Cecal volvulus following appendectomy in a teenage patient: A case report.

Patients mimicking appendicitis symptoms in a rural setting or those post-appendectomy, indicating cecal volvulus, should always be considered. Swift action can prevent catastrophic consequences. Abstract: We present a case of a 14-year-old female who initially underwent open appendectomy for acute appendicitis and subsequently experienced symptoms of abdominal distention, vomiting, and fever. Her condition deteriorated following the appendectomy, despite a prior appendectomy for similar symptoms at a different facility. A computed tomography (CT) scan identified cecal volvulus as the underlying issue. This led to the performance of a laparotomy, cecopexy, and decompressive ileostomy. After six weeks, ileostomy closure was successfully carried out, and the patient currently enjoys good health. This case highlights the significance of considering uncommon factors as potential contributors to postoperative complications in young patients.

Post-tonsillectomy Hemorrhage in Patients Receiving Ketorolac Analgesic.

Background Ketorolac, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is thought to have less sedation as well as postoperative nausea and vomiting in comparison to opioids, but with higher risk of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage as reported in some of the literatures. There is no consensus till date in the use of ketorolac in the management of pain following tonsil and adenoid related surgeries. Objective To find out the incidence of hemorrhage following tonsil and adenoid related surgeries in patients receiving ketorolac in postoperative period. Method This is a retrospective chart review of patients undergoing tonsil and adenoid related surgeries who had received ketorolac during April, 2013 to May, 2019 at department of ENT-HNS, Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), Lalitpur, Nepal. Post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage rate was calculated in pediatric and adult patients. Result During the study period, 103 patients (male - 50 and female - 53) received ketorolac in postoperative period. Tonsillectomy and adenotonsillectomy were performed in 71and 32 patients respectively. Forty-five patients were < 18 years whereas 58 were ≥ 18 years. Most common indication for surgery was recurrent tonsillitis (66/103) followed by adenotonsillar hypertrophy (31/103). Post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage was observed in 15 patients; among them, four out 45 were < 18 years and 11 out of 58 ≥ 18 years. All five patients out of 15, who required surgical intervention for post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage, were ≥ 18 years and were operated for recurrent tonsillitis. Rest of the patients (10/15) were managed conservatively. None of the patients required blood transfusion. Conclusion Ketorolac is not associated with increased risk of post-tonsillectomy hemorrhage in children and can safely be administered. Whereas in adults, recurrent tonsillitis being the most common indication for tonsillectomy, it should be used cautiously.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Nepali Version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire.

Background Revised developmental coordination disorder questionnaire (DCDQ'07) is the best available population-based screening tool to identify developmental coordination disorder and being a parent reported tool, it needs to be available in Nepali language for its application in Nepali population. Objective The objective of this study was to cross-culturally adapt developmental coordination disorder questionnaire into Nepali (DCDQ-NP). The psychometric properties of Nepali version of Developmental coordination disorder questionnaire were established. Method The adaptation was done following Beaton's guideline and the psychometric properties was studied in the community sample of 165 parents of school going children of 5-15 years. Fifty parents were asked to refill the questionnaire after the two weeks period. The study determines internal consistency, test retest reliability, floor and ceiling effect and construct validity. Result Significant cultural adaptation was required to obtain relevant Nepali version. The Nepali version of Developmental coordination disorder questionnaire demonstrates high internal consistency (α = 0.912), excellent test-retest reliability (IC = 0.901) and the floor and ceiling effect were acceptable. Principal component analysis showed three factor structure accounting 62% of variance. Conclusion The developmental coordination disorder questionnaire into Nepali were successfully translated and culturally adapted preserving its original concept. It showed good psychometric properties in a Nepali population. The adapted questionnaire shall be of significance in carry out further research in developmental coordination disorder in Nepal.

COVID 19 Vaccine Breakthrough Infection among Health Care Workers.

Background Mass vaccination is considered the primary strategy for reducing the impact of COVID-19, and it has been implemented globally. Objective To study the extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection and breakthrough infection among the HCWs who were fully vaccinated for at least 14 days and investigated the relation between neutralizing antibody response and breakthrough infection. Method This study was a retrospective cohort study among health care workers at Dhulikhel Hospital Kathmandu University Hospital from December 2021 to October 2022. The interviews with semi structured questionnaire were conducted in person or over phone. Out of 1450 participants 137 fully vaccinated HCWs without breakthrough infection were randomly selected for the prospective serological cohort. Result Out of 1079 participants' majority (51.8%) were of age 25-34 years. Two thirds (66.7%) were females. More than half of participant (54.7%) had infection with SARS-CoV-2 at least once whereas more than one third people (35%) had reported SARS-CoV-2 infection 14 days after receiving full vaccination. Infection after vaccination had less moderate and sever/critical illness and less need for hospitalization as compared to infection before vaccination. Staffs who were directly involved in patient care had higher chance of breakthrough infection compared to those not involved directly in patient care. Those who had prior infection or booster dose had relatively higher antibody level and participants with low level of antibody had higher chance for breakthrough infection (35.3%) than participants with moderate to high level of antibody (11.9%). Conclusion Vaccinations significantly decreased severe diseases and the need for hospitalizations. Breakthrough infection was higher among the health care workers involved in direct patient care and with low level of antibody.

Demographics and Awareness of Diabetic Retinopathy among Diabetic Patients Attending Department of Ophthalmology at Dhulikhel Hospital.

Background Diabetes mellitus is considered as a major public health concern globally. Poor management of diabetes may lead to several serious complications including endstage renal disease, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy, and cardiovascular complications. Among them diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness in Nepal. Objective To assess the demographics and level of awareness among individuals with diabetes about diabetic retinopathy during their visit to Department of Ophthalmology at Dhulikhel Hospital. Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted involving all consecutive cases of diabetes mellitus who attended eye clinic with the principal investigator and co-investigator from March 2021 to August 2021. Detailed demographics of the participants, their level of awareness regarding diabetic retinopathy and associated complications were documented. This was followed by a detailed ocular examination intending to screen for the presence of features of diabetic retinopathy. Result A total of 260 patients with a mean age of 54 years ± 12.20 (range of 24 - 85 years) were included. The male to female ratio was 2.2:1. Among them, 65.4% of the patients had diabetes mellitus for less than 5 years duration. Diabetic retinopathy was found in 18.46% of the cases. Awareness of diabetic ocular complications was significantly higher among literate population (p = 0.054), among those who have positive family history of diabetes mellitus (p = 0.529) and those who had undergone prior fundus evaluation (p = 0.000). Conclusion From result of this study, we can emphasize that there is a necessity for health education in order to increase the awareness and knowledge about diabetic retinopathy to lower the burden of sight threatening complications related with the issue.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Medical Ethics among Doctors and Nurses in Pokhara Valley, Nepal.

Background Medical ethics is defined as the ethical obligations of medical professionals towards their patients, colleagues, and society. The inadequacy and non-uniformity of this topic has been associated with rising cases of professional misconduct and medical negligence all over the world. Objective To assess and compare the status of knowledge, attitude and practice of medical ethics among medical doctors and nurses in three major hospitals of Pokhara valley. Method This was a cross-sectional study conducted from 15th Mar 2018 to 13th Apr 2018; in which 124 doctors and 103 nurses were asked to fill up medical ethics related questionnaire. The data was entered in SPSS file and the association of variables was determined by Chi-square and statistical significance was considered if the p-value < 0.05. Result The study showed that 56.5%, 8.1%, and 13.7% of doctors were aware of the Hippocratic oath, Nuremberg Code, and Helsinki declaration respectively compared to only 1% of nurses. There was a significant difference in opinions on various questions related to medical ethics with p-value < 0.05 in 12 out of 22 questions. Only a few (12.1% doctors vs. 25.2% nurses) stood in support of the physicianassisted dying. Conclusion The study showed that there was inadequate as well as a non-uniform level of knowledge of three major codes of medical ethics and principles related to it which resulted in significant disparity in the attitude and practice of medical ethics among doctors and nurses in Pokhara valley.

Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) Traceable to Household Fuel Consumption and its Impact on Health.

Energy is an essential and obligatory prerequisite of life. Indoor air pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems in the world being specifically concentrated in resource limited settings. Inspite of the availability of cleaner fuel technologies, people in resource limited setting still depend on traditional fuel to meet their basic needs resulting even in premature deaths. In Nepal people in rural areas are the pre-dominant users of biomass fuel, there is limited research focusing on rural areas particularly; women as they spend most of their time in kitchen. Reports were extensively searched for literature using preset keywords in English language peer-reviewed journals databases PubMed and Google Scholar published between the years 2005 to 2020. Citation details were examined, titles and abstracts screened for eligibility and if relevant, full text was also reviewed in greater detail. Findings were then presented primarily under two bold themes: Household fuel consumption: existing theories and evidence; and health impact of indoor air pollution. Several health effects were reported of indoor air pollution including respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, endocrine system disruption and pregnancy complications. These exposures almost double the health risks predominantly among children and women of rural communities as they are directly involved in household activities causing air pollution. Based on our review of evidence, women and children of rural households were the major victims. Further, determinants of household fuel consumption and health effects should be considered while formulating policies in regard to promoting accessibility of clean fuels and reducing household air pollutants.

A Systematic Review of the Protective Effect of Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Repeat Infection.

We systematically reviewed studies to estimate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among those previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. For this systematic review, we searched scientific publications on PubMed and MedRxiv, a pre-print server, through August 18, 2021. Eligible studies were retrieved on August 18, 2021. The following search term was used on PubMed: ((("Cohort Studies"[Majr]) AND ("COVID-19"[Mesh] OR "SARS-CoV-2"[Mesh])) OR "Reinfection"[Majr]) OR "Reinfection"[Mesh]. The following search term was used on MedRxiv: "Cohort Studies" AND "COVID-19" OR "SARS-CoV-2" AND "Reinfection". The search terms were broad to encompass all applicable studies. There were no restrictions on the date of publication. Studies that did not describe cohorts with estimates of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection among those with previous infection were excluded. Studies that included vaccinated participants were either excluded or limited to sub-groups of non-vaccinated individuals. To identify relevant studies with appropriate control groups, we developed the following criteria for studies to be included in the systematic analysis: (1) baseline polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, (2) a uninfected comparison group, (3) longitudinal follow-up, (4) a cohort of human participants, i.e. not a case report or case series, and (5) outcome determined by PCR. The review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. We assessed for selection, information, and analysis bias, per PRISMA guidelines. We identified 1,392 reports. Of those, 10 studies were eligible for our systematic review. The weighted average risk reduction against reinfection was 90.4% with a standard deviation of 7.7% (p-value: <0.01). Protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection was observed for up to 10 months. Studies had potential information, selection, and analysis biases. The protective effect of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection on re-infection is high and similar to the protective effect of vaccination. More research is needed to characterize the duration of protection and the impact of different SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The effect of metformin in EML4-ALK+ lung cancer alone and in combination with crizotinib in cell and rodent models.

Cell based studies have suggested that the diabetes drug metformin may combine with the anaplastic lymphoma kinase receptor (ALK) inhibitor crizotinib to increase ALK positive lung cancer cell killing and overcome crizotinib resistance. We therefore tested metformin alone and in combination with crizotinib in vivo, by employing a xenograft mouse model of ALK positive lung cancer. We found that 14 days of daily oral metformin (100 mg/kg) alone had a moderate but statistically significant effect on tumour growth suppression, but in combination with crizotinib, produced no greater tumour suppression than crizotinib (25 mg/kg) alone. We also reassessed the effect of metformin on EML4-ALK positive lung cancer (H3122) cell viability. Although metformin alone did have a moderate effect on cell viability (30% suppression) this was only at a clinically irrelevant concentration (5 mM) and there was no additive effect with cytotoxic concentrations of crizotinib. Moreover, metformin did not overcome crizotinib resistance in our resistant cells. Nevertheless, we were able to show that metformin induces a G1-cell cycle arrest and apoptosis alone and in combination with crizotinib. Also, consistent with earlier work, the addition of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to EML4-ALK positive cancer cells reduced cell killing by crizotinib. We therefore hypothesised that the effect of metformin in vivo was not due to direct cytotoxicity on cancer cells, but by modulation of IGF-1 expression. We therefore measured levels of IGF-1 in plasma taken from mice treated with metformin, but found no difference between the drug treatment and control groups. We further hypothesised that the effect of metformin could be due to modulation of thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1), which metformin has been proposed to regulatein vivo, but again we found no difference between the experimental groups. Finally, we investigated the potential for liver and kidney toxicity, as well as CYP3A based interactions, from the combination of metformin with crizotinib.

Knowledge and Practices of Child Protection among the School Health Nurses of Nepal.

Background Child protection is burning issues in developing countries including Nepal. Child protection is one of the key works of the school health nurses. Objective To find out about the existing knowledge and practices of child protection among the school health nurses. Method This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 school health nurses working in different schools throughout Nepal. The participants were selected using purposive sampling technique and were invited to participate via various online networks. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Duration of data collection was 20 December 2020 to 10 February 2021. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze and interpret the data. Result Among the 130 Participants, 88.5% belonged to less than 29 years age group and 67.7% had Proficiency Certificate Level in Nursing education. None of them has received training related to child protection recognition and response and 90.8% had work experience of less than 5 years. Eighty percent and 96.9% participants had knowledge regarding the meaning of child right and child abuse respectively. But 45.4% had knowledge on meaning of child neglect; 53.1% and 72.3% had the knowledge of physical abuse and noncontact sexual abuse respectively. Majority (86.9%) of the participants reported as relatives were the abuser and 63.8% replied as home is the common place for abuse. Similarly, 85.4% had received the information regarding child protection via television radio and newspaper. Only 36.1% has already been involved in child protection. The participants who went to local government (Palika), police and Non-government Organizations for coordination for child right issues were 9(19.1%), 7(14.8%) and 8(17.0%) respectively. Conclusion Most of the school health nurses are young without having experience of childhood abuse and received any child protection training before joining the job. They have good knowledge of child right, physical, sexual abuse except child neglect and existing legal arrangements. There is gap in knowledge and practice.

Diagnostic utility of ultrasonography and computerized tomography in gall bladder perforation: A case report.

Gall bladder (GB) perforation can be misdiagnosed as any other more common cause of acute abdomen. We present a case of a 72-year-female who had presented to the emergency department with an acute abdomen. The clinical presentation and the biochemical markers had pointed towards acute pancreatitis. However, the ultrasonographic examination of the abdomen and the pelvis suggested GB perforation which was confirmed by the multislice computerized tomography scan. Following this the patient underwent open cholecystectomy and was successfully managed. The invaluable contributions from the radiological modalities led to the successful management of the patient.

Inhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinase Alone and in Combination with Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase (ALK) Inhibition Suppresses Tumor Growth in a Mouse Model of ALK-Positive Lung Cancer.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small-cell lung cancer most commonly arises through EML4 (Echinoderm Microtuble Like 4)-ALK chromosomal fusion. We have previously demonstrated that combination of the ALK inhibitor crizotinib with the MEK inhibitor selumetinib was highly effective at reducing cell viability of ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (H3122) cells. In this study, we further investigated the efficacy of crizotinib and selumetinib combination therapy in an in vivo xenograft model of ALK-positive lung cancer. Crizotinib decreased tumor volume by 52% compared with control, and the drug combination reduced tumor growth compared with crizotinib. In addition, MEK inhibition alone reduced tumor growth by 59% compared with control. Crizotinib and selumetinib alone and in combination were nontoxic at the dose of 25 mg/kg, with values for ALT (<80 U/l) and creatinine (<2 mg/dl) within the normal range. Our results support the combined use of crizotinib with selumetinib in ALK-positive lung cancer but raise the possibility that a sufficient dose of an MEK inhibitor alone may be as effective as adding an MEK inhibitor to an ALK inhibitor. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: This study contains in vivo evidence supporting the use of combination MEK inhibitors in ALK+ lung cancer research, both singularly and in combination with ALK inhibitors. Contrary to previously published reports, our results suggest that it is possible to gain much of the benefit from combination treatment with an MEK inhibitor alone, at a tolerable dose.

Translation with Cross-cultural Adaptation of Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children into Nepali and its Psychometric Properties.

Background Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life questionnaire for children primary caregiver version is the widely used condition specific outcome measure which assesses the wellbeing of the child. It has been translated to many languages and shows excellent psychometric properties. Availability in Nepali would facilitate the use in clinical practice and research in Nepali population. Objective The objective of this study was translation with cross-culturally adaption of Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life questionnaire for children primary caregiver version into Nepali and assess its psychometric properties. Method Cross-cultural adaptation was performed using forward and backward translation protocol. Pretesting was done on six participants to confirm that the original concept was preserved. The Nepali version of questionnaire was administered twice for data collection. The feasibility, sensitivity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability was determined. Result Culturally adapted Nepali version showed good feasibility only the domain "Access to service" had a highest missing score related to use of the special equipment, attending kindergarten and applying for respite care. Floor and ceiling effect were < 15% in all the domains except in few items of "Pain and impact of disability" and "Social well being and acceptance". Test retest reliability (0.82 - 0.91) and internal consistency (0.68 - 0.84) was good. There were weak association of domains with the gross motor functional classification system level. Conclusion Cross-culturally adapted Nepali Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life questionnaire for children primary caregiver was developed. It demonstrates good psychometric properties confirming to assess quality of life of children with Cerebral palsy in Nepal.

Online Learning in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic: Assessment of Students' Satisfaction at Chitwan Medical College of Nepal.

Background Online learning can play a vital role in the process of teaching and learning during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, learners' satisfaction is extremely important in effective implementation of the online learning, especially at institutions where it is newly adopted. Objective To assess satisfaction towards online learning and its predictors among students at Chitwan Medical College, Bharatpur. Method A web-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken among 434 undergraduate and postgraduate students from various academic programs who had participated in the online classes started during this COVID-19 pandemic. A structured questionnaire consisting of 31 items (5-point Likert scale) covering four major student satisfaction domains (learners' dimensions, technological characteristics, instructors' characteristics and course management and coordination) was distributed to the students using Google Form. Result More than half (53.5%) of the students were satisfied with the online learning, while 29.7% gave neutral views. Bivariate analyses found that all four domains scores were positively correlated with each other as well as with the students' overall satisfaction towards learning. In multivariate analysis, female gender [aOR: 2.72, p = 0.013], WiFi as internet modality for learning [aOR: 3.36, p = 0.001) and learners' dimension score [aOR: 1.27, p<0.001] were the significant predictors of students' satisfaction. Conclusion Although recently adopted, the satisfaction of the students towards online classes appears good, and prioritizing the identified predictors and working on the weak links could assist in enhancing students' satisfaction and better outcomes.

Gaming Disorder among Medical College Students during COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown.

Background The frequent lockdown in Nepal during COVID-19 pandemic had brought various kinds of complexities such as stress among college students. This situation had created uncertainty of future academic career of undergraduate students in medical colleges. Some previously published literature showed gaming as a coping mechanism against stress. Objective To assess the gaming behavior of Medical college students during lockdown in COVID-19 pandemic. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted during lockdown period of July to August 2020. A total of 412 college students were enrolled. Online Google forms were shared to all the eligible students through email, viber and messenger with the help of class representative. Collected data were analyzed in SPSS version 20.0. Result The prevalence of gaming disorder was 8.5% among 260 internet gaming users. About 69.2% of the participants reported that their gaming behavior had increased due to stress of COVID-19 pandemic. Gender and spending more time online per day showed significant associations with greater scores on the internet gaming disorder. Conclusion During lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming behavior of medical college students has increased.

Revisiting Strategies for Maternal Health Care in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of coronavirus causing COVID-19, first identified in Wuhan City, China towards the end of 2019. At present, there is no evidence that pregnant women are more likely to be severely ill, need ICU care, or die from the illness in comparison to non-pregnant adults. Evidences suggest that vertical transmission, might be possible. We searched and retrieved the published literature from PubMed and Google Scholar using various keywords. We further searched the official webpages of various organizations for the updated information. Pregnant individuals in particular are encouraged to take all available precautions to optimize health and avoid exposure to COVID-19. Adequate Testing should be prioritized in pregnant women admitted with suspected COVID-19. When a pregnancy is complicated by critical illness, the pregnant patient should ideally be cared for at a Level III or IV hospital. In the face of COVID-19, antenatal fetal surveillance and ultrasonography should continue as medically indicated when possible and elective ultrasound examinations should not be performed. Maternal immunizations continue to be an essential component of prenatal care and Obgyns should screen all pregnant individuals for mental health issues. Although the most commonly reported sign in COVID-19 is fever, nevertheless, other causes of intrapartum fever should not be overlooked. Cesarean delivery should be based on obstetric indications and not COVID-19 status alone. Infants born to patients with known COVID-19 should be considered infants with suspected COVID-19. The suspected or confirmed COVID-19 mother and infant can be allowed to remain together with enhanced precautions and suspected or confirmed maternal COVID-19 is not a contraindication to breastfeeding. If both the mother and the infant are healthy, it may be prudent to expedite discharge, so as to limit the risk of inadvertent exposure and infection. The Ob-gyns should commit to providing necessary care, although modifications to health care delivery approaches may be necessary.

Mechanisms of suppression of cell growth by dual inhibition of ALK and MEK in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement, a key oncogenic driver in a small subset of non-small cell lung cancers, confers sensitivity to ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Crizotinib, a first generation ALK-TKI, has superiority to standard chemotherapy with longer progression-free survival and higher objective response rate. However, clinical benefit is limited by development of resistance, typically within a year of therapy. In this study the combined effect of crizotinib and the MEK inhibitor selumetinib was investigated in both crizotinib naïve (H3122) and crizotinib resistant (CR-H3122) ALK-positive lung cancer cells. Results showed that combination treatment potently inhibited the growth of both H3122 and CR-H3122 cells, resulting from increased apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation as a consequence of suppressed downstream RAS/MAPK signalling. The drug combination also elicited a greater than 3-fold increase in Bim, a mediator of apoptosis, and p27, a cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor compared to crizotinib alone. The results support the hypothesis that combining MEK inhibitors with ALK inhibitor can overcome ALK inhibitor resistance, and identifies Bim, PARP and CDK1 as druggable targets for possible triple drug therapy.

Methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus infections among patients colonized with methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

OBJECTIVES: We have noticed that patients colonized with methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) rarely get methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections. The purpose of this study was to compare the odds of a Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infection being an MRSA infection in MSSA carriers, MRSA carriers and non-carriers of SA. METHODS: Hospitalizations of adult patients at the Cleveland Clinic Health System from 2008 to 2015 were screened to identify those where the patient was tested for SA colonization. The first such hospitalization was identified. Among these 90 891 patients, those who had an SA infection during the hospitalization were included. SA carrier status (MRSA, MSSA, or non-carrier), was defined based on the first nasal SA test result. The association of carrier status and MRSA infection was examined. RESULTS: The mean (±standard deviation (SD)) age of the 1999 included patients was 61 (17) years, and 1160 (58%) were male. Thirty percent, 26%, and 44%, were MRSA carriers, MSSA carriers and non-carriers, respectively. Of the 601 SA infections in MRSA carriers (reference group), 552 (92%) were MRSA infections compared with 42 (8%) of 516 in MSSA carriers (odds ratio (OR) 0.008, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.005-0.012, p <0.0001) and 430 (49%) of 882 in non-carriers (OR 0.072, 95% CI 0.051-0.100, p <0.0001), after controlling for age, sex, hospital length of stay and calendar year. CONCLUSION: Among patients with SA infection, the odds of the infection being an MRSA infection are 125-times lower in an MSSA carrier than in an MRSA carrier.

Permcath - A Vascular Access for Hemodialysis, Our Experience in Last Two Years.

Background The double lumen tunneled catheter (Permcath) is mostly used as an alternative access, not as a temporary access in End Stage Renal Disease patients requiring hemodialysis. If there is no possibility of other access modalities, failed or unable to create native arteriovenous fistula (AVF), Permcath can be a very good alternative. Objective To find the indications, complications and results of Permcath insertion. Method We reviewed the results of 92 Permcath inserted under ultrasound guidance in two different hospitals, 45 in Sahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Center (SDNTC), Bhaktapur and 47 in Nidan Hospital Pvt. Ltd., Lalitpur from April 2016 to April 2018 retrospectively. Result We had inserted 55 Permcath (59.78%) in right internal jugular vein (IJV), 25 (27.17%) in left internal jugular vein and 12(13.04%) in femoral vein. In terms of major complications, two (2.17%) patients had profound hypotension, bradycardia and cardiac arrest due to left internal jugular vein tear. Three patients (3.26%) died within a week due to septicemia and 23 patients (25%) died with multiple causes within one year. Of the cases, till now in 39 cases (42.39%) Permcath has been removed. Major reasons of removal of Permcath are post renal transplant in 18 cases (19.57%), Arterio Venous Fistula maturation in 13 cases (14.13%), Infection in six patients (6.52%) and non functioning Permcath in two patients (2.17%). Conclusion Permcath remains a reliable method for short term vascular access, hence can be used as a bridge to renal transplant or arteriovenous fistula maturation.

Next generation sequencing reveals packaging of host RNAs by brome mosaic virus.

Although RNA viruses evolved the mechanisms of specific encapsidation, miss-packaging of cellular RNAs has been reported in such RNA virus systems as flock house virus or cucumber necrosis virus. To find out if brome mosaic virus (BMV), a tripartite RNA virus, can package cellular RNAs, BMV was propagated in barley and in Nicotiana benthamiana hosts, purified by cesium chloride (CsCl) gradient ultracentrifugation followed by nuclease treatment to remove any contaminating cellular (host) RNAs. The extracted virion RNA was then sequenced by using next-generation sequencing (NGS RNA-Seq) with the Illumina protocol. Bioinformatic analysis revealed the content of host RNAs ranging from 0.07% for BMV extracted from barley to 0.10% for the virus extracted from N. benthamiana. The viruses from two sources appeared to co-encapsidate different patterns of host-RNAs, including ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), messenger RNAs (mRNAs) but also mitochondrial and plastid RNAs and, interestingly, transposable elements, both transposons and retrotransposons. Our data reveal that BMV virions can carry host RNAs, having a potential to mediate horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in plants.