Impact of COVID-19 on pediatric asthma-related healthcare utilization in New York City: a community-based study.

Background: COVID-19 disproportionately affects families of low socioeconomic status and may worsen health disparities that existed prior to the pandemic. Asthma is a common chronic disease in children exacerbated by environmental exposures.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to understand the impact of the initial stage of the pandemic on environmental and social conditions, along with access to care for children with asthma in New York City (NYC).

Patient perspectives on penicillin allergy and testing.

Most patients who report penicillin allergy are found to tolerate penicillin later in life. Few studies have examined patients' understanding and beliefs about penicillin allergy and testing. Evaluating patients' perspectives may help identify ways to improve patient education and increase testing to de-label those who can tolerate penicillin.

Environmental exposures: evolving evidence for their roles in adult allergic disorders.

Purpose Of Review: Allergic disorders are the result of complex interactions between genetic predisposition and environmental exposures. Elucidating how specific environmental exposures contribute to allergic diseases in adults is crucial, especially as the world population ages in a rapidly changing environment.

Recent Findings: The effects of environmental exposures on allergic diseases remain understudied in adults.

COVID-19 prevalence and outcomes in patients receiving biologic therapies at an infusion center in New York City.

To better understand COVID-19 infection in patients receiving biologic and immunomodulatory therapies, we evaluated prevalence and outcomes for symptomatic cases of COVID-19 at a large therapeutic infusion center in New York City during the height of the pandemic. 2074 patients received treatment with biologic infusions at our center between March and May 2020, and 34 patients developed symptomatic COVID-19 infection, for an overall low rate of 1.64%.

A 79-year-old man with persistent eosinophilia and elevated immunoglobulin E.

The differential diagnoses for eosinophilia include allergic, infectious, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. We presented the case of a 79-year-old man with eosinophilia and elevated immunoglobulin E that persisted despite adequate treatment for possible environmental exposures. Further specialized testing based on his initial workup led to his diagnosis.

Native Joint Septic Arthritis: Comparison of Outcomes with Medical and Surgical Management.

Objective: To determine whether there are differences in the outcomes of native joint septic arthritis (SA) in adults, based on medical versus surgical management.

Methods: A 10-year retrospective single-center study was conducted of patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2015 with a diagnosis of SA to compare outcomes based on the management approach taken: medical (bedside closed-needle joint aspiration) versus surgical (arthrotomy/arthroscopy). Evaluated outcomes included joint recovery, time to recovery, length of stay, disposition to home versus rehabilitation unit, recurrence of SA in the same joint, and mortality.

Paradoxical Reaction in a Patient with Co-Occurring Tuberculous Meningitis and Pott's Disease.

BACKGROUND Paradoxical reactions to tuberculosis (TB) are clinical or radiological worsening of prior tuberculous lesions or the development of new lesions upon treatment with appropriate anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT). This phenomenon has been described in both HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative patients. Although historically estimated to occur in 6-30% of HIV-seronegative patients with TB, the phenomenon is often under-recognized in the current era, particularly in countries of low TB prevalence.

Zoster vaccine-associated primary varicella infection in an immunocompetent host.

A 64-year-old immunocompetent man developed a widespread pruritic and vesicular rash 2 weeks after receiving the zoster vaccine (Zostavax). He had fever, bandaemia with normal total white blood cell count and mild transaminitis. PCR testing of serum and skin was positive for varicella zoster virus (VZV), while serum VZV IgG was negative.

Nicotinic acid modulates Legionella pneumophila gene expression and induces virulence traits.

In response to environmental fluctuations or stresses, bacteria can activate transcriptional and phenotypic programs to coordinate an adaptive response. The intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila converts from a noninfectious replicative form to an infectious transmissive form when the bacterium encounters alterations in either amino acid concentrations or fatty acid biosynthesis. Here, we report that L.

Efficient generation of unmarked deletions in Legionella pneumophila.

Unmarked gene deletions facilitate studies of Legionella pneumophila multicomponent processes, such as motility and exonuclease activity. For this purpose, FRT-flanked alleles constructed in Escherichia coli using λ-Red recombinase were transferred to L. pneumophila by natural transformation.