ABSTRACT
Schools are a place for learning and education, and in a learning environment, everyone should feel safe. Gun violence is a serious concern for students and teachers alike in a school setting. There may be a multifaceted explanation for why a student would be carrying a firearm or any other weapon in school. Our research explores the association between being a victim of bullying and carrying a firearm. The national Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey was utilized to assess the increased incidents of bully victims carrying firearms. Several efforts, including the passing of laws, have been made to prevent the carrying of firearms. However, additional attempts must be made to reduce bullying in schools as well, so that students do not feel the need to carry a weapon, and schools can be a safe environment for everyone.
ABSTRACT
Diagnosis and management of bacterial pneumonia still relies on bacterial culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The Unyvero Lower Respiratory Tract panel (LRT) is a multiplex molecular assay that provides results within approximately 4.5 hours. This study evaluated the analytical performance of the LRT on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids and bronchial washings (BW) in a cancer patient population and retrospectively determined clinical impact on therapy. Sensitivity and specificity of LRT on BAL and BW compared with bacterial culture and susceptibilities were calculated. Chart reviews were performed to determine whether antibiotic management would have changed based on the LRT results. A total of 113 BAL and 123 BW respiratory samples from 191 patients were included. The overall sensitivity and specificity were 91.7% (95% CI, 77.5%-98.3%) and 92.0% (95% CI, 87.3%-95.4%), respectively. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common target detected (n = 21) with 89.5% (95% CI, 66.8%-98.7%) sensitivity and 98.2% (95% CI, 95.4%-99.5%) specificity. Based on availability of LRT results, 4.8% of patients could have been de-escalated faster. The LRT demonstrated an overall high accuracy for the detection of common bacteria associated with pneumonia. In this cancer inpatient cohort, treatment adjustment based on LRT results would have occurred in a small number of cases. Larger studies are necessary to understand the real-world impact within specific high-risk populations.
