Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib in Ankylosing Spondylitis by Baseline C-Reactive Protein Level: Post Hoc Analysis of Phase II and Phase III Clinical Trials.

Objective: This post hoc analysis assessed the effect of baseline C-reactive protein (CRP) on the efficacy and safety of tofacitinib (TOF) use in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), as well as patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Methods: Phase II (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01786668) and phase III (ClinicalTrials.

Risk-aware temporal cascade reconstruction to detect asymptomatic cases.

This paper studies the problem of detecting in a temporal contact network in which multiple outbreaks have occurred. We show that the key to detecting asymptomatic cases well is taking into account both individual risk and the likelihood of disease-flow along edges. We consider both aspects by formulating the asymptomatic case detection problem as a (Directed PCST) problem.

Risk for Asymptomatic Household Transmission of Clostridioides difficile Infection Associated with Recently Hospitalized Family Members.

We evaluated whether hospitalized patients without diagnosed Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) increased the risk for CDI among their family members after discharge. We used 2001-2017 US insurance claims data to compare monthly CDI incidence between persons in households with and without a family member hospitalized in the previous 60 days. CDI incidence among insurance enrollees exposed to a recently hospitalized family member was 73% greater than enrollees not exposed, and incidence increased with length of hospitalization among family members.

COVID-19 modeling and non-pharmaceutical interventions in an outpatient dialysis unit.

This paper describes a data-driven simulation study that explores the relative impact of several low-cost and practical non-pharmaceutical interventions on the spread of COVID-19 in an outpatient hospital dialysis unit. The interventions considered include: (i) voluntary self-isolation of healthcare personnel (HCPs) with symptoms; (ii) a program of active syndromic surveillance and compulsory isolation of HCPs; (iii) the use of masks or respirators by patients and HCPs; (iv) improved social distancing among HCPs; (v) increased physical separation of dialysis stations; and (vi) patient isolation combined with preemptive isolation of exposed HCPs. Our simulations show that under conditions that existed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, extremely high rates of COVID-19 infection can result in a dialysis unit.

Risk for Clostridioides difficile Infection Among Hospitalized Patients Associated With Multiple Healthcare Exposures Prior to Admission.

Background: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a common healthcare-associated infection and is often used as an indicator of hospital safety or quality. However, healthcare exposures occurring prior to hospitalization may increase risk for CDI. We conducted a case-control study comparing hospitalized patients with and without CDI to determine if healthcare exposures prior to hospitalization (ie, clinic visits, antibiotics, family members with CDI) were associated with increased risk for hospital-onset CDI, and how risk varied with time between exposure and hospitalization.