ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an evolving situation worldwide, which is associated with a broad range of symptoms from pneumonia/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) to multiorgan failure. So far, we have also encountered several patients with coagulopathy, including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. A few cases of limb ischemia related to COVID-19 have been reported as well, but most of them involve critically ill patients. In this report, we discuss a case of COVID-19 in a patient who presented with right thumb ischemia without any significant respiratory symptoms.
ABSTRACT
Background. Haiti has the highest tuberculosis (TB) prevalence in the Americas with 254 cases per 100,000 persons. Case detection relies on passive detection and TB services in many regions suffer from poor diagnostic and clinical resources. Methods. Mache Chache ("Go and Seek") was a TB REACH Wave 3 funded TB case finding project in Port-au-Prince between July 2013 and September 2014, targeting four intervention areas with insufficient TB diagnostic performance. Results. Based on a verbal symptom screen emphasizing the presence of cough, the project identified 11,150 (11.75%) of all screened persons as TB subjects and 2.67% as smear-positive (SS+) TB cases. Enhanced case finding and strengthening of laboratory services led to a 59% increase in bacteriologically confirmed cases in the evaluation population. In addition, smear grades dropped significantly, suggesting earlier case detection. Xpert® MTB/RIF was successfully introduced and improved TB diagnosis in HIV-infected, smear-negative clinic patients, but not in HIV-negative, smear-negative TB suspects in the community. However, the number needed to screen for one additional SS+ case varied widely between clinic and community screening activities. Conclusion. Enhanced and active TB case finding in Haiti can improve TB diagnosis and care. However, screening algorithms have to be tailored to individual settings, necessitating long-term commitment.
