BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal infections and deaths in human. It can also cause infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant adults. Penicillin and ampicillin are antibiotics of choice for the treatment of GBS infections. Erythromycin and clindamycin are used as alternative therapy in penicillin allergic patients, however resistance to these agents has been increasingly observed. This present study was undertaken to determine the colonization rate of GBS, susceptibility profile and the mechanism of antibiotic resistance in pregnant women and their babies at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria. METHODS: Rectal and vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women; ear and umbilical swabs from newborns over an 11 month period. Samples were cultured on selective media (CNA agar and Todd-Hewitt broth) and GBS positively identified using morphological and biochemical tests including Gram staining, hemolytic activity, catalase test, bile esculin, CAMP test and Latex agglutination test. The susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby-Bauer and E-test methods. The D-test method was used to determine the inducible clindamycin resistance. Multiplex PCR with were used to detect different genes coding for resistance. RESULTS: Out of the 413 patients evaluated, 128 (30.9%) were positive with GBS. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin and ampicillin. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was 21.1% and 17.2% respectively; of which 69% harbouring constitutive MLBB, 17.4% inducible MLSB. The alteration of ribosomal target encoded by ermB genes was the commonest mechanism of resistance observed in 55% of isolates, 38% of isolates had both ermB and linB genes and efflux pump mediated by mefA genes was detected in one of isolates. Conclusion: This study reaffirms the appropriateness of penicillin as the antibiotic of choice for treating GBS infection. However it raises the challenges of resistance to the macrolides and lincosamides. More GBS treatment options for penicillin allergic patients need to be researched. / Health Studies / M.Sc. (Life Sciences (Microbiology))

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is the leading cause of neonatal infections and deaths in human. It can also cause infections in pregnant women and non-pregnant adults. Penicillin and ampicillin are antibiotics of choice for the treatment of GBS infections. Erythromycin and clindamycin are used as alternative therapy in penicillin allergic patients, however resistance to these agents has been increasingly observed. This present study was undertaken to determine the colonization rate of GBS, susceptibility profile and the mechanism of antibiotic resistance in pregnant women and their babies at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital in Pretoria. METHODS: Rectal and vaginal swabs were collected from pregnant women; ear and umbilical swabs from newborns over an 11 month period. Samples were cultured on selective media (CNA agar and Todd-Hewitt broth) and GBS positively identified using morphological and biochemical tests including Gram staining, hemolytic activity, catalase test, bile esculin, CAMP test and Latex agglutination test. The susceptibility testing was done using the Kirby-Bauer and E-test methods. The D-test method was used to determine the inducible clindamycin resistance. Multiplex PCR with were used to detect different genes coding for resistance. RESULTS: Out of the 413 patients evaluated, 128 (30.9%) were positive with GBS. All isolates were sensitive to penicillin and ampicillin. Erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was 21.1% and 17.2% respectively; of which 69% harbouring constitutive MLBB, 17.4% inducible MLSB. The alteration of ribosomal target encoded by ermB genes was the commonest mechanism of resistance observed in 55% of isolates, 38% of isolates had both ermB and linB genes and efflux pump mediated by mefA genes was detected in one of isolates. Conclusion: This study reaffirms the appropriateness of penicillin as the antibiotic of choice for treating GBS infection. However it raises the challenges of resistance to the macrolides and lincosamides. More GBS treatment options for penicillin allergic patients need to be researched. / Health Studies / M. Sc. (Life Sciences (Microbiology))

No description available.

Die Mehrzahl der jährlich 400.000 bis 600.000 Krankenhausinfektionen in Deutschland wird von Erregern der sog. ESCAPE-Gruppe (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa und verschiedene Enterobacteriaceae, u.a. Klebsiella pneumoniae) verursacht. Besondere Sorge bereitet dabei die Ausbreitung von K. pneumoniae-Stämmen mit enzymvermittelter Resistenz gegenüber Carbapenem-Antibiotika (K. pneumoniae-Carbapenemase, KPC) und die Zunahme von C. difficile-Infektionen (CDI) durch hypervirulente Epidemiestämme (z.B. Ribotyp 027). Die spezifischen Erfahrungen eines prolongierten Ausbruchsgeschehens durch einen KPC-bildenden K. pneumoniae-Stamm (KPC-KP) am Leipziger Universitätsklinikum machen deutlich, dass bei diesem Erregertyp ein hohes Transmissionspotential bei enormer Tenazität (Umweltresistenz) zu berücksichtigen ist, ein Versagen von Standardhygienemaßnahmen in Betracht zu ziehen ist, und Infektionsketten oftmals unklar bleiben. Die Anwendung von Antibiotika ist bei KPC-KP-Infektionen auf einzelne Substanzen (Colistin, Tigecyclin, Gentamicin) beschränkt und vor allem bei immunsupprimierten Patienten (z.B. Lebertransplantierte) mit einem relevanten Risiko des Therapieversagens behaftet. Die Therapie von CDI wird gerade bei Immunsupprimierten durch eine steigende Zahl an Rezidiven erschwert, die teilweise antibiotisch (Vancomycin, Fidaxomicin) nicht beherrschbar sind, so dass alternative Therapieverfahren wie die fäkale Bakterientherapie („Stuhltransplantation“) zur Anwendung kommen. CDI-Rezidive, aber auch eine dauerhafte intestinale Besiedelung mit multiresistenten Enterobakterien wie KPC-KP, scheinen neben wirtsspezifischen Faktoren der Immunantwort durch eine Dysregulation der physiologischen intestinalen Standortflora mit Störung der Kolonisationsresistenz bedingt zu sein. Der Versuch einer Eradikationsbehandlung von Patienten mit persistierender intestinaler Besiedelung durch KPC-KP mittels oraler Applikation der nicht resorbierbaren Antibiotika Colistin und Gentamicin ist mit einem relevanten Risiko der Entstehung von Sekundärresistenzen behaftet. Die Zulassung neuer, besser wirksamer Antibiotika ist für die nächsten Jahre nicht in Sicht, so dass der Infektionsprävention überragende Bedeutung zukommt. Die Erfahrungen der KPC-Ausbruchsbewältigung am Leipziger Universitätsklinikum zeigen, dass nahezu lückenlose Compliance bei der Händedesinfektion, rigoros praktizierte und kontrollierte Barriere- und Isolationsmaßnahmen, Optimierung des Gebrauchs von Breitspektrum-Antibiotika (sog. „Antibiotic Stewardship“) und systematisches mikrobiologisches Erregerscreening dabei unabdingbar sind. Nachhaltige Verbesserungen hinsichtlich der globalen Ausbreitung von multiresistenten Krankenhausbakterien werden sich nur durch grundlegende Umgestaltungen in Umwelt, Landwirtschaft, Tierzucht und Gesundheitswesen mit sparsamer und möglichst gezielter Anwendung von Antibiotika erzielen lassen. Um Risikopopulationen hospitalisierter Patienten vor potentiell lebensbedrohlichen Erregertransmissionen effektiv schützen zu können, sind erweiterte Surveillance und konsequent umgesetzte krankenhaushygienische Maßnahmen erforderlich.

Die Mehrzahl der jährlich 400.000 bis 600.000 Krankenhausinfektionen in Deutschland wird von Erregern der sog. ESCAPE-Gruppe (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa und verschiedene Enterobacteriaceae, u.a. Klebsiella pneumoniae) verursacht. Besondere Sorge bereitet dabei die Ausbreitung von K. pneumoniae-Stämmen mit enzymvermittelter Resistenz gegenüber Carbapenem-Antibiotika (K. pneumoniae-Carbapenemase, KPC) und die Zunahme von C. difficile-Infektionen (CDI) durch hypervirulente Epidemiestämme (z.B. Ribotyp 027). Die spezifischen Erfahrungen eines prolongierten Ausbruchsgeschehens durch einen KPC-bildenden K. pneumoniae-Stamm (KPC-KP) am Leipziger Universitätsklinikum machen deutlich, dass bei diesem Erregertyp ein hohes Transmissionspotential bei enormer Tenazität (Umweltresistenz) zu berücksichtigen ist, ein Versagen von Standardhygienemaßnahmen in Betracht zu ziehen ist, und Infektionsketten oftmals unklar bleiben. Die Anwendung von Antibiotika ist bei KPC-KP-Infektionen auf einzelne Substanzen (Colistin, Tigecyclin, Gentamicin) beschränkt und vor allem bei immunsupprimierten Patienten (z.B. Lebertransplantierte) mit einem relevanten Risiko des Therapieversagens behaftet. Die Therapie von CDI wird gerade bei Immunsupprimierten durch eine steigende Zahl an Rezidiven erschwert, die teilweise antibiotisch (Vancomycin, Fidaxomicin) nicht beherrschbar sind, so dass alternative Therapieverfahren wie die fäkale Bakterientherapie („Stuhltransplantation“) zur Anwendung kommen. CDI-Rezidive, aber auch eine dauerhafte intestinale Besiedelung mit multiresistenten Enterobakterien wie KPC-KP, scheinen neben wirtsspezifischen Faktoren der Immunantwort durch eine Dysregulation der physiologischen intestinalen Standortflora mit Störung der Kolonisationsresistenz bedingt zu sein. Der Versuch einer Eradikationsbehandlung von Patienten mit persistierender intestinaler Besiedelung durch KPC-KP mittels oraler Applikation der nicht resorbierbaren Antibiotika Colistin und Gentamicin ist mit einem relevanten Risiko der Entstehung von Sekundärresistenzen behaftet. Die Zulassung neuer, besser wirksamer Antibiotika ist für die nächsten Jahre nicht in Sicht, so dass der Infektionsprävention überragende Bedeutung zukommt. Die Erfahrungen der KPC-Ausbruchsbewältigung am Leipziger Universitätsklinikum zeigen, dass nahezu lückenlose Compliance bei der Händedesinfektion, rigoros praktizierte und kontrollierte Barriere- und Isolationsmaßnahmen, Optimierung des Gebrauchs von Breitspektrum-Antibiotika (sog. „Antibiotic Stewardship“) und systematisches mikrobiologisches Erregerscreening dabei unabdingbar sind. Nachhaltige Verbesserungen hinsichtlich der globalen Ausbreitung von multiresistenten Krankenhausbakterien werden sich nur durch grundlegende Umgestaltungen in Umwelt, Landwirtschaft, Tierzucht und Gesundheitswesen mit sparsamer und möglichst gezielter Anwendung von Antibiotika erzielen lassen. Um Risikopopulationen hospitalisierter Patienten vor potentiell lebensbedrohlichen Erregertransmissionen effektiv schützen zu können, sind erweiterte Surveillance und konsequent umgesetzte krankenhaushygienische Maßnahmen erforderlich.

<div>This dissertation consists of three chapters. The first chapter, Inertia and Switching in Health Insurance Plans, seeks to examine health insurance choice of families and individuals employed by a large Midwestern public university during the years 2012-2016. A growing number of studies indicate that consumers do not understand the basics of health insurance, make inefficient plan choices, and may hesitate to switch plans even when it is optimal to do so. In this study, I identify what are later defined as unanticipated, exogenous health shocks in the health insurance claims data, in order to examine their effect on families' plan choice and switching behavior. Observing switches into relatively generous plans after a shock is indicative of adverse selection. Adverse retention and inertia, on the other hand, may be present if people remain in the relatively less generous plans after experiencing a shock. The results could help inform the policy-makers about consumer cost-effectiveness in plan choice over time.</div><div> Physicians’ relationships with the pharmaceutical industry have recently come under public scrutiny, particularly in the context of opioid drug prescribing. The second chapter, Pharmaceutical Opioid Marketing and Physician Prescribing Behavior, examines the effect of doctor-industry marketing interactions on subsequent prescribing patterns of opioids using linked Medicare Part D and Open Payments data for the years 2014-2017. Results indicate that both the number and the dollar value of marketing visits increase physicians’ patented opioid claims. Furthermore, direct-to-physician marketing of safer abuse-deterrent formulations of opioids is the primary driver of positive and persistent spillovers on the prescribing of less safe generic opioids - a result that may be driven by insurance coverage policies. These findings suggest that pharmaceutical marketing efforts may have unintended public health implications.</div><div> The third chapter, Accountable Care Organizations and Physician Antibiotic Prescribing Behavior, examines the effects of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Physician accountable care organization affiliation has been found to reduce cost and improve quality across metrics that are directly measured by the ACO shared savings program. However, little is known about potential spillover effects from this program onto non-measured physician behavior such as antibiotic over-prescribing. Using a two-part structural selection model that accounts for selection into treatment (ACO group), and non-treatment (control group), this chapter compares physician/nurse antibiotic prescribing across these groups with adjustment for geographic, physician, patient and institutional characteristics. Heterogeneous treatment responses across specialties are also estimated. The findings indicate that ACO affiliation helps reduce antibiotic prescribing by 23.9 prescriptions (about 19.4 percent) per year. The treatment effects are found to vary with specialty with internal medicine physicians experiencing an average decrease of 19 percent, family and general practice physicians a decrease of 16 percent, and nurse practitioners a reduction of 12.5 percent in their antibiotic prescribing per year. In terms of selection into treatment, the failure to account for selection on physician unobservable characteristics results in an understating of the average treatment effects. In assessing the impact of programs, such as the ACO Shared Savings Program, which act to augment how physicians interact with each other and their patients, it is important to account for spillover effects. As an example of such spillover effect - this study finds that ACO affiliation has had a measurable impact on physician antibiotic prescribing.</div>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Endodontic regeneration treatment of necrotic immature teeth has gained popularity in recent years. The approach suggests a biological alternative to induce a continuous root development. In this project, three in vitro experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of three medicaments used in endodontic regeneration on mechanical properties and chemical structure of radicular dentin. In the first experiment, we investigated longitudinally the effect of medicaments on the indentation properties of the root canal surface of immature teeth using a novel BioDent reference point indenter. A significant difference in the majority of indentation parameters between all groups was found after one-week and one-month application of medicaments (p<0.0001): triple antibiotic paste (TAP) > double antibiotic paste (DAP) > control > calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2]. The four-week exposure of dentin to TAP and DAP caused 43% and 31% increase in total indentation distance outcome, respectively. In the second experiment, we investigated longitudinally the effect of medicaments on the chemical structure of immature radicular dentin by measuring the phosphate/amide I ratios of dentin using Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Phosphate/amide I ratios were significantly different between the four groups after one week, two weeks and four week application of medicaments (p<0.0001): Ca(OH)2-treated dentin > untreated dentin > DAP-treated dentin > TAP-treated dentin. In the third experiment, we investigated longitudinally the effect of medicaments on root fracture resistance and microhardness of radicular dentin. For the microhardness, the two-way interaction between group and time was significant (p<0.001). TAP and DAP caused a significant and continuous decrease in dentin microhardness after one and three month application, respectively. The three-month intracanal application of Ca(OH)2 significantly increased the microhardness of root dentin. The time factor had a significant effect on fracture resistance (p<0.001). All medicaments caused significant decrease in fracture resistance ranging between 19%-30% after three month application compared to one week application. The three medicaments used in endodontic regeneration caused significant change in the chemical integrity of the superficial radicular dentin and significantly affected the indentation properties of the root canal surface. Furthermore, the three month intracanal application of medicaments significantly reduced the fracture resistance of roots.

No description available.

Introduktion: Världshälsoorganisationen (WHO) har förklarat att antibiotikaresistens är en global folkhälsokris som finns i både låginkomstländer och höginkomstländer. Faktorer som sjukvård, förskrivarnas kunskap om infektionssjukdomar och deras kommunikation påverkar antibiotikaanvändningen och dess förskrivning. Därför metoder som påverkar kommunikationsstrategier för en rationell användning av antibiotika kan vara fördelaktiga i samhället då förökad kunskap kan bidra till bättre användning av antibiotika . Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att granska informationsaktiviteter i svenska regionala läkemedelskommittéer för att förebygga antibiotikaresistens: lärdomar och områden för förbättring. Metod: 21 läkemedelskommittéer i Sverige fick 5 frågor via e-post att besvara på gällande antibiotika kommunikation i kommunen. Detta för att sedan analysera svaren med hjälp av kvalitativ tematisk analys. Resultat: 18 läkemedelskommittéer besvarade på frågorna därav tre teman och ett undertema identifierades; Nationell reglering och övervakningsverktyg är viktiga för länen, undertema, frekvens av informationsutbyte om antibiotikaförskrivning, Covid-19-pandemins påverkan på informationsaktivitet och Patienternas medvetenhet – ett område att fokusera på. Slutsats: I Sverige har länen en viktig roll att förmedla information, uppdateringar av riktlinjer och följa upp antibiotikaförskrivningar på förskrivarnivå. Covid-19 pandemin har ökat kunskapen om att fysiska möten är mer efektiva för att förmedla information. Det finns även ett behov av att utbilda allmänheten även om regionerna är fokuserade på denna aspekt, de flesta län måste fortfarande uppmärksamma detta specifika område. / Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that antibiotic resistance is a global public health emergency that exists in both low income countries and high income countries. Factors like healthcare, prescribers’ knowledge in infectious diseases and their communication affect antibiotic use and its prescription. Therefore methods that impact communication strategies enhance rational use of antibiotics. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore information activities of Swedish Regional Pharmaceutical Committees for preventing antibiotic resistance. Also we tried to explore if there were certain lessons to be learned regarding effective information activities, and to identify any rooms for improvements.  Methods: 21 Pharmaceutical committees in Sweden were sent 5 questions via email to answer regarding antibiotic communication in the county. This to then analyze the responses using qualitative thematic analysis. Results: 18 counties responded to the questions whereas three themes and one sub-theme were identified; National regulation and surveillance tools are important for counties, subtheme, frequency of information sharing regarding antibiotic prescription, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on information activity and Patient’s awareness – an area to focus on. Conclusion: In Sweden, the counties have an important role to relay information, update on guidelines and follow up on antibiotic prescription at prescriber level. The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the knowledge that physical meetings are more effective to convey information. There is also a need to educate the general public though counties are focused on this aspect, majority of counties still need to bring their attention to this particular area.

No description available.