Dengue is a potentially fatal acute febrile illness caused by the mosquito-borne dengue viruses (DENV-1 to -4). To estimate DENV seroincidence in school-aged children, a 1-year prospective cohort ...study was conducted in Patillas, Puerto Rico; 10- to 18-year-olds (N = 345) were randomly selected from 13 public schools. At enrollment, 49.8% of the entire cohort had DENV immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-DENV antibodies, and there were individuals with neutralizing antibodies specific to each of the four DENV. The mean age of participants with incident DENV infection was 13.4 years. The 1-year seroincidence rate was 5.6%, and 61.1% of infections were inapparent. Having IgG anti-DENV at enrollment was associated with seroincidence (risk ratio = 6.8). Acute febrile illnesses during the study period were captured by a fever diary and an enhanced and passive surveillance system in the municipios of Patillas and Guayama. In summary, at enrollment, nearly one-half of the participants had a prior DENV infection, with the highest incidence in the 10- to 11-year-olds, of which most were inapparent infections, and symptomatic infections were considered mild.
BACKGROUND:Rotavirus (RV) vaccine, Rotarix, was introduced into the Brazil national immunization program in 2006. To estimate population-level vaccine effect, we conducted a time–trend analysis on ...all-cause gastroenteritis (GE)-related death certificate–reported deaths (DCRDs), hospital deaths (HDs) and hospitalizations trends in <5-year-olds before and after RV vaccine introduction.
METHODS:National level all-cause GE-related death certificate Mortality Information System and admission (Hospital Information System) data were aggregated and analyzed. Negative-binomial regression models (adjusting for age, year and region) compared DCRDs, HDs and hospitalization trends in <5-year-olds between baseline (2001−2005) and postvaccine introduction periods (Mortality Information System2007−2009 and Hospital Information System2007−2010). Negative-binomial regression models were fitted to data for each outcome before 2006, and the predicted annual frequencies of each outcome were plotted against corresponding observed annual frequencies.
RESULTS:During the postvaccine introduction period, there was an overall age-independent GE-related DCRDs reduction (20.9%, P = 0.04) observed in children <5 years of age; a reduction was also seen in infants <1 year of age (20.8%, P = 0.003). Age-independent GE-related HDs and hospitalizations reductions (57.1%, P < 0.0001 and 26.6%, P < 0.0001, respectively) were observed in <5-year-olds; HDs reductions were also observed for each age group (<1-year-olds55.0%, P < 0.0001 and 1- to <5-year-olds59.5%, P < 0.0001). Observed annual frequencies of GE-related DCRDs, HDs and hospitalizations were lower than the predicted value in each age group in all years after 2006.
CONCLUSIONS:GE-related DCRDs, HDs and hospitalizations were significantly reduced in <1 and in 1- to <5-year-old Brazilian children after Rotarix introduction, which provides additional evidence of the direct and indirect population-level effect of RV vaccination on GE-related mortality and morbidity in children.
In June of 2007, West Nile virus (WNV) was detected in sentinel chickens and blood donors in Puerto Rico, where dengue virus (DENV) is hyperendemic. Enhanced human surveillance for acute febrile ...illness (AFI) began in eastern Puerto Rico on July 1, 2007. Healthcare providers submitted specimens from AFI cases for WNV and DENV virology and serology testing. Over 6 months, 385 specimens were received from 282 cases; 115 (41%) specimens were DENV laboratory-positive, 86 (31%) specimens were laboratory-indeterminate, and 32 (11%) specimens were laboratory-negative for WNV and DENV. One WNV infection was detected by anti-WNV immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody and confirmed by a plaque reduction neutralization test. DENV and WNV infections could not be differentiated in 27 cases (10%). During a period of active WNV transmission, enhanced human surveillance identified one case of symptomatic WNV infection. Improved diagnostic methods are needed to allow differentiation of WNV and DENV in dengue-endemic regions.
Background. Social network analysis (SNA) is an innovative approach to the collection and analysis of infectious disease transmission data. We studied whether this approach can detect patterns of ...Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission and play a helpful role in the complex process of prioritizing tuberculosis (TB) contact investigations. Methods. We abstracted routine demographic and clinical variables from patient medical records and contact interview forms. We also administered a structured questionnaire about places of social aggregation to TB patients and their contacts. All case-contact, contact-contact, case-place, and contact-place dyads (pairs and links) were considered in order to analyze the structure of a social network of TB transmission. Molecular genotyping was used to confirm SNA-detected clusters of TB. Results. TB patients not linked through conventional contact-investigation data were connected through mutual contacts or places of social aggregation, using SNA methods. In some instances, SNA detected connected groups prior to the availability of genotyping results. A positive correlation between positive results of contacts' tuberculin skin test (TST) and location in denser portions of the person-place network was observed (P < .01). Conclusions. Correlation between TST-positive status and dense subgroup occurrence supports the value of collecting place data to help prioritize TB contact investigations. TB controllers should consider developing social network analysis capacity to facilitate the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of contact-investigation data.
Dengue infection can be challenging to diagnose early in the course of infection before severe manifestations develop, but early diagnosis can improve patient outcomes and promote timely public ...health interventions. We developed age-based predictive models generated from 2 years of data from an enhanced dengue surveillance system in Puerto Rico. These models were internally validated and were able to differentiate dengue infection from other acute febrile illnesses with moderate accuracy. The accuracy of the models was greater than either the current World Health Organization case definition for dengue fever or a proposed modification to this definition, while requiring the collection of fewer data. In young children, thrombocytopenia and the absence of cough were associated with dengue infection; for adults, rash, leucopenia, and the absence of sore throat were associated with dengue infection; in all age groups, retro-orbital pain was associated with dengue infection.
The mechanism of high altitude effect on tuberculosis (TB) infection has not been fully established. We previously reported a lower positive tuberculin skin test (TST) prevalence in high altitude ...villages compared with sea level communities in Peru. In this study, four additional communities were tested to assess whether decreased TB transmission was also in urban environments at high altitude. TST results from 3,629 individuals in nine communities were analyzed using generalized estimating equations to account for community clustering. Positive TST prevalence was not significantly different between the urban highland and the urban non-highland communities after adjusting for age, household contacts with a TST-positive person or a TB case, and presence of a Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination scar. The effect of population concentration and increased contact with active TB overwhelmed the protective effect of altitude in urban highlands. Highland cities require the same preventive efforts against TB as non-highland communities.
From June 2005 to May 2006, a clinic-based enhanced surveillance system for dengue was implemented in a Puerto Rican municipality to provide a population-based measure of disease incidence and ...clinical outcomes. We obtained demographic and clinical information from suspected cases and performed serologic and virologic testing. We used World Health Organization (WHO) criteria to classify cases and applied a simplified case definition for severe dengue illness. There were 7.7 laboratory-positive cases of dengue per 1,000 population. The highest incidence, 13.4 per 1,000, was among 10 to 19 year olds. Of the 156 laboratory-positive cases, three patients (1.9%) met WHO criteria for dengue hemorrhagic fever, and 30 patients (19.2%) had at least one severe clinical manifestation of dengue infection. Our data suggest that in a community with endemic dengue, enhanced surveillance is useful for detecting symptomatic infections. Furthermore, the simplified case definition for severe dengue may be useful in clinic-based surveillance.
Outbreaks of wound botulism are rare, but clinicians and health departments should maintain suspicion for signs, symptoms, and risk factors of wound botulism among persons who inject drugs in order ...to initiate treatment quickly. This report describes an outbreak of three wound botulism cases among persons in two adjacent counties who injected drugs. Provisional information about these cases was previously published in the CDC National Botulism Surveillance Summary. All three cases in this outbreak were laboratory-confirmed, including one case with detection of botulinum toxin type A in a wound culture sample taken 43 days after last possible heroin exposure. Findings highlight the delay in diagnosis which led to prolonged hospitalization and the persistence of botulinum toxin in one patient.
To estimate acute otitis media incidence among young children and impact on quality of life of parents/caregivers in a southern Brazilian city.
Prospective cohort study including children 0–5 years ...of age registered at a private pediatric practice. Acute otitis media episodes diagnosed by a pediatrician and impact on quality of life of parents/caregivers were assessed during a 12-month follow-up.
During September 2008–March 2010, of 1,136 children enrolled in the study, 1074 (95%) were followed: 55.0% were ≤2 years of age, 52.3% males, 94.7% white, and 69.2% had previously received pneumococcal vaccine in private clinics. Acute otitis media incidence per 1000 person-years was 95.7 (95% confidence interval: 77.2–117.4) overall, 105.5 (95% confidence interval: 78.3–139.0) in children ≤2 years of age and 63.6 (95% confidence interval: 43.2–90.3) in children 3–5 years of age. Acute otitis media incidence per 1000 person-years was 86.3 (95% confidence interval: 65.5–111.5) and 117.1 (95% confidence interval: 80.1–165.3) among vaccinated and unvaccinated children, respectively. Nearly 68.9% of parents reported worsening of their overall quality of life.
Acute otitis media incidence among unvaccinated children in our study may be useful as baseline data to assess impact of pneumococcal vaccine introduction in the Brazilian National Immunization Program in April 2010.
Early clinical features of dengue infection in Puerto Rico Ramos, Mary M.; Tomashek, Kay M.; Arguello, D. Fermin ...
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
09/2009, Letnik:
103, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Early diagnosis of dengue is challenging because the initial symptoms are often non-specific, viraemia may be below detectable levels and serological tests confirm dengue late in the course of ...illness. Identifying dengue early in the clinical course could be useful in reducing dengue virus transmission in a community. This study analyzed data from 145 laboratory-positive and 293 laboratory-negative dengue cases in Puerto Rico to define the early clinical features of dengue infection in children and adults and to identify the clinical features that predict a laboratory-positive dengue infection. Among children, rash and age were independently associated with laboratory-positive dengue infection. Rash in the absence of cough had a positive predictive value of 100% and a negative predictive value of 82.4% as a paediatric dengue screen. Among adults, eye pain, diarrhoea and absence of upper respiratory symptoms were independently associated with laboratory-positive dengue infection. No useful early predictors of dengue infection among adults were found. Using clinical features may promote earlier identification of a subset of paediatric dengue patients in Puerto Rico. Laboratory confirmation is still necessary for the accurate diagnosis of dengue infection.
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