PLoS medicine
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Identifying and tackling the social determinants of infectious diseases has become a public health priority following the recognition that individuals with lower socioeconomic status are disproportionately affected by infectious diseases. In many parts of the world, epidemiologically and genotypically defined community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains have emerged to become frequent causes of hospital infection. The aim of this study was to use spatial models with adjustment for area-level hospital attendance to determine the transmission niche of genotypically defined CA- and health-care-associated (HA)-MRSA strains across a diverse region of South East London and to explore a potential link between MRSA carriage and markers of social and material deprivation. ⋯ There was no evidence of community transmission of HA-MRSA strains, implying that HA-MRSA cases identified in the community originate from the hospital reservoir and are maintained by frequent attendance at health care facilities. In contrast, there was a high risk of CA-MRSA in deprived areas linked with overcrowding, homelessness, low income, and recent immigration to the UK, which was not explainable by health care exposure. Furthermore, areas adjacent to these deprived areas were themselves at greater risk of CA-MRSA, indicating community transmission of CA-MRSA. This ongoing community transmission could lead to CA-MRSA becoming the dominant strain types carried by patients admitted to hospital, particularly if successful hospital-based MRSA infection control programmes are maintained. These results suggest that community infection control programmes targeting transmission of CA-MRSA will be required to control MRSA in both the community and hospital. These epidemiological changes will also have implications for effectiveness of risk-factor-based hospital admission MRSA screening programmes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Cotrimoxazole Prophylaxis Discontinuation among Antiretroviral-Treated HIV-1-Infected Adults in Kenya: A Randomized Non-inferiority Trial.
Cotrimoxazole (CTX) prophylaxis is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for HIV-1-infected individuals in settings with high infectious disease prevalence. The WHO 2006 guidelines were developed prior to the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). The threshold for CTX discontinuation following ART is undefined in resource-limited settings. ⋯ CTX discontinuation among ART-treated, immune-reconstituted adults in a malaria-endemic region resulted in increased incidence of malaria but not pneumonia or diarrhea. Malaria endemicity may be the most relevant factor to consider in the decision to stop CTX after ART-induced immune reconstitution in regions with high infectious disease prevalence. These data support the 2014 WHO CTX guidelines.
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Introduction of Vibrio cholerae to Haiti during the deployment of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in 2010 resulted in one of the largest cholera epidemics of the modern era. Following the outbreak, a UN-commissioned independent panel recommended three pre-deployment intervention strategies to minimize the risk of cholera introduction in future peacekeeping operations: screening for V. cholerae carriage, administering prophylactic antimicrobial chemotherapies, or immunizing with oral cholera vaccines. However, uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of these approaches has forestalled their implementation by the UN. We assessed how the interventions would have impacted the likelihood of the Haiti cholera epidemic. ⋯ Screening, chemoprophylaxis, and vaccination are all effective strategies to prevent cholera introduction during large-scale personnel deployments such as that precipitating the 2010 Haiti outbreak. Antimicrobial chemoprophylaxis was estimated to provide the greatest protection at the lowest cost among the approaches recently evaluated by the UN.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Preventing Weight Gain in Women in Rural Communities: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial.
Obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in both developed and developing countries. Even modest weight gain increases the risk for chronic illness, yet evidence-based interventions to prevent weight gain are rare. This trial will determine if a simple low-intensity intervention can prevent weight gain in women compared to general health information. ⋯ A low intensity lifestyle program can prevent the persistent weight gain observed in women. Key features included community integration, nonprescriptive simple health messages, small changes to behaviour, low participant burden, self-weighing, and delivery including a mix of group, phone, and SMS text reminders. The findings support population strategies to halt the rise in obesity prevalence.
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In this month’s editorial, the PLOS Medicine editors note recent progress towards data sharing as the community norm in medical research and the barriers that remain.