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Frontiers in Public Health 2024Baseline mapping showed that schistosomiasis was highly/moderately endemic in nine districts in Sierra Leone. Mass drug administration (MDA) with praziquantel started in...
BACKGROUND
Baseline mapping showed that schistosomiasis was highly/moderately endemic in nine districts in Sierra Leone. Mass drug administration (MDA) with praziquantel started in 2009, and after multiple rounds of treatment, an impact assessment was conducted in 2016 followed by a second re-assessment in 2022 using cluster sampling to provide more granular data for refining chiefdom (sub-district) treatment strategies.
METHODS
On average, 20 rural villages were systematically selected per district by probability proportional to population size across the nine districts. Surveys were conducted in schools, and 24 school children aged between 5 and 14 years were randomly selected, with an equal number of boys and girls. One stool sample and one urine sample were collected per child. Two Kato-Katz slides were examined per stool for infection. Hemastix strips were used as a proxy for infection with urine filtration used for egg counts on hematuria-positive samples.
RESULTS
In total, 4,736 stool samples and 4,618 urine samples were examined across 200 schools in 125 chiefdoms. Overall, the prevalence of was 16.3% (95% CI: 15.3-17.4%), while the overall prevalence of was 2.0% (95% CI: 1.6-2.4%) by hematuria. The prevalence of heavy infections for and was 1.5% (95% CI: 1.1-1.9%) and 0.02% (95% CI: 0.0-0.14%), respectively. Among 125 chiefdoms surveyed, the overall schistosomiasis prevalence was <10% in 65 chiefdoms, 10-49.9% in 47 chiefdoms, and ≥ 50% in 13 chiefdoms. There was a mixed relationship between schistosomiasis in school children and WASH access in schools.
CONCLUSION
Sierra Leone has made significant progress in reducing schistosomiasis prevalence across the country after a decade of MDA intervention. However, high prevalence remains in some hotspot chiefdoms. The next steps are for the national program to investigate and address any potential issues such as low coverage or poor knowledge of schistosomiasis risk behaviors and, where appropriate, consider broadening to community-wide treatment in hotspot chiefdoms or communities.
Topics: Humans; Sierra Leone; Child; Female; Male; Adolescent; Child, Preschool; Praziquantel; Feces; Animals; Mass Drug Administration; Prevalence; Anthelmintics; Schistosomiasis; Schistosoma mansoni; Schistosomiasis mansoni; Rural Population; Endemic Diseases; Cluster Analysis; Schistosoma haematobium
PubMed: 38932788
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1415486 -
Vaccines Jun 2024No vaccine has been more effective in reducing disease burden, especially in preventing child deaths, than measles-containing vaccine. The return on investment makes...
No vaccine has been more effective in reducing disease burden, especially in preventing child deaths, than measles-containing vaccine. The return on investment makes measles-containing vaccine one of the most cost-effective public health measures available. Exhaustive reviews of biological, technical, economic and programmatic evidence have concluded that measles can and should be eradicated, and by including rubella antigen in measles-containing vaccine, congenital rubella syndrome will also be eradicated. All World Health Organisation Regions have pledged to achieve measles elimination. Unfortunately, not all countries and global partners have demonstrated an appropriate commitment to these laudable public health goals, and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on coverage rates has been profound. Unsurprisingly, large disruptive outbreaks are already occurring in many countries with a global epidemic curve ominously similar to that of 2018/2019 emerging. The Immunization Agenda 2030 will fail dismally unless measles and rubella eradication efforts are accelerated. Over half of all member states have been verified to have eliminated rubella and endemic rubella transmission has not been re-established in any country to date. In 2023, 84 countries and areas were verified to have sustained elimination of measles. However, without a global target, this success will be difficult to sustain. Now is the time for a global eradication goal and commitment by the World Health Assembly. Having a galvanising goal, with a shared call for action, will demand adequate resourcing from every country government and global partners. Greater coordination across countries and regions will be necessary. Measles, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome eradication should not remain just a technically feasible possibility but rather be completed to ensure that future generations of children do not live under the shadow of preventable childhood death and lifelong disability.
PubMed: 38932428
DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12060699 -
Viruses Jun 2024This study aimed to determine the incidence and etiological, seasonal, and genetic characteristics of respiratory viral coinfections involving severe acute respiratory...
This study aimed to determine the incidence and etiological, seasonal, and genetic characteristics of respiratory viral coinfections involving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Between October 2020 and January 2024, nasopharyngeal samples were collected from 2277 SARS-CoV-2-positive patients. Two multiplex approaches were used to detect and sequence SARS-CoV-2, influenza A/B viruses, and other seasonal respiratory viruses: multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex next-generation sequencing. Coinfections of SARS-CoV-2 with other respiratory viruses were detected in 164 (7.2%) patients. The most common co-infecting virus was respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (38 cases, 1.7%), followed by bocavirus (BoV) (1.2%) and rhinovirus (RV) (1.1%). Patients ≤ 16 years of age had the highest rate (15%) of mixed infections. Whole-genome sequencing produced 19 complete genomes of seasonal respiratory viral co-pathogens, which were subjected to phylogenetic and amino acid analyses. The detected influenza viruses were classified into the genetic groups 6B.1A.5a.2a and 6B.1A.5a.2a.1 for A(H1N1)pdm09, 3C.2a1b.2a.2a.1 and 3C.2a.2b for A(H3N2), and V1A.3a.2 for the B/Victoria lineage. The RSV-B sequences belonged to the genetic group GB5.0.5a, with HAdV-C belonging to type 1, BoV to genotype VP1, and PIV3 to lineage 1a(i). Multiple amino acid substitutions were identified, including at the antibody-binding sites. This study provides insights into respiratory viral coinfections involving SARS-CoV-2 and reinforces the importance of genetic characterization of co-pathogens in the development of therapeutic and preventive strategies.
Topics: Humans; Coinfection; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; Middle Aged; Adult; Female; Male; Adolescent; Phylogeny; Child, Preschool; Child; Aged; Young Adult; Infant; Respiratory Tract Infections; Rhinovirus; Influenza A virus; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human; Nasopharynx; Whole Genome Sequencing; China; Seasons; Aged, 80 and over; Genome, Viral; Influenza B virus
PubMed: 38932250
DOI: 10.3390/v16060958 -
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Varroa mites, scientifically identified as , pose a significant threat to beekeeping and cause one of the most destructive diseases affecting honey bee populations....
Varroa mites, scientifically identified as , pose a significant threat to beekeeping and cause one of the most destructive diseases affecting honey bee populations. These parasites attach to bees, feeding on their fat tissue, weakening their immune systems, reducing their lifespans, and even causing colony collapse. They also feed during the pre-imaginal stages of the honey bee in brood cells. Given the critical role of honey bees in pollination and the global food supply, controlling Varroa mites is imperative. One of the most common methods used to evaluate the level of Varroa mite infestation in a bee colony is to count all the mites that fall onto sticky boards placed at the bottom of a colony. However, this is usually a manual process that takes a considerable amount of time. This work proposes a deep learning approach for locating and counting Varroa mites using images of the sticky boards taken by smartphone cameras. To this end, a new realistic dataset has been built: it includes images containing numerous artifacts and blurred parts, which makes the task challenging. After testing various architectures (mainly based on two-stage detectors with feature pyramid networks), combination of hyperparameters and some image enhancement techniques, we have obtained a system that achieves a mean average precision (mAP) metric of 0.9073 on the validation set.
Topics: Animals; Varroidae; Bees; Deep Learning; Software; Mite Infestations; Beekeeping; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
PubMed: 38931612
DOI: 10.3390/s24123828 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024The development of new compounds to treat Chagas disease is imperative due to the adverse effects of current drugs and their low efficacy in the chronic phase. This...
The development of new compounds to treat Chagas disease is imperative due to the adverse effects of current drugs and their low efficacy in the chronic phase. This study aims to investigate nitroisoxazole derivatives that produce oxidative stress while modifying the compounds' lipophilicity, affecting their ability to fight trypanosomes. The results indicate that these compounds are more effective against the epimastigote form of , with a 52 ± 4% trypanocidal effect for compound . However, they are less effective against the trypomastigote form, with a 15 ± 3% trypanocidal effect. Additionally, compound interacts with a higher number of amino acid residues within the active site of the enzyme cruzipain. Furthermore, it was also found that the presence of a nitro group allows for the generation of free radicals; likewise, the large size of the compound enables increased interaction with aminoacidic residues in the active site of cruzipain, contributing to trypanocidal activity. This activity depends on the size and lipophilicity of the compounds. The study recommends exploring new compounds based on the nitroisoxazole skeleton, with larger substituents and lipophilicity to enhance their trypanocidal activity.
Topics: Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanocidal Agents; Isoxazoles; Protozoan Proteins; Structure-Activity Relationship; Chagas Disease; Cysteine Endopeptidases; Animals; Catalytic Domain; Molecular Structure
PubMed: 38930828
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29122762 -
Microorganisms Jun 2024Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) aim to reduce contamination in effluent water; however, studies indicate antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) persist...
Metagenomic Investigation of the Short-Term Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of the Bacterial Microbiome and the Resistome Downstream of a Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Iskar River in Bulgaria.
Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) aim to reduce contamination in effluent water; however, studies indicate antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) persist post-treatment, potentially leading to their spread from human populated areas into the environment. This study evaluated the impact of a large WWTP serving 125,000 people on the Iskar River in Bulgaria, by characterizing the spatial and short-term temporal dynamics in bacterial community dynamics and resistance profiles of the surface water. Pairs of samples were collected biweekly on four dates from two different locations, one about 800 m after the WWTP effluents and the other 10 km downstream. Taxonomic classification revealed the dominance of and , notably the genera , , , , and . The taxonomic structure corresponded with both lentic and lotic freshwater habitats, with exhibiting a significant decrease over the study period. Principal Coordinate Analysis revealed statistically significant differences in bacterial community composition between samples collected on different dates. Differential abundance analysis identified notable enrichment of and There were shifts within the enriched or depleted bacterial taxa between early and late sampling dates. High relative abundance of the genes , , , (macrolides); , , , and (tetracyclines); and (sulphonamides); and , (beta-lactams) were detected, with trends of increased presence in the latest sampling dates and in the location closer to the WWTP. Of note, genes conferring resistance to carbapenems OXA-58 and IMP-33-like were identified. Co-occurrence analysis of ARGs and mobile genetic elements on putative plasmids showed few instances, and the estimated human health risk score (0.19) according to MetaCompare2.0 was low. In total, 29 metagenome-assembled genomes were recovered, with only a few harbouring ARGs. This study enhances our understanding of freshwater microbial community dynamics and antibiotic resistance profiles, highlighting the need for continued ARGs monitoring.
PubMed: 38930632
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061250 -
Microorganisms Jun 2024Maternal parasitemia and placental parasite load were examined in mother-newborn pairs to determine their effect on the congenital transmission of . Parasitemia was...
Maternal parasitemia and placental parasite load were examined in mother-newborn pairs to determine their effect on the congenital transmission of . Parasitemia was qualitatively assessed in mothers and newborns by the microhematocrit test; parasite load was determined in the placental tissues of transmitting and non-transmitting mothers by the detection of DNA and by histology. Compared to transmitter mothers, the frequency and prevalence of parasitemia were found to be increased in non-transmitter mothers; however, the frequency and prevalence of parasite load were higher among the transmitter mothers than among their non-transmitter counterparts. Additionally, serum levels of interferon (IFN)-γ were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in peripheral, placental, and cord blood samples. Median values of IFN-γ were significantly increased in the cord blood of uninfected newborns. The median IFN-γ values of transmitter and non-transmitter mothers were not significantly different; however, non-transmitter mothers had the highest total IFN-γ production among the group of mothers. Collectively, the results of this study suggest that the anti- immune response occurring in the placenta and cord is under the influence of the cytokines from the mother's blood and results in the control of parasitemia in uninfected newborns.
PubMed: 38930625
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061243 -
Microorganisms May 2024In medicine, parasitic cysts (e.g., brain cysticerci) are believed to be sterile, and are primarily treated with antiparasitic medications, not antibiotics, which could...
In medicine, parasitic cysts (e.g., brain cysticerci) are believed to be sterile, and are primarily treated with antiparasitic medications, not antibiotics, which could prevent abscess formation and localized inflammation. This study quantified the microbial composition of parasitic cysts in a wild rodent, using multi-kingdom metagenomics to comprehensively assess if parasitic cysts are sterile, and further understand gut microbial translocation and adaptation in wildlife confined environments, outside the gut. Analysis was conducted on DNA from two hepatic parasitic cysts from a feline tapeworm, , affecting a wild vole mouse (), and from feces, liver and peritoneal fluid of this and two other concurrent individual wild voles trapped during pest control in one of our university research vegetable gardens. Bacterial metagenomics revealed the presence of gut commensal/opportunistic species, ; and inhabiting the cysts, and peritoneal fluid. Remarkably, viral metagenomics revealed various murine viral species, and unexpectedly, a virus from the insect armyworm moth (), known as A (MyunGV-A), in both cysts, and in one fecal and one peritoneal sample from the other non-cyst voles, indicating the survival and adaption potential of the insect virus in voles. Metagenomics also revealed a significantly lower probability of fungal detection in cysts compared to that in peritoneal fluid/feces ( < 0.05), with single taxon detection in each cyst ( and ). The peritoneal fluid had the highest probability for fungi. In conclusion, metagenomics revealed that bacteria/viruses/fungi coexist within parasitic cysts supporting the potential therapeutic benefits of antibiotics in cystic diseases, and in inflammatory microniches of chronic diseases, such as Crohn's disease gut wall cavitating micropathologies, from which we recently isolated similar synergistic pathogenic and , and .
PubMed: 38930512
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061130 -
Microorganisms May 2024This study investigated the prevalence of and in 494 engorged ticks collected from various animal hosts, including cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, dogs, and cats, in...
This study investigated the prevalence of and in 494 engorged ticks collected from various animal hosts, including cattle, horses, sheep, chickens, dogs, and cats, in six regions of northern Kyrgyzstan. Ten tick species, belonging to two families and six genera, were identified based on , 16S rRNA, and genes: (26.5%), (18.0%), spp. (16.0%), (11.8%), . (10.9%), . (7.7%), (4.5%), . (3.8%), . complex (0.6%), and (0.2%). PCR analysis revealed a 15.0% (74/494) overall infection rate of and . species were found in six tick species and were identified as ( = 44), spp. ( = 20), ( = 5), and ( = 2). species were found only in ( = 5) and identified as ( = 1) and spp. ( = 4). Additionally, two were co-infected with and . This is the first study to investigate tick-borne bacterial pathogens in ticks collected from animal hosts in Kyrgyzstan. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology and emergence of tick-borne infections in Kyrgyzstan.
PubMed: 38930428
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061046 -
Journal of Personalized Medicine Jun 2024To minimize stroke-related deaths and maximize the likelihood of cerebral reperfusion, medical professionals developed the "code stroke" emergency protocol, which allows...
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
To minimize stroke-related deaths and maximize the likelihood of cerebral reperfusion, medical professionals developed the "code stroke" emergency protocol, which allows for the prompt evaluation of patients with acute ischemic stroke symptoms in pre-hospital care and the emergency department (ED). This research will outline our experience in implementing the stroke code protocol for acute ischemic stroke patients and its impact on door-to-needle time (DTN) in the ED.
METHODS
Our study included patients with a "code stroke alert" upon arrival at the emergency department. The final sample of this study consisted of 258 patients eligible for intravenous (IV) thrombolysis with an onset-to-door time < 4.5 h. ED admissions were categorized into two distinct groups: "day shift" (from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) (n = 178) and "night shift" (from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.) (n = 80) groups.
RESULTS
An analysis of ED time targets showed an increased median during the day shift for onset-to-ED door time of 310 min (IQR, 190-340 min), for door-to-physician (emergency medicine doctor) time of 5 min (IQR, 3-9 min), for door-to-physician (emergency medicine doctor) time of 5 min (IQR, 3-9 min), and for door-to-physician (neurologist) time of 7 min (IQR, 5-10 min), also during the day shift. During the night shift, an increased median was found for door-to-CT time of 21 min (IQR, 16.75-23 min), for door-to-CT results of 40 min (IQR, 38-43 min), and for door-to-needle time of 57.5 min (IQR, 46.25-60 min). Astonishingly, only 17.83% (n = 46) of these patients received intravenous thrombolysis, and the proportion of patients with thrombolysis was significantly higher during the night shift ( = 0.044). A logistic regression analysis considering the door-to-needle time (minutes) as the dependent variable demonstrated that onset-to-ED time ( < 0.001) and door-to-physician (emergency medicine physicians) time ( = 0.021) are predictors for performing thrombolysis in our study.
CONCLUSIONS
This study identified higher door-to-CT and door-to-emergency medicine physician times associated with an increased DTN, highlighting further opportunities to improve acute stroke care in the emergency department. Further, door-to-CT and door-to-CT results showed statistically significant increases during the night shift.
PubMed: 38929817
DOI: 10.3390/jpm14060596