Tackling typhoid fever in South Asia: lessons from Vietnam

Empowering nurses for effective diagnostic stewardship: An initiative to address anti-microbial resistance

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate nurses' baseline understanding of diagnostic stewardship (DS) principles and the impact of an educational intervention on their knowledge and practices.

BACKGROUND

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), driven by inappropriate antibiotic use, is a critical global health threat. Effective antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) requires integrating DS to ensure accurate diagnoses through proper test requisition, specimen handling and timely reporting. However, understanding and implementation of DS remains poor in general, contributing to inappropriate antibiotic use. Nurses play a crucial role in DS, yet their potential is underused, highlighting the need for targeted educational interventions.

DESIGN

A quasi-experimental pre-post study conducted from September 2022 to March 2023.

METHODS

A gap analysis assessed nurses' baseline knowledge of DS informing the development of an online training program. In the intervention phase, pre-and post-assessments measured knowledge improvements after the intervention.

RESULTS

In phase 1, 310 out of 517 nurses completed the gap analysis, with an average score of 6.59 out of 20 (range: 2-13; median score: 6.5). In phase 2, 228 of 613 nurses completed both pre- and post-tests, showing a significant improvement in scores from 4.69 (median 5), in pre-test to 6.22 (median 6) in post-test.

CONCLUSION

The educational intervention significantly enhanced nurses' knowledge of AMR, specimen selection, culture indications and collection techniques. Sustained training is vital to strengthen diagnostic practices, reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use and combat AMR.

Infections diagnosed in children and young people screened for malaria in UK emergency departments: a retrospective multi-centre study

BACKGROUND

Data on imported infections in children and young people (CYP) are sparse.

AIMS

To describe imported infections in CYP arriving from malaria-endemic areas and presenting to UK emergency departments (ED) who were screened for malaria.

METHODS

This is a retrospective, multi-centre, observational study nested in a diagnostic accuracy study for malaria rapid diagnostic tests. Any CYP < 16 years presenting to a participating ED with a history of fever and travel to a malaria-endemic area between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017 and who had a malaria screen as a part of standard care were included. Geographical risk was calculated for the most common tropical infections.

RESULTS

Of the 1414 CYP screened for malaria, 44.0% (n = 622) arrived from South Asia and 33.3% (n = 471) from sub-Saharan Africa. Half (50.0%) had infections common in both tropical and non-tropical settings such as viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI); 21.0% of infections were coded as tropical if gastro-enteritis is included, with a total of 4.2% (60) cases of malaria. CYP diagnosed with malaria were 7.44 times more likely to have arrived from sub-Saharan Africa than from South Asia (OR 7.44, 3.78-16.41).

CONCLUSION

A fifth of CYP presenting to participating UK EDs with fever and a history of travel to a malaria-endemic area and who were screened for malaria had a tropical infection if diarrhoea is included. A third of CYP had no diagnosis. CYP arriving from sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest risk of malaria.Abbreviations: CYP: children and young people; ED: emergency department; PERUKI: Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland; RDT: rapid diagnostic test; VFR: visiting friends and relatives.

Paratyphoid Fever A: Infection and Prevention

Enteric fever is caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A, B, and C. While S. Typhi remains the primary causative agent of enteric fever, S. Paratyphi A is responsible for an increasing portion of enteric fever incidence. However, the current available vaccines for enteric fever are all developed from S. Typhi, and lack adequate cross immune protection against paratyphoid fever A. Therefore, paratyphoid A vaccines are urgently needed. The present paper reviews the latest progresses in pathogenesis, global burden, infection features of paratyphoid fever A, as well as the status of vaccine development, highlighting the necessity for the development of vaccines against paratyphoid fever A.