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Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection... 2019Despite a high mortality rate in childhood, there is limited evidence on the causes and outcomes of paediatric bloodstream infections from low- and middle-income... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Bacterial pathogens and resistance causing community acquired paediatric bloodstream infections in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
BACKGROUND
Despite a high mortality rate in childhood, there is limited evidence on the causes and outcomes of paediatric bloodstream infections from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to characterize the bacterial causes of paediatric bloodstream infections in LMICs and their resistance profile.
METHODS
We searched Pubmed and Embase databases between January 1st 1990 and October 30th 2019, combining MeSH and free-text terms for "sepsis" and "low-middle-income countries" in children. Two reviewers screened articles and performed data extraction to identify studies investigating children (1 month-18 years), with at least one blood culture. The main outcomes of interests were the rate of positive blood cultures, the distribution of bacterial pathogens, the resistance patterns and the case-fatality rate. The proportions obtained from each study were pooled using the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation, and a random-effect meta-analysis model was used.
RESULTS
We identified 2403 eligible studies, 17 were included in the final review including 52,915 children (11 in Africa and 6 in Asia). The overall percentage of positive blood culture was 19.1% [95% CI: 12.0-27.5%]; 15.5% [8.4-24.4%] in Africa and 28.0% [13.2-45.8%] in Asia. A total of 4836 bacterial isolates were included in the studies; 2974 were Gram-negative (63.9% [52.2-74.9]) and 1858 were Gram-positive (35.8% [24.9-47.5]). In Asia, typhi (26.2%) was the most commonly isolated pathogen, followed by (7.7%) whereas in Africa, (17.8%) and (16.8%) were predominant followed by (10.7%). was more likely resistant to methicillin in Africa (29.5% vs. 7.9%), whereas was more frequently resistant to third-generation cephalosporins (31.2% vs. 21.2%), amikacin (29.6% vs. 0%) and ciprofloxacin (36.7% vs. 0%) in Asia. The overall estimate for case-fatality rate among 8 studies was 12.7% [6.6-20.2%]. Underlying conditions, such as malnutrition or HIV infection were assessed as a factor associated with bacteraemia in 4 studies each.
CONCLUSIONS
We observed a marked variation in pathogen distribution and their resistance profiles between Asia and Africa. Very limited data is available on underlying risk factors for bacteraemia, patterns of treatment of multidrug-resistant infections and predictors of adverse outcomes.
Topics: Adolescent; Africa; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Asia; Bacteremia; Bacteria; Child; Child Health; Child, Preschool; Community-Acquired Infections; Developing Countries; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Humans; Infant; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Observational Studies as Topic; Poverty; Sepsis
PubMed: 31893041
DOI: 10.1186/s13756-019-0673-5 -
BMC Medicine Sep 2020In the absence of definitive diagnosis, healthcare providers are likely to prescribe empirical antibacterials to those who test negative for malaria. This problem is of...
BACKGROUND
In the absence of definitive diagnosis, healthcare providers are likely to prescribe empirical antibacterials to those who test negative for malaria. This problem is of critical importance in Southern Asia (SA) and South-eastern Asia (SEA) where high levels of antimicrobial consumption and high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance have been reported. To improve management and guide further diagnostic test development, better understanding is needed of the true causative agents of fever and their geographical variability.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of published literature (1980-2015) to characterise the spectrum of pathogens causing non-malarial febrile illness in SA and SEA. We searched six databases in English and French languages: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health (CABI) database, WHO Global Health Library, PASCAL, and Bulletin de la Société Française de Parasitologie (BDSP). Selection criteria included reporting on an infection or infections with a confirmed diagnosis, defined as pathogens detected in or cultured from samples from normally sterile sites, or serological evidence of current or past infection.
RESULTS
A total of 29,558 records from 19 countries in SA and SEA were screened, of which 2410 (8.1%) met the selection criteria. Bacterial aetiologies were reported in 1235 (51.2%) articles, viral in 846 (35.1%), parasitic in 132 (5.5%), and fungal in 54 (2.2%), and 143 (6.0%) articles reported more than one pathogen group. In descending order of frequency, Salmonella Typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and coagulase negative Staphylococcus were the commonly reported bacteria, while dengue virus, chikungunya virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus were common viral pathogens reported. Reports of rarely reported or emerging pathogens included a case report of Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) in India in 2010 and reports of Nipah virus in Singapore and India.
CONCLUSIONS
This review summarises the reported non-malaria pathogens that may cause febrile illness in SA and SEA. The findings emphasise the need of standardising the reporting of aetiological studies to develop effective, evidence-based fever management and improved surveillance. Research and development of diagnostic tools would benefit from up-to-date epidemiological reporting of the regional diversities of non-malaria fever aetiologies.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
PROSPERO registration, CRD42016049281.
Topics: Asia; Asia, Southeastern; Fever; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Organizational Case Studies
PubMed: 32951591
DOI: 10.1186/s12916-020-01745-0 -
Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... Oct 2019Our current understanding of the burden and distribution of typhoid fever in Africa relies on extrapolation of data from a small number of population-based incidence...
BACKGROUND
Our current understanding of the burden and distribution of typhoid fever in Africa relies on extrapolation of data from a small number of population-based incidence rate estimates. However, many other records on the occurrence of typhoid fever are available, and those records contain information that may enrich our understanding of the epidemiology of the disease as well as secular trends in reporting by country and over time.
METHODS
We conducted a systematic review of typhoid fever occurrence in Africa, published in PubMed, Embase, and ProMED (Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases).
RESULTS
At least one episode of culture-confirmed typhoid fever was reported in 42 of 57 African countries during 1900-2018. The number of reports on typhoid fever has increased over time in Africa and was highly heterogeneous between countries and over time. Outbreaks of typhoid fever were reported in 15 countries, with their frequency and size increasing over time.
CONCLUSIONS
Efforts should be made to leverage existing typhoid data, for example, by incorporating them into models for estimating the burden and distribution of typhoid fever.
Topics: Africa; Cost of Illness; Disease Outbreaks; Humans; Incidence; Paratyphoid Fever; Salmonella typhi; Typhoid Fever
PubMed: 31665777
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciz525 -
The American Journal of Tropical... Feb 2023The occurrence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of typhoid fever in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) are poorly characterized. Robust surveillance data are...
The occurrence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of typhoid fever in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) are poorly characterized. Robust surveillance data are needed to inform strategies for typhoid control and prevention in the region. We conducted a systematic review of typhoid fever occurrence, complications, and AMR patterns in EMR countries. We identified 70 studies published from 1990 to 2021, including a total of 44,541 cases with blood culture confirmed typhoid fever in 12 EMR countries, with 48 (69%) studies and 42,008 cases from Pakistan. Among 56 studies with AMR data, fluroquinolone (68% of 13,013 tested isolates), and multidrug resistance (40% of 15,765 tested isolates) were common. Forty (57%) of the 56 studies were from Pakistan, and all reports of extensively drug resistant Salmonella Typhi (48% of 9,578 tested isolates) were from studies in Pakistan. Our findings support the need for continued efforts to strengthen surveillance and laboratory capacity for blood-culture detection of typhoid fever in the region, including data from an ongoing collaboration among CDC, the American University of Beirut, and the WHO EMR office.
Topics: Humans; Typhoid Fever; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Salmonella typhi; Pakistan; Laboratories
PubMed: 36538895
DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0075 -
Pathogens and Global Health Oct 2019This review discusses currently available serological diagnostic methods for typhoid fever with a focus on the clinical utility of TUBEX® TF as an alternative to the... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
This review discusses currently available serological diagnostic methods for typhoid fever with a focus on the clinical utility of TUBEX® TF as an alternative to the Widal or Typhidot test. A literature search was conducted in PubMed for related publications written in English. A qualitative analysis was done to determine various serological tests used for typhoid fever diagnosis with emphasis on TUBEX® TF in comparison to the Widal of Typhidot test. Further, a meta-analysis was performed to obtain a pooled estimate of diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) using different analysis models. A total of sixteen studies was included in the qualitative analysis. Further screening of these studies yielded ten studies that were used for the meta-analysis. The sensitivity/specificity range of different commonly used serological tests in typhoid patients is between 55-100%/58-100% for TUBEX® TF, 54-67%/54-95% for Typhidot, and 32-95%/4-98% for the Widal test. As for the pooled meta-analysis estimates, the TUBEX® TF showed superior results when differentiating individuals with febrile illness of unknown origin from those with typhoid fever. Overall, the results of this review and meta-analysis suggest that the TUBEX® TF is more advantageous to use as a serological test for typhoid fever diagnosis due its accuracy and simplicity. However, further studies are still needed to validate our results.
Topics: Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Evaluation Studies as Topic; Humans; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Salmonella typhi; Sensitivity and Specificity; Serologic Tests; Typhoid Fever
PubMed: 31778097
DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2019.1695081