Investigation of intra-hospital SARS-CoV-2 transmission using nanopore whole-genome sequencing.

BACKGROUND: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) are being exposed to infection both at work and in their communities. Determining where HCWs might have been infected is challenging based on epidemiological data alone. At Akershus University Hospital, Norway, several clusters of possible intra-hospital SARS-CoV-2 transmission were identified based on routine contact tracing. AIM: To determine whether clusters of suspected intra-hospital SARS-CoV-2 transmission could be resolved by combining whole genome sequencing (WGS) of SARS-CoV-2 with contact tracing data. METHODS: Epidemiological data were collected during routine contact tracing of polymerase chain reaction-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-positive HCWs. Possible outbreaks were identified as wards with two or more infected HCWs defined as close contacts who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 less than three weeks apart. Viral RNA from naso-/oropharyngeal samples underwent nanopore sequencing in direct compliance to the ARTIC Network protocol. FINDINGS: Five outbreaks were suspected from contact tracing. Viral consensus sequences from 24 HCWs, two patients, and seven anonymous samples were analysed. Two outbreaks were confirmed, one refuted, and two remained undetermined. One new potential outbreak was discovered. CONCLUSION: Combined with epidemiological data, nanopore WGS was a useful tool for investigating intra-hospital SARS-CoV-2 transmission. WGS helped to resolve questions about possible outbreaks and to guide local infection prevention and control measures.

[Statistics for initial admission for schizophrenia in hospitals in Costa Rica]. / Tasas de ingreso inicial por esquizofrenia en hospitales de Costa Rica.

The factors that influence hospital admissions for schizophrenia in Costa Rica were investigated in people of both sexes who were admitted for the first time with this diagnosis (codes 295.0 to 295.9 of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision) in the period 1979 to 1981. Annual incidence rates were calculated using the number of hospitalized cases and the total population of the country. The average annual incidence was found to be 48.2 cases per 100000 inhabitants. High frequencies of first admissions were seen among males 40 to 44 years of age and females 45 to 49. Incidence was highest among unmarried women, followed by divorced women. There was a significant inverse relationship between educational attainment and rates of admission for schizophrenia, and incidence rates were highest among unemployed women and housewives. The association between rate of hospitalization for schizophrenia and 10 characteristics of the cantons was studied by means of logistic regression. Only two variables-the distance between the canton's principal town and the hospital and the volume of coffee harvest per resident-showed a direct significant association with admission rates for schizophrenia. The cantons which had the highest number of births of children who were diagnosed as schizophrenic in adulthood were those closest to the psychiatric hospital and those that had a low level of industrial or agricultural activity, low population density, and high proportions of single or divorced persons.

Rates of first hospitalizations for affective psychoses in Costa Rica.

What demographic, geographic and temporal factors characterize the rate of first hospitalizations for affective psychosis in Costa Rica? This report presents graphically the first hospitalization rates for the whole country of Costa Rica, with analysis of specific rates for the subgroups by age, sex, marital status, level of education, occupation, place of residence, and place of birth, as well as separate rates by month and date of hospital admission, monopolar first admissions increased slowly from the age of 10 to the age of 45 years, then "exploded" to a peak between 55 and 65 years, then declined somewhat. The educational group among men with the highest rate was the group with at least some university education. Professionals, clerical workers, unskilled laborers, and those with no occupation had high rates. Higher rates were also associated with being single, divorced, widowed, having no occupation, and living in rural, coffee-growing areas that were not too distant from the hospital.

Bone disease induced by anticonvulsant therapy and treatment with calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3).

To evaluate the effects of calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) therapy for the bone disease induced by long-term treatment with anticonvulsants, we reviewed the medical records of 330 institutionalized oligophrenic children and young adults under 26 years of age to identify the 144 children who required anticonvulsant therapy. Of this latter group, 52 children were found to have serum alkaline phosphatase levels elevated more than 2 SDs above normal and were enrolled into this prospective three-year study. To achieve rapid resolution of the bone disease, we elected to use calcitriol at 0.25 to 0.75 micrograms/d. After 1195 patient-months of treatment, our data suggest that the dystrophic process was reversed in 42.3% of the cases, as judged by decreases in serum alkaline phosphatase levels at six months, 65.4% of cases at 12 months, and 83.3% of cases at 13 to 18 months. By 30 months of follow-up, all patients showed significant lowering of serum alkaline phosphatase levels. The improvements were slow and gradual. Twenty-six patients in the treatment series of 52 patients initially showed signs of rickets or osteomalacia on roentgenograms of the wrists. Of these 26 patients, 12 (46%) showed improvement on roentgenograms within 24 months of the beginning of treatment. With reference to complications, hypercalcemia (calcium level, greater than 11 mg/dL [2.74 mmol/L]) was encountered at the rate of one episode per 44 patient-months of treatment. Our results strongly suggest that calcitriol is effective in healing anticonvulsant-related osteomalacia among children and youths, with a low incidence of complications.