Unsuspected Leptospirosis Is a Cause of Acute Febrile Illness in Nicaragua

Background

Epidemic severe leptospirosis was recognized in Nicaragua in 1995, but unrecognized epidemic and endemic disease remains unstudied.

Methodology/Principal Findings

To determine the burden of and risk factors associated with symptomatic leptospirosis in Nicaragua, we prospectively studied patients presenting with fever at a large teaching hospital. Epidemiologic and clinical features were systematically recorded, and paired sera tested by IgM-ELISA to identify patients with probable and possible acute leptospirosis. Microscopic Agglutination Test and PCR were used to confirm acute leptospirosis. Among 704 patients with paired sera tested by MAT, 44 had acute leptospirosis. Patients with acute leptospirosis were more likely to present during rainy months and to report rural residence and fresh water exposure. The sensitivity of clinical impression and acute-phase IgM detected by ELISA were poor.

Conclusions/Significance

Leptospirosis is a common (6.3%) but unrecognized cause of acute febrile illness in Nicaragua. Rapid point-of-care tests to support early diagnosis and treatment as well as tests to support population-based studies to delineate the epidemiology, incidence, and clinical spectrum of leptospirosis, both ideally pathogen-based, are needed.     

Understanding the Burden of Illness Associated with Hypoparathyroidism Reported Among Patients in the Paradox Study

ObjectiveHypoparathyroidism is a rare disease caused by lack of parathyroid hormone (PTH) leading to hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and a variety of symptoms. This study aimed to quantify the clinical and social burden of illness from the perspective of affected patients.MethodsA web-based instrument was developed with input from patients, clinical experts, and the Hypoparathyroidism Association. Qualifying participants were ≥ 18 years old, diagnosed with hypoparathyroidism for≥ 6 months, and U.S. residents. Questions focused on demographics, diagnosis perceptions, current attitudes, medical management, current symptoms, acute episodes, comorbidities, personal life, and employment.ResultsA total of 374 adults (mean age, 49 ± 12 years; female, 85%) with hypoparathyroidism (mean duration, 13 ± 12 years; severe condition, 30.5%) completed the survey. Patients reported visiting a mean of 6 ± 8 physicians before and after their diagnosis. The majority strongly agreed with feeling unprepared to manage the condition at diagnosis (56%), that controlling their hypoparathyroidism is harder than expected (60%), and that they were concerned about long-term complications of their current medications (75%). More than 10 symptoms were experienced by 72% of patients in the preceding 12 months, despite current management regimens. Symptoms were experienced for a mean of 13 ± 9 hours/day. Hospital stays or emergency department visits were required by 79% of patients. 45% reported significant interference with their lives, 85% reported an inability to perform household activities, and 20% experienced a disease-associated change in employment status.ConclusionPatients with hypoparathyroidism have a high burden of illness and experience a broad spectrum of symptoms, with a multidimensional impact on their lives. (Endocr Pract. 2014;20:671-679)     

Estimation of the National Disease Burden of Influenza-Associated Severe Acute Respiratory Illness in Kenya and Guatemala: A Novel Methodology

Background

Knowing the national disease burden of severe influenza in low-income countries can inform policy decisions around influenza treatment and prevention. We present a novel methodology using locally generated data for estimating this burden.

Methods and Findings

This method begins with calculating the hospitalized severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) incidence for children <5 years old and persons ≥5 years old from population-based surveillance in one province. This base rate of SARI is then adjusted for each province based on the prevalence of risk factors and healthcare-seeking behavior. The percentage of SARI with influenza virus detected is determined from provincial-level sentinel surveillance and applied to the adjusted provincial rates of hospitalized SARI. Healthcare-seeking data from healthcare utilization surveys is used to estimate non-hospitalized influenza-associated SARI. Rates of hospitalized and non-hospitalized influenza-associated SARI are applied to census data to calculate the national number of cases. The method was field-tested in Kenya, and validated in Guatemala, using data from August 2009–July 2011. In Kenya (2009 population 38.6 million persons), the annual number of hospitalized influenza-associated SARI cases ranged from 17,129–27,659 for children <5 years old (2.9–4.7 per 1,000 persons) and 6,882–7,836 for persons ≥5 years old (0.21–0.24 per 1,000 persons), depending on year and base rate used. In Guatemala (2011 population 14.7 million persons), the annual number of hospitalized cases of influenza-associated pneumonia ranged from 1,065–2,259 (0.5–1.0 per 1,000 persons) among children <5 years old and 779–2,252 cases (0.1–0.2 per 1,000 persons) for persons ≥5 years old, depending on year and base rate used. In both countries, the number of non-hospitalized influenza-associated cases was several-fold higher than the hospitalized cases.

Conclusions

Influenza virus was associated with a substantial amount of severe disease in Kenya and Guatemala. This method can be performed in most low and lower-middle income countries.     

Communication in Illness: The Relationship of National Origin to Symptoms and Diagnosis

This study compares the subjective symptoms recorded by questionnaire, and the diagnoses applied, in 289 adult medical outpatients of six national origins, namely, Canada (Ontario), England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Scotland. No significant differences were observed in the number or type of symptoms presented among the national groups. In each group, women and patients with psychological diagnoses reported more symptoms. There were considerable differences in the incidence of somatic (organic) and psychological diagnoses between the groups, which did not reflect equivalent variations in the incidence of definite clinical entities. It is suggested that the symptom habits of the groups studied appeared similar, with the method of investigation used, but that difficulties in patient-physician communication may lead to significantly different diagnostic habits for the national groups involved.     

Precipitating Factors of Acute Illness in Patients with Chronic Disease

The precipitating causes of acute illness in patients with chronic organic disease can often be prevented, reversed or controlled. The various kinds of precipitating factors are described, and their anticipation and the prompt institution of remedial measures are emphasized.     

Global Burden of Leptospirosis: Estimated in Terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years

Background

Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonosis, occurs in diverse epidemiological settings and affects vulnerable populations, such as rural subsistence farmers and urban slum dwellers. Although leptospirosis can cause life-threatening disease, there is no global burden of disease estimate in terms of Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) available.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We utilised the results of a parallel publication that reported global estimates of morbidity and mortality due to leptospirosis. We estimated Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from age and gender stratified mortality rates. Years of Life with Disability (YLDs) were developed from a simple disease model indicating likely sequelae. DALYs were estimated from the sum of YLLs and YLDs. The study suggested that globally approximately 2·90 million DALYs are lost per annum (UIs 1·25–4·54 million) from the approximately annual 1·03 million cases reported previously. Males are predominantly affected with an estimated 2·33 million DALYs (UIs 0·98–3·69) or approximately 80% of the total burden. For comparison, this is over 70% of the global burden of cholera estimated by GBD 2010. Tropical regions of South and South-east Asia, Western Pacific, Central and South America, and Africa had the highest estimated leptospirosis disease burden.

Conclusions/Significance

Leptospirosis imparts a significant health burden worldwide, which approach or exceed those encountered for a number of other zoonotic and neglected tropical diseases. The study findings indicate that highest burden estimates occur in resource-poor tropical countries, which include regions of Africa where the burden of leptospirosis has been under-appreciated and possibly misallocated to other febrile illnesses such as malaria.     

The Occurrence and Burden of Hypophosphatasia in an Ambulatory Care Endocrinology Practice

ObjectiveHypophosphatasia (HPP) is an inherited disease resulting from loss-of-function mutations in the ALPL gene encoding tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase. The presentation and severity of the disease are highly variable, ranging from perinatal onset with high mortality rates to adult identification with low mortality rates and symptoms ranging from minimal to severe. Moderate forms of HPP typically manifest during middle age and are often undiagnosed. The objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and burden of HPP in an ambulatory care endocrinology practice.MethodsPotential subjects were identified with a computerized text search of patient electronic medical records. Search terms included serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels of ≤40 U/L. Records of patients with at least 2 low ALP levels were reviewed manually to identify potential patients with a history consistent with hypophosphatasia.ResultsIn total, 315 patients with ALP levels ≤40 U/L were identified from an estimated 20 000 patient records. Fifty-six patients with a single low level were excluded from further review. The remaining 259 patients were reviewed, 10 of whom had histories consistent with HPP. None of the identified 10 patients was currently being treated or had previously been treated for HPP. Information about these patients was shared with their respective providers, along with the recommendation to proceed with further evaluation to confirm the diagnosis of HPP.ConclusionHypophosphatasia is an uncommon condition with variable presentation, often resulting in a missed diagnosis. Surveillance of practices by identifying patients with low ALP levels is a rational screening approach to identifying potential patients with HPP.     

Processing of Spatial-Frequency Altered Faces in Schizophrenia: Effects of Illness Phase and Duration

Low spatial frequency (SF) processing has been shown to be impaired in people with schizophrenia, but it is not clear how this varies with clinical state or illness chronicity. We compared schizophrenia patients (SCZ, n = 34), first episode psychosis patients (FEP, n = 22), and healthy controls (CON, n = 35) on a gender/facial discrimination task. Images were either unaltered (broadband spatial frequency, BSF), or had high or low SF information removed (LSF and HSF conditions, respectively). The task was performed at hospital admission and discharge for patients, and at corresponding time points for controls. Groups were matched on visual acuity. At admission, compared to their BSF performance, each group was significantly worse with low SF stimuli, and most impaired with high SF stimuli. The level of impairment at each SF did not depend on group. At discharge, the SCZ group performed more poorly in the LSF condition than the other groups, and showed the greatest degree of performance decline collapsed over HSF and LSF conditions, although the latter finding was not significant when controlling for visual acuity. Performance did not change significantly over time for any group. HSF processing was strongly related to visual acuity at both time points for all groups. We conclude the following: 1) SF processing abilities in schizophrenia are relatively stable across clinical state; 2) face processing abnormalities in SCZ are not secondary to problems processing specific SFs, but are due to other known difficulties constructing visual representations from degraded information; and 3) the relationship between HSF processing and visual acuity, along with known SCZ- and medication-related acuity reductions, and the elimination of a SCZ-related impairment after controlling for visual acuity in this study, all raise the possibility that some prior findings of impaired perception in SCZ may be secondary to acuity reductions.     

Burden of Illness,Annual Healthcare Utilization,and Costs Associated with Commercially Insured Patients with Cushing Disease in The United States

ObjectiveTo describe the burden of illness, healthcare utilization, and costs associated with Cushing disease (CD), a rare disorder resulting from adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting pituitary tumors, in commercially insured patients in the U.S.MethodsPatients with CD were identified in 2010 in the IMS Health PharMetrics and Truven Health Analytics MarketScan claims databases. Because there is no diagnosis code for CD, patients were identified with a claim for Cushing syndrome and either benign pituitary adenoma or hypophysectomy. We estimated total sand CD-related utilization and costs using pharmacy and medical claims.ResultsWe identified 685 CD patients (81% female; mean age, 41.7 years; mean Charlson comorbidity index, 1.6; mean number of chronic conditions, 4.2); 30.5% of the patients had diabetes, 22.5% had psychiatric disturbances, 21% had infections, 8.6% had osteoporosis, 8% had cardiovascular disease/stroke, 5.5% had kidney stones, and 0.7% had compression fracture of a vertebra. Patients had a mean of 19.8 office visits per year; 38.4% had inpatient hospitalizations and 34.2% visited the emergency department (ED). Patients had a mean of 3.2 CD-related office visits per year; 26.9% had CD-related hospitalizations, 0.9% had CD-related ED visits, and 36.8% had CD treatments. Mean annual total costs were $34,992 (pharmacy, $3,597; medical costs, $31,395). CD-related costs accounted for $14,310 of total costs (CD treatment costs, $9,353; other CD-related costs, $4,957).ConclusionCD patients have a high burden of illness. Among CD patients in this study, 30.5% had diabetes, 22.5% had psychiatric disturbances, 21% had infections, 8.6% had osteoporosis, 8% had cardiovascular disease/ stroke, and 5.5% had kidney stones. Patients had 19.8 office visits per year, and > 34% of patients were hospitalized. Mean total cost of care was approximately $35,000 per year. (Endocr Pract. 2015;21:77-86)     

Leptospirosis in Human Pregnancy followed by Death of the Foetus

An attack of leptospirosis due to serotype canicola in a pregnant woman was followed in the convalescent period by death of the foetus. Previous cases of this nature are reviewed. In certain areas where leptospirosis is known to exist among the animal population early recognition and treatment of human cases is advised, especially when they occur during pregnancy.     

早期心电图QRS波时限与老年急性冠脉综合征患者左心功能的相关性分析

目的:探讨老年急性冠脉综合征患者(ACS)患者入院时心电图QRS波时限与左心功能的相关性。方法:选取396例老年ACS患者为研究对象,测定所有患者入院时的体表心电图的QRS波时限,按照QRS时限将患者将患者分为Ⅰ组:60 ms≤QRS时限≤80 ms、Ⅱ组:80 msQRS时限100 ms、Ⅲ组:QRS时限≥100 ms;检测各组患者相关心脏超声心功能指标,同时检测入院时肌钙蛋白I(c Tn I)、肌酸激酶同工酶(CK-MB)、血清B型脑钠肽(BNP);记录患者住院期间发生左心衰竭情况。结果:与Ⅰ组及Ⅱ组比较,Ⅲ组的BNP及c Tn I明显升高(P0.05)、LVEF降低(P0.05);血清BNP与QRS时限呈正相关(P0.05),而LVEF与QRS时限呈负相关(P0.05);QRSw时限延长是老年ACS患者发生左心衰竭的独立危险因素(OR=1.214,P0.05)。结论:老年ACS患者QRS时限延长与左心功能下降密切相关,可能是老年ACS患者发生左心衰竭的独立危险因素。     

综合医院急诊科患者躯体化症状对其住院时间和住院费用的影响

目的:探讨躯体化症状对综合医院急诊科住院患者住院时间和住院费用的影响及躯体化症状自评量表在急诊科住院患者中的应用价值。方法:采用躯体化症状自评量表对100例急诊科住院患者进行心理状态评估,评分≤40分为低分组,40分为高分组,比较两组的一般情况及住院时间和费用,并对住院费用和时间的影响因素进行多因素分析。结果:100例患者中,SSS得分≤40分共73例,40分共27例,两组间年龄、性别分布比较有统计学差异,受教育程度、职业和病程等方面差异均无统计学意义。高分组患者年龄偏大(71.15±14.42 vs 61.62±14.66)岁,女性比例较高(59.2%vs 32.8%),住院天数较长(16.30±3.81 vs13.56±5.64天),住院费用较高(17922.55±1966.64 vs 14252.13±8655.71元)。多元回归分析结果显示住院时间与费用与患者的年龄、性别及躯体化症状有相关性。结论:躯体化症状是综合性医院急诊科住院病人常见症状,与年龄及性别相关,可能延长患者的住院时间和住院费用。躯体化症状自评量表具有较好的信度和效度,可应用于综合医院住院患者心理症状的筛查。     

Recognizing the Symptoms of Mental Illness following Concussions in the Sports Community: A Need for Improvement

Objective

To evaluate the awareness of concussion-related symptoms amongst members of the sports community in Canada.

Methods

A cross-sectional national electronic survey was conducted. Youth athletes, parents, coaches and medical professionals across Canada were recruited through mailing lists from sports-related opt-in marketing databases. Participants were asked to identify, from a list of options, the symptoms of a concussion. The proportion of identified symptoms (categorized as physical, cognitive, mental health-related and overall) as well as participant factors associated with symptom recognition were analyzed.

Results

The survey elicited 6,937 responses. Most of the respondents (92.1%) completed the English language survey, were male (57.7%), 35–54 years of age (61.7%), with post-secondary education (58.2%), or high reported yearly household income (>$80,000; 53.0%). There were respondents from all provinces and territories with the majority of respondents from Ontario (35.2%) or British Columbia (19.1%). While participants identified most of the physical (mean = 84.2% of symptoms) and cognitive (mean = 91.2% of symptoms), they on average only identified 53.5% of the mental health-related symptoms of concussions. Respondents who were older, with higher education and household income, or resided in the Northwest Territories or Alberta identified significantly more of the mental health-related symptoms listed.

Interpretation

While Canadian youth athletes, parents, coaches and medical professionals are able to identify most of the physical and cognitive symptoms associated with concussion, identification of mental health-related symptoms of concussion is still lagging.