Journal of Infection and Public Health

BackgroundSevere Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) is an acute infectious disease with high mortality. This study aimed to develop a quantitative scoring system for grading SFTS severity using dynamic clinical data. MethodsA retrospective study included 547 confirmed SFTS patients from two hospitals. Clinical data were collected over a 14-day course (divided into four phases). Patients were grouped into survivors (n=451) and non-survivors (n=96). Statistical analyses, including Kaplan...

BackgroundBoth hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and scrub typhus (ST) are acute zoonotic infectious diseases. There is an overlap in their epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations, posing challenges for early differential diagnosis. This study aims to identify predictive factors for these two diseases to provide a basis for early diagnosis. Method/FindingsA retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of patients diagnosed with HFRS and ST at the Firs...

BackgroundReliable identification of early predictors of adverse outcomes was essential during the pre-vaccination phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have comprehensively integrated clinical presentation, laboratory parameters including arterial blood gas analysis, and chest computed tomography (CT) findings within a single well-characterized cohort, particularly in underrepresented regions of Brazil. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 482 consecutive adults (median age 61...

ObjectiveThis study explored the recovery experiences of individuals who report having (largely) recovered from long covid and who attributed their improvement to mind-body approaches. Design, setting and participantsWe conducted an explorative qualitative study using purposive recruitment through social media and snowball sampling. Eighteen adult women (aged 37-62 years), who self-identified as having had long covid and having substantially recovered through mind-body approaches participated i...

Microbial keratitis is a sight-threatening corneal infection with varying etiological agents, primarily bacteria and fungi. Assessing and contrasting the virulence factors of microorganisms isolated from a non-contact lens-associated keratitis (NCLAK) and contact lens-associated keratitis (CLAK) is the goal of the current investigation. Samples were collected from over 60 patients and analysed using standard microbiological techniques, including culture, Gram staining, KOH mount, biochemical tes...

IntroductionHemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a serious condition induced by Dengue virus which becomes fatal if not detected early and treated appropriately. So objectives of the present study are to observe the different patterns of presentations, clinical features and outcome of HLH induced by Dengue. MethodsIn this observational study, 14 patients admitted and diagnosed HLH as per diagnostic criteria, were included after informed written consent. Study conducted in a period of six...

BackgroundImproving tuberculosis (TB) treatment success is critical for improving the health of individuals with TB, reducing transmission, and lowering treatment costs. We conducted a four-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate whether three digital interventions with increasing support improved treatment outcomes compared to the standard of care. MethodsIn this open-label, parallel RCT in Kenya, all TB patients at 902 participating clinics who had at least 2 months of treatment rem...

IntroductionDengue has been prevalent in a regular fashion in Bangladesh and Chattogram for the last 6-7 years and is showing some serotype twisting. So, the objectives of the present study were to explore the burden of dengue serotypes in Chattogram. MethodsIn this study, 223 Dengue RT-PCR positive patients were evaluated for serotyping. Gender and age group, along with cycle threshold (CT) values, were also collected. Data after collection were compiled, analyzed, and plotted in Microsoft Exc...

In the past decade, dengue fever has emerged as a major public health on Reunion Island in the Southwest Indian Ocean. During the 2018-2022 outbreak, an unusual increase in ocular complications was reported in some patients. To investigate a potential viral cause, we analysed 447 blood samples from hospitalized patients with and without ophthalmic symptoms. Genetic sequencing revealed the co-circulation of two strains of dengue virus serotype 1, both genetically linked to strains previously iden...

BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children, often leading to hospitalisation in infants. In low-resource settings where routine RSV diagnostics are unavailable, clinical overlap with bacterial pneumonia frequently results in unnecessary antibiotic use, contributing to antimicrobial resistance. ObjectiveTo evaluate the frequency and clinical determinants of antibiotic use among RSV-positive children under two years at a tertiary...

RationaleObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is linked to cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive morbidity. Although COVID-19 has been associated with long-term respiratory and neurological sequelae, its role in precipitating new-onset OSA remains unclear. ObjectivesTo evaluate whether SARS-CoV-2 infection increases risk of developing OSA up to 4.5 years post-infection and how risk varies by hospitalization status, demographics, comorbidities, and vaccination status. MethodsThis retrospective coho...

IntroductionBuruli ulcer (BU) is a neglected tropical disease primarily affecting skin and sometimes bone. Standard therapy consists of rifampicin (RIF, once daily) plus clarithromycin (CLA, twice daily) over 8 weeks. Adding amoxicillin-clavulanate (AMX/CLV) may shorten treatment, but predicting treatment success before clinical trial implementation is challenging. AimsTo assess the probability of bacterial eradication following treatment with novel investigational BU regimens over different in...

BackgroundCandidemia is a rare but life-threatening bloodstream infection that remains difficult to predict using conventional risk stratification approaches, highlighting the need for improved predictive strategies. As a result, empiric antifungal therapy is often delayed even in high-risk patients. MethodsWe developed a deep learning model (PyTorch_EHR) to predict 7-day candidemia risk by using electronic health record data from two large cohorts (Houston Methodist Hospital System [HMHS] and ...

BackgroundHospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), particularly those caused by multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs), often require newer antibiotic treatment. The efficacy and safety of newer antibiotics compared to generic antibiotics in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have not been evaluated before. MethodsIn this systematic review, we searched RCTs in the United States National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Cochrane Central Reg...

PuhrposeTo evaluate the short- and long-term cross-sectional associations between COVID-19 infection and multidimensional sleep health. MethodsData from the COVID-19 Outbreak Public Evaluation (COPE) initiative were used to examine the association between a novel multidimensional sleep health measure (COPE Multidimensional Sleep Health Scale, CMSHS) modeled from the RuSATED instrument and (1) COVID-19 infection and (2) post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). ResultsData from 11,326...

BackgroundThere is a need for synthetic peptide-based serologic assays that exploit avidity to replace whole antigens while enabling low-cost diagnostics in resource-limited settings. ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a polymeric peptide-based ELISA leveraging avidity to enhance signal. MethodA 15-member SARS-CoV-2 peptide library corresponding to multiple epitope clusters and proteins was screened by indirect ELISA using pooled sera from RT-PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients to ide...

BackgroundDengue virus (DENV) appears to manipulate several cellular metabolic pathways to permit its replication and immune evasion in the host. Here, we employed high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) to investigate the serum metabolomic landscape of clinical DENV infection. MethodsSerum specimens from primary dengue (n=11), secondary dengue (n=9) samples, and healthy controls (n=10) were used for untargeted and targeted metabolomic quantification on a Waters Xevo G2-XS QTof Mass Spectrome...

BackgroundPreoperative biliary stenting alters biliary colonization and may reduce the effectiveness of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in pancreatoduodenectomy. Although broader-spectrum regimens have been associated with improved infectious outcomes, their microbiological adequacy in routine clinical practice remains poorly defined. We therefore evaluated the real-world adequacy of a prolonged ampicillin-sulbactam protocol, its association with infectious outcomes and survival, and the po...

The measles outbreak in Jalisco, Mexico (January-February 2026) experienced vigorous sustained transmission with an exponential growth rate = 0.10 (95% CI: 0.10-0.11) per day, doubling time = 6.3 days (95% CI: 6.3-6.9), yielding the effective reproduction number at 3.34 (95% CI: 3.16-3.54), with elevated incidence among infants and young adults.

The rapid diagnosis of Campylobacter infections is important for the management of infectious gastroenteritis. Although stool culture is considered the gold standard, its sensitivity is limited and it requires prolonged incubation times. We performed a prospective multicenter study at nine healthcare facilities in Japan to evaluate a Campylobacter rapid antigen test using stool specimens between March 2024 and August 2025. Patients with suspected infectious gastroenteritis were consecutively enr...