Prevalence of subclinical infectious agents in a blood donor population tested on every donation

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of blood-borne infectious agents in healthy, client-owned dogs from a blood donor population in Portugal and Spain, and to address the importance of a screening protocol on every donation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Client-owned healthy dogs were tested before each donation on a veterinary blood bank. Blood samples from new potential donors, and from regular donors, were tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction for Leishmania species, Ehrlichia species, Brucella species, Babesia species and Anaplasma species Serological tests were also performed for Leishmania species, Ehrlichia species and Dirofilaria immitis. All donors were tested for every infectious agent in each donation.

RESULTS

The study found that out of a total of 8036 donors and 35,120 samples tested, 3.9% of blood donors tested positive for at least one of the agents, with the most prevalent being Anaplasma species (2.1%). Serological tests also revealed positive results in 14.0% of donors, with the highest percentage for Leishmania species (7.7%). Moreover, the study found that 28.2% of positive results were from dogs with negative results in donations performed 3 to 12 months before, and 18.0% of positive results were recent infections.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

These findings indicate a high prevalence of infectious agents in seemingly healthy, selected dogs eligible to become blood donors in the Iberian Peninsula, highlighting the importance of regular testing on every donation. This study emphasises the importance of a regular screening protocol for every donation instead of annual testing, as is commonly performed in veterinary medicine.

Cancer-associated myositis before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset: a changing trend

OBJECTIVES

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant impact on the management of non-COVID-19 related diseases, potentially increasing the incidence of paraneoplastic syndromes such as cancer-associated myositis (CAM).The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of CAM in our cohort before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset.

METHODS

We included patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), diagnosed between June 2016 and June 2023. The patients were divided into two groups according to the date of IIM diagnosis.

RESULTS

We included 132 patients; 65.1% (n=86) were diagnosed prior to and 34.9% (n=46) after the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common IIM was dermatomyositis (DM) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic onset (p=0.750). The most frequent myositis-specific antibody (MSA) before the COVID-19 pandemic was anti-Mi2 (15.1%). After the COVID-19 pandemic onset, anti-TIF1γ was the most common MSA (21.7%), with a significantly higher relative prevalence (p=0.006). The incidence of CAM was significantly higher after the COVID-19 pandemic onset (11 vs. 3 new cases, p<0.002). Patients with CAM more frequently had anti-TIF1γ-positivity (p<0.001) and a diagnosis after the pandemic (p=0.001) than non-CAM-IIM patients. No significant differences were found regarding vaccination status or previous COVID-19 infection in CAM and non-CAM-IIM patients. Diagnosis after the COVID-19 pandemic was an independent predictor of CAM among IIM patients (OR 0.012, 95% CI 0.000-0.400, p=0.013), regardless of age, sex or previous COVID-19 infection.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a significant increase in the incidence of CAM after the COVID-19 pandemic. IIM diagnosis after the COVID-19 pandemic was an independent predictor of CAM.

Photohydroionisation for disinfection of poultry litter

1. This study evaluated photohydroionisation efficiency on the disinfection of new shavings used as substrate for litter in the poultry industry, pre-inoculated with bacterial, fungal and viral agents.2. Each replicate consisted of 250 g of new shavings sterilised by autoclaving, challenged with bacterial (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella enterica, serovar Abony), fungal (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and viral inoculum (Gumboro disease virus). The experiment consisted of six replicates at four times (0, 1, 5 or 10 min exposure) of photohydroionisation. The disinfection process was performed in a bench photohydroionisation device with four ultraviolet lamps. The agents inoculated in the shavings were analysed after the disinfection process.3. The counts of enterobacteria and total bacteria showed a quadratic effect. In contrast, the counts of fungi and viruses showed a negative linear effect with an increase in the time of photohydroionisation. The enterobacteria showed a linear response plateau effect (LRP), with a minimum time point of 5.498 minutes at a minimum contamination of 0.666 CFU/g and a reduction of 82.27% of the pre-established inoculum. Total bacteria had an LRP effect with a minimum time point of 1.902 minutes at minimum contamination of 1.739 CFU/g and a reduction of 50.0% of the pre-established inoculum. An LRP effect was found for fungi, with a minimum time point of 7.931 minutes in minimum contamination of 3.380 CFU/g, and with a reduction of 11.0% of the pre-established inoculum. For viruses, there was an LRP effect with a minimum time point of 5.012 minutes in minimum contamination of 0.000 viral titre per 100 g of shavings, which was reduced by 100% of the pre-established inoculum.4. Photohydroionisation in the disinfection of new shavings used as poultry litter has partial potential as a microbiological control tool, as a complete reduction occurred only for the viruses, whereas for bacteria and fungi only partial reductions of these microorganisms were observed.

Reliability and Validity of the Spanish Language Measures of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery

Objective

The NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function (NIHTB) was developed under contract from the National Institutes of Health to create a set of easy-to-administer neuropsychological measures, for use across the lifespan (ages 3-85). The NIHTB Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB) includes two language measures that were developed, calibrated, and normed separately in English and Spanish. This analysis presents the test-retest reliability and construct validity of the Spanish-language picture vocabulary test (S-PVT) and oral reading recognition test (S-ORRT) among adults.

Participants and Method

Participants were adults age 18-85 who took part in the NIHTB norming study in Spanish (N = 408, Age: M = 44.1, SD = 16.7; Education: M = 10.7, SD = 4.3; 65.0% female). Of these, 48 repeated the battery 1 week later. Both the S-PVT and the S-ORRT were administered using computer adaptive testing and scored using item response theory. Spearman’s correlations were used to evaluate test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was evaluated by correlating S-PVT scores with scores on the Batería-III Woodcock-Muñoz Vocabulario Sobre Dibujos, and by correlating S-ORRT scores with scores on a 48-item version of the Word Accentuation Test. Adjusted Spearman’s correlations and general linear models related scores to age, education, and sex.

Results

Both the S-PVT (ρ = 0.87, p &lt; .001) and the S-ORRT (ρ = 0.88, p &lt; .001) demonstrated good test-retest reliability. Good convergent validity was found for both the S-PVT (ρ = 0.76, p &lt; .001) and the S-ORRT (ρ = 0.65, p &lt; .001). Scores on the S-PVT were positively related to education (ρ = 0.38, p &lt; .001), and scores on the S-ORRT were negatively related to age (ρ = -0.18, p &lt; .01) and positively related to education (ρ = 0.30, p &lt; .001).

Conclusions

The Spanish language measures of the NIHTB-CB demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity, suggesting they can be used to measure language ability among Spanish-speaking adults in the United States.