Enteric Bacteria Isolated from Diarrheal Patients in Korea in 2014

Objectives

The aim of this study was to characterize the pathogens responsible for causing diarrhea according to season, region of isolation, patient age, and sex as well as to provide useful data for the prevention of diarrheal disease.

Methods

Stool specimens from 14,886 patients with diarrhea were collected to identify pathogenic bacteria from January 2014 to December 2014 in Korea. A total of 3,526 pathogenic bacteria were isolated and analyzed according to season, region of isolation, and the age and sex of the patient.

Results

The breakdown of the isolated pathogenic bacteria were as follows: Salmonella spp. 476 (13.5%), pathogenic Escherichia coli 777 (22.0%), Vibrio parahaemolyticus 26 (0.74%), Shigella spp. 13 (0.37%), Campylobacter spp. 215 (6.10%), Clostridium perfringens 508 (14.4%), Staphylococcus aureus 1,144 (32.4%), Bacillus cereus 356 (10.1%), Listeria monocytogenes 1 (0.03%), and Yersinia enterocolitica 10 (0.3%). The isolation rate trend showed the highest ratio in the summer season from June to September for most of the pathogenic bacteria except the Gram-positive bacteria. The isolation rate of most of the pathogenic bacteria by patient age showed highest ratio in the 0–19 year age range. For isolation rate by region, 56.2% were isolated from cities and 43.8% were isolated from provinces.

Conclusion

Hygiene education should be addressed for diarrheal disease-susceptible groups, such as those younger than 10 years, aged 10–19 years, and older than 70 years, and monitoring for the pathogens is still required. In addition, an efficient laboratory surveillance system for infection control should be continued.     

Parechovirus Genotype 3 Outbreak among Infants,New South Wales,Australia, 2013–2014

From October 2013 through February 2014, human parechovirus genotype 3 infection was identified in 183 infants in New South Wales, Australia. Of those infants, 57% were male and 95% required hospitalization. Common signs and symptoms were fever >38°C (86%), irritability (80%), tachycardia (68%), and rash (62%). Compared with affected infants in the Northern Hemisphere, infants in New South Wales were slightly older, both sexes were affected more equally, and rash occurred with considerably higher frequency. The New South Wales syndromic surveillance system, which uses near real-time emergency department and ambulance data, was useful for monitoring the outbreak. An alert distributed to clinicians reduced unnecessary hospitalization for patients with suspected sepsis.     

Sampling Males Who Inject Drugs in Haiphong,Vietnam: Comparison of Time-Location and Respondent-Driven Sampling Methods

Accurate measurements of HIV prevalence and associated risk factors among hidden and high-risk groups are vital for program planning and implementation. However, only two sampling methods are purported to provide representative estimates for populations without sampling frames: time-location sampling (TLS) and respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Each method is subject to potential biases and questionable reliability. In this paper, we evaluate surveys designed to estimate HIV prevalence and associated risk factors among people who inject drugs (PWID) sampled through TLS versus RDS. In 2012, males aged ≥16 years who reported injecting drugs in the previous month and living in Haiphong, Vietnam, were sampled using TLS or RDS. Data from each survey were analyzed to compare HIV prevalence, related risk factors, socio-demographic characteristics, refusal estimates, and time and expenditures for field implementation. TLS (n = 432) and RDS (n = 415) produced similarly high estimates for HIV prevalence. Significantly lower proportions of PWID sampled through RDS received methadone treatment or met an outreach worker. Refusal estimates were lower for TLS than for RDS. Total expenditures per sample collected and number of person-days of staff effort were higher for TLS than for RDS. Both survey methods were successful in recruiting a diverse sample of PWID in Haiphong. In Vietnam, surveys of PWID are conducted throughout the country; although the refusal estimate was calculated to be much higher for RDS than TLS, RDS in Haiphong appeared to sample PWID with less exposure to services and required fewer financial and staff resources compared with TLS.     

Evaluating Epidemiology and Improving Surveillance of Infections Associated with Health Care,United States

The Healthcare-Associated Infections Community Interface (HAIC), launched in 2009, is the newest major activity of the Emerging Infections Program. The HAIC activity addresses population- and laboratory-based surveillance for Clostridium difficile infections, candidemia, and multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli. Other activities include special projects: the multistate Healthcare-Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Use Prevalence Survey and projects that evaluate new approaches for improving surveillance. The HAIC activity has provided information about the epidemiology and adverse health outcomes of health care–associated infections and antimicrobial drug use in the United States and informs efforts to improve patient safety through prevention of these infections.     

Pharmacoepidemiology and thalidomide embryopathy surveillance in Brazil

IntroductionThalidomide causes congenital defects in children, such as limb reduction defects. Currently, it is used for a few indications; in Brazil, where leprosy is endemic, thalidomide is used for the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum, and recent cases of thalidomide embryopathy have been reported.MethodsWe analyzed the frequency of births with phenotypes consistent with thalidomide embryopathy (TEP) and correlated this with the distribution of thalidomide and the prevalence of leprosy between 2005 and 2010 in Brazil.ResultsA total of 5,889,210 thalidomide tablets were distributed; the prevalence of limb reduction defects was 1.60 (CI95%: 1.54–1.66) and TEP was 0.11 (CI95%: 0.10–0.13) per 10,000 births. Poisson regression showed an increase in cases of TEP and limb reduction defects per 100,000 tablets dispensed. Clusters and geographical isolates were identified in several regions.ConclusionsThere is a correlation between thalidomide and TEP showing that thalidomide embryopathy should be monitored in countries where this medication is available.     

母婴安全监护系统无线射频识别中间件设计与实现

目的:实现智能母婴安全监护系统中的无线射频识别(radio frequency identification,RFID)中间件的设计,以有效保障新生儿的健康和安全.方法:针对RFID数据的实时应用,设计实现一种包含服务层、逻辑层、数据层3层结构的轻量型RFID中间件,并将其应用于母婴安全监护系统的服务器中.结果:实现了RFID设备的实时通信与控制,可以有效地完成指令编码和对原始数据的解码.结论:利用该RFID中间件能够完成数据的准确读取与实时处理,其设计具有一定的鲁棒性和有效性,可以为RFID在医疗实时监测中的应用提供参考.