Search results for " SURVEILLANCE"
showing 10 items of 388 documents
Epidemiology of pneumococcal disease in children in Germany
2001
UNLABELLED Recently published and as yet unpublished data allow a reasonable estimate of the annual burden of pneumococcal disease in Germany. At least 277,000 episodes of otitis media and at least 2,000 episodes of sinusitis occur in children under the age of 5 y. Pneumococcal meningitis was found in 200 children under the age of 16 y; the estimate for all age groups ranges from 450 to 1100 cases. Of approximately 150,000 cases of ambulatory pneumococcal pneumonia, at least 63,000-105,000 patients are hospitalized each year. CONCLUSION Further studies of pneumococcal epidemiology in Germany are needed, and continued surveillance will be necessary for a better understanding of the overall b…
Trends in the Epidemiology of Leishmaniasis in the City of Barcelona (1996–2019)
2021
Background: Leishmaniasis is a neglected zoonosis produced by 20 different flagellated parasites of the Leishmania genus, a protozoan transmitted to humans and other vertebrates by the bite of dipteran insects of the Phlebotominae subfamily. It is endemic in Mediterranean countries and the number of cases is expected to increase due to climate change and migration. Prioritizing public health interventions for prevention and control is essential. The objective was to characterize the epidemiology and temporal trends in the incidence of human leishmaniasis in the city of Barcelona, between the years 1996 and 2019. Methods: A population-based, analytical observational study among residents in …
Screening of colorectal cancer: present and future
2017
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in males and second in females, and the fourth most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Currently, about 60-70% of diagnosed cases in symptomatic patients are detected at an advanced stage of disease. Earlier stage detection through the use of screening strategies would allow for better outcomes in terms of reducing the disease burden. Areas covered: The aim of this paper is to review the current published evidence from literature which assesses the performance and effectiveness of different screening tests for the early detection of CRC. Expert commentary: Adequate screening strategies can reduce CRC incidence and mortality. In th…
The incidence of hip fractures in Norway –accuracy of the national Norwegian patient registry
2014
Background Hip fractures incur the greatest medical costs of any fracture. Valid epidemiological data are important to monitor for time-dependent changes. In Norway, hip fractures are registered in the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR), but no published national validation exists. The aim of the present study was a national validation of NPR as a register for hip fractures using diagnostic codes (ICD-10 S 72.0-2) and/or procedure codes (NOMESCO version 1.14 NFBxy (x = 0-9, y = 0-2) or NFJxy (x = 0-9, y = 0-2). Method A nationwide, population-based cohort comprising a random sub-sample of 1,000 hip fracture-related entries for the years 2008–09 was drawn from the NPR. 200 entries were defined…
Reliability of wastewater analysis for monitoring COVID-19 incidence revealed by a long-term follow-up study
2021
Background Wastewater-based epidemiology has been used for monitoring human activities and waterborne pathogens. Although wastewaters can also be used for tracking SARS-CoV-2 at the population level, the reliability of this approach remains to be established, especially for early warning of outbreaks. Methods We collected 377 samples from different treatment plants processing wastewaters of >1 million inhabitants in Valencia, Spain, between April 2020 and March 2021. Samples were cleaned, concentrated, and subjected to RT-qPCR to determine SARS-CoV-2 concentrations. These data were compared with cumulative disease notification rates over 7 and 14 day periods. Results We amplified SARS-CoV-2…
Respiratory Syncytial Virus: New Challenges for Molecular Epidemiology Surveillance and Vaccination Strategy in Patients with ILI/SARI.
2021
Several respiratory pathogens are responsible for influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe respiratory infections (SARI), among which human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) represents one of the most common aetiologies. We analysed the hRSV prevalence among subjects with ILI or SARI during the five influenza seasons before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Sicily (Italy). Respiratory specimens from ILI outpatients and SARI inpatients were collected in the framework of the Italian Network for the Influenza Surveillance and molecularly tested for hRSV-A and hRSV-B. Overall, 8.1% of patients resulted positive for hRSV. Prevalence peaked in the age-groups <
Increase in viral gastroenteritis outbreaks in Europe and epidemic spread of new norovirus variant.
2004
Background Highly publicised outbreaks of norovirus gastroenteritis in hospitals in the UK and Ireland and cruise ships in the USA sparked speculation about whether this reported activity was unusual. Methods We analysed data collected through a collaborative research and surveillance network of viral gastroenteritis in ten European countries (England and Wales were analysed as one region). We compiled data on total number of outbreaks by month, and compared genetic sequences from the isolated viruses. Data were compared with historic data from a systematic retrospective review of surveillance systems and with a central database of viral sequences. Findings Three regions (England and Wales,…
Cancer-Initiating Cells from Colorectal Cancer Patients Escape from T Cell-Mediated Immunosurveillance In Vitro through Membrane-Bound IL-4
2014
Abstract Cancer-initiating cells (CICs) that are responsible for tumor initiation, propagation, and resistance to standard therapies have been isolated from human solid tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to obtain an immunological profile of CRC-derived CICs and to identify CIC-associated target molecules for T cell immunotherapy. We have isolated cells with CIC properties along with their putative non-CIC autologous counterparts from human primary CRC tissues. These CICs have been shown to display “tumor-initiating/stemness” properties, including the expression of CIC-associated markers (e.g., CD44, CD24, ALDH-1, EpCAM, Lgr5), multipotency, and tumorigenic…
Conditional predictive inference for online surveillance of spatial disease incidence
2011
This paper deals with the development of statistical methodology for timely detection of incident disease clusters in space and time. The increasing availability of data on both the time and the location of events enables the construction of multivariate surveillance techniques, which may enhance the ability to detect localized clusters of disease relative to the surveillance of the overall count of disease cases across the entire study region. We introduce the surveillance conditional predictive ordinate as a general Bayesian model-based surveillance technique that allows us to detect small areas of increased disease incidence when spatial data are available. To address the problem of mult…
Is HLA type a possible cancer risk modifier in Lynch syndrome?
2022
Lynch syndrome (LS) is the most common inherited cancer syndrome. It is inherited via a monoallelic germline variant in one of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. LS carriers have a broad 30-80% risk of developing various malignancies, and more precise, individual risk estimations would be of high clinical value, allowing tailored cancer prevention and surveillance. Due to MMR deficiency, LS cancers are characterized by the accumulation of frameshift mutations leading to highly immunogenic frameshift peptides (FSPs). Thus, immune surveillance is proposed to inhibit the outgrowth of MMR-deficient cell clones. Recent studies have shown that immunoediting during the evolution of MMR-deficient…