Transmission dynamics and associated mortality of nosocomial COVID-19 throughout 2021: a retrospective study at a large teaching hospital in London.

BACKGROUND: The impact of nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infections has changed significantly since 2020. However, there is a lack of up-to-date evidence of the epidemiology of these infections which is essential in order to appropriately guide infection control policy. AIMS: To identify the secondary attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection and associated mortality across different variants of concern. METHODS: A single-centre retrospective study of all nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 exposure events was conducted between 31st December 2020 and 31st December 2021. A secondary attack rate was calculated for nosocomial acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 infection and time to positivity. Positive contacts were assessed for all-cause 30-day mortality. RESULTS: A total of 346 sequential index exposure events were examined, and 1378 susceptible contacts identified. Two hundred susceptible contacts developed SARS-CoV-2 infection (secondary attack rate of 15.5%). The majority of index cases (59%) did not result in any secondary SARS-CoV-2 infection. Where close contacts developed SARS-CoV-2 infection, 80% were detected within the first five days since last contact with the index case. The overall associated mortality among positive contacts across 2021 was 9%, with an estimated reduction of 68% when comparing periods of high Omicron versus Alpha transmission. CONCLUSION: Our findings describe that most SARS-CoV-2 infections are detected within five days of contact with an index case; we have also demonstrated a considerably lower mortality rate with the Omicron variant in comparison to previous variants. These findings have important implications for informing and supporting infection control protocols to allow movement through the hospital, and ensure patients access care safely.

Exploring species diversity and abundance of scorpions (Arachnida: Scorpiones) in certain regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Despite scorpion diversity has long been acknowledged, the mystery of how it develops remains unresolved. The geographical distribution, species abundance and biodiversity of scorpions fauna in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is poorly explored with many aspects like morphological, geographical, ecological and phylogenetically. As a result of faunaistic study on scorpions a total of 171 specimens from various regimes, Charsadda, Mardan, Peshawar and Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan from March 2018 to October 2018 were collected. GarminTM GPS V Plus device. The software Arc GIS 10.2 was used to create maps of the study areas. Pitfall traps were used to gather samples from sandy habitats and pastureland. Five species Hottentotta tamulus Fabricius, 1798, with (35%), Scorpiops pseudomontanus Kovarik and Ahmed, 2009, (26%), Orthochirus fuscipes Pocock, 1900, (15%), Hottentotta buchariensis Birula, 1897, (13%) and Deccanometrus latimanus Pocock, 1894, (11%) were detected in our proposed study. The research indicates that abundance and temperature have a favorable connection, while abundance and humidity get a negative correlation. The value of evenness shows the strong equilibrium between the effectiveness of sampling species, and the Shannon's index suggests that the Pakistani region has a high level of scorpion variety.

Studying biodiversity of spiders species in seven different localities of Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The current research work aims to provide knowledge about the diversity of spiders' fauna and their occurrence throughout the year from District Charsadda Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Research data were collected from March-2015 to January-2017 from seven different localities of Charsadda District by using the camera, bottle, plastic bags, paraffin films, field book and 70% of ethylene alcohol and 20% of glycerine were used as chemicals. By using special identification keys, spiders were differentiated into families, genera and species. During the study time, a total of 2734 specimens of spiders were collected belonging from 35 genera, 15 families and 44 species were identified. Salticidae was the dominant family according to genera studied plus spiders samples numbers collected with 10 genera and 616 species specimens count. The high occurrence of spiders was studied during July. The result of the current study also shows a reduction of spider's species in December due to lowering the temperature. The current study shows that Salticidae were the dominant family as capered to other species. The occurrence of spiders species greatly depends on changing the weather condition. The present study also shows great fluctuation in spider's occurrence with changing of hot climate to colder during the study duration. Moreover, the wet season plays a great role in spiders' population increase and growth.

Evaluation of the Biological Activity of Laboratory-Prepared Chitosan from Shrimp Shells against Pathogenic Bacterial Isolates.

Chitin is the most substantial natural polysaccharide after cellulose, found in the shells of crabs, shrimps, and other crustaceans. Several medical and environmental applications have been recognized for chitosan. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the biological activity of laboratory-prepared chitosan from shrimp shells against pathogenic bacteria isolates. In the present study, chitosan was extracted from chitin acetate of shrimp shells at different temperatures (room temperature, 65 and 100 ° C) for equal amounts of shells at specified time intervals. The degree of acetylation of different treatments of RT1, RT2, and RT3 reached 71%, 70%, and 65%, respectively. The laboratory-prepared chitosan was examined and antibacterial properties were observed against clinical isolates of bacterial causative agents of urinary tract infections (E. coli, Klebsiella Pneumonia, Pseudomonas spp., Citrobacter freundii, and Enterobacter spp.). The inhibitory activity of all types of treatments ranged between 12 to 25 mm for all isolates with the highest for Enterobacter spp. and the lowest for Pseudomonas isolates. The results also indicated a large relative discrepancy between the inhibitory activity of laboratory-prepared chitosan and antibiotics. These results were in the S-R range of the isolates. The similarity of laboratory production conditions and treatments is due to the different proportions of chitin formed in shrimp, environmental conditions, nutrition factors, pH, the extent of heavy metals in the water, and the age of the organism.

Cutaneous nasal sarcoidosis--treatment by excision and split-skin grafting.

We report two cases of nasal sarcoidosis which are both treated by excision and split-skin graft and yield good results after one year and three years' follow-up.

A rare case of severe bilateral ectropion from scleroderma.

A case of ectropion arising as a result of facial scleroderma is presented. This is the first such case reported. Problems and techniques of surgical management are discussed.