A Framework for Response Escalation and Emergency Response Asset Management.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) responds to public health emergencies at various levels within its organization. Overtime, CDC's response capabilities have matured across the organization due to years of emergency management investment and experience across the agency. In 2019, CDC began to implement the Graduated Response Framework to formalize an approach for managing public health emergencies that recognizes its response capabilities and meets the evolving needs of the country. This brief report summarizes CDC's Graduated Response Framework structure, and how response management escalates and de-escalates according to resource needs and complexity.

Utilization of SmartNav technology in cochlear implantation: optimizing efficiency in assessment of electrode placement.

OBJECTIVES: Proper electrode placement is essential for favorable hearing outcomes following cochlear implantation. Though often used, traditional intraoperative X-ray imaging is time consuming, exposes patients and staff to radiation, and poses interpretational challenges. The Nucleus® SmartNav System, utilizes electrode voltage telemetry (EVT) to analyze the positioning of the electrode array intraoperatively. This study investigates the efficacy of SmartNav in optimizing the efficiency and accuracy of assessing electrode placement. METHODS: This prospective clinical study analyzed placement of 50 consecutive Cochlear Corporation cochlear implants conducted at a single institution between March of 2022 and June of 2023. Placement check of electrode array using SmartNav and X-ray was completed and individually assessed. A comparative analysis of SmartNav and X-ray completion times for electrode placement assessment was conducted. RESULTS: Subjects included nine ears with abnormal anatomy and three reimplants. SmartNav placement check required a total time of 2.12 min compared to X-ray imaging at 14.23 min (p = 1.6E-16, CI 95%). Both SmartNav and X-ray had excellent sensitivity of 100% in identifying appropriate electrode position (p = 1.0). Tip fold-over was identified using both modalities in 3 cases with noted easier interpretation using SmartNav. CONCLUSION: The Nucleus® SmartNav System significantly outperformed traditional X-ray imaging, offering a faster and more straightforward approach to assessing electrode positioning during cochlear implant surgery, thereby enhancing surgical efficiency and patient safety.

Cochlear Implantation in Children With a Long Average Duration of Single Sided Deafness.

OBJECTIVES: Previous research has shown the positive effects of cochlear implantation in children with a short duration of single sided deafness (SSD). This case series assessed the impact of cochlear implantation in a cohort of children with a longer average duration of SSD. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 6 children who received a cochlear implant for SSD. The mean age at time of cochlear implantation was 14.7 years old (median = 15.5, interquartile range (IQR) = 2.5) and mean duration of hearing loss before cochlear implantation was 10.8 years (median = 11.5, IQR = 5.3). Pre- and post-operative audiometric data for aided speech perception testing, sentence recognition in quiet, sentence recognition in noise, and word recognition scores were analyzed. RESULTS: When compared to preoperative hearing aid scores a 24% significant increase in median word score and a 64% significant increase in median sentence recognition score in quiet was observed at 12 months post-op. CONCLUSION: Cochlear implantation in children with a longer duration of SSD can provide benefit to speech recognition. LAY SUMMARY: This retrospective case series of children with prolonged single sided deafness demonstrated an improvement in word and sentence recognition within 12 months of receiving a cochlear implant.

Effect of Residential Lead-Hazard Interventions on Childhood Blood Lead Concentrations and Neurobehavioral Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Childhood lead exposure is associated with neurobehavioral deficits. The effect of a residential lead hazard intervention on blood lead concentrations and neurobehavioral development remains unknown. Objective: To determine whether a comprehensive residential lead-exposure reduction intervention completed during pregnancy could decrease residential dust lead loadings, prevent elevated blood lead concentrations, and improve childhood neurobehavioral outcomes. Design, Setting, and Participants: This longitudinal, community-based randomized clinical trial of pregnant women and their children, the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study, was conducted between March 1, 2003, and January 31, 2006. Pregnant women attending 1 of 9 prenatal care clinics affiliated with 3 hospitals in the Cincinnati, Ohio, metropolitan area were recruited. Of the 1263 eligible women, 468 (37.0%) agreed to participate and 355 women (75.8%) were randomized in this intention-to-treat analysis. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 2 interventions designed to reduce residential lead or injury hazards. Follow-up on children took place at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 years of age. Data analysis was performed from September 2, 2017, to May 6, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Residential dust lead loadings were measured at baseline and when children were 1 and 2 years of age. At 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 years of age, the children's blood lead concentrations as well as behavior, cognition, and executive functions were assessed. Results: Of the 355 women randomized, 174 (49.0%) were assigned to the intervention group (mean [SD] age at delivery, 30.1 (5.5) years; 119 [68.3%] self-identified as non-Hispanic white) and 181 (50.9%) to the control group (mean [SD] age at delivery, 29.2 [5.7] years; 123 [67.9%] self-identified as non-Hispanic white). The intervention reduced the dust lead loadings for the floor (24%; 95% CI, -43% to 1%), windowsill (40%; 95% CI, -60% to -11%), and window trough (47%; 95% CI, -68% to -10%) surfaces. The intervention did not statistically significantly reduce childhood blood lead concentrations (-6%; 95% CI, -17% to 6%; P = .29). Neurobehavioral test scores were not statistically different between children in the intervention group than those in the control group except for a reduction in anxiety scores in the intervention group (ß = -1.6; 95% CI, -3.2 to -0.1; P = .04). Conclusions and Relevance: Residential lead exposures, as well as blood lead concentrations in non-Hispanic black children, were reduced through a comprehensive lead-hazard intervention without elevating the lead body burden. However, this decrease did not result in substantive neurobehavioral improvements in children. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00129324.

Low Concentrations of Nitric Oxide Modulate Streptococcus pneumoniae Biofilm Metabolism and Antibiotic Tolerance.

Streptococcus pneumoniaeis one of the key pathogens responsible for otitis media (OM), the most common infection in children and the largest cause of childhood antibiotic prescription. Novel therapeutic strategies that reduce the overall antibiotic consumption due to OM are required because, although widespread pneumococcal conjugate immunization has controlled invasive pneumococcal disease, overall OM incidence has not decreased. Biofilm formation represents an important phenotype contributing to the antibiotic tolerance and persistence ofS. pneumoniaein chronic or recurrent OM. We investigated the treatment of pneumococcal biofilms with nitric oxide (NO), an endogenous signaling molecule and therapeutic agent that has been demonstrated to trigger biofilm dispersal in other bacterial species. We hypothesized that addition of low concentrations of NO to pneumococcal biofilms would improve antibiotic efficacy and that higher concentrations exert direct antibacterial effects. Unlike in many other bacterial species, low concentrations of NO did not result inS. pneumoniaebiofilm dispersal. Instead, treatment of bothin vitrobiofilms andex vivoadenoid tissue samples (a reservoir forS. pneumoniaebiofilms) with low concentrations of NO enhanced pneumococcal killing when combined with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, an antibiotic commonly used to treat chronic OM. Quantitative proteomic analysis using iTRAQ (isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation) identified 13 proteins that were differentially expressed following low-concentration NO treatment, 85% of which function in metabolism or translation. Treatment with low-concentration NO, therefore, appears to modulate pneumococcal metabolism and may represent a novel therapeutic approach to reduce antibiotic tolerance in pneumococcal biofilms.

Incidence and Severity of Prepouch Ileitis: A Distinct Disease Entity or a Manifestation of Refractory Pouchitis?

BACKGROUND: Restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis is the operation of choice for patients with treatment-refractory ulcerative colitis. However, after this intervention, up to 50% of patients develop pouchitis. Moreover, a subgroup will also develop inflammation in the afferent ileum proximal to the pouch, a condition named prepouch ileitis (PI). METHODS: Data on 546 patients who underwent ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis were retrospectively collected from 3 tertiary inflammatory bowel disease referral centers in the Netherlands, Belgium, and England. PI was considered present if there was endoscopic and histological inflammation in the afferent limb proximal to the pouch. Crohn's disease was excluded by reviewing the histology of colectomy resection specimens. RESULTS: PI was present in 33/546 (6%) patients and all of these had concurrent pouchitis. One hundred forty-four (26%) patients had pouchitis without PI and 369 (68%) patients did not have inflammatory pouch disease. Of the 33 patients with PI, 6 (18%) received no specific treatment, 9 (27%) responded to antibiotics, and 18 (54%) required escalation in therapy to steroids/immunomodulators or anti-tumor necrosis factor agents. Potent immunosuppressive treatment was required more frequently in patients with PI than those with pouchitis alone. CONCLUSIONS: PI is less common and more treatment refractory than pouchitis alone. Once PI is diagnosed, clinicians should be aware that response to antibiotic therapy is less likely than in pouchitis alone. Immunomodulatory therapy and escalation to anti-tumor necrosis factor agents should be considered early in cases of nonresponse. The suggestion that PI represents misdiagnosed Crohn's disease could not be substantiated in our cohort.

Do callers to the NSW Sexual Health Infoline attend the services they are referred to?

BACKGROUND: The NSW Sexual Health Infoline (SHIL) is a free and confidential sexual health information and referral line. The ability of Australian sexual health helplines to facilitate successful referrals has not been studied. In the present study, we sought to determine whether callers were successful in accessing the publicly funded sexual health services (PFSHS) or general practitioners (GP) they were referred to. METHODS: Callers to SHIL who were directly referred to a PFSHS or GP for HIV and/or sexually transmissible infection testing from 3 January to 31 March 2012 were offered a follow-up phone call 1 week later. RESULTS: Of 474 eligible callers, 190 (40%) agreed to disclose a first name and contact details and to be contacted by a study nurse on an agreed-upon date. One hundred and twenty (63%) callers were successfully contacted 1 week later; of these, 85% had attended or had a future appointment booked for testing. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that among the study sample that was successfully followed up, most callers to the SHIL had attended or booked appointments to the services they were referred to.