Rotavirus,vaccine failure or diagnostic error?

Immunochromatography (ICG) is highly used in clinical settings for rotavirus (RV) diagnosis. The specificity of the tests differs by brand type and is not 100%, therefore its use when the prevalence of the disease is low (i.e. in vaccinated children) may result in a proportion of false positive diagnoses.In some areas, vaccine effectiveness studies or surveillance is done using ICG. Our objective was to estimate the validity of ICG test in vaccinated children, and estimate the number of false positive results in the Valencian Region of Spain, where all RV infections are diagnosed using ICG and are not confirmed by PCR.Population based registries were used to identify all results from the RV antigen tests performed between January 2008 and June 2012 in children under 37 months. Hospitalization and vaccination status of the patients were obtained by linking different databases through a unique identification number. The Positive Predictive Value of the ICG test depending on the vaccination status of the child, hospitalization and the rotavirus season was estimated by a Bayesian model of latent classes.Of the 48,833 tests with valid results, 9429 were done in vaccinated children, and of those 3963 (42%) during the rotavirus season. The prevalence of positive results in vaccinated varied from 2.9 to 21.4% of the tests depending on the hospitalization and seasonality. The estimated PPV also varied from 27.1 to 84.6% when stratified by these two parameters. Globally it is calculated that approximately 267 out of the 520 (51.3%) positives in vaccinated children were false positive tests.The large percentage of false positives, due to an excessive number of tests in vaccinated and out of the RV season, if interpreted as vaccine failures, can cause a loss of confidence in the vaccine and lower the estimates of vaccine effectiveness.     

基于“中医传承辅助平台”软件挖掘年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病的用药规律

[目的] 采用"中医传承辅助平台"软件，探讨年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病的用药规律。[方法] 将2016年11月-2019年4月年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病的中药处方信息输入中医传承辅助平台系统，采用频次分析、组方规律分析方法挖掘、探讨年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病的临床用药特点。[结果] 对年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病158首处方进行分析，涉及中药207味，使用频次在前10位的药物分别为白芍、川芎、当归、半夏、刺蒺藜、丹参、泽泻、牛膝、厚朴，白术获得9组药对、3组核心药物组合。[结论] 年莉教授治疗糖尿病肾病经验丰富，高频药物的配伍体现了年莉教授多采用平肝疏肝，补血养阴，活血化瘀的治疗原则。期望能为临床治疗和药物研发提供参考，并为糖尿病肾病在泰国的治疗提供新的理念和借鉴。     

The case for a medication first approach to the treatment of opioid use disorder

Background: The opioid addiction and overdose crisis continues to ravage communities across the U.S. Maintenance pharmacotherapy using buprenorphine or methadone is the most effective intervention for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), yet few have immediate and sustained access to these medications. Objectives: To address lack of medication access for people with OUD, the Missouri Department of Mental Health began implementing a Medication First (Med First) treatment approach in its publicly-funded system of comprehensive substance use disorder treatment programs. Methods: This Perspective describes the four principles of Med First, which are based on evidence-based guidelines. It draws conceptual comparisons between the Housing First approach to chronic homelessness and the Med First approach to pharmacotherapy for OUD, and compares state certification standards for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment (the traditional approach) to Med First guidelines for OUD treatment. Finally, the Perspective details how Med First principles have been practically implemented. Results: Med First principles emphasize timely access to maintenance pharmacotherapy without requiring psychosocial services or discontinuation for any reason other than harm to the client. Early results regarding medication utilization and treatment retention are promising. Feedback from providers has been largely favorable, though clinical- and system-level obstacles to effective OUD treatment remain. Conclusion: Like the Housing First model, Medication First is designed to decrease human suffering and activate the strengths and capacities of people in need. It draws on decades of research and facilitates partnerships between psychosocial and medical treatment providers to offer effective and life-saving care to persons with OUD.     

Research on medication use in the neonatal intensive care unit

Introduction: Research on medication use aims at assessing how much of current pharmacotherapy is rational. In neonates, this is hampered by extensive off-label drug use and limited knowledge.

Areas covered: We report on medication use research and have conducted a systematic review of observational studies on medication use to provide an updated overview on characteristics, objectives, methods, and patterns in hospitalized neonates. Moreover, a review on aspects of medication use for opioids, anti-epileptics, gastric acid-related disorders and respiratory stimulants with emphasis on trends and impact of interventions is presented, illustrating how research on medication use can contribute to improved neonatal pharmacotherapy and more focused research. Medication use reports describe patterns and provide signals on irrational use, benchmarking, or can guide research priorities. Moreover, this may generate information on how neonatal health topics and their pharmacotherapy are handled over time or across regions.

Expert opinion: Research on medicine utilization is relevant, since it will inform us on aspects like trends, variability, or about the impact and pattern of implementation of guidelines in neonates. Further progress necessitates to merge datasets on medication use with clinical characteristics, and perinatal drug use remains an area in need of additional research.     

Adverse events due to unnecessary radiation exposure in medical imaging reported in Finland

IntroductionAdverse events in radiology are quite rare, but they do occur. Radiation safety regulations and the law obligate organizations to report certain adverse events, harm and near misses, especially events related to patients' health and safety. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse incidents related to radiation safety issues reported in Finland.MethodsThe data were collected from incident reports documented by radiology personnel concerning notifications of abnormal events in medical imaging made to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority between 2010 and 2017. During these eight years, 312 reports were submitted. Only events reported from radiology departments were included; nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and animal radiology cases were excluded. The final number of reports was 293 (94%).ResultsThe majority of the 293 approved reports were related to computed tomography (CT, 68.3%) and to X-ray examinations (27.6%). Altogether 82.9% of those irradiated were adults, most of whom were exposed to unnecessary radiation through CT (86.5%), 5.5% were children, and 4.4% pregnant women. The most common effective dose of unnecessary radiation was 1 mSv or less (89.7% of all examinations). The highest effective doses were reported in CT (from under 1 mSv–20 mSv and above). The reasons for the adverse events were incorrect identification (32%), incorrect procedure, site or side (30%); and human errors or errors of knowledge (20%).ConclusionAdverse events occurred especially in CT examinations. It is important to collect and analyse incident data, assess the harmful events, learn from them and aim to reduce adverse events.Implications for practiceThis study emphasizes the need for radiological personnel to obtain evidence-based information on adverse events and focus on training to improve patient safety.     

帕拉米韦注射液治疗儿童流感的临床疗效分析

目的探讨儿童流感应用帕拉米韦注射液治疗的临床疗效以及用药安全性。方法随机选定在2016年1月-2019年1月期间佛山市高明区人民医院儿科住院治疗并确诊流感A或B型患儿200例,通过随机数字法将其分为治疗组和对照组。治疗组100例用帕拉米韦注射液治疗,对照组100例用国产磷酸奥司他韦颗粒治疗,评价两组患儿治疗前后症状评分、治疗效果、治疗指标以及不良反应发生情况。结果两组患儿治疗前流感样症状评分无统计学意义(P>0.05),两组患儿治疗后较治疗前流感样症状评分均下降,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);治疗组治疗后流感样症状评分略小于对照组,但是无统计学意义(P>0.05);治疗组治疗总有效率高于对照组,治疗组患儿发热症状缓解、全部症状缓解以及住院时间均小于对照组,存在统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组与对照组不良反应发生率较低,且无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论帕拉米韦注射液可用于儿童流感治疗,不仅能够保证临床疗效,而且可加快症状缓解,同时存在较高用药安全性。     

基于数据挖掘方法总结王树声教授治疗上尿路结石的用药经验

目的:运用中医传承辅助平台系统(V2.5)深入分析王树声教授治疗上尿路结石的用药经验，挖掘其核心经验 方组成和辨证用药规律。方法:收集王教授门诊治疗上尿路结石的治疗验方304 首，将方药信息录入系统，采用药物频次统计、 关联规则分析和熵聚类分析等方法分析处方用药规律。结果:304 首处方中涉及中药97 味，用药频次超过100 次的有14 味。所用药物药性多寒、温、平，药味多甘、苦，主归肝、肾、脾经；共得出25 组核心组合和9 首新处方。结论:王教授治疗 上尿路结石以益气固本、清热通淋为主，用药的关键在于“扶正固本”的把握和“祛邪通淋”的权衡，为临证用药和新方 开发提供参考。     

Effects of acute administration of d-amphetamine and haloperidol on procedural learning in man

The effects of an indirect dopamine-agonist, d-amphetamine, and a non-selective dopamine receptor antagonist, haloperidol, were investigated in normal male volunteers using a between-subjects double-blind design in a procedural learning task, thought mainly to involve unconscious/automatic learning. The results showed: (1) d-amphetamine facilitated response speed, whereas haloperidol inhibited it, in comparison to placebo; (2) the linear increase in procedural learning corresponded with pharmacological manipulation of degree of dopaminergic activity, i.e. subjects given haloperidol showed the least, and subjects given d-amphetamine the greatest, procedural learning. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to investigation of abnormalities of procedural learning processes in schizophrenia. Received: 28 June 1996/Final version: 2 October 1996     

Timing deficits in apraxia of speech

Summary This paper deals with a particular aspect of speech motor control in patients suffering from apraxia of speech. Three experiments are reported concerning the phase relations between individual speech gestures. These include the timing of laryngeal, velar and labial movements relative to lingual gestures.A total of 8 patients and 12 normal controls were examined using speech material which was designed according to appropriate phonetic paradigms. Evaluation was performed on the basis of speech signal parameters referring to the kinematics of inter-articulatory phasing. Deviations of the patient group were found in all three experiments. This suggests that disturbed phase relations of individual speech movements are a general feature of apraxic speech. It is further hypothesized that the described motor symptoms are the origin of a variety of phonemic errors. Support for this view is provided by appropriate examples which refer to the examined paradigms. By this argument, much of the disturbed phonemic structure of apraxic speech may be accounted for by timing deficits.