Increasing Colorectal Screening Uptake in Spouses of Patients With Colorectal Cancer Using a Randomized Behavioral Trial.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the few cancers for which screening has been associated with better survival and morbidity, but screening uptake has been underexplored in spouses of existing patients with CRC. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a brief, structured behavioral intervention delivered to spouses of patients with CRC in a colorectal clinical setting could increase fecal immunochemical test (FIT) uptake within 3 months of the study period.

Methods: This study was designed as a block randomized, unblinded, parallel trial conducted in the colorectal outpatient clinics of 2 public tertiary hospitals in Singapore from December 2017 to February 2023.

A teenage girl with altered mental status and paraparesis.

A teenage girl presented with fever and altered mental status. MRI showed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement of the brain and spine. She was diagnosed by a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture with tuberculous (TB) meningitis and was started on anti-TB medications and corticosteroids.

Second Nationwide Tuberculosis Outbreak Caused by Bone Allografts Containing Live Cells - United States, 2023.

During July 7-11, 2023, CDC received reports of two patients in different states with a tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis following spinal surgical procedures that used bone allografts containing live cells from the same deceased donor. An outbreak associated with a similar product manufactured by the same tissue establishment (i.e.

Solid organ transplant recipients with tuberculosis disease in California, 2010 to 2020.

Using California Tuberculosis (TB) Registry data from 2010-2020, we compared the presentation and outcomes of patients with TB aged >15 years with and without solid organ transplantation (SOT). We matched to the United Network for Organ Sharing registry for 1987-2020 and the estimated time from transplantation to the diagnosis of TB, the incidence of posttransplant TB, and the probability of death and graft failure in SOT recipients with TB, compared to those without TB. From 2010-2020, there were 148 posttransplant TB cases.

Adverse Events Associated With Treatment for Pan-Susceptible Tuberculosis in San Francisco.

Of 373 patients treated for drug-susceptible tuberculosis, 35.4% (46.2% aged ≥65 years) developed moderate/severe adverse events that required treatment interruption (34.

Evaluation of the Latent Tuberculosis Care Cascade Among Public Health Clinics in the United States.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) elimination within the United States will require scaling up TB preventive services. Many public health departments offer care for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI), although gaps in the LTBI care cascade are not well quantified. An understanding of these gaps will be required to design targeted public health interventions.

Systematic review of drug-drug interactions between rifamycins and anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents and considerations for management.

Rifamycins (rifampin, rifabutin, and rifapentine) play an essential role in the treatment of mycobacterial and some nonmycobacterial infections. They also induce the activity of various drug transporting and metabolizing enzymes, which can impact the concentrations and efficacy of substrates. Many anticoagulant and antiplatelet (AC/AP) agents are substrates of these enzymes and have narrow therapeutic indices, leading to risks of thrombosis or bleeding when coadministered with rifamycins.

Establishment and Evaluation of a Large Contact-Tracing and Case Investigation Virtual Training Academy.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Virtual Training Academy (VTA) was established to rapidly develop a contact-tracing workforce for California. Through June 2021, more than 10 000 trainees enrolled in a contact-tracing or case investigation course at the VTA. To evaluate program effectiveness, we analyzed trainee pre- and postassessment results using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Perioperative and oncologic outcomes in young and octogenarian patients with colorectal cancer: a comparison at the extremes.

Introduction: In colorectal cancer (CRC), surgical outcomes in the young (< 50) and octogenarian populations are believed to be poor due to an aggressive phenotype in the former, and increased frailty in the latter. Given that age-related effects are inversely related between groups, we compared short- and long-term outcomes of young and octogenarian patients with CRC to determine the dominance of one age-related factor over another.

Methods: A prospectively collected database from 2015 to 2020 of all CRC was analyzed.

The efficacy of on-demand sedation colonoscopy: a STROBE-compliant retrospective cohort study.

Background: Colonoscopy has been routinely performed with sedation. Previous studies showed that on-demand sedation colonoscopy is acceptable in patients. We aim to compare the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing colonoscopy with and without sedation.

Continuous wound infusion with ropivacaine alone provides adequate analgesia following laparotomy.

Background: Although continuous wound infusion (CWI) with local anaesthetic has been used as an adjunct for pain relief following laparotomy, its use as the main modality has not been studied. This approach negates side effects related to intravenous opioid administration, therefore promoting enhanced recovery from surgery. We conducted this study to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of CWI following laparotomy.

Cost of Tuberculosis Therapy Directly Observed on Video for Health Departments and Patients in New York City; San Francisco, California; and Rhode Island (2017-2018).

To assess costs of video and traditional in-person directly observed therapy (DOT) for tuberculosis (TB) treatment to health departments and patients in New York City, Rhode Island, and San Francisco, California. We collected health department costs for video DOT (VDOT; live and recorded), and in-person DOT (field- and clinic-based). Time-motion surveys estimated provider time and cost.

A belly of blood: A case report describing surgical intervention in a gastric intramural haematoma precipitated by therapeutic endoscopy in an anticoagulated patient.

Gastric intramural hematoma, "intramural dissection" or "false aneurysm", is a rare and dangerous condition which may be more broadly classified as a spectrum of acute gastric mucosal injury. It is postulated that disruption of the mucosa and blood vessels within the submucosal layer results in dissection of the muscularis propria from the mucosa, with eventual clot formation. While a majority of cases resolve with conservative management, we describe a successfully managed case requiring surgical intervention.

Pilonidal Abscess Associated With Primary Actinomycosis.

Pilonidal disease in the sacrococcygeal region usually presents as abscesses, recurrent inflammation, cellulitis or fistula tracks. However, few reports on actinomycosis affecting pilonidal sinuses have been published. We report a case of a 25-year-old woman who presented with a pilonidal abscess who underwent surgical drainage and debridement.

Two Rapidly Growing Mycobacterial Species Isolated from a Brain Abscess: First Whole-Genome Sequences of Mycobacterium immunogenum and Mycobacterium llatzerense.

Rapidly growing mycobacteria are rarely found in central nervous system infections. We describe a case of polymicrobial infection in a brain abscess including two rapidly growing Mycobacterium species, M. immunogenum and M.

Newly Exerted T Cell Pressures on Mutated Epitopes following Transmission Help Maintain Consensus HIV-1 Sequences.

CD8+ T cells are important for HIV-1 virus control, but are also a major contributing factor that drives HIV-1 virus sequence evolution. Although HIV-1 cytotoxic T cell (CTL) escape mutations are a common aspect during HIV-1 infection, less is known about the importance of T cell pressure in reversing HIV-1 virus back to a consensus sequences. In this study we aimed to assess the frequency with which reversion of transmitted mutations in T cell epitopes were associated with T cell responses to the mutation.

Associations between antibodies to a panel of Plasmodium falciparum specific antigens and response to sub-optimal antimalarial therapy in Kampala, Uganda.

Background: Antibodies are important in the control of blood stage Plasmodium falciparum infection. It is unclear which antibody responses are responsible for, or even associated with protection, partly due to confounding by heterogeneous exposure. Assessment of response to partially effective antimalarial therapy, which requires the host to assist in clearing parasites, offers an opportunity to measure protection independent of exposure.