An online mindfulness-based intervention for adults with Inflammatory Bowel Disease & psychological distress: A feasibility randomized controlled trial of the Mind4IBD program.

Objective: The bidirectional relationship between disease activity and mental health in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has prompted investigations into the efficacy of psychotherapies, such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBI), for improving biopsychosocial outcomes. Therefore, the aim is to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an online-delivered, self-directed MBI, adapted to individuals with IBD and psychological distress, in comparison to wait-list control (WLC).

Methods: 50 adults with IBD were randomized to WLC (N = 25) or intervention (N = 25) groups.

Emergency department use is high after esophagectomy and feeding tube problems are the biggest culprit.

Objectives: Esophagectomy is a complex operation with potential for prolonged recovery. We aimed to identify the incidence of and risk factors for any and frequent emergency department visits within 1 year of esophagectomy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed looking at consecutive esophagectomies at a tertiary Canadian center (1999-2014).

Can the number of patients with presumptive tuberculosis lost in the general health services in Pakistan be reduced?

The frequency of patients with presumptive tuberculosis (TB) who are not investigated by sputum smear microscopy is unknown in Pakistan. Using a simple intervention comparing patient and laboratory registers, patients with presumptive TB were identified in two districts from July to December 2013, a list of missing patients was prepared and the patients traced. The intervention significantly reduced the number of patients with presumptive TB lost, from 8.

Investigation of presumptive tuberculosis cases by private health providers: lessons learnt from a survey in Pakistan.

Pakistan's National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) is missing data on many tuberculosis (TB) cases who visit private providers. A survey on the incidence and under-reporting of TB in Pakistan provided a database for exploring the investigation and referral of presumptive TB cases by private health providers. The survey showed that private health providers requested both sputum smear and X-ray for diagnostic investigations.

Estimating tuberculosis burden and case detection in Pakistan.

Background: The National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) in Pakistan has officially achieved a tuberculosis (TB) case detection rate of 64% in 2011, with an estimated incidence rate of 230 per 100 000 population, but is likely to be missing an unknown number of patients, particularly in the private sector.

Setting: All public and private sector providers in 12 randomly selected districts of Pakistan were included.

Objective: To estimate TB incidence and TB notification rates in Pakistan in 2012.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of hospital- and ambulatory-based management of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted on the effectiveness of MDR-TB management. A meta-analysis of treatment outcomes of patients treated in hospitals versus ambulatory-based models was performed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The pooled treatment success rate was 66.

Influenza research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: the current state and the way forward.

We searched published literature, surveillance data sources, and sequence databases to analyze the state of influenza virus research and to identify research gaps in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. PubMed, Scopus, and other databases were searched for influenza publications and nucleotide sequences. WHO's FluNet was searched to determine virologic reporting from each country.

Occult hepatitis B virus infection among Egyptian blood donors.

Aim: To identify blood donors with occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) to promote safe blood donation.

Methods: Descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on 3167 blood donors negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C antibody (HCV Ab) and human immunodeficiency virus Ab. They were subjected to the detection of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) and screening for anti-HBV core antibodies (total) by two different techniques; [Monoliza antibodies to hepatitis B core (Anti-HBc) Plus-Bio-Rad] and (ARC-HBc total-ABBOT).

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, Somalia, 2010-2011.

In a nationwide survey in 2011, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) was found in 5.2% and 40.8% of patients with new and previously treated TB, respectively.

Estimating tuberculosis burden and reporting in resource-limited countries: a capture-recapture study in Iraq.

Background: The global target for tuberculosis (TB) control set by the Millennium Development Goals is a decrease in TB incidence by 2015. Direct measurement of country-level TB incidence using population-based methods is impractical, emphasising the need for well-performing surveillance systems and, where these are not available, accurate quantification of incidence and under-reporting of TB.

Objective: To estimate TB incidence and TB under-reporting in Iraq in 2011.

Estimating the tuberculosis burden in resource-limited countries: a capture-recapture study in Yemen.

Background: The lack of applicable population-based methods to measure tuberculosis (TB) incidence rates directly at country level emphasises the global need to generate robust TB surveillance data to ascertain trends in disease burden and to assess the performance of TB control programmes in the context of the United Nations Millenium Development Goals and World Health Organization targets for TB control.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of TB cases (all forms) and sputum smear-positive disease, and the level of under-reporting of TB in Yemen in 2010.

Methods: Record-linkage and three-source capture-recapture analysis of data collected through active prospective longitudinal surveillance within the public and private non-National Tuberculosis Programme sector in twelve Yemeni governorates, selected by stratified cluster random sampling.

A nested case-control study on relapse predictors among tuberculosis patients treated in Yemen's NTCP.

Setting: The National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme in Yemen.

Objective: To identify risk factors associated with TB relapse.

Methods: In a prospective nested case-control study, relapse cases were recruited from a cohort of pulmonary TB patients registered between July 2007 and June 2008.

Zoonoses and marginalised infectious diseases of poverty: where do we stand?

Despite growing awareness of the importance of controlling neglected tropical diseases as a contribution to poverty alleviation and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, there is a need to up-scale programmes to achieve wider public health benefits. This implementation deficit is attributable to several factors but one often overlooked is the specific difficulty in tackling diseases that involve both people and animals - the zoonoses. A Disease Reference Group on Zoonoses and Marginalised Infectious Diseases (DRG6) was convened by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), a programme executed by the World Health Organization and co-sponsored by UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and WHO.

Tuberculosis case finding in twenty-two countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

A hypothetical model has been developed to evaluate the efficiency of the case-finding process in 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The model is based on the patient's pathway to care in a stepwise approach from the community to the tuberculosis (TB) management units. Performance was measured using indicators for each of the components of the Stop TB strategy, and a scoring system was developed.

Estimating tuberculosis case detection rate in resource-limited countries: a capture-recapture study in Egypt.

Setting: Most countries endemic and highly endemic for tuberculosis (TB) still do not have reliable TB surveillance systems. Indirect estimation of TB incidence is needed to monitor the performance of the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) in the context of the World Health Organization implementation and impact targets for TB control.

Objective: To estimate the case detection rate (CDR) of all TB cases and sputum smear-positive TB cases in Egypt in 2007.

Malaria preventive measures, health care seeking behaviour and malaria burden in different epidemiological settings in Sudan.

Objectives: To provide information about preventive measures and treatment seeking behaviour as well as an estimate of the malaria burden in different epidemiological settings for effective monitoring and evaluation of the ongoing efforts.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey carried out in four areas representing different levels of transmission to explore the use of preventive measures, care-seeking behaviour and accessibility in addition to point prevalence was followed by a follow-up phase in which the health workers registered and reported all fever cases including malaria. The relation between the reported malaria incidence, the product of symptomatic/asymptomatic ratio and the prevalence of confirmed malaria cases was used to develop the equation that could predict the true malaria incidence.

The decline of tuberculosis in Yemen: evaluation based on two nationwide tuberculin surveys.

Setting: Yemen.

Objective: To review the epidemiological situation of tuberculosis (TB) in Yemen by conducting a tuberculin survey and by comparing the results obtained with those of a previous tuberculin survey from 1991.

Design: A nationwide tuberculin survey enrolling 31,276 schoolchildren aged between 7 and 12 years.

Prevalence of tuberculosis suspects and their healthcare-seeking behavior in urban and rural Jordan.

To determine the prevalence and healthcare-seeking behavior of tuberculosis (TB) suspects in Middle and South Jordan. A community-based survey was carried out between June-September 2005, whereby 61,730 adult household members were inquired about the presence of persistent cough for more than three weeks to identify TB suspects. These adults were then interviewed and referred to the nearest health center for clinical and sputum smear examination.

Measuring tuberculosis burden, trends, and the impact of control programmes.

The targets for tuberculosis control, framed within the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, are to ensure that the incidence per head of tuberculosis is falling by 2015, and that the 1990 prevalence and mortality per head are halved by 2015. In monitoring progress in tuberculosis control, the ultimate aim for all countries is to count tuberculosis cases (incidence) accurately through routine surveillance. Disease prevalence surveys are costly and laborious, but give unbiased measures of tuberculosis burden and trends, and are justified in high-burden countries where many cases and deaths are missed by surveillance systems.

Genetic determinants of essential hypertension.

This study aimed at determining the role of genetic and environmental risk factors in the development of essential hypertension in Alexandria, Egypt. A case-control-study was conducted in the Main Health Insurance Hospital, (MHI) Alexandria, Egypt, whereby cases previously diagnosed as hypertensive were included in the study. A hospital-based control group visiting the hospital for other unrelated conditions and randomly selected in the same day as cases was also included in the study.

The quality of antimalarials available in Yemen.

Background: Malaria has always been a major public health problem in Yemen. Several studies in developing countries have demonstrated ineffective and poor quality drugs including antimalarials. Therefore, quality assessment of antimalarial drugs is of crucial importance.

Performance of IgG avidity in an area endemic for schistosomiasis in Egypt.

We assessed the performance of IgG avidity in the diagnosis of acute, chronic and recent (reinfection) on top of chronic schistosomal infections in patients treated with praziquantel. Immunoglobulin levels were studied in 111 patients with Schistosoma mansoni infection and 28 partially cured patients (not responding to the first dose of praziquantel treatment and almost cured after a second one). Before treatment all patients with schistosomiasis had elevated IgG levels, 75% of them also had increased IgM levels.

Current treatment modalities of breast-cancer patients in Alexandria, Egypt.

Despite great advances in the treatment of breast cancer during recent years, many breast cancer patients still do not receive appropriate treatment. Data were collected during a 1-year period from nine general hospitals aiming at evaluating the quality of care delivered to breast cancer patients in Alexandria, Egypt. A total of 565 breast cancer patients were involved.