No abstract

Background People with severe mental illness experience physical health significantly worse than the general population. Physical health monitoring is shared between primary care and secondary mental healthcare services, though there is debate whether mental health teams should provide more physical healthcare. The views of mental health clinicians and patients with mental illness towards physical healthcare provision are unclear. Aims To explore the attitudes of Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) clinicians and patients experiencing severe mental illness towards physical healthcare and its provision. Design and setting Qualitative study in a CMHT setting. Methods Interviews were carried out with CMHT clinicians and patients with severe mental illness. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Results There were 14 patients and 15 clinicians recruited. Patients varied in their awareness of the association between physical and mental health, but were engaged in physical health monitoring. Clinicians were aware of the importance of physical healthcare but reported barriers to provision, including lack of training, resource constraints and uncertainty in their role. There was no consensus in either group regarding how physical healthcare should be provided, with diverse attitudes expressed for why CMHTs should and shouldn’t provide more physical healthcare. Conclusions Increasing physical healthcare provision from mental health teams requires healthcare-related barriers be addressed, but it remains unclear whether CMHT clinicians or patients believe this to be a solution.

Human babesiosis in the United States is caused most commonly by the intraerythrocytic protozoan parasite, Babesia microti . Although a few reports have described evidence of Babesia species in animals in Florida, to date Babesia microti specifically has not been reported from Florida or most other southern states. To determine if the organism is present in vertebrates in the region, small mammals were trapped and sampled at 2 sites in northeastern Florida, and DNA extracts from blood samples were screened for B. microti DNA via PCR assays targeting portions of the nuclear small subunit rRNA (18S rDNA) and beta-tubulin genes. Amplified fragments from representative samples of PCR-positive hosts were sequenced and compared phylogenetically to reference strains of Babesia species. The B. microti strains found in cotton rats ( Sigmodon hispidus ) most closely resembles B. microti sensu stricto strains that are pathogenic to humans, and strains found in raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) most closely resembles previously described raccoon-related strains of B. microti sensu lato. The results of this study suggest that B. microti is prevalent among cotton rats and raccoons at some sites in northeast Florida and may pose a risk to humans in the region.

No abstract