Epidemiologie, mikrobiologie, imunologie : casopis Spolecnosti pro epidemiologii a mikrobiologii Ceské lékarské spolecnosti J.E. Purkyne
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Bioterrorist threats and attacks are still an issue of concern in the world. Biological agents are divided into three categories. The highest priority agents classified in category A pose a massive risk to public health and national security. ⋯ Health professionals in the Czech Republic should be aware of the diseases caused by category A agents, which are not common in the country. In this context, the project of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic “Decontamination of the injured persons” has been implemented at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University, Olomouc. The article provides an overview of selected serious infectious risks and information on the project the aim of which is to create certified methodical procedures and guidelines on situations related to bioterrorism.
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Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol · Jan 2020
The duration of SARS-CoV-2 shedding in patients recovering from COVID-19.
The knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) shedding is highly relevant to the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). Deep nasopharyngeal swabs repeatedly collected from a cohort of one hundred patients with COVID-19 were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction). ⋯ Furthermore, the authors tested the hypothesis on the relationship between the severity of COVID-19 and the period in which the viral genome is detectable. They did not find any statistically significant difference in the duration of viral clearance between patients with asymptomatic to mild disease or severe disease.
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Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol · Jan 2019
Decontamination of CBRN units contaminated by highly contagious biological agents.
A decontamination process plays a key role in management of biological incidents. While decontamination of surfaces and buildings located in the hot zone can be usually postponed until an agent is confirmed and an adequate planning phase is established, personnel wearing personal protective equipment must be decontaminated prior to their final exit from the hot zone. ⋯ Experimental tests with surrogates of biological agents are thus necessary to identify above-mentioned points. Once an optimal decontamination procedure is recognized, a field rehearsal must follow and the method using a surrogate must be implemented into a training process of CBRN units.
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Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol · Nov 2014
Case Reports[An uncommon detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pericardial effusion].
Pericardial tuberculosis is a specific pericarditis which is rarely reported in the absence of pulmonary tuberculosis. A case history is presented of a 74-year-old patient, immunocompromised as a result of kidney and liver cancer therapy. Mycobacterium tuberculosis was repeatedly recovered from pericardial effusion but not from other clinical specimens. Despite the early treatment of specific pericarditis, the patient died.
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Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol · Sep 2014
[Occupational tuberculosis in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic].
To conduct a retrospective 15-year study to monitor trends in the number of employees at risk for occupational tuberculosis (TB) (levels III and IV) in the Slovak Republic, and in particular in the sector of economic activities Q (health care and social assistance). Furthermore, to analyze reported cases of occupational TB and to compare the incidence and sex-specific and age-specific prevalence with the data reported in the Czech Republic. ⋯ The incidence of occupational TB has a downward trend in both countries, similarly to TB incidence in the general population. A negative aspect in both countries is the incidence of occupational TB at the middle productive age, in contrast to the population occupationally non-exposed to TB. Slovakia is surrounded by higher prevalence countries, with the exception of the Czech Republic. It cannot be ruled out that, in addition to the known factors influencing the prevalence of TB, including occupational TB, migration from eastern countries, including job search migration, can also play a role in increase in TB cases. It is vital to continue epidemiological surveillance and to reduce the risk of TB as much as possible also in healthcare settings by adhering to barrier nursing practices. Cases of active TB need early and adequately long, controlled treatment in order to reduce, among others, the incidence of multi-drug resistant TB.