Publications by authors named "R Mulhall"
Microbiology reference laboratories perform a crucial role within public health systems. This role was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this Viewpoint, we emphasise the importance of microbiology reference laboratories and highlight the types of digital data and expertise they provide, which benefit national and international public health.
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- The IRIS Consortium investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on invasive diseases caused by specific bacteria over a four-year period, comparing data from before and during the pandemic.
- Laboratories from 30 countries provided surveillance data, revealing a significant decrease in cases of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis during the pandemic, while Streptococcus agalactiae cases remained unchanged.
- An estimated 36,289 cases of invasive bacterial disease were prevented due to COVID-19 containment measures during the first two years of the pandemic.
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigated the factors influencing the presence of meningococci in college students using unsupervised machine learning, with data collected from an anonymous questionnaire and throat swab cultures conducted by the IMSRL.
- - Among the 16,285 students surveyed, the overall meningococcal carriage rate was found to be 20.6%, with the MenW strain present in 1.9% of participants, and higher colonization rates were noted in vaccinated individuals under 20 years old.
- - The research highlights the complexity of meningococcal carriage risk factors, revealing that traditional risk factors only explain a small part of the situation, suggesting that machine learning could be beneficial for exploring similar public health issues.
Changes in the incidence of invasive disease due to Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis during the COVID-19 pandemic in 26 countries and territories in the Invasive Respiratory Infection Surveillance Initiative: a prospective analysis of surveillance data.
Lancet Digit Health
June 2021
Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Neisseria meningitidis, which are typically transmitted via respiratory droplets, are leading causes of invasive diseases, including bacteraemic pneumonia and meningitis, and of secondary infections subsequent to post-viral respiratory disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of invasive disease due to these pathogens during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: In this prospective analysis of surveillance data, laboratories in 26 countries and territories across six continents submitted data on cases of invasive disease due to S pneumoniae, H influenzae, and N meningitidis from Jan 1, 2018, to May, 31, 2020, as part of the Invasive Respiratory Infection Surveillance (IRIS) Initiative.
Introduction: The ST-4821 complex (cc4821) is a leading cause of serogroup C and serogroup B invasive meningococcal disease in China where diverse strains in two phylogenetic groups (groups 1 and 2) have acquired fluoroquinolone resistance. cc4821 was recently prevalent among carriage isolates in men who have sex with men in New York City (USA). Genome-level population studies have thus far been limited to Chinese isolates.
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