Breastfeeding and Antepartum Breast Milk Expression (BABE): A Randomized Control Trial Utilizing an Electric Breast Pump and its Effect on Postpartum Breastfeeding.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of antenatal breast milk expression (ABE) on exclusive breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: A randomized control study was performed with the primary outcome being formula use during the postpartum hospital stay. Secondary outcomes were the exclusive breastfeeding rate at 6 months postpartum and peripartum safety outcomes. Participants included multiparous and nulliparous patients who planned to breastfeed. Exclusion criteria included exclusively breastfeeding in prior pregnancies for greater than 6 months, medical contraindications for breastfeeding, multiple gestation, history of preterm delivery, or any contraindication to vaginal delivery. ABE group participants were instructed to pump for 20 minutes, three times daily, starting at 37 weeks of gestation. Results: Three-hundred four participants from two clinics were enrolled. There was no significant difference in formula use during hospital admission (odds ratio [OR] 0.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34-1.22) or in exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months postpartum (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.34-1.29). Colostrum use was more prevalent in the ABE group (OR 5.31, 95% CI 2.63-10.76). ABE participants were more likely to present in spontaneous labor (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.05-4.14). Conclusion: ABE did not significantly improve exclusive breastfeeding rates, but safely provides women opportunities to become familiar with breastfeeding before delivery and can provide readily available colostrum. There was no negative secondary safety outcome related to ABE identified. Prenatal care providers can consider recommending ABE to patients with minimal to no experience with breastfeeding.

Contact Tracing and Exposure Investigation in Response to the First Case of Monkeypox Virus Infection in the United States During the 2022 Global Monkeypox Outbreak.

BACKGROUND: In May 2022, the first case of monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection in the United States in the current global outbreak was identified. As part of the public health and health care facility response, a contact tracing and exposure investigation was done. OBJECTIVE: To describe the contact tracing, exposure identification, risk stratification, administration of postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and exposure period monitoring for contacts of the index patient, including evaluation of persons who developed symptoms possibly consistent with MPXV infection. DESIGN: Contact tracing and exposure investigation. SETTING: Multiple health care facilities and community settings in Massachusetts. PARTICIPANTS: Persons identified as contacts of the index patient. INTERVENTION: Contact notification, risk stratification, and symptom monitoring; PEP administration in a subset of contacts. MEASUREMENTS: Epidemiologic and clinical data collected through standard surveillance procedures at each facility and then aggregated and analyzed. RESULTS: There were 37 community and 129 health care contacts identified, with 4 at high risk, 49 at intermediate risk, and 113 at low or uncertain risk. Fifteen health care contacts developed symptoms during the monitoring period. Three met criteria for MPXV testing, with negative results. Two community contacts developed symptoms. Neither met criteria for MPXV testing, and neither showed disease progression consistent with monkeypox. Among 4 persons with high-risk exposures offered PEP, 3 elected to receive PEP. Among 10 HCP with intermediate-risk exposures for which PEP was offered as part of informed clinical decision making, 2 elected to receive PEP. No transmissions were identified at the conclusion of the 21-day monitoring period, despite the delay in recognition of monkeypox in the index patient. LIMITATION: Descriptions of exposures are subject to recall bias, which affects risk stratification. CONCLUSION: In a contact tracing investigation involving 166 community and health care contacts of a patient with monkeypox, no secondary cases were identified. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: None.

A Comparison of Wearable Tonometry, Photoplethysmography, and Electrocardiography for Cuffless Measurement of Blood Pressure in an Ambulatory Setting.

OBJECTIVE: While non-invasive, cuffless blood pressure (BP) measurement has demonstrated relevancy in controlled environments, ambulatory measurement is important for hypertension diagnosis and control. We present both in-lab and ambulatory BP estimation results from a diverse cohort of participants. METHODS: Participants (N=1125, aged 21-85, 49.2% female, multiple hypertensive categories) had BP measured in-lab over a 24-hour period with a subset also receiving ambulatory measurements. Radial tonometry, photoplethysmography (PPG), electrocardiography (ECG), and accelerometry signals were collected simultaneously with auscultatory or oscillometric references for systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Predictive models to estimate BP using a variety of sensor-based feature groups were evaluated against challenging baselines. RESULTS: Despite limited availability, tonometry-derived features showed superior performance compared to other feature groups and baselines, yieldingprediction errors of 0.32 ±9.8 mmHg SBP and 0.54 ±7.7 mmHg DBP in-lab, and 0.86 ±8.7 mmHg SBP and 0.75 ±5.9 mmHg DBP for 24-hour averages. SBP error standard deviation (SD) was reduced in normotensive (in-lab: 8.1 mmHg, 24-hr: 7.2 mmHg) and younger (in-lab: 7.8 mmHg, 24-hr: 6.7 mmHg) subpopulations. SBP SD was further reduced 15-20% when constrained to the calibration posture alone. CONCLUSION: Performance for normotensive and younger participants was superior to the general population across all feature groups. Reference type, posture relative to calibration, and controlled vs. ambulatory setting all impacted BP errors. SIGNIFICANCE: Results highlight the need for demographically diverse populations and challenging evaluation settings for BP estimation studies. We present the first public dataset of ambulatory tonometry and cuffless BP over a 24-hour period to aid in future cardiovascular research.