Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Diana Peitz, Christina Kersjes, Julia Thom, Heike Hoelling, Elvira Mauz
Summary: This study identified 192 indicators related to public mental health through systematic searches and expert input, providing a comprehensive overview of current concepts. These indicators offer guidance for future surveillance efforts and can be tailored to specific monitoring focuses. The study emphasizes the need for additional indicators specific to children and adolescents, and highlights the underrepresentation of mental health promotion and prevention indicators in current literature.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Morgan Miller Richey, Yvonne Golightly, Stephen William Marshall, Wendy Novicoff, Alexander Keil, Maryalice Nocera, David B. Richardson
Summary: This study conducted in North Carolina found that older workers have a higher risk of fatal occupational injury. The research results showed that the rate of fatal occupational injury among older workers did not significantly decrease before and after the economic recession.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
R. Paul McClung, Alexandra M. Oster, M. Cheryl Banez Ocfemia, Neeraja Saduvala, Walid Heneine, Jeffrey A. Johnson, Angela L. Hernandez
Summary: This analysis found that there was no overall increase in transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance in 28 US jurisdictions during 2014-2018, including by drug class. However, continued monitoring is necessary due to the expanding use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and integrase-strand transfer inhibitors.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Hye-Eun Lee, Yeon-Gyeong Kim, Jin-Young Jeong, Dong-Hyun Kim
Summary: Korean Community Health Status Indicators (K-CHSI) is a model-based database that provides annual data on health outcomes and determinants at the municipal level in Korea. It includes a wide range of health indicators and factors, allowing for ecological and time-series analysis.
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND HEALTH
(2023)
Review
Genetics & Heredity
Claire Waddington, Megan E. Carey, Christine J. Boinett, Ellen Higginson, Balaji Veeraraghavan, Stephen Baker
Summary: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global public health threat caused by excessive use of antimicrobials. The interplay between pathogens, AMR encoding genes, and mobile genetic elements on a microbial level is not fully understood, hampering control measures. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and metagenomic analyses have improved our understanding of these processes, informing mitigation strategies and novel diagnostic methods to optimize antimicrobial use and control AMR. Future opportunities for AMR control are identified, alongside challenges that need to be addressed to fully utilize WGS approaches for international AMR control.
Article
Microbiology
Yanink Caro-Vega, Fernando Alarid-Escudero, Eva A. Enns, Sandra Sosa-Rubi, Carlos Chivardi, Alicia Pineirua-Menendez, Claudia Garcia-Morales, Gustavo Reyes-Teran, Juan G. Sierra-Madero, Santiago avila-Rios
Summary: In Mexico, prior antiretroviral therapy (ART) experience is associated with poorer clinical outcomes among individuals with nevirapine/emtricitabine-resistant virus, indicating a need for targeted support for socially vulnerable populations. Analysis of PDR survey data revealed that ART-experienced individuals and those with NNRTI-PDR exhibited the worst clinical outcomes, highlighting the importance of addressing social vulnerability factors in HIV treatment strategies.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dennis Schmiege, Nicole Zacharias, Esther Sib, Timo Falkenberg, Susanne Moebus, Mariele Evers, Thomas Kistemann
Summary: This study examined the presence of ESBL-producing E. coli in wastewater from three different communities in the Ruhr Metropolis, Germany. The results showed that the general community is an important indirect discharger, with higher loads of ESBL-producing E. coli in socio-spatially disadvantaged areas. Differences in resistance profiles were mainly observed for antibiotics used in outpatient care.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Patricia Helena Castro Nunes, Jessica Pronestino de Lima Moreira, Alessandra de Figueiredo Thompson, Thalita Lyrio da Silveira Machado, Jose Cerbino-Neto, Fernando Augusto Bozza
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence of antibiotic consumption and the deviation of prescribed daily dose (PDD) from defined daily dose (DDD) in Brazilian ICUs. The study found a high prevalence of antibiotic use, predominantly in empirical regimens and antibiotics belonging to the WHO Watch classification. The most prescribed antibiotics exhibited high variability of doses and large deviations of PDD from DDD.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Dustin T. Hill, Hannah Cousins, Bryan Dandaraw, Catherine Faruolo, Alex Godinez, Sythong Run, Simon Smith, Megan Willkens, Shruti Zirath, David A. Larsen
Summary: Wastewater surveillance has significantly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic and is considered an important public health tool. A survey conducted among municipal treatment plant supervisors in New York State found that while most supervisors were aware of the ability to track COVID-19 through wastewater, their knowledge about surveillance for other public health issues was limited. The study also revealed a direct association between attitudes towards wastewater testing and the reported capacity of treatment plants to take samples.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jasleen Kaur, Jasmine Kaur, Ajay Singh Dhama, Shelja Jindal, Kamini Walia, Harpreet Singh
Summary: The Indian health department has designed and developed a set of tools to strengthen antimicrobial resistance monitoring, which have been applied in healthcare institutions nationwide and integrated data into a central repository.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Howard Chiou, Christopher Voegeli, Elisabeth Wilhelm, Jessica Kolis, Kathryn Brookmeyer, Dimitri Prybylski
Summary: Infodemic surveillance systems are crucial in detecting and responding to outbreaks of misinformation, disinformation, information overload, or information voids. These systems monitor the information environment, identify infodemic events with digital analytics, and generate timely routine reports to ensure timely interventions for both epidemic and infodemic response are deployed in an increasingly hyperconnected world.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Elena Montecatine-Alonso, Marta Mejias-Trueba, Walter Alfredo Goycochea-Valdivia, Estibaliz Chavarri-Gil, Cecilia M. Fernandez-Llamazares, Elisenda Dolz, Jose Maria Gutierrez-Urbon, Carmen Gallego-Fernandez, Jesus Llorente-Gutierrez, Maria Victoria Gil-Navarro
Summary: The study aimed to establish appropriate DDD values for the pediatric population to assess the effectiveness of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Antimicrobial prescriptions were collected from pediatric wards of seven Spanish tertiary hospitals for 2 years. Pediatric DDDs for 30 different antimicrobials were obtained, providing a globally applicable indicator for analyzing the use and efficacy of ASPs in different hospitals.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Cristina Villanueva-Bueno, Elena Montecatine-Alonso, Francisco Jimenez-Parrilla, Maria Gonzalez-Lopez, Silvia Manrique-Rodriguez, Francisco Moreno-Ramos, Carme Canete-Ramirez, Elisenda Dolz, Ana Garcia-Robles, Jose Manuel Caro-Teller, Maria Teresa Moral-Pumarega, Elena Bergon-Sendin, Maria Teresa Gomez-Trevecedo Calvo, Carmen Gallego-Fernandez, Concepcion Alvarez del Vayo-Benito, Marta Mejias-Trueba, Maria Victoria Gil-Navarro
Summary: The aim of this study is to validate the neonatal Defined Daily Doses (DDD) as a new standardized form of antibiotic consumption in the neonatal population. Through an observational study of antibiotic prescriptions in neonatal and intensive care units of nine Spanish hospitals, the majority of intravenously administered antibiotics used in clinical practice in neonates have been validated using DDD. This will provide a global indicator for estimating antibiotic consumption in the neonatal population and confirm its usefulness and applicability.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Naila Jabeen, Waseem Ullah, Javeria Khalid, Zia Samad
Summary: This study evaluated the five-year inpatient antibiotic use in a tertiary care hospital in Islamabad and found that the antibiotic consumption rate was higher than the WHO standard. The study also highlighted the fluctuation in antibiotic consumption trends and the lack of adherence to the hospital antibiotic policy.
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND INFECTION CONTROL
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Dallas S. Shi, Jessica L. Rinsky, George R. Grimes, Sophia K. Chiu
Summary: The study found that the number of Health Hazard Evaluations (HHEs) on workplace cancer cluster concerns has remained steady over the past two decades. The majority of investigations did not confirm cancer clusters or identify occupational causes. This provides public health practitioners with valuable information and encourages them to refine investigative approaches.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Andrea Maugeri, Martina Barchitta, Giuliana Favara, Claudia La Mastra, Maria Clara La Rosa, Roberta Magnano San Lio, Antonella Agodi
Summary: In recent decades, researchers have used different multivariate techniques to analyze multidimensional dietary datasets and identify meaningful patterns of dietary habits. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis are the two most commonly used techniques, either separately or in parallel. In this study, a workflow combining PCA, hierarchical clustering, and a K-means algorithm is proposed for deriving dietary patterns. However, subjective decisions in the workflow may influence the final clustering solution, so alternative approaches are provided. The proposed approach, referred to as clustering on principal components, disentangles dietary data better than simple clustering algorithms and can be valuable for leveraging the strengths of each method.
Editorial Material
Nursing
Andrea Maugeri, Martina Barchitta, Antonella Agodi
INTENSIVE AND CRITICAL CARE NURSING
(2023)
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Andrea Maugeri, Martina Barchitta, Antonella Agodi
Summary: The study conducts a scoping review to analyze the use of wearable sensors in foetal and pregnancy outcomes research. 30 studies were selected from online databases, focusing on monitoring foetal vital signs and maternal activity during pregnancy. While the findings support the potential adoption of wearable devices in antenatal care and research, more high-quality research is needed to design effective interventions.
JOURNAL OF PERSONALIZED MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Andrea Maugeri, Martina Barchitta, Federico Puglisi, Antonella Agodi
Summary: This ecological analysis examines the relationship between demographic, economic, governance, health, and freedom characteristics of 30 European countries and antibiotic consumption and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The study finds that the governance index has a significant impact on both antibiotic consumption and AMR proportion. However, reducing antibiotic use alone is unlikely to solve the AMR problem, and more interventions are needed to improve governance efficiency.
GLOBALIZATION AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Nutrition & Dietetics
Martina Barchitta, Roberta Magnano San Lio, Maria Clara La Rosa, Claudia La Mastra, Giuliana Favara, Giuliana Ferrante, Fabiola Galvani, Elisa Pappalardo, Carla Ettore, Giuseppe Ettore, Antonella Agodi, Andrea Maugeri
Summary: Limited evidence exists on the effects of maternal dietary patterns on birth weight, and most studies conducted so far did not adjust their findings for gestational age and sex, leading to potentially biased conclusions. In this study, a novel method was applied to derive dietary patterns among pregnant women and evaluate the associations with birth weight for gestational age. The findings suggest that adherence to an unhealthy dietary pattern is associated with an increased likelihood of having a large for gestational age newborn.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Andrea Maugeri, Martina Barchitta, Roberta Magnano San Lio, Antonella Agodi
Summary: A positive linear association was found between temperature change and antimicrobial resistance rates, but this association disappeared when adjusting for economic and governance factors. Instead, antibiotic consumption, population density, and governance efficiency were identified as the main predictors of antimicrobial resistance. Ensuring appropriate antibiotic use and improving governance efficiency are effective strategies to counteract antimicrobial resistance.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
M. Barchitta, A. Maugeri, G. Favara, R. Magnano San Lio, M. C. La Rosa, F. D'Ancona, A. Agodi
Summary: This study describes the trends of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in Italian intensive care units (ICUs) and compares the characteristics and outcomes of patients with or without COVID-19. The study found that the incidence and density of HAIs are increasing, with higher incidence among COVID-19 patients and a higher risk of death.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL INFECTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Antonella Agodi, Andrea Maugeri, Giuliana Favara, Roberta Magnano San Lio, Martina Puglisi, Dario Sinatra, Giuseppe Liberti, Martina Barchitta
Summary: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study aimed to investigate gender differences in characteristics and outcomes of patients. The analysis showed that males were younger and more likely to have diabetes, other metabolic diseases, and obesity. Both male and female patients with comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, or chronic neurological diseases had a higher risk of death. Among males, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases were significant risk factors, while among females, cancer was a significant contributor to COVID-19 mortality.
Review
Environmental Sciences
Roberta Magnano San Lio, Martina Barchitta, Andrea Maugeri, Serafino Quartarone, Guido Basile, Antonella Agodi
Summary: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a standard treatment for gallstone patients, but there are multiple risk factors that can lead to conversion to open surgery. This systematic review examines the main factors associated with conversion and finds that male gender, age over 60, acute cholecystitis, diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, obesity, and previous upper abdominal surgery increase the likelihood of conversion. Understanding these preoperative factors can help improve surgical planning and post-operative recovery.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Shahira Abdelaziz Ali Ahmed, Annalisa Quattrocchi, Panagiotis Karanis
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium sp. infection in organ transplant recipients (OTRs) and found it to be a significant complication. The overall prevalence was 15% in OTRs, with higher rates in developed countries, symptomatic individuals, and adults.
PATHOGENS AND GLOBAL HEALTH
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Md. K. Hasan, S. M. Nasrullah, A. Quattrocchi, P. Arcos Gonzalez, R. Castro-Delgado
Summary: This study aimed to review the preparedness activities and barriers to hospital surge capacity in disasters and emergencies. Thirteen peer-reviewed studies were included, and various strategies in staff, stuff, space, and system domains were identified to enhance hospital surge capacity preparedness. However, several barriers were recognized.
