Performance Measures for Short-Term Cardiac Rehabilitation in Patients of Working Age: Results of the Prospective Observational Multicenter Registry OutCaRe.

Objective: To determine immediate performance measures for short-term, multicomponent cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in clinical routine in patients of working age, taking into account cardiovascular risk factors, physical performance, social medicine, and subjective health parameters and to explore the underlying dimensionality.

Design: Prospective observational multicenter register study in 12 rehabilitation centers throughout Germany.

Setting: Comprehensive 3-week CR.

The Respiratory Specimen Collection Trial (ReSpeCT): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Compare Quality and Timeliness of Respiratory Sample Collection in the Home by Parents and Healthcare Workers From Children Aged <2 Years.

Background: Most acute respiratory infection (ARI) research focuses on severe disease and overlooks the burden of community-managed illness. For community-based studies, home-based specimen collection by parents could be a resource-saving alternative to collection by healthcare workers (HCWs). In this study, we compared parent and HCW groups for their likelihood to collect specimens and the timeliness and quality of such collection.

Bacterial community structure and effects of picornavirus infection on the anterior nares microbiome in early childhood.

Background: Little is known regarding the nasal microbiome in early childhood and the impact of respiratory infection on the infants' nasal microbial composition. Here we investigated the temporal dynamics and diversity of the bacterial composition in the anterior nares in children attending daycare centers.

Results: For our investigation, we considered 76 parental-taken nasal swabs of 26 children (aged 13 to 36 months) collected over a study period of 3 months.

Trends in herpes zoster epidemiology in Germany based on primary care sentinel surveillance data, 2005-2016.

Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster-virus (VZV). Childhood varicella vaccination, as recommended in Germany in 2004, may reduce the risk of HZ in vaccinated children but also virus circulation and thus the booster possibility of latent infected persons. In this context we analyzed age-specific trends in HZ epidemiology in Germany using data on HZ-associated outpatient consultations in participating sentinel sites and HZ-associated cases in all hospitals since 2005.