Introduction Chest pain is a common, expensive cause of admission to the hospital from the Emergency Department (ED). The History, ECG, Age, Risk Factors, and Troponin (HEART) score is a risk stratification tool often used to determine the disposition of chest pain patients. This study evaluates the association of age, gender, HEART score, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), hypercholesterolemia, family history (Fam Hx), and tobacco use with major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and hospital readmission.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBluetongue virus (BTV) is a prevalent midge-borne pathogen that infects ruminant species worldwide. BTV infections range from asymptomatic to lethal, with mechanisms that determine the severity of infection remaining largely undefined. Although it is relatively poorly understood, the immune response to BTV infection is thought to be critical for both the propagation of disease as well as the resolution of infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZoonotic transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease, by presumed consumption of infected beef, has increased awareness of the public health risk associated with prion diseases. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) affects moose, elk, and deer, all of which are frequently consumed by humans. Clear evidence of CWD transmission to humans has not been demonstrated, yet, establishing whether CWD prions are present in muscle tissue preferentially consumed by humans is of increasing interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic wasting disease (CWD) affects cervids in North America, Asia, and Scandinavia. CWD is unique in its efficient spread, partially because of contact with infectious prions shed in secreta. To assess temporal profiles of CWD prion shedding, we collected saliva, urine, and feces from white-tailed deer for 66 months after exposure to low oral doses of CWD-positive brain tissue or saliva.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic wasting disease (CWD) is a transmissible and fatal prion disease that affects cervids. While both oral and nasal routes of exposure to prions cause disease, the spatial and temporal details of how prions enter the central nervous system (CNS) are unknown. Carotid bodies (CBs) are structures that are exposed to blood-borne prions and are densely innervated by nerves that are directly connected to brainstem nuclei, known to be early sites of prion neuroinvasion.
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