Plasma cell-free metagenomic next generation sequencing in the clinical setting for the diagnosis of infectious diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Plasma cell-free metagenomic next-generation sequencing (cf-mNGS) is a non-invasive method that may be able to identify thousands of pathogens through a hypothesis-free approach. There is a lack of consensus on how this test compares to conventional microbiologic testing. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies evaluating the accuracy of plasma cf-mNGS in hospitalized patients and present pooled estimates of the positive (PPA) and negative percent agreement (NPA) compared to a composite reference standard that included all conventional microbiological testing and clinical history as assessed by an adjudication panel or clinical treatment team. Five retrospective studies (n = 552) were included. The majority of the patients (56%-88%) were immunocompromised. The pooled PPA was 67% (95% CI, 54%-81%) and the pooled NPA was 70% (95% CI, 63%-77%). The pooled diagnostic performance characteristics suggest that cf-mNGS provides limited evidence for ruling in or out the presence of infection as commonly used.

Child maltreatment and neglect in the United Arab Emirates and relationship with low self-esteem and symptoms of depression.

OBJECTIVES: To our knowledge, this study is the first in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to investigate the prevalence of child maltreatment in relation to depressive symptoms and self-esteem. STUDY DESIGN: Exposure to physical maltreatment, emotional abuse and neglect was evaluated in 518 adolescents (86% response rate) randomly selected from schools in Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were used to measure self-esteem and depressive symptoms by using multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 14.3 years. Emotional abuse was the most frequent form of maltreatment (33.9%), physical abuse (12.6%) and neglect (12.1%) followed. Male sex was a positive predictor of physical abuse (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.18-3.77), whilst higher maternal level of education was protective (OR = 0.40; 95% CI 0.19-0.86). Daily screen time (OR = 2.77; 95% CI 1.17-6.56) and tobacco smoking (OR = 1.86; 95% CI 1.09-3.18) positively predicted emotional abuse. Emotionally maltreated and neglected participants were less likely to report high level of self-esteem and more likely to report symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Child maltreatment in the UAE is of a similar magnitude to what reported in other countries around the world and significantly associated with low self-esteem and depressive symptoms.