Plos One
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The global abrupt progression of the COVID-19 pandemic may disrupt critical life-saving services such as routine immunization (RI), thus increasing the susceptibility of countries to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Being endemic to several infectious diseases, Lebanon might be at increased risk of outbreaks as the utilization of RI services might have deteriorated due to the pandemic and the country's political unrest following the October 2019 uprising. The aim of this study was to assess the changes in the utilization of RI services in both the public and private sectors following the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The substantial decrease in the utilization of RI as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic requires public health interventions to prevent future outbreaks of VPDs.
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Observational Study
Emergency department crowding and mortality in 14 Swedish emergency departments, a cohort study leveraging the Swedish Emergency Registry (SVAR).
There is evidence that emergency department (ED) crowding is associated with increased mortality, however large multicenter studies of high quality are scarce. In a prior study, we introduced a proxy-measure for crowding that was associated with increased mortality. The national registry SVAR enables us to study the association in a more heterogenous group of EDs with more recent data. The aim is to investigate the association between ED crowding and mortality. ⋯ The association between crowding and mortality may not be universal. Factors that influence the association between crowding and mortality at different EDs are still unknown but a high hospital bed occupancy, impacting admitted patients may play a role.
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The gut microbiota has been shown to play a role in energy metabolism of the host. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota may predispose to obesity on the one hand, and stunting on the other. The aim of the study was to study the difference in gut microbiota composition of stunted Indonesian children and children of normal nutritional status between 3 and 5 years. ⋯ The abundance of Prevotella has been correlated with dietary fibre intake, which was lower in these stunted children. Since fibres are fermented by the gut microbiota into SCFA, and these SCFA are a source of energy for the host, increasing the proportion of Prevotella in stunted children may be of benefit. Whether this would prevent the occurrence of stunting or even has the potential to revert it, remains to be seen in follow up research.
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Statistical models for outcome prediction are central to traumatic brain injury research and critical to baseline risk adjustment. Glasgow coma score (GCS) and pupil reactivity are crucial covariates in all such models but may be measured at multiple time points between the time of injury and hospital and are subject to a variable degree of unreliability and/or missingness. Imputation of missing data may be undertaken using full multiple imputation or by simple substitution of measurements from other time points. ⋯ Full multiple imputation had the advantage of preserving time-dependence in the models: the pre-hospital assessments were found to be relatively unreliable predictors of survival or outcome. The predictive performance of later assessments was model-dependent. In conclusion, simple substitution strategies for imputing baseline GCS and pupil response can perform well and may be a simple alternative to full multiple imputation in many cases.
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The reporting of Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) mortality among healthcare workers highlights their vulnerability in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Some low- and middle-income countries have highlighted the challenges with COVID-19 testing, such as inadequate capacity, untrained laboratory personnel, and inadequate funding. This article describes the components and implementation of a healthcare worker surveillance programme in a designated COVID-19 teaching hospital in Malaysia. In addition, the distribution and characteristics of healthcare workers placed under surveillance are described. ⋯ COVID-19 symptom surveillance and risk-based assessment have merits to be included in a healthcare worker surveillance programme to safeguard the health of the workforce.