Mobile Delivery of Health Information for People with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The design of a smartphone application (app) for promoting healthy lifestyle choices has been investigated for people with mild cognitive impairment. The app was designed to provide health-related messages and assist users to keep track of activities such as walking, eating and drinking water. A reward scheme with gold, silver and bronze awards was incorporated as a means of assisting user motivation. Responses to the app and user feedback were gathered for purposes of evaluation and improvement. Outcomes indicate that the approach has some potential and could have good implications for encouraging positive health-related behaviour change in this population, hence prompting further investigation and development of the concept.

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Alberta, Canada.

Systematic review data demonstrate that 5% of ALS cases are familial (FALS). Causative superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) mutations are identified in 10-20% of FALS. Few reports of FALS epidemiology exist in Canada. We completed a retrospective review of all FALS cases within the province of Alberta between 2002 and 2011. Descriptive summaries of genotypes identified and calculation of prevalences were performed. We reviewed 946 clinic database records and 49 subjects with FALS were identified (5.2%). Clinic charts for 47/49 were available and reviewed. Causative SOD1 mutations were observed in 17/47 (36%). The SOD1 I113T mutation was identified in 11/47 unrelated patients and was associated with a less variable survival than previously reported. The period and point prevalences of FALS in Alberta are approximately 2.05 per 100,000 (95% CI 1.51-2.73) and 4.68 per 1,000,000 (95% CI 2.42-8.18), respectively. In conclusion, we report 47 cases of FALS in Alberta over the past decade. The proportion of SOD1-positive FALS cases is higher than reported elsewhere. The high proportion of I113T mutations is comparable to that previously observed in the adjacent province of British Columbia.

IMP-producing carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in the United States.

The emergence and spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) producing acquired carbapenemases have created a global public health crisis. In the United States, CRE producing the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) are increasingly common and are endemic in some regions. Metallo-ß-lactamase (MBL)-producing CRE have recently been reported in the United States among patients who received medical care in countries where such organisms are common. Here, we describe three carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates recovered from pediatric patients at a single U.S. health care facility, none of whom had a history of international travel. The isolates were resistant to carbapenems but susceptible to aztreonam, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and fluoroquinolones. The three isolates were closely related to each other by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and contained a common plasmid. PCR and sequence analysis confirmed that these isolates produce IMP-4, an MBL carbapenemase not previously published as present among Enterobacteriaceae in the United States.

Standardization of antibiotic susceptibility test and reasonable test consulting / 中华检验医学杂志

In this article standard antibiotic susceptibility test methods and key terms in reporting results recommended by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) were introduced into nine parts: (1) Key points in routine antibiotic susceptibility test. (2) Staphylococcus spp. (3) Enterococcus spp. (4) Streptococcus pneumoniae. (5) Streptococcus spp. other than Streptococcus pneumoniae. (6) Infrequently isolated strains or fastidious bacteria. (7) Enterobacteriaceae. (8) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other non-Enterobacteriaceae. (9)Haemophilus influenzae and H. parainfluenzae. The author also introduced part of updated contents from CLSI M100-S19,2009.

Effectiveness of an influenza vaccine programme for care home staff to prevent death, morbidity, and health service use among residents: cluster randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether vaccination of care home staff against influenza indirectly protects residents. DESIGN: Pair matched cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Large private chain of UK care homes during the winters of 2003-4 and 2004-5. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing home staff (n=1703) and residents (n=2604) in 44 care homes (22 intervention homes and 22 matched control homes). INTERVENTIONS: Vaccination offered to staff in intervention homes but not in control homes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was all cause mortality of residents. Secondary outcomes were influenza-like illness and health service use in residents. RESULTS: In 2003-4 vaccine coverage in full time staff was 48.2% (407/884) in intervention homes and 5.9% (51/859) in control homes. In 2004-5 uptake rates were 43.2% (365/844) and 3.5% (28/800). National influenza rates were substantially below average in 2004-5. In the 2003-4 period of influenza activity significant decreases were found in mortality of residents in intervention homes compared with control homes (rate difference -5.0 per 100 residents, 95% confidence interval -7.0 to -2.0) and in influenza-like illness (P=0.004), consultations with general practitioners for influenza-like illness (P=0.008), and admissions to hospital with influenza-like illness (P=0.009). No significant differences were found in 2004-5 or during periods of no influenza activity in 2003-4. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccinating care home staff against influenza can prevent deaths, health service use, and influenza-like illness in residents during periods of moderate influenza activity. TRIAL REGISTRATION: National Research Register N0530147256.

Selection of strains for quality assessment of the disk induction method for detection of inducible clindamycin resistance in Staphylococci: a CLSI collaborative study.

A nine-laboratory collaborative study was conducted to select positive and negative quality assessment control strains for the detection of inducible clindamycin resistance in staphylococci. Four strains of Staphylococcus aureus were tested as unknowns on 10 different days in each laboratory using the recently recommended CLSI (formerly NCCLS) disk diffusion method and the inoculum purity control method. Strains contained either macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) resistance genes encoded by erm(A) or erm(C) or a macrolide resistance efflux pump encoded by msr(A). Based upon the results of this study, strain UT 32 (now designated ATCC strain BAA-977) containing erm(A) is recommended as the positive control organism for inducible clindamycin resistance. Strain UT 25 (now designated ATCC BAA-976), which harbors the efflux pump encoded by msr(A), is recommended as the negative control organism.