Early detection of disease outbreaks is essential for authorities to initiate and conduct an appropriate response. A need for an outbreak detection that monitored data predating laboratory confirmations was identified, which prompted the establishment of a novel symptom surveillance system.
The surveillance system monitors approximately 80% of the Danish population by applying an outbreak detection algorithm to ambulance dispatch data. The system also monitors both regional and national activity and has a built-in, switch-on capacity for implementing symptom surveillance reporting in case of an alert.
In an evaluation with outbreak scenarios it was found that decreasing the outbreak detection sensitivity from a prediction limit of 95% to one of 99% moderately reduced the time to detection, but considerably diminished the number of false alerts.
The system was able to detect an increased activity of influenza-like illness in December 2003 in a timely fashion. The system has now been implemented in the national disease surveillance programme.
ObjectivesTherapy with mesenchymal stem cells exhibits potential for the development of novel interventions for many diseases and injuries. The use of mesenchymal stem cells in regenerative therapy for vocal fold scarring exhibited promising results to reduce stiffness and enhance the biomechanical properties of injured vocal folds. This study evaluated the biomechanical effects of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of vocal fold scarring.Data SourcesPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched.MethodsControlled studies that assessed the biomechanical effects of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for the treatment of vocal fold scarring were included. Primary outcomes were viscoelastic properties and mucosal wave amplitude.ResultsSeven preclinical animal studies (n = 152 single vocal folds) were eligible for inclusion. Evaluation of viscoelastic parameters revealed a decreased dynamic viscosity (η’) and elastic modulus (G’), i.e., decreased resistance and stiffness, in scarred vocal folds treated with mesenchymal stem cells compared to non-treated scarred vocal folds. Mucosal wave amplitude was increased in scarred vocal folds treated with mesenchymal stem cells vs. non-treated scarred vocal folds.ConclusionThe results from these studies suggest an increased regenerative effect of therapy with mesenchymal stem cells for scarred vocal folds and are encouraging for further clinical studies.
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