State Medicaid Policies Governing Access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) and MOUD Treatment Use in a Large Sample of People Who Inject Drugs in 20 U.S. States.

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) are especially vulnerable to harms from opioid use disorder (OUD). Medications for OUD (MOUD) effectively reduce overdose and infectious disease transmission risks.

Objective: We investigate whether state Medicaid coverage for methadone and buprenorphine is related to past-year MOUD use among PWID using cross-sectional, multilevel analyses with individual-level data on PWID from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance.

Superior persistence of ustekinumab compared to anti-TNF in vedolizumab-experienced inflammatory bowel diseases patients: a real-world cohort study.

Background/aims: The increasing use of biologic therapies for moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) highlights the importance of optimal treatment sequencing, particularly after vedolizumab (VDZ) exposure. Studies comparing the effectiveness of ustekinumab (UST) and antitumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agents post-VDZ are limited.

Methods: This retrospective study analyzed VDZ-experienced IBD patients treated with UST or anti-TNF (adalimumab and infliximab) from May 2019 to January 2024.

Telemedicine for HIV care: a cross-sectional survey of people living with HIV receiving care at two federally qualified health centers in Los Angeles during a mature phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the rapid implementation of telemedicine for HIV care at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in the United States. We sought to understand use of telemedicine (telephone and video) at two FQHCs in Los Angeles, and the client attitudes towards and experiences with telemedicine as part of future HIV care.

Methods: We conducted surveys with 271 people living with HIV (PLHIV), with questions covering sociodemographic factors, telemedicine attitudes and experiences, technological literacy, and access to technological resources and privacy.

Effect of Oral Inflammatory Burden on Size and Stage of Oral Tongue Cancer.

Objective: Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma is an aggressive life-threatening disease, the prognosis of which is affected by tumor stage and size. We retrospectively studied whether oral inflammatory burden and established tongue carcinoma etiological factors exert an impact on tumor size and stage.

Materials And Methods: Medical records of 183 subjects diagnosed with tongue carcinoma at Helsinki University Hospital were investigated.

Hemolysis due to anti-IH in a patient with beta-thalassemia and infection.

Anti-IH is a common cold agglutinin that is typically clinically insignificant. We present a case that resulted in hemolysis. A 32-year-old male patient with transfusion-independent beta-thalassemia intermedia presented with symptomatic anemia.

Risk reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection conferred by humoral antibody levels among essential workers during Omicron predominance.

The extent to which semi-quantitative antibody levels confer protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in populations with heterogenous immune histories is unclear. Two nested case-control studies were designed within the multisite HEROES/RECOVER prospective cohort of frontline workers to study the relationship between antibody levels and protection against first-time post-vaccination infection and reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 from December 2021 to January 2023. All participants submitted weekly nasal swabs for rRT-PCR testing and blood samples quarterly and following infection or vaccination.

Evolving Impact of COVID-19 on Intestinal Transplant Recipients: A Single-Center Experience.

Background: There has been significant concern about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among transplant recipients, particularly those who are highly immunosuppressed. Several studies have analyzed the impact of COVID-19 on different solid organ transplant patients. However, few isolated case reports of COVID-19 in intestinal and multivisceral transplant (ITx and MVTx) recipients are available in the literature.

The sexual and reproductive health needs and preferences of youths in sub-Saharan Africa: A meta-synthesis.

The sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of youths in sub-Saharan Africa are not being fully met, as evidenced by high rates of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections in this population. Understanding service needs and preferences of sub-Saharan African youths aged 10-24 years is critical for improving access and SRH outcomes and the focus of this systematic review of qualitative research. Four databases were searched with key words to identify relevant studies, supplemented by citation search, with an update in June 2023.

Study protocol for COVID-19 breakthrough infections and vaccine-induced immune response among a cohort of healthcare workers, Bangladesh.

Background: To optimize vaccination strategies, it is useful to detect breakthrough infections and assess vaccine effectiveness in programmatic use. Monitoring emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccine effectiveness against them is also essential to determine the most effective vaccine options. This study aims to monitor SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections, the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, and host immune response during the peri-infection period of COVID-19.

Molecular basis of hemoglobin binding and heme removal in .

To successfully mount infections, nearly all bacterial pathogens must acquire iron, a key metal cofactor that primarily resides within human hemoglobin. causes the life-threatening respiratory disease diphtheria and captures hemoglobin for iron scavenging using the surface-displayed receptor HbpA. Here, we show using X-ray crystallography, NMR, and in situ binding measurements that selectively captures iron-loaded hemoglobin by partially ensconcing the heme molecules of its α subunits.

Interrater reliability and agreement of the NEUMOBACT checklist about infection-prevention performance of intensive care nurses in simulation-based scenarios.

Objective: To analyse the interrater reliability of the NEUMOBACT checklist and verify whether consistent results are reproducible.

Methods: A validation study with a cross-sectional design, compliant with the GRRAS checklist, among ICU nurses attending a SIMULAZERO course with an Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation simulation format, to verify transfer from theory to clinical practice of knowledge and skills in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and catheter-related bacteraemia (CRB) prevention. A minimum sample size of 111 pairs of nurse raters was calculated.

Behavioural and social drivers of human papillomavirus vaccination in eThekwini District of KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women in South Africa. Infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of cervical cancer, which can be prevented by HPV vaccination. However, there is wide variation in HPV vaccination coverage among the urban districts of South Africa; with the lowest coverage being 40% in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal.

How and why does mode of birth affect processes for routine data collection and use? A qualitative study in Bangladesh and Tanzania.

The World Health Organization recognises Routine Health Information System (RHIS) data as integral to data-driven health systems; needed to improve intrapartum outcomes for maternal and newborn health worldwide. However, research in Bangladesh and Tanzania suggests that mode of birth affects register data accuracy, but little is known about why. To address this gap, we undertook qualitative research in these two public-sector health systems.

Psychosocial and Behavioral Impacts of the Mpox Outbreak among People with and without HIV in the United States.

Over 32,000 mpox cases were identified in the United States (US) within one year of the start of the global outbreak in 2022. Research on how the mpox outbreak affected individuals' lives is limited. We analyzed qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional survey data collected from 60 participants in August 2022 to (1) describe mpox-related psychosocial and behavioral impacts among adults in the US and (2) explore differences in mpox-related impacts by HIV status.

County-Level Factors Associated with Reversal of Insurer-Approved HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Prescriptions in the United States, 2018.

Identifying county-level factors that influence pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) adherence is critical for ending the HIV epidemic in the United States (US). PrEP primary reversal is a term used to describe patients who do not obtain their prescribed medication from the pharmacy. This study sought to identify factors associated with PrEP reversal at the county level in 2018.

Assessment of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with Helicobacter pylori infection.

The background of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is complex, and its influence on adverse pregnancy outcomes is inconsistently reported. We performed a multi-institutional, retrospective analysis using de-identified electronic health records from the TriNetX Research Network to compare various pregnancy outcomes in women with and those without H.

Management of intracranial and orbital complications of acute rhinosinusitis and acute otitis media in the post covid-19 era in pediatric patients.

Purpose: Acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS) and acute otitis media (AOM) are common diseases in pediatric populations that rarely lead to intracranial infection and/or orbital complications. The incidence of these complications has increased in recent years and the main aim of this study is to analyze the tendency of this increase during the pandemic years, compared with the pre-pandemic era and to propose our management of ABRS and AOM.

Method: Clinical data from children, admitted to our hospital during the period from January 2018 to March 2024 with a diagnosis of complicated ABRS and AOM was collected.

Associations of gut microbiota with disease development, disease activity, and therapeutic effects in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Altered gut microbiota is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but its association with disease development, disease activity, and post-intervention changes remains unclear. We compared new-onset SLE (NOSLE, n = 25), SLE in remission (RemSLE, n = 30), and healthy controls (HC, n = 30) cross-sectionally and conducted the first longitudinal analysis of NOSLE patients (n = 22) from pre-intervention to remission over 12 months. Significant β-diversity differences were observed in both NOSLE and RemSLE compared to HC, but not between NOSLE and RemSLE.

Portable UV-C device to treat high flow of infectious aerosols generated during clinical respiratory care.

Respiratory interventions including noninvasive ventilation, continuous positive airway pressure and high-flow nasal oxygen generated infectious aerosols may increase risk of airborne disease (SARS-CoV-2, influenza virus) transmission to healthcare workers. We developed and tested a prototype portable UV-C device to sterilize high flows of viral-contaminated air from a simulated patient source at airflow rates of up to 100 l/m. Our device consisted of a central quartz tube surrounded 6 high-output UV-C lamps, within a larger cylinder allowing recirculation past the UV-C lamps a second time before exiting the device.

Theoretical modeling of hepatitis C acute infection in liver-humanized mice support pre-clinical assessment of candidate viruses for controlled-human-infection studies.

Designing and carrying out a controlled human infection (CHI) model for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is critical for vaccine development. However, key considerations for a CHI model protocol include understanding of the earliest viral-host kinetic events during the acute phase and susceptibility of the viral isolate under consideration for use in the CHI model to antiviral treatment before any infections in human volunteers can take place. Humanized mouse models lack adaptive immune responses but provide a unique opportunity to obtain quantitative understanding of early HCV kinetics and develop mathematical models to further understand viral and innate immune response dynamics during acute HCV infection.

Pharmacokinetics of tebipenem pivoxil used in children suffering from shigellosis: a pilot study in Bangladesh.

With increasing antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria, including those causing Shigellosis, evidence of safety and pharmacokinetics data on new oral antibiotics is crucial. We aimed to investigate the safety and pharmacokinetic properties of an oral carbapenem, tebipenem pivoxil, along with it's ability to produce desired results in childhood shigellosis. This randomized pilot clinical trial was conducted at Dhaka Hospital, icddr,b in 2022 between May and September.

Hypoxia drives the formation of lung micropapillary adenocarcinoma-like structure through hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.

Micropapillary adenocarcinoma (MPC) is an aggressive histological subtype of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). MPC is composed of small clusters of cancer cells exhibiting inverted polarity. However, the mechanism underlying its formation is poorly understood.

The survival of B cells is compromised in kidney disease.

Antibody-mediated protection against pathogens is crucial to a healthy life. However, the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shown that pre-existing comorbid conditions including kidney disease account for compromised humoral immunity to infections. Individuals with kidney disease are not only susceptible to infections but also exhibit poor vaccine-induced antibody response.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced severe epidermal necrolysis mediated by macrophage-derived CXCL10 and abated by TNF blockade.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) represent new anticancer agents and have been used worldwide. However, ICI can potentially induce life-threatening severe cutaneous adverse reaction (SCAR), such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN), hindering continuous ICI therapy. We examine 6 cohorts including 25 ICI-induced SJS/TEN patients and conduct single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis, which shows overexpression of macrophage-derived CXCL10 that recruits CXCR3 cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in blister cells from ICI-SJS/TEN skin lesions.

In vitro susceptibility of 147 international clinical Mycobacterium abscessus isolates to epetraborole and comparators by broth microdilution.

Background: Mycobacterium abscessus is a highly drug-resistant non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) for which treatment is limited by the lack of active oral antimycobacterials and frequent adverse reactions. Epetraborole is a novel oral, boron-containing antimicrobial that inhibits bacterial leucyl-tRNA synthetase, an essential enzyme in protein synthesis, and has been shown to have anti-M. abscessus activity in preclinical studies.