Tessa M Z X K van Horrik, Bart J Laan, Janneke E Stalenhoef, Cees van Nieuwkoop, Joppe B Saanen, Caroline Schneeberger, Eefje Jong, Suzanne E Geerlings
{"title":"De-implementation strategy to reduce overtreatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in the emergency department: a stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial.","authors":"Tessa M Z X K van Horrik, Bart J Laan, Janneke E Stalenhoef, Cees van Nieuwkoop, Joppe B Saanen, Caroline Schneeberger, Eefje Jong, Suzanne E Geerlings","doi":"10.1177/20499361241293687","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241293687","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is the presence of bacteria in the urine of patients without symptoms of a urinary tract infection. Generally, treating ASB is not beneficial.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We aimed to reduce overtreatment of ASB in the emergency department (ED) through a multifaceted de-implementation strategy.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed our study in five EDs in the Netherlands from December 2020 to December 2021. Adult patients with urine cultures obtained during ED presentation were screened for inclusion and we excluded patients with indications for antibiotic therapy. The de-implementation strategy included education, reminders and competitive feedback on baseline results. The primary endpoint was patients with ASB treated with antibiotics. Secondary endpoints included the treatment duration and the number of urine tests ordered (urinalyses and urine cultures) in the ED per 1000 adult patients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 6837 urine cultures were screened. ASB was present in 224/3289 (7%) and 201/3548 (6%) patients, from whom 65/224 (29%) and 46/201 (23%) were inappropriately treated with antibiotics in the baseline and intervention period, respectively (adjusted odds ratio 1.20, 95% CI 0.56-2.62, <i>p</i> = 0.65). The number of urinalyses ordered decreased from 182 to 153 per 1000 patients (incidence rate difference -29.10, 95% CI -46.36 to -11.78, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Further, the treatment duration was shortened for patients with ASB in the intervention period (baseline period: 7.98 days (standard deviation (SD) 4.31) vs 5.79 days (SD 3.33), <i>p</i> = 0.006).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Diagnostic stewardship by our de-implementation strategy reduced the number of urinalyses ordered and treatment duration in the ED, but we found no significant reduction in overtreatment of ASB.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>The trial was registered at https://onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en/trial/25918, on 17-12-2019, registration number NL8242. The first participants were enrolled on 01-12-2020.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241293687"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11645715/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142830331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alfredo A M Gutierrez-Zamudio, Rodrigo Alejandro-Salinas, Jose I Vereau-Robles, Carlos J Toro-Huamanchumo
{"title":"Prognostic performance of the Age, PaO<sub>2</sub>/FiO<sub>2</sub> Ratio, and Plateau Pressure Score (APPS) for mortality in patients with COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome admitted to an intensive care unit.","authors":"Alfredo A M Gutierrez-Zamudio, Rodrigo Alejandro-Salinas, Jose I Vereau-Robles, Carlos J Toro-Huamanchumo","doi":"10.1177/20499361241306212","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241306212","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>A predictive scoring system used in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) known as Age, PaO<sub>2</sub>/FiO<sub>2</sub>, Plateau Pressure Score (APPS) has been externally validated to predict mortality in Asian and Caucasian populations. Its performance in Latin American and COVID-19 patients still needs to be done.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To assess the association between APPS and mortality, as well as APPS performance in predicting mortality within 28 days of intensive care unit (ICU) admission in patients with ARDS due to COVID-19.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Analytical observational retrospective cohort study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective cohort study in patients diagnosed with ARDS according to the Berlin criteria who were admitted to the ICU. We evaluated the prognostic performance of APPS using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC), and association with mortality was measured using the Cox proportional hazards regression models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 271 patients were analyzed. The AUC for 28-day mortality was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.73-0.84). In the Cox proportional hazards model, after adjusting for sex and categorized Charlson Comorbidity Index, it was found that grade 2 APPS (aHR: 3.67, 95% CI: 2.14-6.30, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and grade 3 APPS (aHR: 7.95, 95% CI: 3.72-17.02, <i>p</i> < 0.001) were associated with a higher hazard of 28-day mortality.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The APPS scoring system has a good prognostic performance for mortality in patients diagnosed with COVID-19-induced ARDS.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241306212"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11645718/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142830354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sebastián Quintero Montealegre, Andrés Felipe Flórez Monroy, Javier Ricardo Garzón Herazo, Wilfran Perez Mendez, Natalia María Piraquive, Gloria Cortes Fraile, Oscar Mauricio Muñoz Velandia
{"title":"External validation of ID-BactER and Shapiro scores for predicting bacteraemia in the emergency department.","authors":"Sebastián Quintero Montealegre, Andrés Felipe Flórez Monroy, Javier Ricardo Garzón Herazo, Wilfran Perez Mendez, Natalia María Piraquive, Gloria Cortes Fraile, Oscar Mauricio Muñoz Velandia","doi":"10.1177/20499361241304508","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241304508","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>The blood culture positivity rate in the emergency department (ED) is <20%; however, the mortality associated with Community-acquired bacteraemia (CAB) is as high as 37.8%. For this reason, several models have been developed to predict blood culture positivity for the diagnosis of CAB.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To validate two bacteraemia prediction models in a high-complexity hospital in Colombia.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>External validation study of the ID-BactER and Shapiro scores based on a consecutive cohort of patients who underwent blood culture within 48 h of ED admission.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Scale calibration was assessed by comparing expected and observed events (calibration belt). Discriminatory ability was assessed by area under the ROC curve (AUC-ROC).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We included 1347 patients, of whom 18.85% were diagnosed with CAB. The most common focus of infection was the respiratory tract (36.23%), and the most common microorganism was <i>Escherichia coli</i> (52.15%). The Shapiro score underestimated the risk in all categories and its discriminatory ability was poor (AUC 0.68 CI 95% 0.64-0.73). In contrast, the ID-BactER score showed an adequate observed/expected event ratio of 1.07 (CI 0.85-1.36; <i>p</i> = 0.018) and adequate calibration when expected events were greater than 20%, in addition to good discriminatory ability (AUC 0.74 95% CI 0.70-0.78).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The Shapiro score is not calibrated, and its discriminatory ability is poor. ID-BactER has an adequate calibration when the expected events are higher than 20%. Limiting blood culture collection to patients with an ID-BactER score ⩾4 could reduce unnecessary blood culture collection and thus health care costs.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241304508"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11624545/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142802681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"HIV preexposure prophylaxis and postexposure prophylaxis in women: a comprehensive guide for healthcare providers.","authors":"Niam Vora, Melissa E Badowski","doi":"10.1177/20499361241300920","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241300920","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Great disparities and inequities in the delivery and acceptance of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention exist globally among women. Various barriers, such as societal stigma, low perceived risk, relationship dynamics, and lack of education on routes of HIV transmission can cause low utilization in HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) adoption and use. In addition, socioeconomic and structural factors, such as financial burden, lack of provider knowledge and willingness to prescribe, absence of insurance coverage, and limited access to healthcare services are additional barriers to PrEP use among cisgender women. The goal of this review is to highlight current and prospective PrEP options, attitudes, and views of PrEP use among cisgender women and healthcare providers, and the role of PrEP in special populations of cisgender women.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241300920"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11624534/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142802682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sarah Warzywoda, James A Fowler, Amalie Dyda, Lisa Fitzgerald, Amy B Mullens, Judith A Dean
{"title":"Pre-exposure prophylaxis access, uptake and usage by young people: a systematic review of barriers and facilitators.","authors":"Sarah Warzywoda, James A Fowler, Amalie Dyda, Lisa Fitzgerald, Amy B Mullens, Judith A Dean","doi":"10.1177/20499361241303415","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241303415","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Young people's sexual health decision-making, including decisions to access and adhere to HIV prevention strategies such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), are influenced by a range of internal and external factors. Synthesizing these factors is essential to guide the development of youth-focused PrEP health promotion strategies to contribute to international goals of ending HIV transmission.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To understand the individual, interpersonal, sociocultural and systemic barriers and facilitators to PrEP access, uptake and use experienced by young people 24 years and younger.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>A systematic review that adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols.</p><p><strong>Data sources and methods: </strong>Eight databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL, JBI, EMBASE, Web of Science) were systematically searched using terms related to young people, HIV and PrEP use. A narrative synthesis approach was used to delineate key barriers and facilitators to PrEP access, uptake and use.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 11,273 returned articles, 32 met the eligibility criteria for inclusion: 18 from the United States, 10 from African nations and two from Brazil. Barriers and facilitators to PrEP access, uptake and use experienced by young people were identified across intrapersonal, interpersonal, community and systems levels. These factors are described under four overarching themes that relate to knowledge, side effects and perceptions of risk; attitudes and perceptions of family and partners; community attitudes and stigma; and negative healthcare provider experiences and difficulties navigating complex costly healthcare systems.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Findings suggest individual-level factors need consideration alongside the impacts of healthcare systems and broader systemic sociocultural structures within young people's relationships when developing PrEP health promotion strategies and services. Without considering these wider external implications to access, uptake and use of PrEP, global targets towards the elimination of HIV transmission will likely remain out of reach.</p><p><strong>Registration: </strong>This review was registered with Prospero (CRD42022296550).</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241303415"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11624559/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142802684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Roland I Stephen, Jamiu S Olumoh, Jimmy A Reyes, Malachy I Okeke, Jennifer A Tyndall, Nura Umaru, Oyelola A Adegboye
{"title":"Cholera's global resurgence: urgent appeal for enhanced vaccine availability in Nigeria, and beyond.","authors":"Roland I Stephen, Jamiu S Olumoh, Jimmy A Reyes, Malachy I Okeke, Jennifer A Tyndall, Nura Umaru, Oyelola A Adegboye","doi":"10.1177/20499361241303431","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241303431","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241303431"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11613216/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142773458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Harsh Agarwal, Karin Yeatts, Stephanie R Chung, Jack Harrison-Quintana, Thiago S Torres
{"title":"Social disparities on PrEP use and awareness among sexual and gender minorities using smartphones in India.","authors":"Harsh Agarwal, Karin Yeatts, Stephanie R Chung, Jack Harrison-Quintana, Thiago S Torres","doi":"10.1177/20499361241299992","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241299992","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a safe and effective HIV prevention strategy. However, in countries such as India where PrEP is driven by the private healthcare system and there is no centralized reporting, it is unknown which populations benefit from PrEP and which populations are being left behind.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We examined and characterized PrEP use and awareness among the sexual and gender minorities using smartphones in India and found measures of association of PrEP use.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This is a cross-sectional study design.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used Grindr-a widely used geosocial mobile application-to conduct a national cross-sectional survey in India, including respondents who were 18 years or older and reported sex with men (those who identified as cis-gender females were excluded). We examined overall PrEP awareness and PrEP use, then calculated adjusted prevalence odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals to understand PrEP use correlation with socio-behavioral factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of the total of 3116 eligible participants, 30.3% (<i>N</i> = 947) were aware of PrEP and 3.1% (<i>N</i> = 97) reported current PrEP use. Our multivariate regression model found that there was a statistically significant association of PrEP use with higher income, being employed, preferred language as English for survey, relationship status as single, and use of party drugs. At the same time, there was a statistically significant association of PrEP awareness with age group, having higher education as a graduate or above, higher income, use of party drugs, and multiple sexual partners.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We found overall low awareness and low PrEP use in our cross-sectional sample. PrEP use and awareness were higher among those who belonged to higher-income groups. Including PrEP in existing programmatic interventions by government and NGOs may contribute to PrEP scale-up, which is urgent to stop the HIV epidemic in India.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241299992"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11580082/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142689140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carolina Moreira Sarmiento, Guy Crowder, Bonnie Meatherall, Jacob Bezemer, Yenjean Hwang, Ariel Gordon, Aisha Mumtaz, Brittany Jackson, Juan David Ramírez, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Valida Bajrovic
{"title":"Challenges in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by <i>L. braziliensis</i> in four travelers: a case series.","authors":"Carolina Moreira Sarmiento, Guy Crowder, Bonnie Meatherall, Jacob Bezemer, Yenjean Hwang, Ariel Gordon, Aisha Mumtaz, Brittany Jackson, Juan David Ramírez, Alberto Paniz-Mondolfi, Carlos Franco-Paredes, Valida Bajrovic","doi":"10.1177/20499361241274254","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241274254","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We describe a group of four travelers returning to the United States and Canada who acquired <i>Leishmania braziliensis</i> infection in the Peruvian Amazon. Pentavalent antimonials are the preferred treatment option for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in most endemic countries in Central and South America. However, we initially treated our patients with liposomal amphotericin B (LAB) and miltefosine since these are the only two available Food and Drug Administration approved drugs in the United States. Refractory disease was common as three of the four travelers required repeated courses of miltefosine and two also received LAB. One patient required intravenous therapy with meglumine antimoniate (NMG), and one received intralesional NMG. Given the increasing number of cases of CL identified in the United States, there is an urgent need for expanded access to pentavalent antimonials for treating leishmaniasis acquired in Central and South America.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241274254"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11569493/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142648853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emily Boakye-Yiadom, Alex Odoom, Abdul-Halim Osman, Onyansaniba K Ntim, Fleischer C N Kotey, Bright K Ocansey, Eric S Donkor
{"title":"Fungal Infections, Treatment and Antifungal Resistance: The Sub-Saharan African Context.","authors":"Emily Boakye-Yiadom, Alex Odoom, Abdul-Halim Osman, Onyansaniba K Ntim, Fleischer C N Kotey, Bright K Ocansey, Eric S Donkor","doi":"10.1177/20499361241297525","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241297525","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fungal pathogens cause a wide range of infections in humans, from superficial to disfiguring, allergic syndromes, and life-threatening invasive infections, affecting over a billion individuals globally. With an estimated 1.5 million deaths annually attributable to them, fungal pathogens are a major cause of mortality in humans, especially people with underlying immunosuppression. The continuous increase in the population of individuals at risk of fungal infections in sub-Saharan Africa, such as HIV patients, tuberculosis patients, intensive care patients, patients with haematological malignancies, transplant (haematopoietic stem cell and organ) recipients and the growing global threat of multidrug-resistant fungal strains, raise the need for an appreciation of the region's perspective on antifungal usage and resistance. In addition, the unavailability of recently introduced novel antifungal drugs in sub-Saharan Africa further calls for regular evaluation of resistance to antifungal agents in these settings. This is critical for ensuring appropriate and optimal use of the limited available arsenal to minimise antifungal resistance. This review, therefore, elaborates on the multifaceted nature of fungal resistance to the available antifungal drugs on the market and further provides insights into the prevalence of fungal infections and the use of antifungal agents in sub-Saharan Africa.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241297525"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11562003/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142630107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dhanya Dharmapalan, Thekkekara Jacob John, Robert Steinglass, Norbert Hirschhorn
{"title":"Polio: Background and perspective on how international travel can be made safe against polio.","authors":"Dhanya Dharmapalan, Thekkekara Jacob John, Robert Steinglass, Norbert Hirschhorn","doi":"10.1177/20499361241298857","DOIUrl":"10.1177/20499361241298857","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>International spread of polio continues to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern since its declaration by the World Health Organization in 2014 and its reiteration in 2024. In 2023 and 2024, two countries remained endemic for wild poliovirus (WPV) but 20 countries reported polio outbreaks due to vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) in 2023 and 10 countries in 2024 (up to mid-June). Guidelines from various agencies recommend polio vaccination before travelling to or from polio-affected countries, or attending mass gatherings anywhere in the world, particularly if the crowd is international. Immunity protects against polio paralysis but not against poliovirus re-infection, irrespective of which vaccine was involved - live attenuated oral polio vaccine (OPV) or inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). Infection with WPV or circulating VDPV in the vast majority of non-immune individuals (first infection) is asymptomatic, while they are efficient virus transmitters. Re-infections in immune individuals are always asymptomatic, but they are also infectious and may act as source for further transmission, although less efficiently than the former. Thus, travellers can become transmission vectors, illustrated by many episodes of importations of WPV or VDPVs into polio-free countries in recent years. The route of poliovirus transmission remains controversial, with many believing it to be faecal-oral, but epidemiological analysis is consistent with respiratory route and not faecal-oral. Transmission occurs person-to-person during social contact. Travellers must ensure they are adequately immunised to avoid polio, and becoming vectors of virus importation. The vaccine efficacy (VE) of OPV is highly variable - high in temperate climate countries, particularly rich countries, but low or very low in tropical low-income countries. On the other hand, VE of IPV is excellent everywhere irrespective of geography.</p>","PeriodicalId":46154,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Infectious Disease","volume":"11 ","pages":"20499361241298857"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11561982/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142630112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}