Using primary care data to assess comparative effectiveness and safety of apixaban and rivaroxaban in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation in the UK: an observational cohort study.

Objective: To compare real-world effectiveness and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AFib) for prevention of stroke.

Study Design And Setting: A comparative cohort study in UK general practice data from The Health Improvement Network database.

Participants And Interventions: Before matching, 5655 patients ≥18 years with nonvalvular AFib who initiated at least one DOAC between 1 July 2014 and 31 December 2020 were included.

Evaluation of a point-of-care molecular detection device for Leishmania spp. and intercurrent fungal and mycobacterial organisms in Peruvian patients with cutaneous ulcers.

Purpose: Overlapping clinical features of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) with ulcers caused by fungi and mycobacteria necessitate confirmatory diagnostic testing. We evaluated a handheld battery-operated device for detection of CL and common fungal and mycobacterial causes of ulcers.

Methods: We validated Palm PCR™ for detection of common ulcerative skin pathogens using ATCC reference and clinical strains of Leishmania, mycobacteria, and fungi in the lab and field.

Public Intoxication: Sobering Centers as an Alternative to Incarceration, Houston, 2010-2017.

In 2010, the Houston police department admitted 20 508 publicly intoxicated individuals into its jail. To address jail overcrowding, the city created a jail diversion policy that allowed law enforcement to admit publicly intoxicated individuals into a new sobering center. By 2017, public intoxication jail admissions had decreased by 95%, freeing valuable resources.

Rituximab Therapy for Childhood Pemphigus Vulgaris.

Pediatric pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a rare autoimmune bullous dermatosis that poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Rituximab, an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, is an important medication in adult PV but has rarely been used to treat pediatric disease. We describe successful rituximab therapy in a 4-year-old, the youngest patient with PV ever reported to receive rituximab.

Management of imported cutaneous larva migrans: A case series and mini-review.

Background: Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM), a zoonotic helminthiasis imported to Canada by travelers to the tropics, causes morbidity due to severe, intractable pruritus. Treatment in Canada is only available through the Special Access Program (SAP) of Health Canada, thus, many patients are prescribed ineffective courses of non-targeted therapy.

Objective: We analyzed patients with CLM referred to our specialized Tropical Disease Unit (TDU) having failed non-targeted therapy prior to referral, and characterized demographic and travel related correlates of CLM.