Risk Of Infectious Diseases Research Articles

Investigation ways of causes needle sticks injuries, risk factors affecting on health and ways to preventive.

Needle sticks injuries (NSIs) has caused many health concerns, including the widespread infection disease. Needle sticks injuries can have high threaten health human especially, all those who are in contact with health and medical centers. The purpose of this review study was the determination the effects of needle sticks injuries (NSIs) on health care worker and patents. In this a review study of literature studied conducted on international databases included Google Scholar, ISI/WOS (Web of Science), Springer, Scopus, Medline/PubMed. The literature signs a notable undesirable affect from potential needle sticks injuries related to ways to preventive and risks factors among patents and health care worker. The literature was shown needle stick injuries can cause with a variety of ways including needle recapping, non-standard safety boxes, thin gloves, and inadequate personal protective equipment. According to the result this study, needle stick injuries can transfer infectious disease (Human Immunodeficiency viruses [HIV], Hepatitis C virus [HCV]) and increase risk health on health care worker and patients. According to research related to the subject, the ways to prevent reduce needle sticks include personal protective equipment, holding retraining courses for medical staff in the direction to raise awareness can significantly reduce cases of needle sticks injuries. Further research using more sophisticated methodology is warranted.

Small ubiquitin-related modifier-fused bacteriophage tail fiber protein with favorable aqueous solubility for lateral flow assay of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Rapid and sensitive assay of pathogenic bacteria is critical for minimizing the risk of infectious diseases. Inspired by the interaction between bacteriophages and host bacteria, we obtained a gene sequence of tail fiber protein (TFP) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacteriophage. Then the gene sequence was used to express a recombinant TFP, which can act as a potential capture molecule for P. aeruginosa. Small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) tag was fused onto the TFP fragment to overcome its unfavorable aqueous solubility. The obtained SUMO tag-fused TFP (STFP) can be uniformly distributed onto a nitrocellulose membrane to form a test line due to the improved aqueous solubility, which facilities fabrication of a lateral flow assay strip. Thus we developed a lateral flow assay method by using STFP as a capture molecule and AuCo nanoparticles-labeled aptamer as a signal tracer for point-of-care testing of P. aeruginosa. By using the test strip, P. aeruginosa can be semi quantified with color band and quantified with chemiluminescent (CL) signal catalyzed by AuCo nanoparticles. The concentration range for quantification is 3.3 × 102 CFU/mL to 3.3 × 107 CFU/mL. The test strip was applied to assay P. aeruginosa in different sample matrixes including cerebrospinal fluid, physiological salt solution, drinking water and pear juice. The results demonstrate the application potential of the STFP-based lateral flow assay for medical diagnosis, food and drug safety monitoring.

Digital health for climate change mitigation and response: a scoping review.

Climate change poses a major threat to the operation of global health systems, triggering large scale health events, and disrupting normal system operation. Digital health may have a role in the management of such challenges and in greenhouse gas emission reduction. This scoping review explores recent work on digital health responses and mitigation approaches to climate change. We searched Medline up to February 11, 2022, using terms for digital health and climate change. Included articles were categorized into 3 application domains (mitigation, infectious disease, or environmental health risk management), and 6 technical tasks (data sensing, monitoring, electronic data capture, modeling, decision support, and communication). The review was PRISMA-ScR compliant. The 142 included publications reported a wide variety of research designs. Publication numbers have grown substantially in recent years, but few come from low- and middle-income countries. Digital health has the potential to reduce health system greenhouse gas emissions, for example by shifting to virtual services. It can assist in managing changing patterns of infectious diseases as well as environmental health events by timely detection, reducing exposure to risk factors, and facilitating the delivery of care to under-resourced areas. While digital health has real potential to help in managing climate change, research remains preliminary with little real-world evaluation. Significant acceleration in the quality and quantity of digital health climate change research is urgently needed, given the enormity of the global challenge.

The public health implications of gentrification: tick‐borne disease risks for communities of color

Gentrification operates as a social driver of health that can increase tick‐borne disease (TBD) risk for communities of color through either population displacement or land‐use change. Research on the emergence of TBDs in urban environments has primarily focused on the ecological processes of urban landscapes that facilitate favorable habitats for host reservoirs and tick vectors. However, neglecting to view infectious disease risk from a socioecological framework will continue to result in policies and planning that disadvantage communities of color. Using Lyme disease as a case study, we integrated elements of environmental epidemiology, ecology, public health, and urban planning to propose pathways of gentrification as a socioecological process with public health implications. By drawing connections between urban ecology, urban planning, and environmental racism, we seek to bring awareness to disease ecologists, policy makers, and public health managers on the potential role of gentrification as a driver of tick‐borne pathogen exposure.Front Ecol Environ 2022;

The Need to Prioritize Prevention of Viral Spillover in the Anthropopandemicene: A Message to Global Health Researchers and Policymakers

Increased anthropogenic activities including changes in land use and unrelenting ecosystem services related to animal husbandry, wildlife trade, and deforestation are driving the emergence of viral zoonosis. This is primarily due to human–animal interaction which is facilitating the spillover of viral zoonotic pathogens from animals (domestic and wildlife) to humans that could result in epidemics or pandemics. Scientific reports so far have revealed that viral epidemics and pandemics in recent years such as H1N1 Swine Influenza, H5N1 Avian Influenza, Ebola, Zika, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 were all zoonotic, and their emergence has been linked with spillover events arising from human–animal interaction. This increased interaction and the increased spillover event could facilitate future pandemic risk, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, “IPBES”, has declared this “the era of pandemics”. Furthermore, since future pandemics would be triggered by anthropogenic activities, we have called this “anthropopandemicene”, i.e., an era of pandemics driven by anthropogenic activities. To minimize the risk of future pandemics, it is important to prioritize the prevention of viral spillover events. Here, we outline five priority areas for global health researchers and policymakers. These areas include improvement of biosecurity at livestock farms, imposing a moratorium or strictly banning wildlife trade that poses a public health risk, conservation of biodiversity by halting deforestation, investing in community-based research for infectious disease control, and strengthening community healthcare systems in precarious ecosystems and infectious diseases hotspots. Finally, we acknowledge the efforts of other renowned global and legally binding frameworks such as IHR, the Paris Agreement, and CITES with regard to addressing the public health risk of infectious diseases, and we provide recommendations for their improvement.

Boundary conditions for exhaled airflow from a cough with a surgical or N95 mask.

Wearing surgical or N95 masks is effective in reducing the infection risks of airborne infectious diseases. However, in the literature there are no detailed boundary conditions for airflow from a cough when a surgical or N95 mask is worn. These boundary conditions are essential for accurate prediction of exhaled particle dispersion by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This study first constructed a coughing manikin with an exhalation system to simulate a cough from a person. The smoke visualization method was used to measure the airflow profile from a cough. To validate the setup of the coughing manikin, the results were compared with measured data from subject tests reported in the literature. The validated coughing manikin was then used to measure the airflow boundary conditions for a cough when a surgical mask was worn and when an N95 mask was worn, respectively. Finally, this study applied the developed airflow boundary conditions to calculate person‐to‐person particle transport from a cough when masks are worn. The calculated exhaled particle patterns agreed well with the smoke pattern in the visualization experiments. Furthermore, the calculated results indicated that, when the index person wore a surgical and a N95 mask, the total exposure of the receptor was reduced by 93.0% and 98.8%, respectively.

Metagenomic Analysis of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents in Tokyo.

PurposeUrban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents, even with proper treatment, may cause antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden, with a high frequency of acquired antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). The dissemination of ARGs into the environment increases the risk of infectious diseases; however, there is little direct evidence regarding their epidemiological effects. This study aimed to assess effluents from urban WWTPs around the Tama River and Tokyo Bay using metagenomic analysis of (AMR) genes (ARGs) and heavy-metal resistance genes.MethodsMetagenomic DNA-seq analysis of water samples and resistome analysis were performed.ResultsThe most prevalent ARG was the sulfonamide resistance gene, sul1, followed by the quaternary ammonium compound resistance gene, qacE, suggesting that basic gene sets (sul1 and ∆qacE) in the class 1 integrons are the predominant ARGs. The aminoglycoside resistance genes, aadA and aph, and macrolide resistance genes, msr(E) and mph(E), were the predominant ARGs against each antimicrobial. blaOXA and blaGES were frequently detected, whereas the blaCTX-M cluster was faintly detected. Non-metric multidimensional scaling plot analysis and canonical correspondence analysis results suggested that marked differences in ARGs could be involved in the seasonal differences; qnrS2, aac(6’)-Ib, and mef(C) increased markedly in summer, whereas msr(E) was more frequently detected in winter. Heavy-metal (Hg and Cu) resistance genes (HMRGs) were significantly detected in effluents from all WWTPs.ConclusionWe characterized a baseline level of the environmental ARG/HMRG profile in the overall community, suggesting that environmental AMR surveillance, particularly in urban WWTPs, is a valuable first step in monitoring the AMR dissemination of bacteria from predominantly healthy individuals carrying notable ARG/Bs.

Ventilation indices for evaluation of airborne infection risk control performance of air distribution

Air distribution is an effective engineering measure to fight against respiratory infectious diseases like COVID-19. Ventilation indices are widely used to indicate the airborne infection risk of respiratory infectious diseases due to the practical convenience. This study investigates the relationships between the ventilation indices and airborne infection risk to suggest the proper ventilation indices for the evaluation of airborne infection risk control performance of air distribution. Besides the commonly used ventilation indices of the age of air (AoA), air change effectiveness (ACE), and contaminant removal effectiveness (CRE), this study introduces two ventilation indices, i.e., the air utilization effectiveness (AUE) and contaminant dispersion index (CDI). CFD simulations of a hospital ward and a classroom served by different air distributions, including mixing ventilation, displacement ventilation, stratum ventilation and downward ventilation, are validated to calculate the ventilation indices and airborne infection risk. A three-step correlation analysis based on Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, Pearson correlation coefficient, and goodness of fit and a min-max normalization-based error analysis are developed to qualitatively and quantitatively test the validity of ventilation indices respectively. The results recommend the integrated index of AUE and CDI to indicate the overall airborne infection risk, and CDI to indicate the local airborne infection risk respectively regardless of the effects of air distribution, supply airflow rate, infectivity intensity, room configuration and occupant distribution. This study contributes to airborne transmission control of infectious respiratory diseases with air distribution.

Antibody waning after immunosuppressive chemotherapy and immunomodulators, re-immunization considerations in pediatric patients with malignancy and chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura

IntroductionImmunosuppressive chemotherapy increase the risk of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in children; nevertheless, chemotherapy may result in delay or miss updated immunization schedules. The predictable antibody waning after incomplete primary immunization series may be intensified at the end of chemotherapy. This study aimed to investigate post-chemotherapy vaccine immunity waning at the end of immunosuppressive therapy in children with malignancy and hematologic disorders.Materials and methodsChildren with malignancies and hematologic disorders including chronic immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) younger than 18 years old were enrolled from September 2015 to August 2019. Eligible patients who completed their treatment protocol for at least 6 months were recruited. The patient information, including sex, age at the date of diagnosis, number of chemotherapy sessions, underlying disease, and vaccination history, was taken by chart review using predefined questionnaires. The patient’s blood samples were obtained, and serum IgG antibody titer checked against diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B virus (HBV), mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results110 children receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy were recruited. Forty-four (40%) of the children tested were girls and 66 (60%) were boys. The mean age of patients was 5.5 years with a range of 2 to 13 years. Of 110 studied children, 27.3% were seronegative for all antibodies. On average, patients undergo 19 episodes of chemotherapy. The mean chemotherapy sessions were significantly greater in children who were seronegative for all tested antibodies (mean: 36.2, 95% CI 33.16 to 39.24, p-value < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed regarding the patient’s sex and age between the seropositive and seronegative groups (p-value 0.513 and 0.060, respectively). Based on Poisson regression model analysis, the female gender was associated with 37% lower odds of seronegativity (incidence rate ratio (IIR): 0.63; [95% conf. interval: 0.39 to 1.01, p-value: 0.55]), while chemotherapy sessions 30 or more was associated with significant odds of seronegativity for all tested vaccines (IIR: 25.41; [95% conf. interval: 6.42 to 100.57, p-value < 0.001]).ConclusionOur results reemphasized planned catchup immunization in children undergoing immunosuppressive chemotherapy for malignancy, especially against tetanus, diphtheria, and hepatitis B at least 6 months after the end of chemotherapy sessions.

SARS-CoV-2-Specific T Cell Immunity in HIV-Associated Kaposi Sarcoma Patients in Zambia.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It has caused millions of infections and deaths globally over a 2-year period. Some populations including those living with HIV and/or cancer are reported to be at a higher risk of infection and severe disease. HIV infection leads to a depletion of CD4+ T cells which impairs cell-mediated immunity and increases the risk of malignancies such as Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and viral infections such as SARS-CoV-2. However, several other factors including level of immunosuppression and chemotherapy may also affect the immune response against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we investigated factors affecting SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity towards the spike, nucleoprotein, membrane protein, and other open reading frame proteins in individuals with HIV-associated KS. The KS patients were SARS-CoV-2 seropositive with detectable T cell responses, but had no history of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. We observed that the T cell responses increase from baseline levels during follow-up, with responses towards the NMO peptide pool being statistically significant. Low CD4 counts below 200 cells/μl were associated with lower SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses. Cancer chemotherapy and KS T staging did not have a significant effect on the T cell responses.

Commentary: Recognizing subsequent infection risk following hospital discharge among children.

Rambliere et al.’s study1 adds to the body of research around heightened infectious disease risk following hospital discharge among young children, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This important area of child health requires further recognition and attention. Infectious diseases are a leading cause of global childhood morbidity and mortality, even during the months immediately following discharge for an acute episode, where increased rates have been reported.2 The increased post-discharge rates contribute to a post-hospital syndrome which has been described as a transient acquired condition of vulnerability for a number of adverse health outcomes for several weeks following hospital discharge.3 Persistent effects of the original illness may partially contribute to the post-discharge period of vulnerability, but other contributing factors may be the physical and emotional instability associated with a hospital stay, such as changes to sleep, diet, stress and separation from family, which may have long-lasting effects on child health. In certain settings, the additional stress and financial strains resulting from a hospital stay may affect living conditions, food supply and overall health for several months. Whereas most research to date has focused on post-discharge mortality in children, little attention has been placed on morbidity. The aim of Rambliere’s study is to measure the independent effect of hospitalization for any initial health event, compared with management in primary health care facilities, on subsequent infection risk. The study provides findings for infection morbidity associated with any initial health event, not just specific health events, and has important implications for discharge approaches for at-risk children.

Deep similarity analysis and forecasting of actual outbreak of major infectious diseases using Internet-Sourced data

Perhaps no other generation in the span of recorded human history has endured the risks of infectious diseases as has the current generation. The prevalence of infectious diseases is caused mainly by unlimited contact between people in a highly globalized world. Disease control and prevention (CDC) promptly collect and produce disease outbreak statistics, but CDCs rely on a curated, centralized collection system, and requires up to two weeks of lead time. Consequently, the quick release of disease outbreak information has become a great challenge. Infectious disease outbreak information is recorded and spread somewhere on the Internet much faster than CDC announcements, and Internet-sourced data have shown non-substitutable potential to watch and predict infectious disease outbreaks in advance. In this study, we performed a thorough analysis to show the similarity between the Korean Center of Disease Control (KCDC) infectious disease datasets and three Internet-sourced data for nine major infectious diseases in terms of time-series volume. The results show that many of infectious disease outbreak have strongly related to Internet-sourced data. We analyzed several factors that affect the similarity. Our analysis shows that the increase in the number of Internet-sourced data correlates with the increase in the number of infected people and thus, show the positive similarity. We also found that the greater the number of infectious disease outbreaks corresponds to having a wider spread of outbreak regions, in which it also proves to have higher similarity. We presented the prediction result of infectious disease outbreak using various Internet-sourced data and an effective deep learning algorithm. It showed that there are positive correlations between the number of infected people or the number of related web data and the prediction accuracy. We developed and currently operate a web-based system to show the similarity between KCDC and related Internet-sourced data for infectious diseases. This paper helps people to identify what kind of Internet-sourced data they need to use to predict and track a specific infectious disease outbreak. We considered as much as nine major diseases and three kinds of Internet-sourced data together, and we can say that our finding did not depend on specific infectious disease nor specific Internet-sourced data.

The first 6 years of surveillance of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) in Gibraltar

Following the expansion of the invasive mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) through Spain along the Mediterranean coast, mosquito surveillance was established in Gibraltar in 2016. This paper reports on the first detection of Ae. albopictus in Gibraltar in 2017 as well as subsequent efforts to monitor the establishment of the species, including longitudinal data over several years since 2018, and results of a snapshot survey in 2021 on adult mosquito density. Aedes albopictus has become established across most of Gibraltar, with defined seasonality from August to October, slightly later than the peak in Culex pipiens densities. The larval habitats for Ae. albopictus remain largely enigmatic. Mosquito samples tested for chikungunya and West Nile virus were all found to be negative, and this paper includes recommendations for future control efforts and infectious disease risk assessment.

Cost distance models to predict contact between bighorn sheep and domestic sheep

AbstractInfectious disease transmission from domestic sheep threatens the persistence of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations throughout western North America. Quantifying spatial separation between the 2 species is an essential component in assessing the risk of disease transmission. We present a spatial analysis to evaluate infectious disease risks for endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (O. c. sierrae; hereafter Sierra bighorn sheep). Our approach accounted for spatial separation between the species as well as the configuration of resources that influences Sierra bighorn sheep movement. We assessed the potential for contact by predicting where Sierra bighorn sheep were likely to be located and travel. We combined a resource selection probability function with a cost distance analysis to quantify the risk of grazing domestic sheep in proximity to Sierra bighorn sheep core home range from a habitat perspective. We compared our approach to a standard buffer approach and determined that our cost distance model better quantified how risk varied among grazing parcels. Sierra bighorn sheep selected and traveled within habitat that included escape terrain. Our model, which included a log normal transformation, characterized the high relative cost (i.e., reduced likelihood) to traveling beyond selected habitat and predicted that such movement is less likely. As a result, our habitat‐based risk threshold was 48% smaller in area than the standard buffer area that included landscape that bighorn did not use. Our method establishes a risk threshold that can be used by land managers to optimize public and private grazing regimes and minimize the risk of disease transmission.

Evaluation of the knowledge, attitudes, vaccine hesitancy, and behaviors of anesthesia technicians on adult vaccination

Background: Anesthesia technicians work in places with a high risk of infectious diseases. Vaccination is one of the most essential methods that protect society and healthcare workers against infectious diseases. This study aims to determine anesthesia technicians' knowledge, behavior, attitude, and vaccine hesitancy. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted between October 2021 and February 2022 at the Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Turkiye. A semi-structured and self-reported online survey was recruited to collect data from the Turkish anesthesia technicians’ community. Data of 1600 participants have undergone descriptive and univariate analyses to evaluate the differences in mean scores on knowledge, attitudes, and vaccine hesitancy. Results: The mean age of respondents was 24 years (±6.15). More than two-thirds (79.2%) were females, single (84.9%), aged less than 30 years (88.4%), and unemployed (61.1%); however, 12.4% had chronic diseases. The mean knowledge, attitude, and vaccine hesitancy score were 13.24± 3.22 (range: 0-21), 11.19 ± 3.19 (range: 0-15), and 28.67± 6.64, range: 12–60), respectively. Most respondents had information (1458, 91.1%) about COVID-19 vaccines, and 1247(77.9%) had been vaccinated. However, 240 (16.3%) did not receive vaccines at all compared to 59 (3.7%) who completed the thirteen recommended vaccines in Turkiye. The mean of vaccine hesitancy was significantly higher among females (P=0.001), unemployed (P=0.007), residents in Southeast Anatolia (P=0.001), and those who did not use medication continuously (P=0.016). However, participants aged 40 years and above (P=0.013) showed the lowest mean of vaccine hesitancy than the other age groups. Conclusion: Appropriate training and guidance might increase the vaccination information and enhance the vaccination rates among anesthesia technicians.

Latency period of PROM at term and the risk of neonatal infectious diseases

To find the risk of time thresholds of PROM for infectious diseases of term neonates. A multi-center prospective cohort study including pregnancies with PROM at term with a single fetus were conducted. Time thresholds of the duration from PROM to delivery were examined in 2-h increments to assess the rates of infectious neonatal diseases. 7019 pregnancies were included in the study. Neonatal pneumonia and sepsis were most frequent infectious diseases in neonates born from mother with PROM at term. Rates of early-onset pneumonia varied significantly when comparing length of time of PROM greater than 16 h vs. less than 16 h (for EOP in 3 days of life, adjusted OR 1.864, 95% CI 1.159 ~ 2.997, p = 0.010; for EOP in 7 days of life, adjusted OR 1.704, 95% CI 1.104 ~ 2.628, p = 0.016). Neonates born from mother of whom the length of time from PROM to delivery ≥ 16 h were at a higher risk of acquiring EOP.

Neonatal Antibiotic Treatment Can Affect Stool Pattern and Oral Tolerance in Preterm Infants.

Preterm neonates are at high risk of infectious and inflammatory diseases which require antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics influence neonatal gut microbiome development, and intestinal dysbiosis has been associated with delayed gastrointestinal transit. Neonates who take less time to pass meconium have a better tolerance to enteral feeding. We analyzed the effect of neonatal antibiotic treatment on the stool pattern and oral tolerance in 106 preterm infants < 33 weeks gestational age. Neonates were classified in 3 groups according to neonatal antibiotic (ABT) treatment days: no antibiotics, 3–7 d ABT, and ≥8 d ABT. Preterm infants from the ≥8 d ABT group took longer to pass meconium and to start green and yellow stools, took longer to reach 100 and 150 mL/kg/day, and reached reduced volumes in enteral feeds at day of life 14 and 28 than infants from no ABT and 3–7 d ABT groups. Multiple linear regression models showed that neonatal antibiotic treatment, birth weight, invasive mechanical ventilation, surfactant, enteral feeding start day, neonatal parenteral nutrition, and neonatal fasting days are associated with the stool pattern and oral tolerance in preterm infants.

Factors influencing emergency nurses’ infection control practices related to coronavirus disease 2019 in Korea

BackgroundWhen an infectious disease breaks out, emergency nurses are the front-line specialists. Infection control by emergency nurses is important to minimize the risk of infectious disease and to improve the infection control practices of emergency nurses. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors influencing infection control practice related to COVID-19. MethodsFor this cross-sectional study design used survey methods for data collection, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 161 emergency nurses working in five hospitals selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected from November 10 to November 26 in 2020. ResultsInfection control practice related to COVID-19 was affected by the infection prevention environment (β = 0.24, p = .002), monitoring of wearing Personal Protective Equipment (β = 0.19, p = .006), knowledge about COVID-19 (β = 0.18, p = .009), perceived severity related to COVID-19 (β = 0.18, p = .010), and perceived barrier related to COVID-19 (β = −0.15, p = .033). ConclusionCreating safe infection prevention measures and revitalizing personal protective equipment monitoring are necessary to improve infection control practices. A systematic infection control education program is needed to improve knowledge about COVID-19, emphasize its perceived severity, and identify and eliminate perceived barriers.

The Relationship between Vector Species Richness and the Risk of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases

AbstractInfectious diseases can impact human welfare and impede wildlife management. Much recent research explores whether biodiversity increases or decreases infectious disease risk. Here, we theoretically study the relationship between vector species richness and the risk of vector-borne diseases using an epidemiological model of a single host and multiple vectors. The model considers that vectors are involved in interspecific feeding interference that causes transmission interference and in interspecific recruitment competition that mediates susceptible vector regulation. The model reveals three possible shapes of the vector richness-disease risk relationship: monotonic amplification, hump-shaped, and monotonic dilution patterns. The monotonic amplification pattern occurs across a wide parameter region. The hump-shaped and monotonic dilution patterns are found when transmission interference is strong and recruitment competition is weak. Unexpectedly, susceptible vector regulation not only promotes dilution but can strengthen amplification if coupled with strong transmission interference. Our results suggest that vector richness might be more likely to cause amplification rather than dilution, and shifts in the community mean trait values of vectors could also affect disease risk along the vector richness gradient.

The association between fetal gender in twin pregnancies and the risk of pediatric infectious diseases of the offspring: A population-based cohort study with long-term follow up.

We aimed to study the association between fetal gender in twin pregnancies and the risk for childhood infectious morbidity of the offspring. A population-based cohort analysis was performed comparing total and subtypes of infectious related pediatric hospitalizations among males versus females offspring of twin pregnancies. The analysis included all dichorionic twins born between the years 1991-2021. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to compare the cumulative infectious morbidity incidence, and a Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to adjust for confounders. The study population included 4222 newborns (2111 males and 2111 females). Males had higher rates of infectious-related hospitalizations using a Cox proportional hazards model, an independent association was shown between male gender and infectious related hospitalizations of the offspring (Adjusted HR = 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1-1.4; p < 0.001). Male gender in twin pregnancies is associated with an increased risk for long-term pediatric infectious morbidity.