Plasma zinc and selenium levels in adult inpatients with Lassa fever in Nigeria: A case-controlled study.

Objectives: Lassa fever (LF), a viral hemorrhagic disease endemic to West Africa, carries a high mortality. Scanty studies indicate that micronutrients may play a role in immunity to LF. We performed a case-controlled study to evaluate plasma zinc and selenium levels in hospitalized patients with LF.

C-reactive protein and association with disease severity in hospitalized adult patients with Lassa fever in Nigeria.

Objectives: Lassa fever (LF) poses a significant health burden in West Africa. The pathophysiology of LF and determinants of clinical spectrum of disease remain poorly understood. We performed a study to understand the correlation of blood inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP), with LF disease severity.

The role of artificial intelligence in the diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of thoracic empyema.

Purpose Of Review: The management of thoracic empyema is often complicated by diagnostic delays, recurrence, treatment failures and infections with antibiotic resistant bacteria. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, particularly in clinical decision support, imaging, and diagnostic microbiology raises great expectations in addressing these challenges.

Recent Findings: Machine learning (ML) and AI models have been applied to CT scans and chest X-rays to identify and classify pleural effusions and empyema with greater accuracy.

Accelerating development of new shorter TB treatment regimens in anticipation of a resurgence of multi-drug resistant TB due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO 2020 global TB Report estimates that in 2019 there were an estimated 500,000 cases of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) of which only 186,772 MDR-TB cases were diagnosed, and positive treatment outcomes were achieved in 57% of them. These data highlight the need for accelerating and improving MDR-TB screening, diagnostic, treatment and patient follow-up services. The last decade has seen three new TB drugs being licensed; bedaquiline, delamanid and pretomanid, and combinations these new, existing and repurposed drugs are leading to improved cure rates.

Spp. Derivatives for COVID-19 Treatment: Anecdotal Use, Political Hype, Treatment Potential, Challenges, and Road Map to Randomized Clinical Trials.

The world is currently facing a novel COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 that, as of July 12, 2020, has caused a reported 12,322,395 cases and 556,335 deaths. To date, only two treatments, remdesivir and dexamethasone, have demonstrated clinical efficacy through randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in seriously ill patients. The search for new or repurposed drugs for treatment of COVID-19 continues.

Drug-resistant tuberculosis: time for visionary political leadership.

Two decades ago, WHO declared tuberculosis a global emergency, and invested in the highly cost-effective directly observed treatment short-course programme to control the epidemic. At that time, most strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were susceptible to first-line tuberculosis drugs, and drug resistance was not a major issue. However, in 2013, tuberculosis remains a major public health concern worldwide, with prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis rising.