Healthcare & Laboratory News

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The American Journal of Managed Care (5/14, Bonavitacola) reports a study suggests “that monitoring strategies could be improved through the surveillance of serum protein levels, which have been linked to secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS),” considering that “lower serum protein levels could come before the transition to SPMS in patients.” The study included 45 patients with MS, “of which 23 patients were in the RRMS group, and 22 were in the SPMS group.” The researchers evaluated serum samples for “biomarkers 2 years before SPMS or the most recent evaluation for the RRMS group.” They noted that “patients with SPMS had lower serum albumin levels before their progression compared with those with RRMS. Patients with SPMS also had lower serum total protein concentrations. Both were found to have a significant association with disease progression.” The study was published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.

Pharmacy Times (5/14, Valletti) reports a study found that “a novel urine-based test may significantly reduce the need for repeat biopsies among patients with low-risk prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance.” According to researchers, MyProstateScore 2.0–Active Surveillance (MPS2-AS) “outperformed both prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based approaches and multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) in identifying patients at risk for disease progression.” They found that “MPS2-AS achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 for detecting GG3 or higher disease compared with 0.73 for mpMRI. For GG2 or greater upgrading, the assay demonstrated an AUC of 0.74 compared with 0.64 for mpMRI. Importantly, researchers found that use of MPS2-AS could have avoided approximately 64% of unnecessary biopsies while missing only 3.2% of GG3 or greater cancer upgrades.” The study was published in the Journal of Urology.

Reuters (5/14, Aboulenein, Erman, Chiacu) reports, “There are 41 people in the United States currently being monitored for hantavirus, the” CDC “said on Thursday, most of whom should stay at home and avoid people during the 42-day monitoring period.” The Hill (5/14, Weixel) reports CDC Hantavirus Response Incident Manager David Fritter highlighted that there are no hantavirus cases in the US. Meanwhile, he explained “the people being monitored fall into three main categories: passengers who were repatriated from the MV Hondius and are now in Nebraska and Atlanta; passengers who had already left the ship and returned home before the outbreak was identified; and people who may have been exposed on flights where a symptomatic case was present.”

The Hill (5/13, Mancini) reports, “The hantavirus outbreak grew to 11 cases on Tuesday, after a French woman became infected while aboard a cruise ship and is now being treated with an artificial lung in Paris and a Spanish passenger tested positive after departing the ship.” The WHO “confirmed nine of the 11 cases.”

MedPage Today (5/13, Rudd) reports a study found that “azithromycin exposure in pregnancy was not associated with neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring...and use in late pregnancy was linked with some lower risks.” Researchers observed that “among over 15,000 mother-infant pairs after a mean follow-up of 5.5 years, exposure to azithromycin at any time in pregnancy was not associated with risks of any neurodevelopmental disorder compared with no exposure or exposure to other antibiotics.” Furthermore, “prenatal azithromycin exposure in late pregnancy (from 20 weeks’ gestation to delivery) was associated with a lower risk of overall neurodevelopmental disorders compared with exposure to other antibiotics (adjusted HR 0.69), as well as a lower risk of speech and language disorder (aHR 0.59). In addition, late pregnancy azithromycin exposure was associated with a lower risk of speech and language disorder compared with no antibiotic exposure during pregnancy (aHR 0.61).” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Infectious Disease Advisor (5/13, Khaja) reports a study found that “among adults with HIV-1 and prior hepatitis B virus (HBV) exposure, treatment with dolutegravir plus lamivudine (DTG/3TC) is associated with high rates of virologic suppression without evidence of HBV reactivation.” Researchers observed that “among treatment-naive patients, virologic suppression rates with DTG/3TC were consistent with those observed with standard 3-drug therapy. In GEMINI-1/-2, 18 (78%) DTG/ 3TC recipients achieved HIV-1 RNA levels below 50 copies/mL at week 144 compared with 17 (74%) of DTG plus tenofovir/emtricitabine recipients. In STAT, 3 (60%) patients achieved HIV-1 RNA levels below 50 copies/mL at week 48, although nonefficacy-related discontinuations influenced classification outcomes.” Researchers noted that “among virologically suppressed patients at baseline, switching to DTG/3TC maintained durable virologic suppression.” The study was published in HIV Medicine.

MedPage Today (5/13, Rudd) reports, “Risk of getting sick from a household contact with COVID-19 dropped by more than half among those who took the antiviral ensitrelvir compared with placebo, a randomized trial showed.” Investigators found, “in a modified intention to treat (ITT) population of household contacts of a COVID patient, 2.9% of those who took at least one dose of oral ensitrelvir as postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) developed COVID within 10 days, as compared with 9% of those assigned to placebo (P<0.001).” MedPage Today adds, “Even in the study’s full ITT population, 4.4% of those randomized to ensitrelvir developed COVID by that point compared with 10.2% of the placebo group (P<0.001).” The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.