Publications by authors named "Balasubramani G"

While the number of immunocompromised (IC) individuals continues to rise, the existing literature on influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in IC populations is limited. Understanding the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of the seasonal influenza vaccines in immunocompromised (IC) populations remains paramount. Using 2017-2018 US Flu VE Network data, we examined the VE of the 2017-2018 seasonal influenza vaccine against symptomatic influenza in outpatient settings among IC adults.

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Background: Neighborhood disadvantage, a social driver of health (SDOH), has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes; yet little is known about its association with anesthetic choice.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess the association of neighborhood disadvantage and anesthetic choice for cesarean deliveries. We hypothesize that people from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to receive general anesthesia for cesarean deliveries compared to those from the most advantaged neighborhoods.

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Background: The burden of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in asymptomatic children was initially presumed to be high, which influenced hospital, school and childcare policies. Before vaccines were widely available, some hospitals implemented universal preprocedural SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction testing on asymptomatic patients. Understanding SARS-CoV-2 prevalence in asymptomatic children is needed to illuminate the diversity of viral characteristics and inform policies implemented during future pandemics.

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Influenza C virus (ICV) is an orthomyxovirus related to influenza A and B, yet due to few commercial assays, epidemiologic studies may underestimate incidence of ICV infection and disease. We describe the epidemiology and characteristics of ICV within the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN), a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led network that conducts population-based surveillance for pediatric acute respiratory illness (ARI). Nasal or/combined throat swabs were collected from emergency department (ED) or inpatient ARI cases, or healthy controls, between 12/05/2016-10/31/2019 and tested by molecular assays for ICV and other respiratory viruses.

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Background: Sarcoidosis staging primarily has relied on the Scadding chest radiographic system, although chest CT imaging is finding increased clinical use.

Research Question: Whether standardized chest CT scan assessment provides additional understanding of lung function beyond Scadding stage and demographics is unknown and the focus of this study.

Study Design And Methods: We used National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute study Genomics Research in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and Sarcoidosis (GRADS) cases of sarcoidosis (n = 351) with Scadding stage and chest CT scans obtained in a standardized manner.

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Prcis: Intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained with the HOME2 rebound tonometer are interchangeable with measurements obtained using the office-based IC100 and IC200 rebound tonometers, making characterization of circadian IOP achievable with no inter-device sources of variability.

Objective: To evaluate test-retest reliability between IOP measurements obtained with a home rebound tonometer operated by patients and those obtained with office rebound tonometers operated by experienced clinical staff.

Methods: After training and practice with a home rebound tonometer (iCare HOME2) in a randomly selected eye, patients with established or suspected open angle glaucoma underwent IOP measurement in the fellow eye as follows in randomized order: 3 good quality measurements with the iCare IC100 operated by experienced clinical staff, 3 good quality measurements with the iCare IC200 operated by experienced clinical staff, and 3 good quality measurements with the HOME2 operated by the patient.

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Studies have reported that prior-season influenza vaccination is associated with higher risk of clinical influenza infection among vaccinees. This effect might arise from incomplete consideration of within-season waning and recent infection. Using data from the US Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Network (2011-2012 to 2018-2019 seasons), we found that repeat vaccinees were vaccinated earlier in a season by 1 week.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The study highlights the importance of traditional plants as sources for new medications, emphasizing the successful use of herbal medicine in developing countries, particularly through systems like Ayurveda and Siddha.
  • * While traditional remedies show promise for treating malaria and dengue fever, the research notes that drug development is complex and requires careful evaluation of both the potential and challenges involved.
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Importance: SARS-CoV-2 surveillance studies in US child care centers (CCCs) in the post-COVID-19 vaccine era are needed to provide information on incidence and transmission in this setting.

Objective: To characterize SARS-CoV-2 incidence and transmission in children attending CCCs (students) and their child care providers (CCPs) and household contacts.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective surveillance cohort study was conducted from April 22, 2021, through March 31, 2022, and included 11 CCCs in 2 cities.

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Background: Mandibular fractures account for up to 48.8% of pediatric facial fractures; however, there are a wide range of available treatment modalities, and few studies describe trends in adverse outcomes of these injuries. This study describes fracture cause, pattern, management, and treatment outcomes in pediatric mandibular fracture patients.

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Background: Relative effectiveness of various vaccine formulations provide important input for vaccine policy decisions and provider purchasing decisions. We used electronic databases to conduct a test-negative case control study to determine relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4) compared with standard dose vaccines (SD-IIV4) against influenza hospitalization.

Methods: Adults 18-64 and ≥65 years of age hospitalized in a large U.

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Background: Cognitive impairments related to preeclampsia after pregnancy have been reported; however, it is not known if weaknesses in cognition occur before and shortly after delivery.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of longitudinal cognitive testing before and after delivery, and to investigate whether those with preeclampsia have cognitive weaknesses during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 1 and 3 months postpartum. We hypothesized that people with preeclampsia would have lower cognition scores across all time points compared with normotensive people.

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Studies have reported that prior-season influenza vaccination is associated with higher risk of clinical influenza infection among vaccinees. This effect might arise from incomplete consideration of within-season waning and recent infection. Using data from the US Flu Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) Network (2011-2012 to 2018-2019 seasons), we found that repeat vaccinees were vaccinated earlier in a season by one week.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study focuses on identifying biomarkers to differentiate between COVID-19 and influenza due to the similarities in their symptoms.
  • Researchers analyzed cytokine levels in patient samples from specific health networks to find significant differences.
  • Findings suggest that IL-10 family cytokines could serve as effective diagnostic tools for COVID-19, and combinations of up to three cytokines can accurately distinguish between the two infections.
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Article Synopsis
  • A study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a newer influenza vaccine, recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4), compared to standard dose vaccines (SD) during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons.
  • The research involved a retrospective analysis of 5,515 patients aged 18-64 from electronic medical records, focusing on their vaccination status and influenza test results.
  • Overall vaccine effectiveness was found to be moderate at 37% for preventing medically attended outpatient visits, with RIV4 showing slightly higher effectiveness than SD, but the results were not statistically significant due to wide confidence intervals indicating limited power to draw conclusive comparisons.
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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigated how mild SARS-CoV-2 infections affect health-related quality of life by comparing physical and mental health scores between COVID-19 and non-COVID patients after 6-8 weeks.
  • - Both groups showed improved physical health, but only COVID-19 patients experienced a boost in mental health, while the non-COVID group reported a decline.
  • - Key findings indicated that male sex and COVID-19 status were significant predictors of better health outcomes, with males with COVID-19 scoring higher in both physical and mental health compared to females.
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Objective: A small percentage of universities and colleges conducted mass SARS-CoV-2 testing. However, universal testing is resource-intensive, strains national testing capacity, and false negative tests can encourage unsafe behaviors.

Participants: A large urban university campus.

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Background: To describe the incidence and factors predicting visual outcome in patients with infectious endophthalmitis following intravitreal anti-VEGF injection.

Methods: Retrospective, single-site, cohort study. Patients with acute endophthalmitis within 6 weeks of intravitreal anti-VEGF injection who were referred to our practice after inciting injection or were injected by us between January 2010 and July 2017 were included.

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Green chemistry has paved an 'avant-garde avenue' in the production and fabrication of eco-friendly stable nanoparticles employing the utilization of biological agents. In the present study we present the first report on the potential of the marine bacterium PBCW2 for the extracellular production of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Utilizing a variety of methods, AuNPs in the cell-free supernatant of (CFS-LBOE) were identified and their antioxidant, antibacterial, and dye-degrading properties were examined.

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Mosquitoes' current insecticide resistance status in available public health insecticides is a serious threat to mosquito control initiatives. Microbe-based control agents provide an alternative to conventional pesticides and insecticides, as they can be more targeted than synthetic insecticides. The present study was focused on identifying and investigating the mosquitocidal potential of Cladophialophora bantiana, an endophytic fungus isolated from Opuntia ficus-indica.

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Plant extracts' ability to collect metals and decrease metal ions makes them a superior candidate for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles; hence, they are referred to as bio-nano factories since both living and dead dried biomass are employed to produce metallic nanoparticles. The antiparasitic activity of biosynthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) was examined against cow tick larvae (Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis bispinosa, and Hippobosca maculata). These parasitic larvae were treated with various concentrations of methanolic leaf extract of A.

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Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) result in millions of illnesses and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations annually in the United States. The responsible viruses include influenza, parainfluenza, human metapneumovirus, coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human rhinoviruses. This study estimated the population-based hospitalization burden of those respiratory viruses (RVs) over 4 years, from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2019, among adults ≥18 years of age for Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania.

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