Hepatitis C Virus Reinfection Among People Who Inject Drugs: Long-Term Follow-Up of the HERO Study.

Importance: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) reinfection after curative treatment remains a concern for people who inject drugs.

Objective: To assess the incidence of HCV reinfection and associated risk factors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study is a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial that was conducted across opioid treatment programs and community health centers in the US between September 2016 and August 2018.

Determining the Associations Between Glucocorticoid Use During Hematologic Chemotherapy Treatment and New-onset Diabetes and Hyperglycemia and Mortality: A Population-based Cohort Study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the associations between glucocorticoid administration during chemotherapy for hematologic malignancy and hyperglycemia, new-onset diabetes, and mortality in Ontario, Canada. Hospitalization and emergency room utilization during the chemotherapy treatment period were also described.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using health administrative data from ICES, Ontario, to assess risk of new-onset diabetes, new-onset hyperglycemia, and hyperglycemia for individuals with leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) receiving glucocorticoids during chemotherapy between 2006 and 2016.

Association between Immunogenicity of a Monovalent Parenteral P2-VP8 Subunit Rotavirus Vaccine and Fecal Shedding of Rotavirus following Rotarix Challenge during a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

A correlate of protection for rotavirus (RV) has not been consistently identified. Shedding of RV following an oral rotavirus vaccine (ORV) challenge has been investigated as a potential model to assess protection of parenteral RV vaccines. We previously showed that shedding of a challenge ORV dose was significantly reduced among recipients of a parenteral monovalent RV subunit vaccine (P2-VP8-P[8]) compared to placebo recipients.

ABO blood types, but not Secretor or Lewis blood types, influence strength of antibody response to Hepatitis B vaccine in Black South African children.

Subunit vaccines for the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) have greatly reduced the prevalence of infection and morbidity through HBV-related liver cirrhosis and cancer. However, strength of immune response to vaccination varies considerably. While it is known that ABO blood types may influence HBV infection risk, the role of ABO and related blood types in strength of immune response to HBV vaccine has not been investigated.

Comparative Effectiveness of Total Hip Arthroplasty and Hemiarthroplasty for Femoral Neck Fracture: A Propensity-Score-Matched Cohort Study.

Background: The optimal treatment of older patients with a displaced femoral neck fracture remains a controversial topic. This study aimed to compare clinical outcomes across a matched group of patients with a femoral neck fracture treated with either hemiarthroplasty or total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Methods: Routinely collected health-care databases were linked to create a population-based cohort of 49,597 patients ≥60 years old from Ontario, Canada, who underwent hemiarthroplasty or THA for a femoral neck fracture between 2002 and 2017.

Time to treatment of esophageal cancer in Ontario: A population-level cross-sectional study.

Objective: Timely cancer treatment improves survival and anxiety for some sites. Patients with esophageal cancer require specific workup before treatment, which can prolong the time from diagnosis to treatment (treatment interval [TI]). The geographical variation of this interval remains uninvestigated in patients with esophageal cancer.

A cohort study of post-COVID-19 condition across the Beta, Delta, and Omicron waves in South Africa: 6-month follow-up of hospitalized and nonhospitalized participants.

Objectives: The study aimed to describe the prevalence of and risk factors for post-COVID-19 condition (PCC).

Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal observational cohort study. Hospitalized and nonhospitalized adults were randomly selected to undergo telephone assessment at 1, 3, and 6 months.

Diagnostic testing practices for diarrhoeal cases in South African public hospitals.

Background: Stool samples submitted for diagnostic testing represent a proportion of diarrhoeal cases seeking healthcare, and an even smaller proportion of diarrhoeal cases in the community. Despite this, surveillance relies heavily on these laboratory results. This study described diarrhoeal diagnostic practices and aetiological agents of diarrhoea in patients admitted to three South African public hospitals in order to understand biases in surveillance data, and inform guidelines, diagnostic and laboratory practices to improve clinical management.

Clinical severity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 lineages compared to BA.1 and Delta in South Africa.

Omicron lineages BA.4 and BA.5 drove a fifth wave of COVID-19 cases in South Africa.

Increasing the low-risk threshold for patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective, multicentre feasibility study.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, we extended the low-risk threshold for patients not requiring inpatient endoscopy for upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) from Glasgow Blatchford Score (GBS) 0-1 to GBS 0-3. We studied the safety and efficacy of this change.

Methods: Between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2020 we prospectively collected data on consecutive unselected patients with UGIB at five large Scottish hospitals.

Regional variations and associations between colonoscopy resource availability and colonoscopy utilisation: a population-based descriptive study in Ontario, Canada.

Objective: There is substantial variation in colonoscopy use and evidence of long wait times for the procedure. Understanding the role of system-level resources in colonoscopy utilisation may point to a potential intervention target to improve colonoscopy use. This study characterises colonoscopy resource availability in Ontario, Canada and evaluates its relationship with colonoscopy utilisation.

Clinical severity of COVID-19 in patients admitted to hospital during the omicron wave in South Africa: a retrospective observational study.

Background: Up to the end of January, 2022, South Africa has had four recognisable COVID-19 pandemic waves, each predominantly dominated by one variant of concern: the ancestral strain with an Asp614Gly mutation during the first wave, the beta variant (B.1.351) during the second wave, the delta variant (B.

Multiple Sclerosis and the Cancer Diagnosis: Diagnostic Route, Cancer Stage, and the Diagnostic Interval in Breast and Colorectal Cancer.

Background And Objectives: The multiple sclerosis (MS) population's survival from breast cancer and colorectal cancer is compromised. Cancer screening and timely diagnoses affect cancer survival and have not been studied in the MS cancer population. We investigated whether the diagnostic route, cancer stage, or diagnostic interval differed in patients with cancer with and without MS.

Early assessment of the clinical severity of the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant in South Africa: a data linkage study.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant of concern was identified in South Africa in November, 2021, and was associated with an increase in COVID-19 cases. We aimed to assess the clinical severity of infections with the omicron variant using S gene target failure (SGTF) on the Thermo Fisher Scientific TaqPath COVID-19 PCR test as a proxy.

Methods: We did data linkages for national, South African COVID-19 case data, SARS-CoV-2 laboratory test data, SARS-CoV-2 genome data, and COVID-19 hospital admissions data.

TLR genetic variation is associated with Rotavirus-specific IgA seroconversion in South African Black infants after two doses of Rotarix vaccine.

Live oral rotavirus vaccines have significantly reduced rotavirus-related diarrheal morbidity and mortality globally, but low efficacy of these vaccines is observed in low-income countries where disease burden is highest. The biological basis of rotavirus vaccine failure remains unknown but likely includes both microbial and host factors. We investigated associations between 19 candidate SNPs in the TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, DDX58 and IFIH1 genes that play a role in innate immunity, and seroconversion in Black South African infants after vaccination with Rotarix at 6 and 14 weeks of age.

Colorectal Cancer Survival in Multiple Sclerosis: A Matched Cohort Study.

Background And Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that overall and cancer-specific survival after a colorectal cancer diagnosis is lower in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in those without MS using a retrospective matched cohort design.

Methods: Using population-based administrative data in Manitoba and Ontario, we identified persons with MS from a validated case definition and linked these cohorts to cancer registries to identify those with colorectal cancer. We selected persons with colorectal cancer and without MS, matching 4:1 on birth year, sex, cancer diagnosis year, and region.

Mortality in children aged <5 years with severe acute respiratory illness in a high HIV-prevalence urban and rural areas of South Africa, 2009-2013.

Background: Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) is an important cause of mortality in young children, especially in children living with HIV infection. Disparities in SARI death in children aged <5 years exist in urban and rural areas.

Objective: To compare the factors associated with in-hospital death among children aged <5 years hospitalized with SARI in an urban vs.

Charge substitutions at the voltage-sensing module of domain III enhance actions of site-3 and site-4 toxins on an insect sodium channel.

Scorpion α-toxins bind at the pharmacologically-defined site-3 on the sodium channel and inhibit channel inactivation by preventing the outward movement of the voltage sensor in domain IV (IVS4), whereas scorpion β-toxins bind at site-4 on the sodium channel and enhance channel activation by trapping the voltage sensor of domain II (IIS4) in its outward position. However, limited information is available on the role of the voltage-sensing modules (VSM, comprising S1-S4) of domains I and III in toxin actions. We have previously shown that charge reversing substitutions of the innermost positively-charged residues in IIIS4 (R4E, R5E) increase the activity of an insect-selective site-4 scorpion toxin, Lqh-dprITc, on BgNa1-1a, a cockroach sodium channel.

Diarrhoeal diseases in Soweto, South Africa, 2020: a cross-sectional community survey.

Background: In South Africa, there are limited data on the burden of diarrhoea at a community level, specifically in older children and adults. This community survey estimated rates of and factors associated with diarrhoea across all ages and determined the proportion of cases presenting to healthcare facilities.

Methods: Households were enrolled from an existing urban health and demographic surveillance site.

NAFLD and Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease Will Be Responsible for Almost All New Diagnoses of Cirrhosis in Canada by 2040.

Background And Aims: Mortality secondary to cirrhosis in North America is increasing. We describe the incidence of cirrhosis stratified by birth cohort and cirrhosis etiology and project disease burden to 2040.

Approach And Results: This is a retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada, using population-based administrative health care data.

Breast Cancer Survival in Multiple Sclerosis: A Matched Cohort Study.

Objective: To test the hypotheses that overall survival and cancer-specific survival after breast cancer diagnosis would be lower in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) as compared to persons without MS using a retrospective matched cohort design.

Methods: We applied a validated case definition to population-based administrative data in Manitoba and Ontario, Canada, to identify women with MS. We linked the MS cohorts to cancer registries to identify women with breast cancer.

Mapping Molecular Adsorption Configurations with <5 nm Spatial Resolution through Ambient Tip-Enhanced Raman Imaging.

We interrogate -mercaptobenzoic acid (MBA) molecules chemisorbed onto plasmonic silver nanocubes through tip-enhanced Raman (TER) spectral nanoimaging. Through a detailed examination of the spectra, aided by correlation analysis and density functional theory calculations, we find that MBA chemisorbs onto the plasmonic particles with at least two distinct configurations: S- and CO-bound. High spatial resolution TER mapping allows us to distinguish between the distinct adsorption geometries with a pixel-limited (<5 nm) spatial resolution under ambient laboratory conditions.

Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates in Multiple Sclerosis: A Matched Cohort Study.

Objective: To determine whether cancer risk differs in people with and without multiple sclerosis (MS), we compared incidence rates and cancer-specific mortality rates in MS and matched cohorts using population-based data sources.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective matched cohort study using population-based administrative data from Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. We applied a validated case definition to identify MS cases, then selected 5 controls without MS matched on birth year, sex, and region.

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for the treatment of refractory ascites: A population-based cohort study.

Background: Randomized trials have shown that transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) improves control of ascites compared with serial large volume paracentesis (LVP) in patients with refractory ascites. However, the effect of TIPS on liver transplant-free (LTF) survival is controversial. Our objective was to compare TIPS versus serial LVP on LTF survival in the general population of patients with refractory ascites.