Neglected Tropical Diseases

OLDS — The Olds Health Care Fundraising Committee has received a multi-million-dollar gift from the estate of Sandra and Darwin Luft to be used for the purchase of equipment at the Olds Hospital and Care Centre.  That announcement was made in a news release. The precise amount of the gift was not disclosed.  A major portion of the gift is being used to create the Luft and Ross Family Hospital Equipment Trust to help ensure that modern equipment is always able to be purchased for the Olds Hospital and Care Centre, the release said.  The remainder of the gift is meant for the purchase of new equipment immediately. Olds hospital leadership staff were expected to determine precisely what that equipment would be.  "The estates of Sandra and Darwin Luft have lovingly ensured that Olds will be looked after for generations to come," the release said.  "In their esta...

Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus or staph) is a bacterium that lives on the skin. Staph causes millions of skin and soft tissue infections yearly, including lip infections. The bacteria enter through a cut or wound around the lips and infect the surrounding tissue. Staph can also travel to other organs via the bloodstream. Although most staph infections are treatable, they can be deadly if not handled quickly. This article will discuss the symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment for staph infections on the lip. V_Sot / Getty Images Staph Infection Symptoms Staph infections can cause mild to severe side effects. Common symptoms of a lip staph infection include: Redness Swelling Tenderness Warmth Drainage Ulceration Fever/shaking chills If the staph infection travels to the bladder, it can cause pain, frequency, and urgency of urination. If the bacteria infect the joints or bones, it can cause pain. Coughing and shortness o...

This study demonstrated that squeeze pressure in female patients with FI and CRAI was significantly lower in the erect position than in the left-lateral position, although this finding was not true of those with non-CRAI. Resting pressure, DDV, and MTV were significantly higher, and anal canal length was significantly shorter in the erect position than in the left-lateral position in either the CRAI or non-CRAI patients. Previous studies on the effect of posture on physiological measurements are limited. Johonson et al. [9] reported that posture did not affect squeeze pressure in the study of 27 healthy individuals. This finding was true for all 80 patients with FI in this study however, upon separate examination of the CRAI and non-CRAI groups, squeeze pressure was lower in the erect position than in the lateral position in the CRAI patients. The reason for this finding is unclear however, squeezing the anal canal may be physically inhibited by the intra-anal apex of the "circumf...

Research in context Evidence before this study Communicable diseases have long been recognised as a cause of substantial health loss globally, but few studies to date have concentrated on pathogen-specific mortality caused by common bacterial pathogens. Many estimates exist for pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Plasmodium spp, and HIV but estimates of the burden of bacterial infections have been restricted to either a small number of locations, specific populations (such as invasive pneumococcal disease in children younger than 5 years), or a small number of bacteria in the context of the scope of infectious syndromes (eg, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis as a cause of meningitis). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Active Bacterial Core surveillance and Emerging Infections Program, and the European CDC's European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network have provided crucial estimates of selected invasive bacterial infectio...

COVID-19 reactivated viruses that had become latent in cells following previous infections, particularly in people with chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as ME/CFS. This is the conclusion of a study from Linköping University in Sweden. The results, published in Frontiers in Immunology , contribute to our knowledge of the causes of the disease and prospects of reaching a diagnosis. Severe, long-term fatigue, post-exertional malaise, pain and sleep problems are characteristic signs of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, "ME/CFS". The causes of the condition are not known with certainty, although it has been established that the onset in most cases follows a viral or bacterial infection. The health of the person affected is not restored even after the original infection is resolved. Indeed - the condition is sometimes known by its alternative name: post-viral fatigue. Since the cause is not known, diagnostic tests have not been developed. This patien...

NSW Health has picked Epic to deliver its Single Digital Patient Record project, which seeks to unify all EMR and pathology information systems across the state.  Subject to the successful completion of contractual negotiations, Epic's supply contract will replace nine existing EMR platforms, six PAS, five pathology LIMS and several other clinical support systems, which have been provided by Cerner, Orion Health, DXC, Citadel, and Integrated Software Solutions. The SDPR will provide comprehensive,  real-time electronic access to medical records across NSW Health, covering 15 Local Health Districts (LHDs), two specialty health networks and all NSW Health pathology laboratories. According to eHealth NSW chief executive and CIO Dr Zoran Bolevich, they engaged more than 350 expert stakeholders, including clinicians, scientists and technical experts, to evaluate Epic's supply proposal.  "Their expertise, along with meaningful engagement with hea...

A mysterious outbreak of meningitis has now claimed the lives of nine women and one man in the northern state of Durango. The state Health Ministry reported Wednesday that 61 cases of the infection had been confirmed and that 10 people had died. The infections, which have been identified as fungal meningitis, were all detected in Durango city. Most infections occurred in women who were pregnant and underwent surgeries such as cesarean sections in recent months, according to a report by the news website Animal Político. However, the newspaper El Financiero reported that the most recent death was that of a 47-year-old man who had surgery on a fractured leg in September. He was the first male to die during the current outbreak of meningitis, an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The cause of the Durango outbreak hasn't been established, but two medical specialists who spoke with Animal Político suggested that tainted counterfeit medici...