The latest medical research on International Health

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Changes in the Appropriateness of US Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing After the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis of 2016-2021 Data.

COVID 19

No national study has evaluated changes in the appropriateness of US outpatient antibiotic prescribing across all conditions and age groups after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in March 2020.

This was an interrupted time series analysis of Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database, a national commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database. Analyses included prescriptions for antibiotics dispensed to children and adults enrolled during each month during 2017-2021. For each prescription, we applied our previously developed antibiotic appropriateness classification scheme to International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes on medical claims occurring on or during the 3 days prior to dispensing. Outcomes included the monthly proportion of antibiotic prescriptions that were inappropriate and the monthly proportion of enrollees with ≥1 inappropriate prescription. Using segmented regression models, we assessed for level and slope changes in outcomes in March 2020.

Analyses included 37 566 581 enrollees, of whom 19 154 059 (51.0%) were female. The proportion of enrollees with ≥1 inappropriate prescription decreased in March 2020 (level decrease: -0.80 percentage points [95% confidence interval {CI}, -1.09% to -.51%]) and subsequently increased (slope increase: 0.02 percentage points per month [95% CI, .01%-.03%]), partly because overall antibiotic dispensing rebounded and partly because the proportion of antibiotic prescriptions that were inappropriate increased (slope increase: 0.11 percentage points per month [95% CI, .04%-.18%]). In December 2021, the proportion of enrollees with ≥1 inappropriate prescription equaled the corresponding proportion in December 2019.

Despite an initial decline, the proportion of enrollees exposed to inappropriate antibiotics returned to baseline levels by December 2021. Findings underscore the continued importance of outpatient antibiotic stewardship initiatives.

Program Director Reports of COVID-19 Lockdown-Driven Service Changes in Community-Based STI Clinics and Syringe Services Programs in the Southeastern U.S.

COVID 19

The COVID-19 pandemic strained the U.S. health care system, posing logistical challenges for community-based programs. This study surveyed 11 progr...

Bioinformatics and system biology approaches to determine the connection of SARS-CoV-2 infection and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

COVID 19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causal agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has infected millions of individuals worldwide, which poses a severe threat to human health. COVID-19 is a systemic ailment affecting various tissues and organs, including the lungs and liver. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is one of the most common liver cancer, and cancer patients are particularly at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the impact of COVID-19 on ICC patients.

With the methods of systems biology and bioinformatics, this study explored the link between COVID-19 and ICC, and searched for potential therapeutic drugs.

This study identified a total of 70 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) shared by both diseases, shedding light on their shared functionalities. Enrichment analysis pinpointed metabolism and immunity as the primary areas influenced by these common genes. Subsequently, through protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis, we identified SCD, ACSL5, ACAT2, HSD17B4, ALDOA, ACSS1, ACADSB, CYP51A1, PSAT1, and HKDC1 as hub genes. Additionally, 44 transcription factors (TFs) and 112 microRNAs (miRNAs) were forecasted to regulate the hub genes. Most importantly, several drug candidates (Periodate-oxidized adenosine, Desipramine, Quercetin, Perfluoroheptanoic acid, Tetrandrine, Pentadecafluorooctanoic acid, Benzo[a]pyrene, SARIN, Dorzolamide, 8-Bromo-cAMP) may prove effective in treating ICC and COVID-19.

This study is expected to provide valuable references and potential drugs for future research and treatment of COVID-19 and ICC.

Deep mining of the Sequence Read Archive reveals major genetic innovations in coronaviruses and other nidoviruses of aquatic vertebrates.

COVID 19

Virus discovery by genomics and metagenomics empowered studies of viromes, facilitated characterization of pathogen epidemiology, and redefined our...

Prevalence and factors associated with burnout among health professionals of a public hospital network during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID 19

Burnout is most commonly defined as a syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness, which occurs in response to ch...

Severe adenovirus infection outbreak in Colombia: Experience from a tertiary pediatric hospital in 2022.

COVID 19

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, many countries experienced decreased respiratory virus circulation, followed by an out-of-season outbreak. In a pediatric hospital in Colombia, we observed a surge in severe adenovirus infections, leading to concerns about the impact of eased public health restrictions and immune debt in children under five years old.

To describe the clinical characteristics of patients with severe adenovirus infection in a pediatric hospital in Colombia.

We reviewed the data of 227 patients with severe adenovirus infection at the Fundación Hospital Pediátrico La Misericordia.

A total of 196 patients were included in this study. The median age was two years, and 62% were male. Adenoviruses were isolated from all patients' samples. Ninetyseven percent were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, 94% required respiratory support, and the in-hospital lethality rate was 11%.

In 2022, there was an outbreak of severe adenovirus infections, affecting mainly children under five years of age, with higher-than-usual mortality.

[Not Available].

COVID 19

La mucormicosis es una infección fúngica oportunista e invasiva, con una elevada tasa de mortalidad. Se ha detectado principalmente en pacientes co...

[Not Available].

COVID 19

Introducción. Durante el desarrollo de la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2 en Antioquia se presentaron picos epidemiológicos relacionados con las variantes α, ɣ, β, ƛ y δ, donde δ tuvo la mayor incidencia y prevalencia. Este linaje se considera una variante de preocupación dadas las manifestaciones clínicas que desencadena y sus características epidemiológicas. Se han informado 253 sublinajes δ en la base de datos PANGOLIN. La identificación de estos sublinajes mediante análisis genómico ha permitido rastrear su evolución y propagación.

Caracterizar la diversidad genética de los diferentes sublinajes δ de SARSCoV-2 en Antioquia y determinar su prevalencia. Materiales y métodos. Se recopiló información sociodemográfica de 2.675 muestras y de 1.115 genomas del repositorio GISAID entre el 12 de julio de 2021 y el 18 de enero de 2022. Se seleccionaron 501 por su alto porcentaje de cobertura (>90 %) para realizar análisis filogenéticos e inferencia de frecuencias alélicas de mutaciones de interés.

Se caracterizaron 24 sublinajes donde el más prevalente fue AY.25. En este sublinaje se identificaron mutaciones de interés como L452R, P681R y P681H, que comprendían una frecuencia cercana a 0,99.

Este estudio permitió identificar que el sublinaje AY.25 tiene una ventaja de transmisión en comparación con los otros sublinajes δ. Esto puede estar relacionado con la presencia de las mutaciones L452R y P681R que en otros estudios se han visto asociadas con una mayor transmisibilidad, evasión del sistema inmunitario y menor eficacia de los medicamentos contra SARS-CoV-2.

Pre-exposure prophylaxis and telemedicine during coronavirus (COVID-19): a qualitative study of the experiences of health care professionals in Mexico.

COVID 19

Background Telemedicine, which involves utilising technologies for remote health care delivery, proved useful to continue offering certain health s...

Changes in well-being among socially isolated older people during the COVID-19 pandemic: An outcome-wide analysis.

COVID 19

Older adults experienced major changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing restrictions, and it might be expected that those who were already ...

Intranasal neomycin evokes broad-spectrum antiviral immunity in the upper respiratory tract.

COVID 19

Respiratory virus infections in humans cause a broad-spectrum of diseases that result in substantial morbidity and mortality annually worldwide. To...

Leukocyte Activation Patterns in Hospitalized Children: Comparing SARS-CoV-2, Bacterial Infections, and Inflammatory Pathologies.

COVID 19

In adults, monocytes and neutrophils play important roles in the hyper-inflammatory responses' characteristic of severe forms of SARS-CoV-2 infecti...