Building School-Academic Partnerships to Implement COVID-19 Testing in Underserved Populations

OBJECTIVE

In April 2021, the US government made substantial investments in students' safe return to school by providing resources for school-based coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mitigation strategies, including COVID-19 diagnostic testing. However, testing uptake and access among vulnerable children and children with medical complexities remained unclear.

METHODS

The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations program was established by the National Institutes of Health to implement and evaluate COVID-19 testing programs in underserved populations. Researchers partnered with schools to implement COVID-19 testing programs. The authors of this study evaluated COVID-19 testing program implementation and enrollment and sought to determine key implementation strategies. A modified Nominal Group Technique was used to survey program leads to identify and rank testing strategies to provide a consensus of high-priority strategies for infectious disease testing in schools for vulnerable children and children with medical complexities.

RESULTS

Among the 11 programs responding to the survey, 4 (36%) included prekindergarten and early care education, 8 (73%) worked with socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, and 4 focused on children with developmental disabilities. A total of 81 916 COVID-19 tests were performed. "Adapting testing strategies to meet the needs, preferences, and changing guidelines," "holding regular meetings with school leadership and staff," and "assessing and responding to community needs" were identified as key implementation strategies by program leads.

CONCLUSIONS

School-academic partnerships helped provide COVID-19 testing in vulnerable children and children with medical complexities using approaches that met the needs of these populations. Additional work is needed to develop best practices for in-school infectious disease testing in all children.

A Public Health Laboratory Information System in Support of Health Emergencies: The Nebraska Public Health Laboratory COVID-19 Experience

OBJECTIVES

Public health laboratories (PHLs) are essential components of US Public Health Service operations. The health information technology that supports PHLs is central to effective and efficient laboratory operations and overall public health response to infectious disease management. This analysis presents key information on how the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) information technology system evolved to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

COVID-19 presented numerous, unforeseen information technology system challenges. The most notable challenges requiring changes to NPHL software systems and capability were improving efficiency of the laboratory operation due to high-volume testing, responding daily to demands for timely data for analysis by partner systems, interfacing with multiple testing (equipment) platforms, and supporting community-based specimen collection programs.

RESULTS

Improvements to the NPHL information technology system enabled NPHL to perform >121 000 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction tests from March 2020 through January 2022 at a sustainable rate of 2000 SARS-CoV-2 tests per day, with no increase in laboratory staffing. Electronic reporting of 62 000 rapid antigen tests eliminated paper reporting and extended testing services throughout the state. Collection of COVID-19 symptom data before specimen collection enabled NPHL to make data-driven decisions to perform pool testing and conserve testing kits when supplies were low.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

NPHL information technology applications proved essential for managing health care provider workload, prioritizing the use of scarce testing supplies, and managing Nebraska's overall pandemic response. The NPHL experience provides useful examples of a highly capable information technology system and suggests areas for additional attention in the PHL environment, including a focus on end users, collaboration with various partners, and investment in information technology.

Population-based cohort study of variation in the use of emergency cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder diseases

Background

The aims of this prospective population-based cohort study were to identify the patient and hospital characteristics associated with emergency cholecystectomy, and the influences of these in determining variations between hospitals.

Methods

Data were collected for consecutive patients undergoing cholecystectomy in acute UK and Irish hospitals between 1 March and 1 May 2014. Potential explanatory variables influencing the performance of emergency cholecystectomy were analysed by means of multilevel, multivariable logistic regression modelling using a two-level hierarchical structure with patients (level 1) nested within hospitals (level 2).

Results

Data were collected on 4744 cholecystectomies from 165 hospitals. Increasing age, lower ASA fitness grade, biliary colic, the need for further imaging (magnetic retrograde cholangiopancreatography), endoscopic interventions (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography) and admission to a non-biliary centre significantly reduced the likelihood of an emergency cholecystectomy being performed. The multilevel model was used to calculate the probability of receiving an emergency cholecystectomy for a woman aged 40 years or over with an ASA grade of I or II and a BMI of at least 25·0 kg/m2, who presented with acute cholecystitis with an ultrasound scan showing a thick-walled gallbladder and a normal common bile duct. The mean predicted probability of receiving an emergency cholecystectomy was 0·52 (95 per cent c.i. 0·45 to 0·57). The predicted probabilities ranged from 0·02 to 0·95 across the 165 hospitals, demonstrating significant variation between hospitals.

Conclusion

Patients with similar characteristics presenting to different hospitals with acute gallbladder pathology do not receive comparable care.

Identification of Bartonella henselae in 2 cats with pyogranulomatous myocarditis and diaphragmatic myositis

Most cats infected with Bartonella henselae remain outwardly healthy carriers for years; however, self-limiting fever, transient anemia, neurologic dysfunction, lymphadenopathy, reproductive disorders, aortic valvular endocarditis, and neutrophilic myocarditis have been described in experimentally or naturally infected cats. Two cats in a North Carolina shelter died with pyogranulomatous myocarditis and diaphragmatic myositis. Bacteria were visualized in the lesions by Warthin-Starry silver impregnation and by B. henselae immunohistochemistry. B. henselae DNA was amplified and sequenced from the heart of 1 cat and from multiple tissue samples, including heart and diaphragm, from the second cat. This study supports a potential association between B. henselae and what has been historically described as "transmissible myocarditis and diaphragmitis" of undetermined cause in cats.

Management of perianal abscess and fistula-in-ano in children

INTRODUCTION

Perianal abscess (PA) and fistula-in-ano (FIA) are common acquired anorectal disorders in children, but their management is still controversial. This study was performed to evaluate our experience with the treatment of PA and FIA in children of different age groups.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted of children below 16 years of age treated for PA/FIA in a pediatric surgery center between January 2002 and April 2006. The standard treatment for PA was incision and drainage (I&D). Judicious probing for fistulae was only performed in recurrent abscess or if a discharge of pus was identified from the anal verge at surgery. Fistulotomy was routinely performed in low fistulae not associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD associated fistulae were treated with topical tacrolimus in the absence of deep seated infection. Patients were divided into 3 age groups: <2 years, 2-8 years and >8 years. Mode of treatment, microbial organisms, recurrence, associated FIA and association with IBD were recorded. The median follow-up period was 6 months (8 weeks-3 years). Fisher's exact test was used for the analysis of categorical variables.

RESULTS

A total of 78 (39 [<2 years]; 17 [2-8 years]; 22 [>8 years]) patients were treated for PA/FIA during the four year period. In children aged <2 years, 33 (85%) had I&D of PA and the other 6 (15%) had fistulotomy. Recurrence was seen in 9 (23%) children, of which 3 (8%) had FIA. In children aged 2-8 years, 13 (76%) had PA and 4 (24%) had a FIA and there were no recurrences. In children >8 years, 12 (55%) had I&D, 1 (4%) had a fistulotomy and 9 (41%) were treated non-surgically. Six of 7 patients with IBD associated FIA were treated successfully with topical tacrolimus. The recurrence rate after primary surgery was significantly higher for <2 years and >8 years age groups compared to the 2-8 years age group. The incidence of FIA identified either at primary operation or during exploration for recurrence was highest (50%) in >8 years age group and lowest (21%) in the <2 years age group. Lactose fermenting coliforms were the most common organisms isolated from pus. The presence of intestinal organisms in pus was associated with significantly higher recurrence rates in children aged <2 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Surgery for PA/FIA in children aged <2 years resulted in low recurrence rates and should be considered as the primary treatment. Topical tacrolimus was found to be an effective treatment for IBD associated FIA.

Ritual circumcision: no longer a problem for health services in the British Isles

INTRODUCTION

Primary care trust (PCT) funding of a ritual circumcision service has recently been withdrawn from our unit, raising concerns that this may result in greater morbidity from community circumcision. The aims of this study were to document our circumcision practice before and after the withdrawal of PCT funding and to determine its effect on the morbidity from circumcision. In addition, we wanted to survey all paediatric surgical centres in the British Isles to ascertain how many still offer a ritual circumcision service.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed our circumcision practice for 1 year prior to the removal of UK Government funding, and then performed a prospective audit of our practice for the 12 months following funding withdrawal. An e-mail survey was also performed of all paediatric surgical units to determine the ritual circumcision service provision throughout the British Isles.

RESULTS

A total of 213 boys underwent circumcision during the 12 months prior to the withdrawal of funding, of which 106 cases (50%) were ritual circumcisions. After funding withdrawal, 99 boys underwent circumcision, of which 98 cases (99%) were for medical reasons. A similar number of boys were re-admitted after a hospital circumcision during the two review periods (5 versus 4 patients), whereas the number admitted following a community circumcision rose after funding withdrawal (6 versus 11 patients). Only a third of British paediatric surgical centres offer a ritual circumcision service, and a significant pro- portion of these were either providing the service without PCT funding, or were reconsidering their decision to continue.

CONCLUSIONS

PCT funding withdrawal for ritual circumcision had an impact on our unit's procedural case volume. This represented a cost saving to the trust, despite a higher rate of admissions for postoperative complications. There is an inequality in healthcare provision throughout the British Isles for ritual circumcision, and we feel it is vital to offer support and training to medical and non-medical practitioners who are being asked to perform a greater number of circumcisions in the community.

Documenting resident procedure and diagnostic experience: simplifying the process

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The Residency Review Committee (RRC) requires documentation of family practice residents' procedural and diagnostic experiences. Further, hospital privileging is frequently based on documentation of prior clinical experience. Residency programs need a user-friendly (ie, resident-friendly) mechanism for collecting data and generating reports to document these experiences. This paper outlines a simplified, user-friendly method of documenting resident procedural and diagnostic experiences.

METHODS

We developed a pocket-sized, optically scannable card for data input. This is coupled with a computerized database with report generation capability. The system is based on diagnostic clusters to further simplify the data input process.

RESULTS

The system's setup costs are about $10,000. Annual maintenance and operational fees are about $5,000. After instituting the system, the number of residents submitting documentation information increased substantially.

CONCLUSIONS

This system meets both RRC and potential clinical privileging requirements and provides a useful tool for guiding resident evaluation and developing appropriate training opportunities during the latter half of the residency. Simplified, accurate documentation may allow for comparisons among residents at various levels--program, state, and national.

The formation of a stable complex between dissociated proteoglycan and hyaluronic acid in the absence of a link protein

A proteoglycan fraction prepared from bovine articular cartilage under dissociative conditions was shown to interact with three purified hyaluronic acid preparations to form stable complexes in the analytical ultracentrifuge. It is concluded from these experiments that, although link proteins are associated with hyaluronic acid and proteoglycans in complexes between these macromolecular constituents.

Scanning transmission electron microscope studies of deep-frozen unfixed muscle correlated with spatial localization of intracellular elements by fluorescent x-ray analysis

Thin sections of deep-frozen unfixed muscle were studied in a scanning electron microscope modified for transmission imaging and equipped with a "cryostage" for vacuum compatibility of hydrated tissue. With an energy-dispersive x-ray analysis system, intracellular atomic species in the scan beam path were identified by their fluorescent x-rays and spatially localized in correlation with the electron optical image of the microstructure. Marked differences are noted between the ultrastructure of deep-frozen hydrated muscle and that of fixed dehydrated muscle. In frozen muscle, myofibrils appear to be composed of previously undescribed longitudinal structures between 400-1000 A wide ("macromyofilaments"). The usual myofilaments, mitochondria, and sarcoplasmic reticulum were not seen unless the tissue was "fixed" before examination. Fluorescent x-ray analysis of the spatial location of constituent elements clearly identified all elements heavier than Na. Intracellular Cl was relatively higher than expected.