Occupational exposures and programmatic response to COVID-19 pandemic: an emergency medical services experience.

Rigorous assessment of occupational COVID-19 risk and personal protective equipment (PPE) use is not well-described. We evaluated 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) encounters for patients with COVID-19 to assess occupational exposure, programmatic strategies to reduce exposure and PPE use. We conducted a retrospective cohort investigation of laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19 in King County, Washington, USA, who received 9-1-1 EMS responses from 14 February 2020 to 26 March 2020. We reviewed dispatch, EMS and public health surveillance records to evaluate the temporal relationship between exposure and programmatic changes to EMS operations designed to identify high-risk patients, protect the workforce and conserve PPE. There were 274 EMS encounters for 220 unique COVID-19 patients involving 700 unique EMS providers with 988 EMS person-encounters. Use of 'full' PPE including mask (surgical or N95), eye protection, gown and gloves (MEGG) was 67%. There were 151 person-exposures among 129 individuals, who required 981 quarantine days. Of the 700 EMS providers, 3 (0.4%) tested positive within 14 days of encounter, though these positive tests were not attributed to occupational exposure from inadequate PPE. Programmatic changes were associated with a temporal reduction in exposures. When stratified at the study encounters midpoint, 94% (142/151) of exposures occurred during the first 137 EMS encounters compared with 6% (9/151) during the second 137 EMS encounters (p<0.01). By the investigation's final week, EMS deployed MEGG PPE in 34% (3579/10 468) of all EMS person-encounters. Less than 0.5% of EMS providers experienced COVID-19 illness within 14 days of occupational encounter. Programmatic strategies were associated with a reduction in exposures, while achieving a measured use of PPE.

Adult Radiographic Presentation of Corpus Callosal Agenesis With a Single Interhemispheric Cyst and Dandy-Walker Malformation: A Case Report.

Agenesis or dysgenesis of the corpus callosum may occur due to ischemic, toxic, traumatic, or another insult to the fetus in the first trimester. Occasionally, such a malformation is associated with an interhemispheric cyst, among other central nervous system anomalies. Holoprosencephaly tends to mimic this radiographic presentation, which is where key imaging findings are helpful to differentiate between these entities. We present a 56-year-old male patient who was found to have a monoventricle, corpus callosum agenesis, interhemispheric cyst, and a Dandy-Walker malformation. The patient presented with a right acetabular fracture with computed tomography (CT) of the brain revealing the congenital brain abnormalities. The patient's past medical history was notable for a seizure disorder identified during early adulthood. The CT scan of the head revealed a large monoventricle with an associated midline dorsal interhemispheric cyst and a Dandy-Walker malformation. The absence of both the corpus callosum and septum pellucidum was noted, with the presence of a monoventricle, leading to an initial differential of holoprosencephaly. Further review of the findings suggested instead a rare congenital presentation consisting of corpus callosum agenesis and an interhemispheric cyst. This case highlights a unique radiographic presentation of multiple brain anomalies, rarely presented in non-pediatric literature, which may help determine appropriate surgical and medical management for similarly affected adult individuals.

A Prospective Study to Characterize Symptoms and Symptom Severity in Adult Patients with Extracutaneous Manifestations of Lyme Disease.

BACKGROUND: Systematic assessments of the presence and severity of particular symptoms over time are relatively uncommon for Lyme disease patients in the United States, and especially for Lyme disease patients with extracutaneous manifestations (ECLD). METHODS: Symptoms and symptom severity of 12 particular symptoms were evaluated in a prospective study at baseline and at 12 months for 35 adult Lyme disease patients with ECLD, 91.4% of whom were already started on antibiotic therapy, and compared with 52 adult Lyme disease patients with erythema migrans, who were untreated at study entry. RESULTS: No significant difference in the frequency of having at least 1 symptom of the 12 evaluated was found between the 2 groups at either the baseline visit or the 12-month evaluation. Demographic variables were also similar between the 2 study groups, except that the ECLD patients were significantly less likely to be Caucasian: 24/35 (68.6%) of the ECLD cases vs 48/52 (92.3%) of the erythema migrans cases; P = .008. CONCLUSION: Lyme disease patients with ECLD had a similar frequency of symptoms at baseline compared with patients with erythema migrans. ECLD subjects, however, were significantly less likely to be Caucasian, raising the question of whether a preceding erythema migrans skin lesion may have been missed in persons with a darker skin color. An important limitation of our study, however, is that we did not record skin color per se, which should be considered for future studies.

Recurrent Retroperitoneal Lymphatic Malformation in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Report.

Retroperitoneal lymphatic malformations are rare, benign, cystic tumors of the lymphatic system, accounting for 1% of all lymphatic malformation manifestations. Lymphatic malformations are often asymptomatic, but may clinically present with abdominal pain and a palpable mass. Initial diagnostic workup is challenging due to the difficulty of differentiating from masses that may arise from the pancreas, liver, and kidney. This report describes a recurrent retroperitoneal lymphatic malformation in a 15-year-old male. The patient presented with abdominal pain and radiological imaging demonstrated abdominal fluid collection. Following conservative management using aspiration, the patient presented three months later with recurrent abdominal pain. Radiological imaging identified a large thin-walled cystic lesion in the right hemiabdomen containing minimal thin internal septations. Histological analysis confirmed the lymphatic malformation following computed tomography-guided biopsy. The patient underwent aspiration and was referred for outpatient sclerotherapy to prevent future abdominal fluid collection. This case highlights conservative management of recurrent retroperitoneal lymphatic malformation, both on the initial and subsequent presentation.

Not So Sweet Sweet's Syndrome: A Case of Acute Febrile Neutrophilic Dermatosis in the Treatment of Ovarian Carcinoma.

Background: Acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis, or Sweet's Syndrome (SS), was first characterized by Dr. Robert Sweet in 1964 with eight cases of fever, neutrophilic polymorphonuclear leukocytosis, dermatological lesions, and histological evidence of dense dermal infiltration by mature neutrophils. SS presents in three settings: idiopathic, malignancy-associated, and drug-induced. In 1996, Walker and Cohen outlined the current diagnostic criteria for drug-induced SS with abrupt onset of painful lesions, dermal histology showing dense neutrophilic infiltrate, pyrexia > 38 °C, temporal relationship of drug administration to clinical presentation, and symptom resolution following drug withdrawal or systemic corticosteroid treatment. SS has rarely been reported in association with gynecologic malignancies. Method: Case Report. Case: A 41-year-old female receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma presented for evaluation of cyclic fevers with dermatologic lesions following treatment with Carboplatin and Taxol, with Pegfilgrastim. On days 11-17 of treatment she reported fevers ranging from 101°F-104°F (38 °C- 40 °C) with subsequent eruption of truncal erythematous, pustular, and painful coalescing plaques. Lesion biopsies confirmed histologic presence of dense neutrophilic infiltration. The patient was initiated on oral corticosteroid therapy with symptom improvement. Discussion: This case represents an example of SS in a patient receiving therapy with the most commonly implicated medication class, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF). In drug-induced SS, there's often a temporal relationship between medication administration and symptom development. In this case, all criteria for drug-induced SS were met with a GCS-F as the likely causative agent. This case illustrates a rare diagnosis in the context of gynecologic cancer treatment and will expand available reports of SS in the Gynecologic Oncology literature. We hope to elicit more prompt recognition and diagnosis of SS from practitioners to minimize patient morbidity and long-term sequelae.

National Trends and Characteristics in Emergency Department Visits for Nontraumatic Dental Conditions Among Pediatric Patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine trends and characteristics of pediatric nontraumatic dental condition (NTDC) visits to emergency departments (EDs) in the United States from 2010 to 2017. Methods: The 2010 to 2017 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) was analyzed for NTDC visits to EDs for children (zero to 20 years old). NTDC visits were identified based on ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. Patient characteristics analyzed included age, sex, primary payor, county population, day of discharge, and household income. Descriptive statistics and a logistic regression analysis for 2016 and 2017 were completed. Results: Pediatric NTDC visits to EDs decreased from 103.1 to 89.3 per 10,000 ED visits between 2010 and 2017. Pediatric NTDC ED visits by Medicaid enrollees increased from 51 percent to 65.3 percent from 2010 to 2017. This was followed by a corresponding decrease among uninsured pediatric patients with NTDC visits to EDs. The odds of NTDC visits to EDs were higher among Medicaid enrollees, 15- to 20-year-olds, and the uninsured but were lower among those in wealthier zip codes. Conclusions: Emergency department visits for nontraumatic dental condition visits by pediatric patients decreased over time following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Despite this decrease, low socioeconomic status children continue to utilize emergency departments for dental conditions at higher rates than their peers.

Chlamydia trachomatis Strain Types Have Diversified Regionally and Globally with Evidence for Recombination across Geographic Divides.

Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases worldwide. The Ct Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) scheme is effective in differentiating strain types (ST), deciphering transmission patterns and treatment failure, and identifying recombinant strains. Here, we analyzed 323 reference and clinical samples, including 58 samples from Russia, an area that has not previously been represented in Ct typing schemes, to expand our knowledge of the global diversification of Ct STs. The 323 samples resolved into 84 unique STs, a 3.23 higher typing resolution compared to the gold standard single locus ompA genotyping. Our MLST scheme showed a high discriminatory index, D, of 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99) confirming the validity of this method for typing. Phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct branches for the phenotypic diseases of lymphogranuloma venereum, urethritis and cervicitis, and a sub-branch for ocular trachoma. Consistent with these findings, single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified that significantly correlated with each phenotype. While the overall number of unique STs per region was comparable across geographies, the number of STs was greater for Russia with a significantly higher ST/sample ratio of 0.45 (95% CI: 0.35-0.53) compared to Europe or the Americas (p < 0.009), which may reflect a higher level of sexual mixing with the introduction of STs from other regions and/or reassortment of alleles. Four STs were found to be significantly associated with a particular geographic region. ST23 [p = 0.032 (95% CI: 1-23)], ST34 [p = 0.019 (95% CI: 1.1-25)]; and ST19 [p = 0.001 (95% CI: 1.7-34.7)] were significantly associated with Netherlands compared to Russia or the Americas, while ST 30 [p = 0.031 (95% CI: 1.1-17.8)] was significantly associated with the Americas. ST19 was significantly associated with Netherlands and Russia compared with the Americans [p = 0.001 (95% CI: 1.7-34.7) and p = 0.006 (95% CI: 1.5-34.6), respectively]. Additionally, recombinant strains were ubiquitous in the data set [106 (32.8%)], although Europe had a significantly higher number than Russia or the Americas (p < 0.04), the majority of which were from Amsterdam [43 (87.8%) of 49)]. The higher number of recombinants in Europe indicates selective pressure and/or adaptive diversification that will require additional studies to elucidate.