Journal of infection in developing countries
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Feb 2020
Similarity in Case Fatality Rates (CFR) of COVID-19/SARS-COV-2 in Italy and China.
As of 28 February 2020, Italy had 888 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections, with most cases in Northern Italy in the Lombardia and Veneto regions. Travel-related cases were the main source of COVID-19 cases during the early stages of the current epidemic in Italy. The month of February, however, has been dominated by two large clusters of outbreaks in Northern Italy, south of Milan, with mainly local transmission the source of infections. ⋯ Comparison between case fatality rates in China and Italy are identical at 2.3. Additionally, deaths are similar in both countries with fatalities in mostly the elderly with known comorbidities. It will be important to develop point-of-care devices to aid clinicians in stratifying elderly patients as early as possible to determine the potential level of care they will require to improve their chances of survival from COVID-19 disease.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Jan 2020
2019-nCoV (Wuhan virus), a novel Coronavirus: human-to-human transmission, travel-related cases, and vaccine readiness.
On 31 December 2019 the Wuhan Health Commission reported a cluster of atypical pneumonia cases that was linked to a wet market in the city of Wuhan, China. The first patients began experiencing symptoms of illness in mid-December 2019. Clinical isolates were found to contain a novel coronavirus with similarity to bat coronaviruses. ⋯ There are several critical clinical questions that need to be resolved, including how efficient is human-to-human transmission? What is the animal reservoir? Is there an intermediate animal reservoir? Do the vaccines generated to the SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV or their proteins offer protection against 2019-nCoV? We offer a research perspective on the next steps for the generation of vaccines. We also present data on the use of in silico docking in gaining insight into 2019-nCoV Spike-receptor binding to aid in therapeutic development. Diagnostic PCR protocols can be found at https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus/laboratory-diagnostics-for-novel-coronavirus.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Nov 2019
Tuberculosis in prison and aspects associated with the diagnosis site.
Tuberculosis (TB) is highly endemic in prison environments, and requires special attention in the population deprived of liberty (PDL). Thus, we aimed to describe the epidemiological situation of TB among PDL in a large municipality of the Brazilian Legal Amazon, from 2012 to 2016, and to identify the factors associated with the site of TB cases notification. ⋯ The results show that intricate TB cases were notified by the local health services. Strategies of surveillance and articulation with these health services seem to contribute to the identification of TB cases among PDL.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Nov 2019
Usefulness of presepsin as diagnostic and prognostic marker of sepsis in daily clinical practice.
Sepsis represents a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment have a crucial influence on survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic role of presepsin (sCD14) in patients with sepsis. ⋯ Presepsin may be used as a diagnostic marker of systemic bacterial infection and can predict the severity and outcome of sepsis.
-
J Infect Dev Ctries · Nov 2019
A new antibiotic stewardship program approach is effective on inappropriate surgical prophylaxis and discharge prescription.
This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a new antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) on surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SP) and antibiotics in discharge prescriptions used as a continuation of SP. ⋯ Based on the findings of our study, it seems clear that the modified ASP introduced in our general surgery clinic can be used effectively and simply; in addition, this ASP increases its efficacy with time.