Article
Parasitology
Diwaba Carmel Teou, Ameyo Monique Dorkenoo, Essoham Ataba, Smaila Alidou, Kossi Yakpa, Agueregna Abdou-Kerim, Issaka Maman, Amegnona Agbonon
Summary: The study evaluated the diagnostic performance of Advantage P.f. Malaria Card (R) and Advantage Malaria Pan + Pf Card (R) in Togo, showing that they have acceptable sensitivity and specificity for malaria diagnosis and can be used under field conditions in the country.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Debbie Nolder, Lindsay Stewart, Julie Tucker, Amy Ibrahim, Adam Gray, Tumena Corrah, Carmel Gallagher, Laurence John, Edel O'Brien, Dinesh Aggarwal, Ernest Diez Benavente, Donelly van Schalkwyk, Gisela Henriques, Nuno Sepulveda, Susana Campino, Peter Chiodini, Colin Sutherland, Khalid B. Beshir
Summary: The study systematically investigated false-negative histidine-rich protein 2 rapid diagnostic tests (HRP2-RDT) in imported Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases and found deletions in pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 genes leading to false negatives. The findings highlight the importance of combining RDT results with microscopy and clinical observations for accurate diagnosis.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Farideh Moradi, Arash Ziapour, Ali Soroush, Javad Yoosefi Lebni, Shahriar Mokhtari, Mohammad Bazyar, Manal Etemadi, Fakhreddin Chaboksavar, Fateme Yazdi, Hesam Seyedin
Summary: This research aims to recognize the reasons for irrational prescribing in Iran through a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis. The findings reveal that organizational and management factors, legal factors, cultural factors, and economic factors contribute to irrational prescribing. Preventive measures include reforming the referral system, overseeing pharmacies and physicians, raising public awareness, correcting misconceptions about medications, and establishing an appropriate mechanism for pricing and selling medicines.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Supriya Sharma, Nitin Bhardwaj, Sandeep Kumar, Veena Pande, Anupkumar R. Anvikar
Summary: The study revealed the deletion of Pfhrp2/3 genes in Indian malaria patients, potentially leading to false positive results in rapid diagnostic tests. It highlights the need for systematic nationwide monitoring of malaria for control and elimination purposes.
INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Andrew G. Kantor, Christine F. Markwalter, Armin Nourani, David W. Wright
Summary: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are crucial for malaria elimination campaigns, but their sensitivity is limited. AnDREW, an Antibody-free Dual-biomarker Rapid Enrichment Workflow, purifies HRP2 and PLDH from larger blood samples, significantly improving detection sensitivity. By utilizing aptamers and optimizing capture and elution processes, AnDREW enhances RDTs by eluting both biomarkers without the need for complexed antibodies.
ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Erika Schulte, Frank Petzke, Claudia Spies, Claudia Denke, Michael Schaefer, Norbert Donner-Banzhoff, Ralph Hertwig, Odette Wegwarth
Summary: This study, based on physician self-reporting, reveals that some physicians experience negative emotions when faced with a patient's request for an increase in opioid dosage, which may lead to inappropriate prescribing of strong opioids. Self-awareness of physician emotions is crucial for ensuring responsible, guideline-based long-term opioid prescriptions.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Xavier C. Ding, Sandra Incardona, Elisa Serra-Casas, Sarah C. Charnaud, Hannah C. Slater, Gonzalo J. Domingo, Emily R. Adams, Feiko O. ter Kuile, Aaron M. Samuels, Simon Kariuki, Sabine Dittrich
Summary: The highly sensitive rapid diagnostic test (HS-RDT) for malaria during pregnancy showed a slightly higher sensitivity compared to the conventional RDT (co-RDT), but the difference did not result in significant clinical improvements in terms of pregnancy condition, trimester, geography, or transmission intensity. Larger studies are needed to evaluate the incremental improvements of RDTs.
Article
Psychiatry
Benjamin Rolland, Faustine Dalon, Noemie Gauthier, Mikail Nourredine, Marjorie Berard, Louise Carton, Georges Brousse, Pierre-Michel Llorca, Flore Jacoud, Eric Van Ganse, Manon Belhassen
Summary: This study found significant heterogeneity in antipsychotic prescribing practices in France, with low rates of long-acting antipsychotic use and frequent use of multiple antipsychotics.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Hematology
Eyob Alemayehu Gebreyohannes, Sandra M. Salter, Leanne Chalmers, Luke Bereznicki, Kenneth Lee
Summary: In Australia, a significant proportion of atrial fibrillation patients are not receiving guideline-adherent oral anticoagulant treatment, with reasons for non-adherence including GPs' decision-making process and patient refusal. Behavioral factors identified through mapping to the COM-B model include GPs' knowledge of AF guideline recommendations, access to cardiologists, and patients' refusal to take OACs.
THROMBOSIS RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Cynthia Villarreal-Garza, Fernanda Mesa-Chavez, Ana S. Ferrigno, Cynthia De la Garza-Ramos, Alan Fonseca, Karen Villanueva-Tamez, Jose Y. Campos-Salgado, Marlid Cruz-Ramos, David O. Rodriguez-Gomez, Sandy Ruiz-Cruz, Paula Cabrera-Galeana
Summary: The study showed that premenopausal Mexican women with breast cancer exhibit high rates of adherence to endocrine therapy, but some patients still struggle with adherence due to forgetfulness, adverse effects, and unwillingness to take medication. However, there is room for improvement in physician prescribing practices, as some patients did not receive the guideline-endorsed regimens.
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Michael J. Kavanaugh, Steven E. Azzam, David M. Rockabrand
Summary: The use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) has led to a paradigm shift in global health towards obtaining parasitological diagnosis prior to treatment, with over 200 different brands worldwide utilizing three antigens to achieve similar sensitivities and specificities. Factors such as parasite type, density, and genetic variability can impact the accuracy of RDT results, highlighting the importance of proper test selection and understanding limitations to ensure quality assurance in resource-constrained environments.
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Michael Asamoah-Boaheng, Oluwatosin A. Badejo, Louise Bell, Norman Buckley, Jason W. Busse, Tavis S. Campbell, Kim Corace, Lynn Cooper, David Flusk, David A. Garcia, Mohammad A. Hossain, Alfonso Iorio, Kim L. Lavoie, Patricia A. Poulin, Becky Skidmore, Joshua A. Rash
Summary: This study conducted a systematic review of interventions to improve adherence to guideline recommendations for prescribing opioids for chronic noncancer pain, finding that multifaceted interventions improved the use of treatment agreements, urine drug testing, and mental health screening. However, the impact of these interventions on patient important outcomes such as overdose, addiction, and death remains uncertain and requires further research.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Infectious Diseases
Leah F. Bohle, Ally-Kebby Abdallah, Francesco Galli, Robert Canavan, Kate Molesworth
Summary: Despite the large-scale rollout of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in Tanzania, many healthcare providers and patients still rely on blood film microscopy (BFM) instead of RDT for malaria diagnosis, which can lead to misdiagnosis and over-prescription of anti-malarials.
Article
Infectious Diseases
Theodoor Visser, Sumedh Ramachandra, Emilie Pothin, Jan Jacobs, Jane Cunningham, Arnaud Le Menach, Michelle L. Gatton, Samaly dos Santos Souza, Sydney Nelson, Luke Rooney, Michael Aidoo
Summary: The study evaluated the performance of different MMAs in interpreting RDT results and found that most MMAs produced similar results to the human eye in high density samples, but were less accurate than the human eye in low density samples and across all densities for the Pan line. Future efforts should focus on improving band/line detection at lower intensities and evaluating additional functionalities of MMAs.
Review
Infectious Diseases
Daniel Christian Koko, Aminata Maazou, Hadiza Jackou, Charlotte Eddis
Summary: This study examined medication adherence and caregiver attitudes and practices during the 2020 SMC campaign in the Dosso region. The results showed high coverage of medication administration and caregiver knowledge about the medications. However, there were areas for improvement in the medication process, suggesting the need for enhanced training and supervision of distributors.
Review
Nutrition & Dietetics
Fanny Sandalinas, Suzanne Filteau, Edward J. M. Joy, Lucia Segovia de la Revilla, Amy MacDougall, Heidi Hopkins
Summary: Inflammation and infections such as malaria have an impact on the estimation of micronutrient status. This study found that individuals with asymptomatic or clinical malaria had altered concentrations of ferritin, hepcidin, and retinol. Adjusting for malaria and infection severity is necessary when assessing biomarkers of iron and vitamin A status.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF NUTRITION
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Katia J. Bruxvoort, Joseph A. Lewnard, Lie H. Chen, Hung Fu Tseng, Jennifer Chang, Jeanne Marrazzo, Lei Qian
Summary: The meningococcal B vaccine (4CMenB) has been found to be associated with a lower rate of gonorrhea, but not chlamydia, suggesting potential protection against gonorrhea.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Laura C. Myers, Stanley Xu, Aiyu Chen, John D. Greene, Beth Creekmur, Katia Bruxvoort, Gabriel J. Escobar, John L. Adams, Annette Langer-Gould, Vincent X. Liu, Michael K. Gould
Summary: This study investigates the association between anticoagulant dosing and clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The results show that there were no differences in in-hospital death rates between patients who received intermediate or full anticoagulation compared to those who received standard prophylaxis.
JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Jessica Julia Carne King, Timothy Powell-Jackson, James Hargreaves, Christina Makungu, Catherine Goodman
Summary: This study examines the relationship between provider effort and overprovision in the Tanzanian private health sector. It shows that increased provider effort is associated with higher likelihood of correct treatment and lower likelihood of overprovision. Providers who put in more effort charge higher fees, mainly through higher consultation fees rather than increased fees for lab tests and drugs.
BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Infectious Diseases
Catriona Macrae, Jayne Ellis, Suzanne H. Keddie, Jane Falconer, John Bradley, Ruth Keogh, Oliver Baerenbold, Heidi Hopkins, Joseph N. Jarvis
Summary: This article systematically evaluated the diagnostic performance of IMMY CrAg LFA in HIV-negative populations through a systematic review. The results showed that this test has high sensitivity and specificity in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid, providing an effective diagnostic method for cryptococcosis in HIV-negative individuals.
BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Infectious Diseases
D. Stelzle, C. Makasi, V. Schmidt, C. Trevisan, I. Van Damme, C. Ruether, P. Dorny, P. Magnussen, G. Zulu, K. E. Mwape, E. Bottieau, C. Prazeres da Costa, U. F. Prodjinotho, H. Carabin, E. Jackson, A. Fleury, S. Gabriel, B. J. Ngowi, A. S. Winkler
Summary: A prospective cohort study conducted in Tanzania found that the efficacy of albendazole monotherapy for neurocysticercosis was unsatisfactory, but the combination therapy of albendazole and praziquantel resulted in a high rate of cyst resolution.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Mwayiwawo Madanitsa, Hellen C. Barsosio, Daniel T. R. Minja, George Mtove, Reginald A. Kavishe, James Dodd, Queen Saidi, Eric Onyango, Kephas Otieno, Duolao Wang, Ulla Ashorn, Jenny Hill, Crispin Mukerebe, Samwel Gesase, Omari A. Msemo, Victor Mwapasa, Kamija S. Phiri, Kenneth Maleta, Nigel Klein, Pascal Magnussen, John P. A. Lusingu, Simon Kariuki, Jacklin F. Mosha, Michael Alifrangis, Helle Hansson, Christentze Schmiegelow, Julie R. Gutman, R. Matthew Chico, Feiko O. ter Kuile
Summary: This study evaluates the efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine compared to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in high-resistance areas in East Africa. The results demonstrate that IPTp with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and its combination with azithromycin lead to more adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. This suggests that combining sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for IPTp should be considered.
Article
Immunology
Antonia Pilic, Sarah Reda, Catherine L. Jo, Helen Burchett, Magdalena Bastias, Pauline Campbell, Deepa Gamage, Louise Henaff, Benjamin Kagina, Wiebe Kuelper-Schiek, Carole Lunny, Melanie Marti, Rudzani Muloiwa, Dawid Pieper, James Thomas, Matthew C. Tunis, Zane Younger, Ole Wichmann, Thomas Harder
Summary: National immunization technical advisory groups (NITAGs) develop immunization-related recommendations and may face challenges in locating and effectively using existing systematic reviews (SRs) due to limited resources. To address this, the SYSVAC project provides an online registry of SRs on immunization-related topics and an e-learning course, offering guidance on finding, assessing, and applying SRs for informed decision-making.
Article
Nursing
Lisa N. Mansfield, Kristen Choi, Jeanne R. Delgado, Mayra Macias, Corrine Munoz-Plaza, Bruno Lewin, David Bronstein, John Chang, Katia Bruxvoort
Summary: This study explored the decision-making process for COVID-19 vaccination among vaccinated health care workers and their adolescent children. The findings showed that health care workers and their children used role-modeling to promote vaccination and shared their decision-making process with their own children to support patients' and parents' vaccine decisions.
WESTERN JOURNAL OF NURSING RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Jennifer H. Ku, Katia J. Bruxvoort, S. Bianca Salas, Cara D. Varley, Joan A. Casey, Eva Raphael, Sarah C. Robinson, Keeve E. Nachman, Bruno J. Lewin, Richard Contreras, Rong X. Wei, Magdalena E. Pomichowski, Harpreet S. Takhar, Sara Y. Tartof
Summary: A study showed that the prevalence of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli causing outpatient urinary tract infection declined overall between 2016 and 2021. The choice of care setting (in-person vs virtual) did not significantly affect the treatment of infections. Virtual healthcare can expand access to UTI care.
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Katia J. Bruxvoort, Jacek Skarbinski, Heidi Fischer, Zhuoxin Li, Abigail Eaton, Lei Qian, Brigitte Spence, Rong Wei, Gunter Rieg, Sally Shaw, Sara Y. Tartof
Summary: Among adults with LTBI, only 33% were prescribed treatment and 19% completed treatment. Efforts are needed to improve treatment prescription and completion for LTBI patients.
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Thomas P. Lodise, Lie Hong Chen, Rong Wei, Theresa M. Im, Richard Contreras, Katia J. Bruxvoort, Mauricio Rodriguez, Larry Friedrich, Sara Y. Tartof
Summary: We developed high-performing parsimonious risk scores to estimate the risk of nonsusceptibility to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluoroquinolone, nitrofurantoin, and third-generation cephalosporin among adult outpatients with complicated urinary tract infections. The risk scores are based on variables commonly available on clinical presentation. This study is important as it provides a tool to help clinicians make empiric treatment selection in the critical period before susceptibility results are available.
OPEN FORUM INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Sonal Mathur, Helen A. Weiss, Melissa Neuman, Andy P. Field, Baptiste Leurent, Tejaswi Shetty, E. J. James, Pooja Nair, Rhea Mathews, Kanika Malik, Daniel Michelson, Vikram Patel
Summary: This study aims to evaluate the effects of a digital training course on the competency of nonspecialists to deliver a problem-solving intervention for adolescents with common mental health problems in India. The study will recruit participants to receive either a self-guided digital training or a digital training with coaching. The findings will be used to support the scaling up of evidence-based mental health interventions for young people.
JMIR RESEARCH PROTOCOLS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Hung Fu Tseng, Bradley K. Ackerson, Lina S. Sy, Julia E. Tubert, Yi Luo, Sijia Qiu, Gina S. Lee, Katia J. Bruxvoort, Jennifer H. Ku, Ana Florea, Harpreet S. Takhar, Radha Bathala, Cindy Ke Zhou, Daina B. Esposito, Morgan A. Marks, Evan J. Anderson, Carla A. Talarico, Lei Qian
Summary: The bivalent mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine was found to be highly effective in preventing hospitalization for COVID-19, medically attended SARS-CoV-2 infection, and COVID-19 hospital death. The relative vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization for COVID-19 was 70.3%, and the protection provided by the bivalent booster lasted for at least 3 months.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Developmental
Fabiane Soares, Laio Magno, Jony Arrais Pinto, Alexandre Grangeiro, Katia Bruxvoort, Dirceu Greco, Ines Dourado
Summary: This study analyzed the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of adolescent MSM and transgender women initiating PrEP in HIV prevention clinics in Brazil. The findings showed a high rate of same-day PrEP initiation, highlighting the importance of this strategy in promoting PrEP uptake among vulnerable adolescents in Brazil.
JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT HEALTH
(2023)