Predictive symptoms for COVID-19 in the community: REACT-1 study of over 1 million people.

BACKGROUND: Rapid detection, isolation, and contact tracing of community COVID-19 cases are essential measures to limit the community spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We aimed to identify a parsimonious set of symptoms that jointly predict COVID-19 and investigated whether predictive symptoms differ between the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) lineage (predominating as of April 2021 in the US, UK, and elsewhere) and wild type. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We obtained throat and nose swabs with valid SARS-CoV-2 PCR test results from 1,147,370 volunteers aged 5 years and above (6,450 positive cases) in the REal-time Assessment of Community Transmission-1 (REACT-1) study. This study involved repeated community-based random surveys of prevalence in England (study rounds 2 to 8, June 2020 to January 2021, response rates 22%-27%). Participants were asked about symptoms occurring in the week prior to testing. Viral genome sequencing was carried out for PCR-positive samples with N-gene cycle threshold value < 34 (N = 1,079) in round 8 (January 2021). In univariate analysis, all 26 surveyed symptoms were associated with PCR positivity compared with non-symptomatic people. Stability selection (1,000 penalized logistic regression models with 50% subsampling) among people reporting at least 1 symptom identified 7 symptoms as jointly and positively predictive of PCR positivity in rounds 2-7 (June to December 2020): loss or change of sense of smell, loss or change of sense of taste, fever, new persistent cough, chills, appetite loss, and muscle aches. The resulting model (rounds 2-7) predicted PCR positivity in round 8 with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.77. The same 7 symptoms were selected as jointly predictive of B.1.1.7 infection in round 8, although when comparing B.1.1.7 with wild type, new persistent cough and sore throat were more predictive of B.1.1.7 infection while loss or change of sense of smell was more predictive of the wild type. The main limitations of our study are (i) potential participation bias despite random sampling of named individuals from the National Health Service register and weighting designed to achieve a representative sample of the population of England and (ii) the necessary reliance on self-reported symptoms, which may be prone to recall bias and may therefore lead to biased estimates of symptom prevalence in England. CONCLUSIONS: Where testing capacity is limited, it is important to use tests in the most efficient way possible. We identified a set of 7 symptoms that, when considered together, maximize detection of COVID-19 in the community, including infection with the B.1.1.7 lineage.

High positivity of blood cultures obtained within two hours after shaking chills.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the time lag between blood culture draw and the start of shaking chills is associated with blood culture positivity. METHODS: A prospective observational study was undertaken from January 2013 to March 2015 at a referral center in Okinawa, Japan. All enrolled patients were adults with an episode of shaking chills who were newly admitted to the division of infectious diseases. The study exposure was the time lag between blood culture draw and the most recent episode of shaking chills. RESULTS: Among patients whose blood cultures were obtained within 2h after shaking chills started, the blood culture positivity was 53.6% (52/97), whereas among patients whose blood cultures were obtained after more than 2h, the positivity was 37.6% (44/117) (p=0.019). The adjusted odds ratio of blood culture positivity for samples drawn within 2h after shaking chills was 1.88 (95% confidence interval 1.01-3.51, p=0.046). Escherichia coli were the most frequently detected bacteria (58/105). CONCLUSIONS: The positivity of blood cultures obtained within 2h after the start of the most recent shaking chills was higher than that for blood cultures obtained after 2h.

A Simple Algorithm for Predicting Bacteremia Using Food Consumption and Shaking Chills: A Prospective Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Predicting the presence of true bacteremia based on clinical examination is unreliable. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to construct a simple algorithm for predicting true bacteremia by using food consumption and shaking chills. DESIGN: A prospective multicenter observational study. SETTING: Three hospital centers in a large Japanese city. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 1,943 hospitalized patients aged 14 to 96 years who underwent blood culture acquisitions between April 2013 and August 2014 were enrolled. Patients with anorexia-inducing conditions were excluded. INTERVENTIONS: We assessed the patients' oral food intake based on the meal immediately prior to the blood culture with definition as "normal food consumption" when >80% of a meal was consumed and "poor food consumption" when <80% was consumed. We also concurrently evaluated for a history of shaking chills. MEASUREMENTS: We calculated the statistical characteristics of food consumption and shaking chills for the presence of true bacteremia, and subsequently built the algorithm by using recursive partitioning analysis. RESULTS: Among 1,943 patients, 223 cases were true bacteremia. Among patients with normal food consumption, without shaking chills, the incidence of true bacteremia was 2.4% (13/552). Among patients with poor food consumption and shaking chills, the incidence of true bacteremia was 47.7% (51/107). The presence of poor food consumption had a sensitivity of 93.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89.4%-97.9%) for true bacteremia, and the absence of poor food consumption (ie, normal food consumption) had a negative likelihood ratio (LR) of 0.18 (95% CI, 0.17-0.19) for excluding true bacteremia, respectively. Conversely, the presence of the shaking chills had a specificity of 95.1% (95% CI, 90.7%-99.4%) and a positive LR of 4.78 (95% CI, 4.56-5.00) for true bacteremia. CONCLUSION: A 2-item screening checklist for food consumption and shaking chills had excellent statistical properties as a brief screening instrument for predicting true bacteremia.

Intralesional anti-CD20 antibody for low-grade primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma: Adverse reactions correlate with favorable clinical outcome.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Intralesional injection of anti-CD20 antibody (rituximab) has been described as effective therapeutic option for patients with indolent primary cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (PCBL). To date, no parameters that reproducibly predict favorable clinical outcome of this treatment have been identified. The study aims to evaluate the clinical response and adverse effects as well as patients' self-perception of intralesional injection of anti-CD20 antibody for treatment of indolent PCBL compared to other treatment modalities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eleven patients with PCBL, namely primary cutaneous follicle center lymphoma (n = 9) and primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (n = 2), treated with intralesional anti-CD20 antibody were retrospectively evaluated for response rate and adverse events as well as their self-perception of anti-CD20 antibody therapy and other therapies of PCBL. RESULTS: Patients treated with intralesional anti-CD20 antibody for PCBL showed complete response or partial response in 45 % or 27 % of patients, respectively. Particularly, patients with marked flu-like symptoms after intralesional injection of rituximab responded very well to rituximab. The majority of patients considered rituximab as best therapy compared to other therapies such as excision or radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Intralesional rituximab is an effective therapy with high patient satisfaction. Strong therapy induced side effects of fever, chills and headache after administration of rituximab might be used as indicator for favorable response.

Conocimiento de los padres sobre la fiebre en niños menores de 5 años que acuden al servicio de emergencias en el Hospital del Niño Dr. Ovidio Aliaga Uría / Parent's knowledge about fever in children under 5 attending emergency department at Dr. Ovidio Aliaga Uría children hospital

OBJETIVO: Determinar el conocimiento sobre la fiebre, de los padres de niños menores de 5 años que acuden al servicio de Emergencias del Hospital de Niño DISEÑO: descriptivo prospectivo de serie de casos. LUGAR: El estudio se realizó entre octubre de 2016 y noviembre de 2016 en el Servicio de Emergencias del Hospital del Niño "Ovidio Aliaga Uría" de la ciudad de La Paz. PARTICIPANTES: padres de niños febriles que acudieron al Hospital del Niño "Ovidio Aliaga Uría" de 0 a 59 meses de edad MEDICIONES PRINCIPALES: el instrumento evaluó la escolaridad de los padres, el punto de corte considerado como fiebre, las consecuencias temidas de la fiebre, la droga usada para la fiebre, la dosis administrada en caso de usarse algún medicamento, la fuente de información de donde se obtuvo el conocimiento de fiebre, si se sabe medir la temperatura, cual es el método más usado para la medición de temperatura y cuáles son los tratamientos alternativos que se utilizan. RESULTADOS. El intervalo de alza térmica que los padres consideran como una fiebre es entre 37 a 37,5°C (52%). El temor de los padres es que la temperatura incremente por más de 39°C con un porcentaje de 59%. El principal temor de los padres frente a un alza térmica es que desencadene convulsiones 46%. El medicamento más utilizado es el paracetamol 53%, las dosis administradas por los padres de antitérmicos son dosis inadecuadas en 50% de los casos. Saben medir la fiebre 64% siendo el principal instrumento utilizado el termómetro oral (36%). CONCLUSIONES. Una gran parte de los padres manejan un concepto errado respecto al punto de corte para considerar fiebre. El principal temor de los padres ante el ascenso de la misma es la presencia de convulsiones. La droga más usada por los padres que participaron en nuestro estudio es el paracetamol. La principal fuente de información de los padres era la información brindada por personal de salud, pero existe una tendencia a usar sobredosis de antitérmicos. Aún son usados métodos caseros y naturales para controlar la fiebre.

OBJECTIVE: To determine knowledge about fever in parents of young children attending to emergency department. DESIGN: Descriptive and prospective study from case series. PLACE: The study was conducted from October to November 2016 in emergency department at Dr. Ovidio Aliaga Uría Children Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Parents of young children from 0 to 59 months old that showed febrile seizures at attending emergency room in the hospital. MAIN MEASURES: Survey considered parents knowledge about the cut off to consider fever, feared consequences of fever, used drugs to treat, drug doses in case of administrating medicaments, source of information regarding knowledge about fever, how to measure children temperature, the methods to measure temperature and the alternative treatments about fever. RESULTS: Parents considered fever when temperature rises between 37 to 37,5 °C (52%). Parents get afraid when temperature increases higher than 39 °C, in a 59%. The presence of seizures is the main fear in parents (46%). paracetamol is most used drug. 50%the cases displayed an inadequate dose administration of antipyretic. CONCLUSIONS: most of the parents have an inadequate concept about the cut of to consider fever. The mean fear is the presence of fever seizures, paracetamol is the most used drug. The source information of parents is obtained from health staff, but they tend to overdose the administration of antipyretics, and the use of home methods is still common.

Tympanic temperature versus temporal temperature in patients with pyrexia and chills.

Accurate body temperature (BT) measurement is critical for immediate and correct estimation of core BT; measurement of changes in BT can provide physicians the initial information for selecting appropriate diagnostic approach and may prevent unnecessary diagnostic investigation. This study aimed to assess differences in tympanic and temporal temperatures among patients with fever in different conditions, especially in those with and without chills. This prospective study included patients from the emergency department between 2011 and 2012. All temperature measurements were obtained using tympanic thermometers and infrared skin thermometers. Differences in tympanic and temporal temperatures were analyzed according to 6 age groups, 5 ambient temperature groups, and 6 tympanic and temporal temperature subgroups. General linear model analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used to estimate the differences in mean tympanic and temporal temperatures. Of the 710 patients enrolled, 246 had tympanic temperature more than 38.0°C, including 46 with chills (18.7%). Fourteen patients (3.0%) had chills and tympanic temperature less than 38°C. In the tympanic temperature subgroup of 39.0 to less than 39.5°C, approximately one-third of the patients had chills (32.3%). In the tympanic temperature subgroup of 38.0 to less than 39.0°C, the tympanic temperature was 0.4°C higher than the temporal temperature in patients without chills and 0.9°C higher in patients with chills. In the tympanic temperature subgroup of 39.0°C or more, tympanic temperature was 0.7°C higher than temporal temperature in patients without chills and 0.8°C higher in patients with chills. Temporal thermometer is more reliable in the age group of less than 1 year and 18 to less than 65 years. When the patients show tympanic temperature range of 38.0 to less than 39.0°C, 0.4°C should be added for patients without chills and 0.9°C for patients with chills to obtain core temperature. However, in patients with tympanic temperature of 39.0°C or more, 0.7°C to 0.8°C should be added, regardless of the presence of chills.

Diagnóstico tardío de lepra lepromatosa. A propósito de un caso / No disponible

La lepra es una enfermedad infecciosa crónica, que afecta piel y nervios periféricos, la mucosa de las vías respiratorias superiores y también los ojos, además de algunas otras estructuras, ocurre en personas de cualquier edad y de ambos sexos causadas por el Mycobacterium leprae. El diagnóstico precoz reviste gran importancia ya que cura al enfermo, interrumpe la cadena de transmisión y evita las discapacidades. Presentamos un paciente masculino de 46 años de edad, trabajador agrícola sin antecedentes epidemiológicos conocidos y sin percepción del riesgo de la enfermedad que ingresa en el hospital municipal de Florida con fiebre, dolores articulares y lesiones en piel, diagnosticándose una lepra lepromatosa, discapacidad grado 2 según clasificación de la OMS dado por la deformidad de manos y pies, la pérdida de la estructura y la rigidez, constituyendo un diagnóstico tardío

Leprosy is an infectious disease with a chronic evolution that affects skin, peripheral nerves, upper respiratory tract and other structures. It appears in individuals of any age or sex and its etiological agent is Mycobacterium leprae. An early diagnosis is essential for preventing incapacities and interrupting the chain of transmission. We present a case of a 46 year old male, field worker, with a previous clinical history and no reception of the risk of illness. He entered the general hospital in Florida with fever, joint pains and skin lesions and was diagnosed of lepromatous leprosy, with grade 2 disabilities according to the WHO classification of the hand, feet and eye deformities, all the cause of a late diagnosis

Misdiagnosis of Behçet's disease with unknown protracted fever and chill after surgical excision of cardiac tumor.

Behçet's disease involving the heart is extremely rare. Sometimes it is probable to misdiagnose as infective endocarditis when protracted fever and chill occurs. We report a case of protracted pyrexia of unknown origin after surgical excision of a cardiac tumour. Clinically and pathologically a diagnosis of infective endocarditis was probable but antibiotics had no effect. After case review the diagnosis of Behçet's disease was established and the patient was treated with glucocorticoids which resulted in resolution.

Blood cyst of the right ventricle presenting as recurrent high fever and chills in an adult.

Blood cysts are uncommon primary cardiac tumors, frequently encountered in pediatric patients, but extremely rare when found in adults. Due to the considerable risks of embolization and obstruction of the blood flow, surgical removal is preferred. Herein, we report a case of blood cyst of the right ventricle, presenting as recurrent fever and chills in an adult patient.

Síndrome de choque por dengue (SCD) y embarazo: reporte de un caso / Syndrome of shock by dengue (ACD) and pregnancy: a case report

El Dengue Hemorrágico (DH) es una variante del Dengue, que cursa con alteraciones hemostáticas y vasculares potencialmente fatales. El Síndrome de Choque por Dengue (SCD) es la forma más severa del DH. A continuación, se presenta un caso de SCD en una paciente con gestación de 9 semanas, y su manejo. Actualmente no se cuenta con conocimiento suficiente acerca del comportamiento de esta enfermedad en pacientes embarazadas. Vale la pena destacar, que no hallamos ningún reporte de SDC en pacientes embarazadas, ni encontramos pautas para el manejo de las mismas, por lo que consideramos de mucha importancia la publicación y diseminación del mismo, como base para nuevas investigaciones.

Experiencia clínica: con penicilina cristalina en el tratamiento de la neumonía en el Servicio de Pediatría HSDM San Antonio: reporte de un caso clínico / Clinical experience: crystalline penicillin in treating pneumonia in the Department of Pediatrics HSDM San Antonio: a case report

Este trabajo de investigación se basó en los efectos de la penicilina cristalina en pediatría Hospital "Dr. Samuel Darío Maldonado" San Antonio Táchira, tiene como finalidad demostrar que a pesar de tener más de 50 años de haber sido descubierta la penicilina, aún existe susceptibilidad de los agentes etiológicos de las neumonías en niños.

[Sub-Saharan traveler with papulovesicular exanthema and flu-like symptoms]. / Tropenrückkehrerin mit papulovesikulärem Exanthem und grippeähnlichen Beschwerden.

African tick bite fever (ATBF) is an infectious disease commonly observed in travelers to sub-Saharan Africa. Because the presentation of the disease is often not specific, ATBF is frequently not diagnosed or confused with Mediterranean spotted fever. We present the case of a 63-year-old woman with typical history and symptoms. The diagnosis of ATBF was serologically confirmed by immunofluoroscence. ATBF is an important differential diagnosis of fever in patients returning from sub-Saharan Africa.

Síndrome febril prolongado por coinfección salmonella/brucella / Fever infection by salmonella and brucella

Se presenta un caso excepcional de síndrome febril prolongado debido a la infección simultánea por Salmonella notyphi y Brucella, en una paciente de 29 años, de origen portugués, que adquirió su enfermedad en una visita a una región rural de su país de origen, en donde ingirió leche y quesos no pasteurizados de vaca y de cabra. Se destacan la ocurrencia inusual de manifestaciones cutáneas y gastrointestinales, así como la necesidad de un tratamiento combinado adecuado por un período de tiempo prolongado para evitar la ocurrencia de recaídas.