Public health officials anticipate severe health outcomes amidst the circulation of two major viruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza. This study investigated intent to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and influenza, and sought to identify attitudes towards vaccines and barriers for vaccine acceptance. This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the Louisiana State University Medicine Clinic from September 2020 to December 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe etiology of most cases of liver diseases in pregnancy can be diagnosed with a thorough history, physical examination, laboratory values, serology, and noninvasive imaging. However, atypical clinical and laboratory presentations of liver diseases/chemistries require a liver biopsy to render an accurate diagnosis in cases where the biopsy results affect the timing of delivery or impact choice of medical therapy. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, liver biopsy can be effectively and safely conducted in pregnant women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been recently identified as the culprit of the highly infectious, outbreak named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China. Now declared a public health emergency, this pandemic is present in more than 200 countries with over 14 million cases and 600,000 deaths as of July 18, 2020. Primarily transmitted through the respiratory tract, the most common clinical presentations of symptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 include fever, dyspnea, cough, fatigue, and sore throat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity is a critical modifiable risk factor in cancer prevention, control, and survivorship. Comprehensive weight loss interventions (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLiver biopsy (LB) is an essential tool in diagnosing, evaluating and managing various diseases of the liver. As such, histopathological results are critical as they establish or aid in diagnosis, provide information on prognosis, and guide the appropriate selection of medical therapy for patients. Indications for LB include evaluation of persistent elevation of liver chemistries of unclear etiology, diagnosis of chronic liver diseases such as Wilson's disease, autoimmune hepatitis, small duct primary sclerosing cholangitis, work up of fever of unknown origin, amyloidosis and more.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEndoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a well-known procedure with both diagnostic and therapeutic utilities in managing pancreaticobiliary conditions. With the advancements of endoscopic techniques, ERCP has become a relatively safe and effective procedure. However, as ERCP is increasingly being utilized for different advanced techniques, newer complications have been noticed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Studies have considered the validity of self-reported hypertension relative to hypertension detected by examination; no study has explored trends in the difference between these two measures. Our objective was to calculate these differences overtime within subpopulations of the USA.
Methods: We included non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black and Hispanic adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 1999 to 2016, in the analysis (N = 44 333).
Objective: To study mortality from nonmalignant diseases in subjects with high exposure to transmissible agents present in animals used for food, and in their raw or inadequately cooked products.
Methods: Mortality was compared in a cohort of meat handlers in slaughtering and processing plants with that of the U.S.