Same but different: tuberculosis treatment and care among migrants from different countries of origin in Israel.

INTRODUCTION: Israel hosts documented labor migrants (DLM), and recently also undocumented migrants (UDM), mostly from Horn of Africa. This study aims to compare treatment outcomes and other clinical aspects between a sample of 154 DLM and 113 UDM who were treated in two tuberculosis clinics between 2005 and 2010. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Compared to DLM, UDM were younger males, stayed in Israel for shorter periods, had lower coverage of medical insurance, were less likely to be employed, and had greater difficulties in communication with the medical staff. UDM were more likely to demonstrate tuberculosis-related symptoms than DLM, were more commonly diagnosed with pulmonary TB, and had shorter patient and system delays and their treatment success rate was better than DLM, who were more likely to be transferred out. CONCLUSION: UDM achieved better treatment outcomes, as they were screened upon entry and treatment was initiated in detention, while DLM were diagnosed in the community and may have felt more secure to abandon treatment.

A Novel Risk Score to Guide the Evaluation of Acute Hematogenous Osteomyelitis in Children.

OBJECTIVES: To identify independent predictors of and derive a risk score for acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) in children. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective matched case-control study of children >90 days to <18 years of age undergoing evaluation for a suspected musculoskeletal (MSK) infection from 2017 to 2019 at 23 pediatric emergency departments (EDs) affiliated with the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Collaborative Research Committee. Cases were identified by diagnosis codes and confirmed by chart review to meet accepted diagnostic criteria for AHO. Controls included patients who underwent laboratory and imaging tests to evaluate for a suspected MSK infection and received an alternate final diagnosis. RESULTS: We identified 1135 cases of AHO matched to 2270 controls. Multivariable logistic regression identified 10 clinical and laboratory factors independently associated with AHO. We derived a 4-point risk score for AHO using (1) duration of illness >3 days, (2) history of fever or highest ED temperature ≥38°C, (3) C-reactive protein >2.0 mg/dL, and (4) erythrocyte sedimentation rate >25 mm per hour (area under the curve: 0.892, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.881 to 0.901). Choosing to pursue definitive diagnostics for AHO when 3 or more factors are present maximizes diagnostic accuracy at 84% (95% CI: 82% to 85%), whereas children with 0 factors present are highly unlikely to have AHO (sensitivity: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.00). CONCLUSIONS: We identified 10 predictors for AHO in children undergoing evaluation for a suspected MSK infection in the pediatric ED and derived a novel 4-point risk score to guide clinical decision-making.

HIV/AIDS prevalence in Israeli prisons: Is there a need for universal screening?

This study aimed to assess HIV/AIDS point-prevalence among inmates and evaluate costs related to universal screening as currently practiced and appraise its necessity. All inmates newly incarcerated in Israel (2003-2010) underwent HIV tests and their medical files were cross-matched the with the national HIV/AIDS registry to who had been newly infected and detected on prison entry. They were classified by key risk-groups. Of 108,866 new inmates during the period, 215 (0.2 per cent) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, 44 of those (0.04 per cent) were not aware of their infection. A large majority (94.2 per cent) of the infected inmates were members of a key-risk group: drug-users, homosexuals, or originating from a high-HIV prevalence country. The direct cost of detecting a single HIV-infected inmate who was not previously recorded was [euro ]12,386. The HIV/AIDS-screening process can be improved by interviewing the new inmates and performing targeted HIV-testing for those who are members of a known risk-group. These data from Israel are pertinent to developed countries with low HIV prevalence, because they present a picture of all newly infected inmates over an 8-year period within the paradigm of a fully functional HIV surveillance system.