To summarize the evidence base on the use of topical corticosteroids for infectious keratitis.
Narrative review.
Infectious keratitis is a painful condition that often results in visually significant ...corneal stromal scarring, even when antimicrobial therapy is successful. Corticosteroids may reduce inflammation and subsequent scar formation and while relieving the acute ocular pain associated with a corneal ulcer. However, corticosteroids also reduce the host immune response, which could hinder the ability to clear infection. The safety and effectiveness of corticosteroids depends to a large part on the efficacy of the antimicrobials being used to treat the underlying infection. Randomized trials have found that corticosteroids are safe and effective for herpetic keratitis when used with appropriate antiviral therapy, and are safe for bacterial keratitis when used with broad spectrum topical antibiotics. The effectiveness of corticosteroids for bacterial keratitis has not been shown conclusively, although more advanced bacterial corneal ulcers may do better with corticosteroids. No randomized trials have assessed the safety and effectiveness of steroids for fungal or acanthamoeba keratitis. Animal studies suggest corticosteroids may be harmful in fungal keratitis, and observational human studies have found that steroids are harmful for fungal and acanthamoeba keratitis when started prior to anti-amoebics.
Topical corticosteroids, when used as an adjunct to antimicrobial therapy, may be beneficial if the antimicrobial being used can effectively clear or suppress the infection, such as in bacterial and herpetic keratitis. Randomized trials would be helpful to further delineate the role of corticosteroids for infectious keratitis.
Trachoma is an infectious disease characterized by repeated exposures to Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) that may ultimately lead to blindness. Efficient identification of communities with high infection ...burden could help target more intensive control efforts. We hypothesized that IgG seroprevalence in combination with geospatial layers, machine learning, and model-based geostatistics would be able to accurately predict future community-level ocular Ct infections detected by PCR. We used measurements from 40 communities in the hyperendemic Amhara region of Ethiopia to assess this hypothesis. Median Ct infection prevalence among children 0-5 years old increased from 6% at enrollment, in the context of recent mass drug administration (MDA), to 29% by month 36, following three years without MDA. At baseline, correlation between seroprevalence and Ct infection was stronger among children 0-5 years old (ρ = 0.77) than children 6-9 years old (ρ = 0.48), and stronger than the correlation between active trachoma and Ct infection (0-5y ρ = 0.56; 6-9y ρ = 0.40). Seroprevalence was the strongest concurrent predictor of infection prevalence at month 36 among children 0-5 years old (cross-validated R2 = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.58-0.85), though predictive performance declined substantially with increasing temporal lag between predictor and outcome measurements. Geospatial variables, a spatial Gaussian process, and stacked ensemble machine learning did not meaningfully improve predictions. Serological markers among children 0-5 years old may be an objective tool for identifying communities with high levels of ocular Ct infections, but accurate, future prediction in the context of changing transmission remains an open challenge.
We hypothesized that mass distribution of a broad-spectrum antibiotic agent to preschool children would reduce mortality in areas of sub-Saharan Africa that are currently far from meeting the ...Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
In this cluster-randomized trial, we assigned communities in Malawi, Niger, and Tanzania to four twice-yearly mass distributions of either oral azithromycin (approximately 20 mg per kilogram of body weight) or placebo. Children 1 to 59 months of age were identified in twice-yearly censuses and were offered participation in the trial. Vital status was determined at subsequent censuses. The primary outcome was aggregate all-cause mortality; country-specific rates were assessed in prespecified subgroup analyses.
A total of 1533 communities underwent randomization, 190,238 children were identified in the census at baseline, and 323,302 person-years were monitored. The mean (±SD) azithromycin and placebo coverage over the four twice-yearly distributions was 90.4±10.4%. The overall annual mortality rate was 14.6 deaths per 1000 person-years in communities that received azithromycin (9.1 in Malawi, 22.5 in Niger, and 5.4 in Tanzania) and 16.5 deaths per 1000 person-years in communities that received placebo (9.6 in Malawi, 27.5 in Niger, and 5.5 in Tanzania). Mortality was 13.5% lower overall (95% confidence interval CI, 6.7 to 19.8) in communities that received azithromycin than in communities that received placebo (P<0.001); the rate was 5.7% lower in Malawi (95% CI, -9.7 to 18.9), 18.1% lower in Niger (95% CI, 10.0 to 25.5), and 3.4% lower in Tanzania (95% CI, -21.2 to 23.0). Children in the age group of 1 to 5 months had the greatest effect from azithromycin (24.9% lower mortality than that with placebo; 95% CI, 10.6 to 37.0). Serious adverse events occurring within a week after administration of the trial drug or placebo were uncommon, and the rate did not differ significantly between the groups. Evaluation of selection for antibiotic resistance is ongoing.
Among postneonatal, preschool children in sub-Saharan Africa, childhood mortality was lower in communities randomly assigned to mass distribution of azithromycin than in those assigned to placebo, with the largest effect seen in Niger. Any implementation of a policy of mass distribution would need to strongly consider the potential effect of such a strategy on antibiotic resistance. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; MORDOR ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02047981 .).
Digital fundus imaging is used extensively in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of many retinal diseases. Access to fundus photography is often limited by patient morbidity, high equipment ...cost and shortage of trained personnel. Advancements in telemedicine methods and the development of portable fundus cameras have increased the accessibility of retinal imaging, but most of these approaches rely on separate computers for viewing and transmission of fundus images. We describe a novel portable handheld smartphone-based retinal camera capable of capturing high-quality, wide field fundus images. The use of the mobile phone platform creates a fully embedded system capable of acquisition, storage and analysis of fundus images that can be directly transmitted from the phone via the wireless telecommunication system for remote evaluation.
(pneumococcus) is a major human pathogen producing structurally diverse capsular polysaccharides. Widespread use of highly successful pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) targeting pneumococcal ...capsules has greatly reduced infections by the vaccine types but increased infections by nonvaccine serotypes. Herein, we report a new and the 100th capsule type, named serotype 10D, by determining its unique chemical structure and biosynthetic roles of all capsule synthesis locus (
) genes. The name 10D reflects its serologic cross-reaction with serotype 10A and appearance of cross-opsonic antibodies in response to immunization with 10A polysaccharide in a 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine. Genetic analysis showed that 10D
has three large regions syntenic to and highly homologous with
loci from serotype 6C, serotype 39, and an oral streptococcus strain (
SK145). The 10D
region syntenic to SK145 is about 6 kb and has a short gene fragment of
α at the 5' end. The presence of this nonfunctional
α fragment provides compelling evidence for a recent interspecies genetic transfer from oral streptococcus to pneumococcus. Since oral streptococci have a large repertoire of
loci, widespread PCV usage could facilitate the appearance of novel serotypes through interspecies recombination.
The polysaccharide capsule is essential for the pathogenicity of pneumococcus, which is responsible for millions of deaths worldwide each year. Currently available pneumococcal vaccines are designed to elicit antibodies to the capsule polysaccharides of the pneumococcal isolates commonly causing diseases, and the antibodies provide protection only against the pneumococcus expressing the vaccine-targeted capsules. Since pneumococci can produce different capsule polysaccharides and therefore reduce vaccine effectiveness, it is important to track the appearance of novel pneumococcal capsule types and how these new capsules are created. Herein, we describe a new and the 100th pneumococcal capsule type with unique chemical and serological properties. The capsule type was named 10D for its serologic similarity to 10A. Genetic studies provide strong evidence that pneumococcus created 10D capsule polysaccharide by capturing a large genetic fragment from an oral streptococcus. Such interspecies genetic exchanges could greatly increase diversity of pneumococcal capsules and complicate serotype shifts.
Acanthamoeba keratitis is challenging to treat and thought to result in poor outcomes, but very few comparative studies exist to assess whether ulcers caused by Acanthamoeba are worse than those ...caused by bacteria or fungus.
In a retrospective cohort study, all cases of smear- or culture-proven Acanthamoeba keratitis diagnosed from January 2006 to June 2011 at an eye hospital in South India were identified from the microbiology database. Random samples of the same number of cases of bacterial and fungal keratitis, matched by year, were identified from the same database in order to compare outcomes between the three types of organism. The main outcomes were the time until the following events: re-epithelialization, discontinuation of antimicrobials, perforation/keratoplasty, elevated intraocular pressure, and new cataract.
The median time until re-epithelialization was 113 days for Acanthamoeba keratitis, 30 days for fungal keratitis, and 25 days for bacterial keratitis, and the median time until discontinuation of antimicrobial therapy was 100 days for Acanthamoeba keratitis, 49 days for fungal keratitis, and 40 days for bacterial keratitis. Compared to the other two organisms, Acanthamoeba ulcers took significantly longer to re-epithelialize (adjusted HR 0.4, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.6 relative to bacterial ulcers and HR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.5 relative to fungal ulcers; overall p<0.001) and had significantly longer courses of antimicrobials (adjusted HR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.6 relative to bacterial ulcers and HR 0.5, 95%CI 0.3 to 0.8 relative to fungal ulcers; overall p<0.001). No statistically significant difference was observed between the three organisms for the other time-to-event outcomes.
Acanthamoeba keratitis was more difficult to treat and had worse clinical outcomes than bacterial or fungal ulcers, highlighting the lack of adequate treatment regimens for this infection.
To determine if there is a benefit to adjuvant corneal crosslinking (CXL) and to compare natamycin versus amphotericin B for filamentous fungal keratitis.
Outcome-masked, 2×2 factorial design, ...randomized controlled clinical trial.
Consecutive patients presenting with moderate vision loss from a smear-positive fungal ulcer at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India.
Study eyes were randomized to 1 of 4 treatment combinations using an adaptive randomization protocol. The treatment arms included (1) topical natamycin 5% alone, (2) topical natamycin 5% plus CXL, (3) topical amphotericin B 0.15% alone, and (4) topical amphotericin 0.15% plus CXL.
The primary outcome of the trial was microbiological cure at 24 hours on repeat culture. Secondary outcomes included best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) at 3 weeks and 3 months, percentage of study participants with epithelial healing at 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months, infiltrate or scar size at 3 weeks and 3 months, 3-day smear and culture, and adverse events.
Those randomized to CXL regardless of medication (topical natamycin or amphotericin) had 1.32-fold increased odds of 24-hour culture positivity, although this was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval CI, 0.57-3.06; P = 0.51). We were also unable to find a difference in 24-hour culture positivity between those randomized to amphotericin and those randomized to natamycin when evaluating as a group regardless of whether or not they received CXL (coefficient 1.10; 95% CI, 0.47-2.54; P = 0.84). The BSCVA was approximately 0.22 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) (2.2 Snellen lines) worse on average at 3 weeks among those receiving CXL regardless of medication (95% CI, -0.04 to 0.40; P = 0.04) and 0.32 logMAR (3.2 Snellen lines) worse visual acuity at 3 months after controlling for baseline visual acuity (95% CI, 0.03-0.54; P = 0.02). There was no difference in infiltrate or scar size, percentage of epithelialized or adverse events when comparing CXL with no CXL or the 2 topical medications.
There appears to be no benefit of adjuvant CXL in the primary treatment of moderate filamentous fungal ulcers, and it may result in decreased visual acuity.
The World Health Organization recommends annual mass azithromycin administration in communities with at least 10% prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in children, with further ...treatment depending on reassessment after 3-5 years. However, the effect of stopping mass azithromycin distribution after multiple rounds of treatment is not well understood. Here, we report the results of a cluster-randomized trial where communities that had received 4 years of treatments were then randomized to continuation or discontinuation of treatment.
In all, 48 communities with 3,938 children aged 0-9 years at baseline in northern Ethiopia had received 4 years of annual or twice yearly mass azithromycin distribution as part of the TANA I trial. We randomized these communities to either continuation or discontinuation of treatment. Individuals in the communities in the continuation arm were offered either annual or twice yearly distribution of a single directly observed dose of oral azithromycin. The primary outcome was community prevalence of ocular chlamydial infection in a random sample of children aged 0-9 years, 36 months after baseline. We also assessed the change from baseline to 36 months in ocular chlamydia prevalence within each arm. We compared 36-month ocular chlamydia prevalence in communities randomized to continuation versus discontinuation in a model adjusting for baseline ocular chlamydia prevalence. A secondary prespecified analysis assessed the rate of change over time in ocular chlamydia prevalence between arms. In the continuation arm, mean antibiotic coverage was greater than 90% at all time points. In the discontinuation arm, the mean prevalence of infection in children aged 0-9 years increased from 8.3% (95% CI 4.2% to 12.4%) at 0 months to 14.7% (95% CI 8.7% to 20.8%, P = 0.04) at 36 months. Ocular chlamydia prevalence in communities where mass azithromycin distribution was continued was 7.2% (95% CI 3.3% to 11.0%) at baseline and 6.6% (95% CI 1.1% to 12.0%, P = 0.64) at 36 months. The 36-month prevalence of ocular chlamydia was significantly lower in communities continuing treatment compared with those discontinuing treatment (P = 0.03). Limitations of the study include uncertain generalizability outside of trachoma hyperendemic regions.
In this study, ocular chlamydia infection rebounded after 4 years of periodic mass azithromycin distribution. Continued distributions did not completely eliminate infection in all communities or meet WHO control goals, although they did prevent resurgence.
This study was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (clinicaltrials.gov NCT01202331).
Mass azithromycin distributions have been shown to reduce mortality in preschool children, although the factors mediating this mortality reduction are not clear. This study was performed to determine ...whether mass distribution of azithromycin, which has modest antimalarial activity, reduces the community burden of malaria.
In a cluster-randomized trial conducted from 23 November 2014 until 31 July 2017, 30 rural communities in Niger were randomized to 2 years of biannual mass distributions of either azithromycin (20 mg/kg oral suspension) or placebo to children aged 1 to 59 months. Participants, field staff, and investigators were masked to treatment allocation. The primary malaria outcome was the community prevalence of parasitemia on thick blood smear, assessed in a random sample of children from each community at study visits 12 and 24 months after randomization. Analyses were performed in an intention-to-treat fashion. At the baseline visit, a total of 1,695 children were enumerated in the 15 azithromycin communities, and 3,029 children were enumerated in the 15 placebo communities. No communities were lost to follow-up. The mean prevalence of malaria parasitemia at baseline was 8.9% (95% CI 5.1%-15.7%; 52 of 552 children across all communities) in the azithromycin-treated group and 6.7% (95% CI 4.0%-12.6%; 36 of 542 children across all communities) in the placebo-treated group. In the prespecified primary analysis, parasitemia was lower in the azithromycin-treated group at month 12 (mean prevalence 8.8%, 95% CI 5.1%-14.3%; 51 of 551 children across all communities) and month 24 (mean 3.5%, 95% CI 1.9%-5.5%; 21 of 567 children across all communities) than it was in the placebo-treated group at month 12 (mean 15.3%, 95% CI 10.8%-20.6%; 81 of 548 children across all communities) and month 24 (mean 4.8%, 95% CI 3.3%-6.4%; 28 of 592 children across all communities) (P = 0.02). Communities treated with azithromycin had approximately half the odds of parasitemia compared to those treated with placebo (odds ratio OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.97). Parasite density was lower in the azithromycin group than the placebo group at 12 and 24 months (square root-transformed outcome; density estimates were 7,540 parasites/μl lower 95% CI -350 to -12,550 parasites/μl; P = 0.02 at a mean parasite density of 17,000, as was observed in the placebo arm). No significant difference in hemoglobin was observed between the 2 treatment groups at 12 and 24 months (mean 0.34 g/dL higher in the azithromycin arm, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.75 g/dL; P = 0.10). No serious adverse events were reported in either group, and among children aged 1 to 5 months, the most commonly reported nonserious adverse events (i.e., diarrhea, vomiting, and rash) were less common in the azithromycin-treated communities. Limitations of the trial include the timing of the treatments and monitoring visits, both of which took place before the peak malaria season, as well as the uncertain generalizability to areas with different malaria transmission dynamics.
Mass azithromycin distributions were associated with a reduced prevalence of malaria parasitemia in this trial, suggesting one possible mechanism for the mortality benefit observed with this intervention.
The trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02048007).
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