Login to your account

Username *
Password *
Remember Me

Blog With Right Sidebar

    Vous êtes ici :  
  1. Accueil
  2. Blog With Right Sidebar

The role of influenza in the epidemiology of pneumonia.

Related Articles

Interactions arising from sequential viral and bacterial infections play important roles in the epidemiological outcome of many respiratory pathogens. Influenza virus has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several respiratory bacterial pathogens commonly associated with pneumonia. Though clinical evidence supporting this interaction is unambiguous, its population-level effects-magnitude, epidemiological impact and variation during pandemic and seasonal outbreaks-remain unclear.

To address these unknowns, we used longitudinal influenza and pneumonia incidence data, at different spatial resolutions and across different epidemiological periods, to infer the nature, timing and the intensity of influenza-pneumonia interaction. We used a mechanistic transmission model within a likelihood-based inference framework to carry out formal hypothesis testing. Irrespective of the source of data examined, we found that influenza infection increases the risk of pneumonia by ~100-fold. We found no support for enhanced transmission or severity impact of the interaction. For model-validation, we challenged our fitted model to make out-of-sample pneumonia predictions during pandemic and non-pandemic periods.

The consistency in our inference tests carried out on several distinct datasets, and the predictive skill of our model increase confidence in our overall conclusion that influenza infection substantially enhances the risk of pneumonia, though only for a short period.

Mechanisms of Bacterial Colonization of the Respiratory Tract.

Related Articles

Respiratory tract infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Chief among these are infections involving the lower airways. The opportunistic bacterial pathogens responsible for most cases of pneumonia can cause a range of local and invasive infections. However, bacterial colonization (or carriage) in the upper airway is the prerequisite of all these infections.

Successful colonizers must attach to the epithelial lining, grow on the nutrient-limited mucosal surface, evade the host immune response, and transmit to a susceptible host. Here, we review the molecular mechanisms underlying these conserved stages of carriage. We also examine how the demands of colonization influence progression to disease. A range of bacteria can colonize the upper airway; nevertheless, we focus on strategies shared by many respiratory tract opportunistic pathogens.

Understanding colonization opens a window to the evolutionary pressures these pathogens face within their animal hosts and that have selected for attributes that contribute to virulence and pathogenesis.

2014 outbreak of enterovirus D68 in North America.

Related Articles

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is an emerging picornavirus which causes severe respiratory disease, predominantly in children. In 2014, the largest and most widespread outbreak of EV-D68 described to date was reported in North America. Hospitals throughout the United States and Canada reported surges in patient volumes and resource utilization from August to October, 2014.

In the U.S. a total of 1153 infections were confirmed in 49 states, although this is an underestimate of the likely millions of cases that occurred but were not tested. EV-D68 was detected in 14 patients who died; the role of the virus in these deaths is unknown. A possible association between EV-D68 and cases of acute flaccid paralysis with spinal cord gray matter lesions, known as acute flaccid myelitis, was observed during the outbreak and is under investigation.

The 2014 outbreak of EV-D68 in North America demonstrates the public health importance of this emerging pathogen. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

CT differentiation of tuberculous and non-tuberculous pleural infection, with emphasis on pulmonary changes

(Source: International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease)

AIR: Advances in Respiration- Music Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Pulmonary Disease

The aim of this randomized control study is to examine the effect of a multimodal psycho-music therapy intervention on respiratory symptoms, psychological well-being and quality of life of patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and other lung diseases as adjunct to Pulmonary Rehabilitation with a design of music therapy plus PR compared to Pulmonary Rehabilitation alone.Music therapy group treatment including music visualization, wind playing and singing was provided weekly. This was compared with standard care treatment. (Source: Respiratory Medicine CME)

Search

Search