Oral antivirals have the potential to reduce the public health burden of COVID-19. However, now that we have exited the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, declining SARS-CoV-2 clinical testing rates (average testing rates = ≪10 tests/100,000 people/day in low- and-middle income countries; <100 tests/100,000 people/day in high-income countries; September 2023) make the development of effective test-and-treat programs challenging. We used an agent-based model to investigate how testing rates and strategies affect the use and effectiveness of oral antiviral test-to-treat programs in four country archetypes of different income levels and demographies. We find that in the post-emergency phase of the pandemic, in countries where low testing rates are driven by limited testing capacity, significant population-level impact of test-and-treat programs can only be achieved by both increasing testing rates and prioritizing individuals with greater risk of severe disease. However, for all countries, significant reductions in severe cases with antivirals are only possible if testing rates were substantially increased with high willingness of people to seek testing. Comparing the potential population-level reductions in severe disease outcomes of test-to-treat programs and vaccination shows that test-and-treat strategies are likely substantially more resource intensive requiring very high levels of testing (>>100 tests/100,000 people/day) and antiviral use suggesting that vaccination should be a higher priority.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.10.05.22280727 | DOI Listing |
J Neurosurg Pediatr
January 2025
4Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora; and.
Objective: Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a significant public health concern and source of resource utilization. The aim of this study was to establish the ability of the previously published pediatric Brain Injury Guidelines (pBIG) to identify patients with traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) who might not require routine repeat neuroimaging, neurosurgical consultation, or hospital admission in a large level I and level II trauma cohort.
Methods: Pediatric patients who presented with traumatic ICH between 2018 and 2022 at the included institutions were retrospectively reviewed and sorted into pBIG categories using clinical and radiographic criteria.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
January 2025
ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.
Background: The Lihir Islands of Papua New Guinea, located in an area with high burden of malaria and hosting a large mining operation, offer a unique opportunity to study transmission. There, we investigated human and vector factors influencing malaria transmission.
Methods: In 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,914 individuals assessing malaria prevalence through rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), microscopy, and quantitative PCR (qPCR).
Clin Rheumatol
January 2025
Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence and clinical significance of coexistence of anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (anti-ARS) antibody in patients with anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5-positive dermatomyositis (anti-MDA5 + DM).
Methods: We assessed a cohort of 246 consecutive patients with anti-MDA5 + DM. Clinical characteristics and survival rates were compared between patients with and without anti-ARS antibodies.
J Med Syst
January 2025
Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
This study aimed to develop and validate a cost-effective, customizable patient-specific phantom for simulating external ventricular drain placement, combining image segmentation, 3-D printing and molding techniques. Two variations of the phantom were created based on patient MRI data, integrating a realistic skin layer with anatomical landmarks, a 3-D printed skull, an agarose polysaccharide gel brain, and a ventricular cavity. To validate the phantom, 15 neurosurgeons, residents, and physician assistants performed 30 EVD placements.
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