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Showing posts from February, 2022

Fatal Pediatric Meningococcal Invasive Disease Caused by Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup C and Co-Infected With SARS-CoV-2: Report of a Case in Tijuana, Mexico - Cureus

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Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a severe infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis , with mortality rates ranging from 10% to 40%. IMD has been confirmed to be an endemic disease in Tijuana, Mexico, right across the border from San Diego, California. To date, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most severe pandemic, causing more than 5.5 million deaths globally. Prior or co-infections of influenza with IMD has been reported previously; however, the participation of other respiratory viruses facilitating the invasiveness of N. meningitidis is either not shown or remains unclear. Here, we report the case of an unvaccinated (for IMD and COVID-19) seven-year-old child who had confirmed fatal IMD caused by N. meningitidis , serogroup C, and was co-infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Introduction Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a potentially lethal infectious illness caused by Neisseria meningitidis into the bloodstream causing sep

Fact Sheet: Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model - CMS

Overview The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has redesigned the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model (GPDC) Model to advance Administration priorities, including our commitment to advancing health equity, and in response to stakeholder feedback and participant experience. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) is releasing a Request for Applications (RFA) to solicit a cohort of participants for the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model. The GPDC model will be renamed the ACO REACH model to better align the model's name with its purpose: to encourage health care providers to coordinate care to improve the care offered to people with Medicare – especially those from underserved communities, a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. CMS is also committing to greater transparency by releasing more information on current GPDC model participants and strength

Penn Vet names inaugural infectious and zoonotic disease fellowship recipients - DVM 360

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The fellowship displays the institute's dedication to supporting researchers and future leaders in the biomedical field. The Institute for Infectious and Zoonotic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has granted its inaugural Martin and Pamela Winter Infectious Disease Fellowships of $35,000 each to 2, early-career biomedical scientists. According to a university release, the fellowships reflect the institute's long-term goal of supporting researchers and aspiring leaders in the biomedical industry to understand the obstacles regarding zoonotic infectious diseases of wildlife and humans. The Martin and Pamela Winter Infectious Disease Fellows are: Recipient : Khabadire Tlotleng Institution : Botswana University of Agriculture & Natural Resources Project : Identification of Canine parvovirus variants Mentor : Eman Anis, DVM, MVSc, PhD, ACVM; assistant professor of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pe

Pseudomembranous necrotizing laryngotracheobronchitis due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae: a case report and literature review - BMC Infectious Diseases - BMC Infectious Diseases

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Pneumonia caused by M. pneumoniae occurs mainly in adolescents, the elderly, immunocompetent individuals, and older children. The clinical manifestations include an irritating cough [17]. In recent years, the proportion of refractory M. pneumoniae pneumonia cases has been on a gradual rise. An 11-year-old girl presented fever and cough and was diagnosed with pneumonia upon imaging. She was positive for IgM and RNA of M. pneumoniae . Thus, the diagnosis of M. pneumoniae pneumonia was confirmed. Obvious hoarseness in this patient caught our attention and we decided to perform bronchoscopy and mNGS of the BALF for further confirmation. By bronchoscopy, obvious pseudomembranes were observed in the trachea. The pathological results were in line with our expectations, that is, the presence of necrotizing bronchitis. The mNGS of BALF suggested the presence of M. pneumoniae infection only and no other pathogens were detected. The diagnosis of M. pneumoniae -related acute pseudomembranous n

New Hendra virus discovery reveals how ongoing surveillance programs are crucial to detecting emerging diseases - Medical Xpress

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Transmission electron micrograph of new variant Hendra virus (HeV-g2). Credit: Annand et al, DOI: 10.3201/eid2803.211245 University of Sydney-led research has uncovered an unrecognized variant of the Hendra virus, prompting re-evaluation of spillover risk from horses and their caregivers to other humans. A new variant of the Hendra virus has been identified by Sydney-led research as a cause of fatal illness in Australian horses, and of risk for virus spillover into humans. A second case of the variant was confirmed by the NSW Department of Primary Industries near Newcastle in October 2021, using updated testing methods made possible by the research. The story of its discovery serves as a case study on how ongoing disease surveillance programs are crucial to detecti

Worm infection in kids: Causes, symptoms, preventive tips by doctors, treatment - Hindustan Times

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Intestinal worm infection can be caused due to ingestion of contaminated water or food or sometimes due to putting dirty fingers into the mouth which most of the children do or due to poor hygiene. Doctors share its causes, symptoms, preventive measures and treatment Intestinal worm infection in children: Causes, symptoms, preventive tips by doctors , treatment (Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash) Updated on Feb 20, 2022 06:33 PM IST By Zarafshan Shiraz , Delhi According to the World Health Organization, intestinal worm infection or soil-transmitted helminth infections are transmitted by eggs present in human faeces, which in turn contaminate soil in areas where sanitation is poor. It is among the most common infections worldwide and affect the poorest and most deprived communities where India contributes nearly 70% cases in South East Asia and 26% to total cases in the world. This leaves us with a huge responsibilit

Nail that ugly fungal problem - Cessnock Advertiser

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Nail that ugly fungal problem    Cessnock Advertiser

UAB infectious disease specialist talks 'long COVID' and hopes for research - Alabama's News Leader

[unable to retrieve full-text content] UAB infectious disease specialist talks 'long COVID' and hopes for research    Alabama's News Leader

ACO Groups Disappointed With Results for Medicare 'Shared Savings' Program - MedPage Today

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WASHINGTON -- Are 66 new accountable care organizations (ACOs) in a year a sign of progress or a disappointing result? That depends on who you ask. CMS announced last week that 66 additional ACOs joined the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for ACOs in 2022, bringing the total up to 483 ACOs. However, that number is only six more than last year's total of 477 and 34 fewer than the 2020 total of 517. The fact that 66 additional ACOs joined the program but the total number of ACOs only increased by six suggested that 60 ACOs left the program last year. Asked to clarify the issue, a CMS spokesperson confirmed in an email that "60 ACOs either terminated their agreement or completed their agreement and did not renew their participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program." However, the spokesperson added, "while ACOs may have left the program, many practitioners treating patients have stayed with the program by joining a different ACO. Nearly two-thirds of

Your Unwanted Internal Pets: Intestinal Parasites (Other Than Nematodes) - Medscape

[unable to retrieve full-text content] Your Unwanted Internal Pets: Intestinal Parasites (Other Than Nematodes)    Medscape

Antiprotozoal Drugs Market: The Pipeline for New Antiprotozoal Drugs is Projected to Boost the Growth of the Market - BioSpace

Protozoa are unicellular, non-phototrophic, eukaryotic microorganisms lacking cell walls. This group comprises over 65,000 species. Most protozoa cause a number of diseases in animals and humans. In the cyst stage of the life cycle, protozoa are most dormant and resistant to environmental stress factors. Cysts are often the mode of infection in disease causing protozoa. These infectious agents are usually transmitted through fecal-oral route. Read Report Overview - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/antiprotozoal-drugs-market.html The major disease-causing protozoans include Plasmodium spp., Trypanosoma spp., and Leishmania spp. Diseases caused by these protozoans lead to significant mortality, morbidity, and economy losses in developing countries. Protozoal infections arise due to poor sanitary conditions, improper hygiene, and lack of vector control methods in tropical and sub-tropical countries. Antiprotozoal drugs are therefore used to combat these diseases. Antipro

Tapeworms found in man’s brain years after he ate feces-tainted food - Ars Technica

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Enlarge / Head of pork tapeworm. Getty | Michael J Klein On a night that seemed like any other, a perfectly healthy 38-year-old man in Massachusetts fell from his bed amid a violent seizure at 4 am. The commotion woke his wife, who found her husband on the floor, shaking and "speaking gibberish." He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital. There, doctors witnessed the man have a two-minute-long tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizure, in which he lost consciousness and his muscles aggressively contracted. Doctors began the painstaking process of trying to piece together what was wrong by performing a battery of tests and interviewing his family. By nearly every account, the man was in very good health. He had no history of seizures or of any cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, or neurologic disorders. His toxicology screens were clear. He took no medications, prescribed or over-the-counter. He didn't smoke and r

Secondary Bacterial Infection Rates Among Patients With COVID-19 - Cureus

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Objective The aim of this study was to determine the factors and rates of secondary bacterial infections developed in patients after the diagnosis of COVID-19 and antimicrobial susceptibility to guide the empirical treatment and contribute to epidemiological data. Materials and Methods In our study, 1,055 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, hospitalized at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital, Rize, between the dates March 24, 2020 and December 31, 2020, were recruited. The diagnoses of all patients were confirmed by positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. In addition, the blood and respiratory tract cultures of the patients recruited in the study were analyzed retrospectively. Results Ninety-two (8.7%) patients were found to have microbiologically proven respiratory or circulatory tract infections via microbial culture results. Respiratory tract infections were detected as monomicrobial in 44 patients and as polymicrobial