Perception of antimicrobial stewardship interventions in Swiss primary care: a mixed-methods survey.

Background: With most of the antibiotic prescriptions occurring in primary care, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) interventions must be known, welcomed, and used by primary care physicians (PCPs).

Aim: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the present awareness about, use of, and perceived acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of a broad range of interventions.

Design & Setting: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to Swiss PCPs from December 2023 to February 2024.

The German Multicenter Registry for ME/CFS (MECFS-R).

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating multisystemic disease characterized by a complex, incompletely understood etiology. To facilitate future clinical and translational research, a multicenter German ME/CFS registry (MECFS-R) was established to collect comprehensive, longitudinal, clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory data from adults, adolescents, and children in a web-based multilayer-secured database. Here, we present the research protocol and first results of a pilot cohort of 174 ME/CFS patients diagnosed at two specialized tertiary fatigue centers, including 130 (74.

Gender/Sex Disparities in the COVID-19 Cascade From Testing to Mortality: An Intersectional Analysis of Swiss Surveillance Data.

Objectives: This study investigates gender and sex disparities in COVID-19 epidemiology in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, focusing on the interplay with socioeconomic position (SEP) and age.

Methods: We analyzed COVID-19 surveillance data from March 2020 to June 2021, using an intersectional approach. Negative binomial regression models assessed disparities between women and men, across SEP quintiles and age groups, in testing, positivity, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and mortality (Incidence Rate Ratios [IRR], with 95% Confidence Intervals [CI]).

SARS-CoV-2-specific immune responses converge in kidney disease patients and controls with hybrid immunity.

Healthy individuals with hybrid immunity, due to a SARS-CoV-2 infection prior to first vaccination, have stronger immune responses compared to those who were exclusively vaccinated. However, little is known about the characteristics of antibody, B- and T-cell responses in kidney disease patients with hybrid immunity. Here, we explored differences between kidney disease patients and controls with hybrid immunity after asymptomatic or mild coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

Cost-effectiveness analysis of procalcitonin and lung ultrasonography guided antibiotic prescriptions in primary care.

Antimicrobial resistance comes with high morbidity and mortality burden, and ultimately high impact on healthcare and social costs. Efficient strategies are needed to limit antibiotic overuse. This paper investigates the cost-effectiveness of testing patients with lower respiratory tract infection with procalcitonin, either at the point-of-care only or combined with lung ultrasonography.