Pathogens distribution and antimicrobial resistance in bloodstream infections in twenty-five neonatal intensive care units in China, 2017-2019.

BACKGROUND: Overcrowding, abuse of antibiotics and increasing antimicrobial resistance negatively affect neonatal survival rates in developing countries. We aimed to define pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of early-onset sepsis (EOS), hospital-acquired late-onset sepsis (HALOS) and community-acquired late-onset sepsis (CALOS) in 25 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in China. STUDY DESIGN: This retrospective descriptive study included pathogens and their AMR from all neonates with bloodstream infections (BSIs) admitted to 25 tertiary hospitals in China from January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2019. We defined EOS as the occurrence of BSI at or before 72 h of life and late-onset sepsis (LOS) if BSI occurred after 72 h of life. LOS were classified as CALOS if occurrence of BSI was ≤ 48 h after admission, and HALOS, if occurrence was > 48 h after admission. RESULTS: We identified 1092 pathogens of BSIs in 1088 infants from 25 NICUs. Thirty-two percent of all pathogens were responsible for EOS, 64.3% HALOS, and 3.7% CALOS. Gram-negative (GN) bacteria accounted for a majority of pathogens in EOS (56.7%) and HALOS (62.2%). The most frequent pathogens causing EOS were Escherichia coli (27.2%) and group B streptococcus (GBS; 14.6%) whereas in CALOS they were GBS (46.3%) and Staphylococcus aureus (41.5%). Klebsiella pneumoniae (27.9%), Escherichia coli (15.7%) and Fungi (12.8%) were the top three isolates in HALOS. Third-generation cephalosporin resistance rates in GN bacteria ranged from 9.7 to 55.6% in EOS and 26% to 63.3% in HALOS. Carbapenem resistance rates in GN bacteria ranged from 2.7 to 31.3% in HALOS and only six isolates in EOS were carbapenem resistant. High rates of multidrug resistance were observed in Klebsiella pneumoniae (60.7%) in HALOS and in Escherichia coli (44.4%) in EOS. All gram-positive bacteria were susceptible to vancomycin except for three Enterococcus faecalis in HALOS. All-cause mortality was higher among neonates with EOS than HALOS (7.4% VS 4.4%, [OR] 0.577, 95% CI 0.337-0.989; P = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and GBS were the leading pathogens in EOS, HALOS and CALOS, respectively. The high proportion of pathogens and high degree of antimicrobial resistance in HALOS underscore understanding of the pathogenesis and emphasise the need to devise effective interventions in developing countries.

Application effect of sevoflurane in the cesarean section of pregnant women with pernicious placenta previa and its influence on maternal hemodynamics.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application effect of sevoflurane in pregnant women with pernicious placenta previa who conduct the cesarean section and its influence on maternal hemodynamics. METHODS: A total of 94 women with pernicious placenta previa (PPP) admitted to our hospital were recruited in this study. They were randomly divided into two groups, with 47 each group. The control group was given ketamine, propofol and rocuronium while the observation group was given sevoflurane base on conventional general anesthesia. The available data, intraoperative indexes, coagulation function before and after operation, hemodynamics, umbilical arterial partial pressure of oxygen and carbon dioxide before the procedure (T0), 5 min after anesthesia (T1), 15 min after anesthesia (T2) and during fetal delivery (T4) were observed. The Apgar scores of 1 min, 5 min and 10 min after birth were recorded. RESULTS: No significant difference was seen in related indicators during operation and blood coagulation function before and after the operation between the two groups (P>0.05). The diastolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure decreased at T1, T2 and T3 compared with T0 time (P<0.05). The decrease was more evident in the control group than in the observation group (P<0.001). The mean arterial pressure in the two groups at T1, T2 and T3 was higher than that at T0 (P<0.05). At T2, the increase in the control group was more obvious than that in the observation group (P<0.001). The heart rate at T1 and T2 was higher than that at T0 (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the oxygen pressure increased and the carbon dioxide pressure decreased in the observation group (P<0.001). The Apgar score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group at 1 min and 5 min (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Sevoflurane can stabilize hemodynamics, improve neonatal oxygen uptake rate and increase the safety of operation without affecting coagulation function, which is worthy of clinical application.

[Value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in evaluating early septic cardiac dysfunction in neonates].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the significance of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the early assessment of neonatal cardiac dysfunction in sepsis. METHODS: The children diagnosed with neonatal sepsis and common infection neonates admitted to the department of pediatric neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Liaocheng People's Hospital from January 2016 to January 2019 were enrolled. Data of clinical sign, laboratory results, bedside echocardiography and survival data were collected, and the differences of clinical indexes were compared among sepsis patients with and without cardiac dysfunction and common infection. The risk factors of sepsis with cardiac dysfunction were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression, and the early prediction value of NT-proBNP for neonatal septic cardiac dysfunction was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: There were 112 neonates with sepsis (49 with cardiac dysfunction and 63 without cardiac dysfunction) and 67 children with common infection included in the analysis. The onset time of neonates in septic cardiac dysfunction group was significantly earlier than that of septic non-cardiac dysfunction group and common infection group [hours: 52.9 (0, 180.3) vs. 53.9 (0, 183.6), 81.0 (45.6, 202.4), both P < 0.05]. Compared with the general infection group, albumin (ALB), white blood cell count (WBC), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in septic cardiac dysfunction group significantly decreased, NT-proBNP, hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)/ALB, pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) significantly increased, while right ventricular (RV) and Tei index significantly increased [ALB (g/L): 24.1±3.8 vs. 27.8±3.6, WBC (×109/L): 12.7 (3.7, 18.9) vs. 15.4 (9.9, 23.2), LVEF: 0.626±0.123 vs. 0.700±0.021, NT-proBNP (ng/L): 20 230.6 (15 890.0, 35 000.0) vs. 7 324.5 (2 426.5, 13 890.0), hs-CRP/ALB: 0.33 (0.29, 0.81) vs. 0.06 (0.00, 0.21), PASP (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa): 52.25±14.12 vs. 41.07±27.73, RV (mm): 10.74±2.42 vs. 8.55±1.41, Tei index: 0.52±0.03 vs. 0.30±0.04, all P < 0.05]. NT-proBNP and Tei index in septic cardiac dysfunction group were significantly higher than those in septic non-cardiac dysfunction group [NT-proBNP (ng/L): 20 230.6 (15 890.0, 35 000.0) vs. 13 057.6 (8 946.0, 35 000.0), Tei index: 0.52±0.03 vs. 0.39±0.02, both P < 0.05], and LVEF was significantly lower than that in septic non-cardiac dysfunction group (0.626±0.123 vs. 0.671±0.086, P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that NT-proBNP, Tei index and hs-CRP/ALB were independent risk factors for cardiac dysfunction in sepsis neonates [odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were 8.73 (1.54-5.67), 1.97 (1.26-2.87), 1.87 (1.03-3.40) respectively, all P < 0.05]. ROC curve analysis showed that NT-proBNP, Tei index and hs-CRP/ALB had good predictive value for the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction in septic neonates, the area under ROC curve (AUC) was 0.81 (95%CI was 0.84-0.91), 0.78 (95%CI was 0.65-0.79) and 0.77 (95%CI was 0.61-0.77), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of NT-proBNP were 80.0% and 79.0% respectively with 12 291.5 ng/L as the cut-off value, the sensitivity and specificity of Tei index were 74.0% and 77.0% respectively with 0.45 as the cut-off value, and the sensitivity and specificity of hs-CRP/ALB were 76.0% and 76.3% respectively with 0.10 as the cut-off value. CONCLUSIONS: NT-proBNP can be used as a diagnostic marker of early cardiac dysfunction, and for rapid diagnosis of neonatal cardiac dysfunction in sepsis. The application may guide clinicians to use drugs better to improve cardiac function and treatment effect.

Dynamic Change of Thyroid Hormones With Postmenstrual Age in Very Preterm Infants Born With Gestational Age <32 Weeks: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: At present, the relationship between thyrotropin (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) in relation to postmenstrual age (PMA) in preterm infants is still unclear, and there is no reliable standard thyroid hormone reference ranges, resulting in different diagnostic criteria for congenital hypothyroidism been used by different newborn screening programs and different countries. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between TSH/FT4 and PMA in very preterm infants (VPIs) born with gestational age (GA) <32 weeks and to derive thyroid function reference charts based on PMA. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed on VPIs born with GA<32 weeks and born in or transferred to the 27 neonatal intensive care units from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019. Serial TSH and FT4 values were measured at the end of each week during the first month after birth and also at PMA36 weeks, PMA40 weeks and at discharge, respectively. The 2.5th, 5th, 50th, 95th, and 97.5th percentiles of TSH and FT4 of different PMA groups were calculated to draw the percentile charts based on PMA. Results: 1,093 preterm infants were included in this study. The percentile charts of TSH and FT4 levels based on PMA were drawn respectively, and the result indicated that the percentile charts of TSH values were gradually increased initially and then decreased with increasing PMA. The 97.5th percentile chart reached the peak at PMA30 weeks (17.38µIU/ml), and then decreased gradually, reaching the same level as full-term infants (9.07µIU/ml) at PMA38-40 weeks. The 2.5th percentile chart of FT4 was at its lowest point at PMA26-27 weeks (5.23pmol/L), then increased slowly with PMA and reached the same level as full-term infants at PMA38-40 weeks (10.87pmol/L). At PMA36 weeks, the reference intervals of the 2.5th to 97.5th percentiles of TSH and FT4 were 1.18-12.3µIU/ml and 8.59-25.98pmol/L, respectively. Conclusion: The percentile charts of TSH and FT4 in VPIs showed characteristic change with PMA. The results prompt that age-related cutoffs, instead of a single reference range, might be more useful to explain the thyroid function of VPIs. And repeated screening is necessary for preterm infants.

[Impact of premature rupture of membranes on neonatal complications in preterm infants with gestational age <37 weeks].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of premature rupture of the membrane (PROM) on neonatal complications in premature infants. METHODS: The registration information of 7684 preterm infants with gestational age <37 weeks were collected from the cooperative units in the task group between January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. Specially trained personnel from each cooperative units filled in the unified form in a standardized format to record the gender, gestational age, birth weight, PROM, placental abruption, antenatal corticosteroid, Apgar score, amniotic fluid pollution, and complications of the infants. The data were analyzed comparatively between the cases with PROM and those without (control). RESULTS: The preterm mortality rate was significantly lower but the incidences of ICH, NEC, ROP and BPD were significantly higher in PROM group than in the control group (P<0.05). The 95% confidence interval of the OR value was <1 for mortality, and was >1 for ICH, NEC, ROP and BPD. After adjustment for gestational age, birth weight, gender, mode of delivery, placental abruption, placenta previa, prenatal hormones, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational period hypertension and 5-min Apgar score <7, the incidences of NEC, ROP and BPD were significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05) with 95% confidence interval of OR value >1, but the mortality rate and incidence of ICH were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: PROM is a risk factor for NEC, ROP and BPD in preterm infants, and adequate intervention of PROM can reduce the incidences of such complications as NEC, ROP and BPD in the infants.

Cost, utilization, and quality of care: an evaluation of illinois' medicaid primary care case management program.

PURPOSE: In 2006, Illinois established Illinois Health Connect (IHC), a primary care case management program for Medicaid that offered enhanced fee-for-service, capitation payments, performance incentives, and practice support. Illinois also implemented a complementary disease management program, Your Healthcare Plus (YHP). This external evaluation explored outcomes associated with these programs. METHODS: We analyzed Medicaid claims and enrollment data from 2004 to 2010, covering both pre- and post-implementation. The base year was 2006, and 2006-2010 eligibility criteria were applied to 2004-2005 data to allow comparison. We studied costs and utilization trends, overall and by service and setting. We studied quality by incorporating Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures and IHC performance payment criteria. RESULTS: Illinois Medicaid expanded considerably between 2006 (2,095,699 full-year equivalents) and 2010 (2,692,123). Annual savings were 6.5% for IHC and 8.6% for YHP by the fourth year, with cumulative Medicaid savings of $1.46 billion. Per-beneficiary annual costs fell in Illinois over this period compared to those in states with similar Medicaid programs. Quality improved for nearly all metrics under IHC, and most prevention measures more than doubled in frequency. Medicaid inpatient costs fell by 30.3%, and outpatient costs rose by 24.9% to 45.7% across programs. Avoidable hospitalizations fell by 16.8% for YHP, and bed-days fell by 15.6% for IHC. Emergency department visits declined by 5% by 2010. CONCLUSIONS: The Illinois Medicaid IHC and YHP programs were associated with substantial savings, reductions in inpatient and emergency care, and improvements in quality measures. This experience is not typical of other states implementing some, but not all, of these same policies. Although specific features of the Illinois reforms may have accounted for its better outcomes, the limited evaluation design calls for caution in making causal inferences.

[Effect of ambient atmosphere on laser micro-plasma radiant intensity].

The plasma radiant intensity was investigated by a laser micro-plasma spectral analysis system. The system consists of an YJG-II laser micro-spectral analyzer and a CCD data acquisition and processing system. National standard soil samples were studied in the experiment under different ambient atmosphere with argon, helium and the mixture of argon and helium by using the analysis lines, Ca II 393.367 nm and Ca II 396.847 nm. The results of this research suggest that both the time of plasma illumination and the radiant intensity of plasma in an atmosphere of helium-argon mixture were better than that in pure helium or argon gas. The plasma radiant intensity was obviously enhanced when the proportion of helium and argon was 66.7% and 33.3%, respectively. Under these conditions, the influence of the height of auxiliary electrode on laser micro-plasma radiant intensity was also investigated. The maximum laser micro-plasma radiant intensity was reached when the height of auxiliary electrode was 3 mm.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase regulates actin organization and cell motility by phosphorylating the actin cross-linking protein EPLIN.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is important for various cellular processes, including cell migration. However, the detailed molecular mechanism by which ERK promotes cell motility remains elusive. Here we characterize epithelial protein lost in neoplasm (EPLIN), an F-actin cross-linking protein, as a novel substrate for ERK. ERK phosphorylates Ser360, Ser602, and Ser692 on EPLIN in vitro and in intact cells. Phosphorylation of the C-terminal region of EPLIN reduces its affinity for actin filaments. EPLIN colocalizes with actin stress fibers in quiescent cells, and stimulation with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) induces stress fiber disassembly and relocalization of EPLIN to peripheral and dorsal ruffles, wherein phosphorylation of Ser360 and Ser602 is observed. Phosphorylation of these two residues is also evident during wound healing at the leading edge of migrating cells. Moreover, expression of a non-ERK-phosphorylatable mutant, but not wild-type EPLIN, prevents PDGF-induced stress fiber disassembly and membrane ruffling and also inhibits wound healing and PDGF-induced cell migration. We propose that ERK-mediated phosphorylation of EPLIN contributes to actin filament reorganization and enhanced cell motility.