Dataset Information

Using PCR-based detection and genotyping to trace Streptococcus salivarius meningitis outbreak strain to oral flora of radiology physician assistant.

ABSTRACT: We recently investigated three cases of bacterial meningitis that were reported from a midwestern radiology clinic where facemasks were not worn during spinal injection of contrast agent during myelography procedures. Using pulsed field gel electrophoresis we linked a case strain of S. salivarius to an oral specimen of a radiology physician assistant (RPA). We also used a real-time PCR assay to detect S. salivarius DNA within a culture-negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen. Here we extend this investigation through using a nested PCR/sequencing strategy to link the culture-negative CSF specimen to the case strain. We also provide validation of the real-time PCR assay used, demonstrating that it is not solely specific for Streptococcus salivarius, but is also highly sensitive for detection of the closely related oral species Streptococcus vestibularis. Through using multilocus sequence typing and 16S rDNA sequencing we further strengthen the link between the CSF case isolate and the RPA carriage isolate. We also demonstrate that the newly characterized strains from this study are distinct from previously characterized S. salivarius strains associated with carriage and meningitis.

SUBMITTER: Srinivasan V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3285201 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Using PCR-based detection and genotyping to trace Streptococcus salivarius meningitis outbreak strain to oral flora of radiology physician assistant.

Srinivasan Velusamy V Gertz Robert E RE Shewmaker Patricia L PL Patrick Sarah S Chitnis Amit S AS O'Connell Heather H Benowitz Isaac I Patel Priti P Guh Alice Y AY Noble-Wang Judith J Turabelidze George G Beall Bernard B

PloS one 20120222 2

We recently investigated three cases of bacterial meningitis that were reported from a midwestern radiology clinic where facemasks were not worn during spinal injection of contrast agent during myelography procedures. Using pulsed field gel electrophoresis we linked a case strain of S. salivarius to an oral specimen of a radiology physician assistant (RPA). We also used a real-time PCR assay to detect S. salivarius DNA within a culture-negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen. Here we extend ...[more]

PMID: 22384169

Similar Datasets

Project description:PurposeAccording to the Williams Institute, 1.4 million U.S. adults identify as transgender. Many experience health care disparities. Professional organizations call for medical education to improve transgender care, but what curricula are being delivered is unknown. The goal of this study was to conduct the first comprehensive, national survey of transgender health care curricula in physician assistant (PA) education.MethodThe authors sent a questionnaire to program directors (PDs) at all 236 U.S. PA programs in June 2018. They categorized programs as those that currently deliver at least 1 hour of transgender health content and those who do not (Teaching/Not Teaching). They examined differences between Teaching and Not Teaching programs using chi-square tests, and they evaluated comments for themes.ResultsThe response rate was 100%. Of the 236 programs, 202 (85.6%) teach transgender content and 34 (14.4%) do not. According to PDs, most transgender content was delivered in medical interviewing (44.1%) or women's health (31.4%) and the most common transgender health topics included differentiating between sex and gender and between behavior and identity (78.8%), followed by health disparities (77.5%) and barriers to care (75.0%). PDs most commonly cited a lack of time (51.3%) and faculty knowledge (35.6%) as barriers for teaching transgender health topics. Half of the PDs (50.4%) ranked transgender health as very or extremely important. The authors detected statistically significant differences between Teaching and Not Teaching programs based on geographic region (P = .01), perceived importance (P ≤ .001), and presence of knowledgeable faculty (P = .01). Presence of knowledgeable faculty was significantly associated with perceived importance (P = .01).ConclusionsThis is the first comprehensive, nationwide survey of transgender health education in U.S. PA programs. A key finding is that the presence of expert faculty is significantly associated with delivery and perceived importance of transgender health curricula.

Project description:IntroductionRadiologists frequently lack direct patient contact due to time constraints. Digital medical interview assistants aim to facilitate the collection of health information. In this paper, we propose leveraging conversational agents to realize a medical interview assistant to facilitate medical history taking, while at the same time offering patients the opportunity to ask questions on the examination.MethodsMIA, the digital medical interview assistant, was developed using a person-based design approach, involving patient opinions and expert knowledge during the design and development with a specific use case in collecting information before a mammography examination. MIA consists of two modules: the interview module and the question answering module (Q&A). To ensure interoperability with clinical information systems, we use HL7 FHIR to store and exchange the results collected by MIA during the patient interaction. The system was evaluated according to an existing evaluation framework that covers a broad range of aspects related to the technical quality of a conversational agent including usability, but also accessibility and security.ResultsThirty-six patients recruited from two Swiss hospitals (Lindenhof group and Inselspital, Bern) and two patient organizations conducted the usability test. MIA was favorably received by the participants, who particularly noted the clarity of communication. However, there is room for improvement in the perceived quality of the conversation, the information provided, and the protection of privacy. The Q&A module achieved a precision of 0.51, a recall of 0.87 and an F-Score of 0.64 based on 114 questions asked by the participants. Security and accessibility also require improvements.ConclusionThe applied person-based process described in this paper can provide best practices for future development of medical interview assistants. The application of a standardized evaluation framework helped in saving time and ensures comparability of results.

Dataset Information

Using PCR-based detection and genotyping to trace Streptococcus salivarius meningitis outbreak strain to oral flora of radiology physician assistant.

Publications

Using PCR-based detection and genotyping to trace Streptococcus salivarius meningitis outbreak strain to oral flora of radiology physician assistant.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets