Diversity of Culex torrentium Martini, 1925 — a potential vector of arboviruses and filaria in Europe

Culex torrentium is one of the most common mosquito species in Germany. Due to its sympatric occurrence as well as its similar morphological and ecological characteristics, it has often been confused with another common species, Culex pipiens. Both species are known to be potential vectors for different arboviruses (not only in Germany) with C. torrentium being a possible vector for Sindbis or Ockelbo virus. In our study, we analyzed the genetic variability in a 658 bp fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (coxI) of C. torrentium, from nine localities in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. The results of our genetic survey indicate a higher genetic diversity in this gene region for C. torrentium than for the morphologically similar C. pipiens. Our findings may explain the difficulties in the past to find morphological characteristics that apply to all populations of C. torrentium, when attempting to separate them clearly from C. pipiens, by any other criteria than male genitalia. Being ornithophilic, possible hybrids between C. torrentium and the humanophilic C. pipiens biotype molestus, could potentially serve as important vectors for zoonotic diseases. Therefore, we recommend that greater emphasis is placed on the ecological characteristics, population structure, and the taxonomy of this often neglected species, in the future.     

Diagnostic performance of four SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays in patients with COVID-19 or with bacterial and non-SARS-CoV-2 viral respiratory infections

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases - SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays are used for epidemiological studies and for the assessment of vaccine responses in highly...     

Correction to: Diagnostic performance of four SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays in patients with COVID-19 or with bacterial and non-SARS-CoV-2 viral respiratory infections

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases -     

Ranking of the most relevant hospital inpatient diagnoses by age and diagnostic group based on DRG statistics in Germany

Journal of Public Health - Inpatient healthcare demand is influenced by demographic changes; however, existing research mainly focuses on age-related conditions among older age groups and lacks...     

New record of the suspected leishmaniasis vector Phlebotomus (Transphlebotomus) mascittii Grassi, 1908 (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) — the northernmost phlebotomine sandfly occurrence in the Palearctic region

Although being typical Mediterranean faunal elements, phlebotomine sandflies have also been recorded in central Europe for several countries including Germany, where two species, Phlebotomus mascittii and Phlebotomus perniciosus, occur. In Europe, P. mascittii is the northernmostly distributed phlebotomine species. While P. perniciosus is a proven vector of leishmaniasis as well as various sandfly fever causing phleboviruses, the situation for P. mascittii is different. For this species, vector competence could not be proven yet, but is strongly suspected. During an entomological survey in July 2013, one female sandfly was caught in Giessen in the German state of Hesse. Adjacent to the collection site, different potential habitats could be found. Morphological examination of the cibarium, pharynx, and genitalia revealed the specimen as P. mascittii. This is the first reported occurrence for Hesse, and not only the northernmost documented occurrence for P. mascittii, but also of the whole subfamily in the Palearctic region. New records of proven or suspected vectors are of medical relevance because of potential Leishmania and/or Phlebovirus transmission and the awareness therefore in the public.     

A priori risk and optimal test accuracy in prenatal diagnostics.

The prevalence of fetal chromosome anomalies rises exponentially with the age of the pregnant woman. The risk of fetal anomalies can be specified using biochemical screening tests such as the triple test. This test substantially reduces the number of amniocenteses and proportionally the number of procedure-related miscarriages. However, disadvantages of the triple test include the utility loss of pregnant women who, following a false-negative test result, do not undergo amniocentesis and bear a disabled child as well as the intangible cost of a false-positive triple test. This paper employs a decision-analytic model to reveal the evaluation of this tradeoff, which is implicitly fixed by policy recommendations for a direct amniocentesis at maternal age of 35. It then determines the optimal level of cutoff risk for the triple test, and derives comparative static results: the optimal test accuracy decreases with increasing a-priori risk and increases with a rise in the miscarriage risk and in the woman's preference for detecting an affected fetus as compared to avoiding a miscarriage of an unaffected fetus. These results are in contrast to current clinical practice, where the cutoff of the triple test usually remains fixed.     

Population ageing and health care expenditure: a school of ‘red herrings’?

This paper revisits the debate on the 'red herring', viz. the claim that population ageing will not have a significant impact on health care expenditure (HCE). It decomposes HCE into seven components, includes both survivors and deceased individuals, and estimates a two-part model of the demand for health care services, using a large Swiss data set for 1999. It finds no or weak age effects on HCE for the components of HCE when proximity to death is controlled for, and points to differences between users and non-users of long-term care (LTC). For deceased non-users of LTC services, a falling age curve for all components of HCE except for inpatient care is observed, while survivors show a weak age effect in ambulatory and inpatient care once proximity to death is controlled for. As to surviving users of LTC services, their probability of incurring LTC expenses markedly increases in old age, while most of the components of their conditional HCE show a decreasing age profile. Thus, a 'school of red herrings' can be claimed to exist-with the possible exception of LTC, where ageing might matter regardless of proximity to death.