in immunocompromised patients with COVID-19. A total of 1562 patients (1064 male, 68.1%, and 498 female, 31.9%) with a mean age of 47.35 years (SD 17.03) were included in the study. The highest frequency of patient hospitalizations occurred in June (846/1562, 54.2%).ConclusionsGuidelines for a targeted treatment regime are needed to control related complications and to limit the misuse of antibiotics in the management of COVID-19.     

Hybrid Approach to Estimation of Underreporting of Tuberculosis Case Notification in High-Burden Settings With Weak Surveillance Infrastructure: Design and Implementation of an Inventory Study

BackgroundThe greatest risk of infectious disease undernotification occurs in settings with limited capacity to detect it reliably. World Health Organization guidance on the measurement of misreporting is paradoxical, requiring robust, independent systems to assess surveillance rigor. Methods are needed to estimate undernotification in settings with incomplete, flawed, or weak surveillance systems. This study attempted to design a tuberculosis (TB) inventory study that balanced rigor with feasibility for high-need settings.ObjectiveThis study aims to design a hybrid TB inventory study for contexts without World Health Organization preconditions. We estimated the proportion of TB cases that were not reported to the Ministry of Health in 2015. The study sought to describe TB surveillance coverage and quality at different levels of TB care provision. Finally, we aimed to identify structural-, facility-, and provider-level barriers to notification and reasons for underreporting, nonreporting, and overreporting.MethodsRetrospective partial digitalization of paper-based surveillance and facility records preceded deterministic and probabilistic record linkage; a hybrid of health facilities and laboratory census with a stratified sampling of HFs with no capacity to notify leveraged a priori knowledge. Distinct extrapolation methods were applied to the sampled health facilities to estimate bacteriologically confirmed versus clinical TB. In-depth interviews and focus groups were used to identify causal factors responsible for undernotification and test the acceptability of remedies.ResultsThe hybrid approach proved viable and instructive. High-specificity verification of paper-based records in the field was efficient and had minimal errors. Limiting extrapolation to clinical cases improved precision. Probabilistic record linkage is computationally intensive, and the choice of software influences estimates. Record absence, decay, and overestimation of the private sector TB treatment behavior threaten validity, meriting mitigation. Data management demands were underestimated. Treatment success was modest in all sectors (R=37.9%–72.0%) and did not align with treatment success reported by the state (6665/8770, 75.99%). One-fifth of TB providers (36/178, 20%) were doubtful that the low volume of patients with TB treated in their facility merited mastery of the extensive TB notification forms and procedures.ConclusionsSubnational inventory studies can be rigorous, relevant, and efficient in countries that need them even in the absence of World Health Organization preconditions, if precautions are taken. The use of triangulation techniques, with minimal recourse to sampling and extrapolation, and the privileging of practical information needs of local decision makers yield reasonable misreporting estimates and viable policy recommendations.     

Effects of Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Tuberculosis Notifications,Malawi

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic might affect tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and patient care. We analyzed a citywide electronic TB register in Blantyre, Malawi and interviewed TB officers. Malawi did not have an official COVID-19 lockdown but closed schools and borders on March 23, 2020. In an interrupted time series analysis, we noted an immediate 35.9% reduction in TB notifications in April 2020; notifications recovered to near prepandemic numbers by December 2020. However, 333 fewer cumulative TB notifications were received than anticipated. Women and girls were affected more (30.7% fewer cases) than men and boys (20.9% fewer cases). Fear of COVID-19 infection, temporary facility closures, inadequate personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 stigma because of similar symptoms to TB were mentioned as reasons for fewer people being diagnosed with TB. Public health measures could benefit control of both TB and COVID-19, but only if TB diagnostic services remain accessible and are considered safe to attend.     

Fecal Excretion of Mycobacterium leprae,Burkina Faso

Mycobacterium leprae was detected by optical microscopy, fluorescent in situ hybridization, and molecular detection in feces collected for the diagnosis of Entamoeba coli enteritis in a leprosy patient in Burkina Faso. This observation raises questions about the role of fecal excretion of M. leprae in the natural history and diagnosis of leprosy.     

成年手术患者手术部位多重耐药菌感染及影响因素分析

目的 探讨手术部位多重耐药（MDRO）菌感染情况及危险因素,为手术部位感染的预防和治疗提供循证参考。方法 以2019—2020年焦作市某医院行手术治疗的成年患者作为研究对象,收集基本情况、疾病患者情况,从医院病历信息系统中调取患者手术及术前相关检测指标、用药情况等内容,对出现发热、切口红肿、引流液异常等疑似感染症状体征患者采集感染部位生物样本用于病原学培养及检测。采用描述流行病学分析方法对MDRO菌感染情况进行分析,并采用单、多因素分析方法对MDRO菌感染影响因素进行分析。结果 7 820例进行手术治疗患者共发生MDRO菌感染250例,感染率为3.20%,其中金黄色葡萄球菌感染6例,鲍曼不动杆菌感染14例,铜绿假单胞菌感染29例,肺炎克雷伯菌感染34例,大肠埃希菌感染167例。多因素Logistic回归分析显示,糖尿病（OR=3.578）、肿瘤（OR=4.135）、贫血（OR=4.701）、入住ICU（OR=5.045）、脏器穿孔（OR=2.414）、切口分类为Ⅱ或Ⅲ类（OR=2.284、3.013）、手术有风险（OR=5.135）、抗菌药物应用≥2种（OR=2.340）、抗菌药物疗程≥5 d（OR=4.759）、再手术（OR=2.036）是成年手术患者发生MDRO菌感染的危险因素。结论 成年手术患者手术部位MDRO菌感染较为常见,相关危险因素较多,临床可根据以上因素加强围手术管理,减少MDRO菌感染的发生。     

肺结核抗结核药物致肝损伤患者HMGB1基因多态性

目的探讨肺结核抗结核药物致肝损伤患者HMGB1基因多态性。方法选择2016年8月-2019年8月中南大学湘雅医院附属海口医院滨江分院收治的肺结核患者200例,发展成ATDH的患者纳入ATDH组(n=79),未发展成ATDH的患者纳入非ATDH组(n=121),检测HMGB1基因单核苷酸多态性(SNPs)位点多态性,采用Logistic回归分析HMGB1多态性位点与ATDH的关系。结果ATDH组HMGB1基因rs1045411位点GG、GA、AA基因型分布频率和G、A等位基因频率与非ATDH组比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),rs1412125、rs1360485以及rs2249825位点基因型分布和等位基因频率与非ATDH组比较,均无统计学差异;在共显性、显性、隐性模式下,ATDH组HMGB1基因rs1045411位点基因型分布与非ATDH组比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),与GG基因型比较,GA和AA基因型与肺结核易感性有关,在超显性模式下,ATDH组HMGB1基因rs1045411位点基因型分布与非ATDH组比较,无统计学差异,而在超显性、共显性、显性以及隐性模式下,rs1412125、rs1360485以及rs2249825位点基因型分布与非ATDH组比较,均无统计学差异;rs1045411位点基因多态性与ATDH的发生存在相关性,且突变型诱发ATDH可能性更大,而rs1412125、rs1360485、rs2249825位点基因多态性与ATDH发生风险无关。结论HMGB1基因为ATDH的易感基因,其rs1045411位点多态性与ATDH的发生密切相关,其中突变型发生ATDH风险升高。     

基于季节性ARIMA模型的新疆肺结核发病预测分析

目的 探讨季节性时间序列模型(autoregressive integrated moving average,ARIMA)在新疆肺结核发病预测中的应用,并验证模型的可行性和适用性。 方法 采用季节性ARIMA(p, d, q )(P, D, Q)_s拟合2005年1月—2019年8月新疆地区肺结核月发病人数,建立多个季节时间序列模型并进行比较,选出最优模型对2019年9—12月肺结核发病人数进行预测。 结果 2005年1月—2019年8月新疆地区肺结核累积发病人数为627 869例,年平均发病人数为3 567例。 新疆地区肺结核月发病数具有季节性,1—5月平均发病数高于平均水平,6—12月平均发病数低于平均水平,发病高峰为1月和3月,发病低谷为9月。通过赤池信息量(Akaike Information Criterion,AIC)和贝叶斯信息量(Bayesian Information Criterion,BIC)最小原则得出,ARIMA(1, 1, 1 )(0, 1, 2)₁₂是最优模型,其残差序列为白噪声,参数的回归系数均具有统计学意义,拟合的平均绝对百分比误差MAPE为8.723%。预测的MAPE为18.674%,真实值均处于预测值的95%置信区间内。 结论 ARIMA(1, 1, 1 )(0, 1, 2)₁₂模型能够较好地拟合新疆肺结核发病数据,并进行短期预测,对新疆卫生防控措施的制定具有一定指导意义。