Publications by authors named "L C Pawloski"
The older adult population in Thailand has been steadily increasing in recent years, and urbanization has resulted in many older adults living independently, leaving many at nutritional risk. The purpose of this research is to explore food security among Thai older adults using a simple screening tool, the DETERMINE tool, as well as from three surveys which reflect seniors' health and ultimately food security including the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), the self-efficacy for physical activity scale (SEPAS), and the health literacy questionnaire. The DETERMINE tool was used in Thailand for the first time in this study.
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- In 2020, the CSTE revised the pertussis case definition, recognizing PCR-positive cases as confirmed, regardless of cough duration, to improve case reporting.
- The evaluation showed that 9.5% of reported cases in Enhanced Pertussis Surveillance were newly classified under the updated definition, leading to an estimated additional 582 cases nationally.
- The change in definition allowed for better tracking of pertussis cases, even during a significant decline in reported cases due to COVID-19, enhancing opportunities for public health measures.
Pertussis, caused by , can cause debilitating respiratory symptoms, so whole-cell pertussis vaccines (wPVs) were introduced in the 1940s. However, reactogenicity of wPV necessitated the development of acellular pertussis vaccines (aPVs) that were introduced in the 1990s. Since then, until the COVID-19 pandemic began, reported pertussis incidence was increasing, suggesting that aPVs do not induce long-lasting immunity and may not effectively prevent transmission.
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- Respiratory diphtheria is a severe infection primarily spread through respiratory droplets, and a significant outbreak occurred among Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh from 2017 to 2019.
- Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was used to analyze isolates from 53 diphtheria cases, revealing that they were toxigenic biovar mitis strains with resistance to penicillin and grouped into four phylogenetic clusters across refugee camps.
- The study highlighted high levels of antibiotic resistance in co-circulating non-diphtheritic species, underscoring WGS's effectiveness in tracking microbial relationships and resistance factors during diphtheria outbreaks.
Background: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for pertussis is recommended for household contacts of pertussis cases in the United States within 21 days of exposure, but data on PEP effectiveness for prevention of secondary cases in the setting of widespread pertussis vaccination are limited. We implemented a multi-state evaluation of azithromycin PEP use and effectiveness among household contacts.
Methods: Culture- or PCR-confirmed pertussis cases were identified through surveillance.