Katherine O Robsky, Annet Nalutaaya, Peter James Kitonsa, James Mukiibi, David Isooba, Olga Nakasolya, Emily A Kendall, Jonathan Zelner, Jennifer M Ross, Achilles Katamba, David W Dowdy
{"title":"The potential yield of geographically targeted tuberculosis contact investigation in urban Uganda.","authors":"Katherine O Robsky, Annet Nalutaaya, Peter James Kitonsa, James Mukiibi, David Isooba, Olga Nakasolya, Emily A Kendall, Jonathan Zelner, Jennifer M Ross, Achilles Katamba, David W Dowdy","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100605","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100605","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We investigated the potential yield of conducting active case finding for tuberculosis (TB) within a defined geographic radius (50 or 100 m) around the households of individuals diagnosed with TB at health facilities. In a well-defined geographic area within Kampala, Uganda, residential locations were determined for 85 people diagnosed with TB at local health facilities over an 18-month period and for 60 individuals diagnosed with TB during a subsequent community-wide door-to-door screening campaign. Ten of the individuals diagnosed through community screening lived within 50 m of an individual previously diagnosed with TB in a local health facility (TB prevalence: 0.98%), and 15 lived at a distance of 50-100 m (prevalence: 0.87%). The prevalence ratio was 1.4 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7-2.9) for those <50 m and 1.2 (95% CI 0.6-2.2) for those 50-100 m, compared to >100 m. Using TB notifications to identify areas for geographically targeted case finding is at most moderately more efficient than screening the general population in the context of urban Uganda.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e117"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529417/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145148401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sofie Gillesberg Lassen, Christina Poethko-Müller, Martin Schlaud, Heiko Slanina, Christian G Schüttler, Klaus Stark, Viviane Bremer, Thomas Harder, Sandra Dudareva
{"title":"Evidence of very low hepatitis B virus prevalence in children and adolescents in Germany: National cross-sectional study, 2014-2017.","authors":"Sofie Gillesberg Lassen, Christina Poethko-Müller, Martin Schlaud, Heiko Slanina, Christian G Schüttler, Klaus Stark, Viviane Bremer, Thomas Harder, Sandra Dudareva","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100563","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100563","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Attaining the target of <0.1% HBsAg positives in children aged <5 years in vaccinated populations by 2030 is a WHO indicator of hepatitis B elimination. We aimed to calculate the prevalence of HBsAg- and anti-HBc-positive children and adolescents in the low-prevalence country of Germany. In total, 3567 children and adolescents aged 3-17 years participated in a national population based cross-sectional study. Data were collected between 2014 and 2017 using questionnaires and health examinations, including blood samples. Applying a weighted analysis to account for survey design and participant characteristics, we calculated the HBsAg and anti-HBc prevalence and described them by anti-HBs positivity. In total, 3007 participants had all three sero-markers measured. None were found HBsAg and anti-HBc positive. Seven (0.3%, 95% CI: 0.1-0.8) were anti-HBc positive and HBsAg negative; six were also anti-HBs positive. All anti-HBc-positive participants were aged ≥7 years and three had no migration background. Four anti-HBc-positive participants had known vaccination status; three had been vaccinated according to national recommendations. This very low hepatitis B virus sero-prevalence among children and adolescents indicates that Germany is reaching some hepatitis B virus elimination targets. We recommend maintaining preventive measures, in particular a high vaccination coverage, in order to reach hepatitis B elimination.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529418/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145148399","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi, Zeinab Fagheei Aghmiyuni, Shahriar Bakhti
{"title":"Worldwide threatening prevalence of carbapenem-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>.","authors":"Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi, Zeinab Fagheei Aghmiyuni, Shahriar Bakhti","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100332","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100332","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>β-Lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations and carbapenems are the first-line treatments for multidrug-resistant <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> (<i>P. aeruginosa</i>) infections. However, carbapenem resistance is increasing globally at an alarming rate, which is especially concerning given the pivotal role of these agents. This study comprehensively evaluated the global distribution of carbapenem resistance in clinical <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates. The keywords including '<i>Pseudomonas', P. aeruginosa'</i>, '<i>P. aeruginosa'</i>, 'resistance', 'susceptibility', 'carbapenem antibiotics', 'carbapenems', 'imipenem', 'meropenem', 'ertapenem', 'doripenem', as well as 'prevalence' and 'incidence' were searched in electronic databases as the appropriate keywords. After screening, 160 studies were excluded, with 87 eligible studies from diverse geographic regions retained for final analysis. A comprehensive meta-analysis was then conducted on the data collected. The mean resistance rates (95% CI) were 33.3% (imipenem), 23.3% (meropenem), 60.9% (ertapenem), and 36.7% (doripenem). The time trend analysis showed that the resistance to meropenem has increased from the year 1997 to 2023. Meta-analysis showed substantial heterogeneity (I<sup>2</sup> = 92%, p < 0.05) but no significant publication bias by Egger's or Begg's test. Global carbapenem resistance is alarmingly high in clinical <i>P. aeruginosa</i> isolates. The increasing prevalence of carbapenem-resistant <i>P. aeruginosa</i> is a major global health threat requiring urgent action through new antimicrobials and improved antibiotic stewardship to protect these last-line drugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e114"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529429/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145085384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bastiaan Van der Roest, Egil A J Fischer, Don Klinkenberg, Martin C J Bootsma, Mojca Maticic, Katarina Resman-Rus, Miša Korva, Tatjana Avsic-Zupanc, Mirjam Kretzschmar
{"title":"Phylodynamic inference suggests introductions as main driver of Mpox Clade II outbreak in 2022 in Slovenia.","authors":"Bastiaan Van der Roest, Egil A J Fischer, Don Klinkenberg, Martin C J Bootsma, Mojca Maticic, Katarina Resman-Rus, Miša Korva, Tatjana Avsic-Zupanc, Mirjam Kretzschmar","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100587","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100587","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 2022, an Mpox clade II outbreak affected many countries. To optimize control, knowledge on the number of new introductions (human cases infected from outside the study population) versus local transmission is important. We extracted sequences of all 48 Mpox cases in Slovenia in 2022 from the NCBI database, of which 42 passed quality control. We estimated the number of introductions using the phylodynamic model phybreak by integrating genomic and epidemiological data and inferred transmission events. By repeating this analysis with weekly cumulative case data, we assessed if introductions could have been reliably inferred in real time. The number of introductions, estimated after the outbreak ended, was 19 (95% CI: 13-29), and two larger transmission clusters existed. As these introductions occurred throughout the outbreak, we conclude that the Slovenian Mpox outbreak was mainly driven by new introductions. Analysing the data 'in real time' would have only slightly overestimated the number of introductions per week, capturing the trend of introductions as main driver of the outbreak. This makes it useful for guiding control policy during outbreaks, prioritizing the rapid identification of cases among travellers, and with that preventing emergence of new transmission chains.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e115"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529423/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145085441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mulu Woldegiorgis, Lauren Bloomfield, Rosemary Korda, Gemma Cadby, Sera Ngeh, Paul Knight, Andrew Jardine, Jelena Maticevic, Paul Armstrong, Paul Effler
{"title":"Factors associated with persistence or recovery from long COVID 6 months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection.","authors":"Mulu Woldegiorgis, Lauren Bloomfield, Rosemary Korda, Gemma Cadby, Sera Ngeh, Paul Knight, Andrew Jardine, Jelena Maticevic, Paul Armstrong, Paul Effler","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100551","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100551","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are limited data on the illness trajectory for individuals with long COVID. We prospectively followed 1,234 individuals with long COVID at 3 months post-SARS-CoV-2 infection to identify factors associated with persistence or recovery. At 6 months post-infection, 724 (58.7%) had persistent long COVID and 510 (41.3%) had fully recovered. In multivariable analyses, pre-existing health conditions at the time of initial SARS-CoV-2 infection and reporting fatigue, shortness of breath, and cough 3 months post-infection were independent predictors of persistent long COVID. Age, sex, and number of COVID vaccinations were not significantly associated with persistent long COVID. For persons with persistent long COVID, the median number of symptoms remained stable over follow-up, indicating that there had been little symptomatic improvement. A third of those with persistent long COVID reported seeking medical care for their symptoms and a third had ceased or reduced their hours of work/study. Our findings suggest that there may be distinct clinical trajectories for long COVID observed between 3- and 6-month follow-up, that is, persons who experience full recovery and those with minimal clinical improvement, and this may have implications for management of affected individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529437/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145079419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Analysis of influencing factors of concurrent primary liver cancer in hepatitis B patients and construction of column chart prediction model.","authors":"Qunmei Cao, Yilin Zhou, Changlong Wen, Qinglan Li","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100538","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100538","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A predictive column chart was developed to assess the risk of primary liver cancer (PLC) in hepatitis B patients. Data from 107 PLC patients and 107 controls were used as the training set, with 92 patients as the validation set. An additional 446 patients from other hospitals, including 15 with PLC, formed the external validation group. Multivariate logistic regression identified gender, BMI, alcohol consumption, diabetes, family history of liver cancer, cirrhosis, and HBV DNA load as independent risk factors. The model showed strong discrimination with AUCs of 0.882 and 0.859 in the training and validation sets, respectively, and good calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow χ² = 2.648, P = 0.954; χ² = 4.117, P = 0.846). Decision curve analysis (DCA) confirmed clinical benefit within a risk threshold of 0.07-0.95. In the external validation group, the model maintained discrimination (AUC = 0.863) and calibration (Hosmer-Lemeshow χ² = 7.999, P = 0.434), with DCA showing net benefit across 0.14-0.95. These results indicate the column chart is a reliable tool for PLC risk prediction in hepatitis B patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e111"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529427/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145069361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aman Ullah, Dorte Frees, Mujahida Mansoor, Shah Faisal Jamal, Jan Tkadlec
{"title":"Multiple highly resistant clones of MRSA circulating among patients with skin and soft tissue infection, Peshawar, Pakistan 2021-2022.","authors":"Aman Ullah, Dorte Frees, Mujahida Mansoor, Shah Faisal Jamal, Jan Tkadlec","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100575","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100575","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We aimed to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, carriage of Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL), and the clonal structure of MRSA isolates collected from skin and soft tissue infections at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. Between August 2021 and May 2022, 154 non-repetitive MRSA isolates were consecutively collected and characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, SCC<i>mec</i> typing, <i>spa</i> typing, and detection of PVL by PCR. MLST clonal complexes (CCs) were inferred from <i>spa</i> type using the Based Upon Repeat Pattern (BURP) algorithm. High levels of resistance were observed to ciprofloxacin (85.7%), erythromycin (76.0%), sulfamethoxazole (68.8%), gentamicin (68.8%), fusidic acid (57.8%), tetracycline (55.8%), and clindamycin (42.2%). Clonal analysis revealed 16 lineages, with the most frequent being CC8-MRSA-IV (27.3%), PVL-positive \"Bengal Bay\" CC1/ST772-MRSA-V (26.0%), and CC1-MRSA-IV (16.2%). PVL was detected in 45.5% of isolates across multiple lineages. Our findings highlight the coexistence of high antimicrobial resistance and frequent PVL carriage among MRSA in Pakistan. Given the association of PVL with severe infections and the limited treatment options for multidrug-resistant strains, these data underscore a significant public health concern and the need for systematic surveillance and prudent antibiotic use.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e113"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529422/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145069371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sara R Healy, Martha Betson, Joaquin M Prada, Eric R Morgan
{"title":"Response to letter to editor from Rattanapitoon, N. & Rattanapitoon, S.","authors":"Sara R Healy, Martha Betson, Joaquin M Prada, Eric R Morgan","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100459","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100459","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":"153 ","pages":"e100"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12455500/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145039369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Letter to the Editor: \"Modelling the risk of foodborne transmission of Toxocara spp. to humans\" by Healy et al. (2025).","authors":"Nathkapach Kaewpitoon Rattanapitoon, Schawanya Kaewpitoon Rattanapitoon","doi":"10.1017/S0950268825100447","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0950268825100447","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":"153 ","pages":"e101"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12455503/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145039384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Peihua Wang, Jianjiu Chen, Wenyi Zhang, Yong Wang, Wan Yang
{"title":"Modeling the influences of climate conditions on measles transmission in China.","authors":"Peihua Wang, Jianjiu Chen, Wenyi Zhang, Yong Wang, Wan Yang","doi":"10.1017/S095026882510054X","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S095026882510054X","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate conditions are known to modulate infectious disease transmission, yet their impact on measles transmission remains underexplored. In this study, we investigate the extent to which climate conditions modulate measles transmission, utilizing measles incidence data during 2005-2008 from China. Three climate-forced models were employed: a sinusoidal function, an absolute humidity (AH)-forced model, and an AH and temperature (AH/T)-forced model. These models were integrated into an inference framework consisting of a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) model and an iterated filter (IF2) to estimate epidemiological characteristics and assess climate influences on measles transmission. During the study period, measles epidemics peaked in spring in northern China and were more diverse in the south. Our analyses showed that the AH/T model better captured measles epidemic dynamics in northern China, suggesting a combined impact of humidity and temperature on measles transmission. Furthermore, we preliminarily examined the impact of other factors and found that population susceptibility and incidence rate were both positively correlated with migrant worker influx, suggesting that higher susceptibility among migrant workers may sustain measles transmission. Taken together, our study supports a role of humidity and temperature in modulating measles transmission and identifies additional factors in shaping measles epidemic dynamics in China.</p>","PeriodicalId":11721,"journal":{"name":"Epidemiology and Infection","volume":" ","pages":"e110"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12529438/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145033075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}