Publications by authors named "Rita Czako Stinnett"
Article Synopsis
- Pediatric pneumonia can lead to severe complications like empyema, and a study was conducted to explore the effectiveness of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for detecting pathogens in children hospitalized with this condition.
- The study involved collecting various samples (plasma, endotracheal, nasopharyngeal, and pleural fluid) from young patients at different times during their hospital stay to evaluate NGS's diagnostic capabilities.
- Results showed that NGS reliably identified the same bacterial pathogens as traditional methods did, but was more effective overall, indicating it could improve non-invasive pathogen detection and antibiotic treatment strategies in the future.
Article Synopsis
- The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the importance of accessible specimen collection methods for better testing and reduced exposure risks for health workers.
- The study analyzed nasal swab collection by participants at home versus trained staff, finding that self-collection by adults for themselves and their children was feasible.
- Results showed high agreement in viral detection between self-collected and staff-collected samples, indicating that self-collection is a viable option for expanding testing capabilities during pandemics.
Article Synopsis
- Routine molecular surveillance from 2015 to 2017 in the U.S. found multiple mumps viruses with mutations in the small hydrophobic (SH) gene, including unique hypermutations and changes leading to premature stop codons.
- The SH protein is believed to play a role in the virus's virulence by inhibiting cell death and immune signaling, and variants of the SH protein were studied to assess their impact on the virus’s behavior and ability to evade immune responses.
- The findings emphasize the importance of ongoing molecular surveillance for tracking mumps virus diversity and understanding the implications of genetic variants on infectivity and disease severity, even with high vaccination rates.