Oxygen support remains essential for treatment of acute and severe manifestations of COVID-19. In Nepal, like many other low-resource settings, medical oxygen availability was inadequate before the pandemic. The mid-2021 wave of COVID-19 transmission starkly exposed the supply–demand imbalance of medical oxygen across the country. Pre-pandemic, more complex cases were typically referred to hospitals with better resources; however, during the pandemic, these hospitals were overrun. Therefore, resource-poor health facilities have been attempting to provide greater levels of care. However, we are faced with numerous challenges to provide a proper oxygen supply in these health settings. At a logistical level, complex geographies, sparse infrastructure, and inadequate electricity supply pose challenges. On a provider level, a shortage of trained staff and equipment necessary to administer and monitor medical oxygen creates additional pressures. Recognizing the end of the pandemic is still a long way off in many parts of the world, it is imperative that scalable, sustainable approaches to provisioning oxygen to those in greatest need are considered at a policy level.
Snakebite is an important public health issue around the world. In Nepal, it affects a huge number of people mostly belonging to low-income households who are involved in agriculture. Although snakebite has a serious impact on the Terai population, a few studies suggest that snakebite also occurs frequently in hills and mountains. In the absence of sufficient studies related to snakebites in these geographical regions, it is tough to sketch a true picture and estimate the magnitude of snakebites in those areas. Because of this, the healthcare system is probably not prepared enough to handle the victims of snakebites. This demands a proper study of the burden of the issue in these regions and appropriate initiatives for addressing it.
Introduction: We aimed to characterize the clinical, epidemiological and echocardiographic features of infective endocarditis (IE) in the United States (US)-Mexico border population. Methods: A retrospective cohort design of all patients with diagnosis of IE in a tertiary university health system in El Paso, Texas. The primary outcome was a composite of death, stroke, other embolic events or heart failure. Patients were risk-stratified using the Simplified Risk Score Calculation (scores >=5 were considered high risk). Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate time to outcome which was subsequently compared between groups by Wilcoxon log-rank test and a priori multivariable proportional hazard model. Results: Final analytic sample was 155 patients with a median follow-up of 2.21 years. Prosthetic valve IE composed 10.3% of our patients. The most prevalent organism was S. aureus (35.5%), followed by streptococcus species (20.0%). Echocardiographic features of severe endocarditis (indication of surgery) were present in 123 patients (79.5%). Surgical treatment occurred in 23.2% of patients, and the median time to surgery was 12 days. A total of 53% of patients were in the high-risk score category and these patients were more likely to have a conservative, medical treatment compared to those with a low to intermediate risk score (62.2% vs 37.8%, p<0.01). The composite outcome was met by 47.5% of our cohort. Median time to event was 69 days. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with increased risk of the composite outcome were high-risk score category (HR 2.6, 95%CI 1.6-4.3, p<0.01), Medicaid (HR 3.2, 95%CI 1.6-6.2, p<0.01) and uninsured status (HR 2.3, 95%CI 1.3-4.3, p<0.01). Conclusion: In a predominant Hispanic community of the US-Mexico border, high-risk IE patients were more likely to experience the composite outcome, and less likely to get surgical treatment. In multivariable analysis, uninsured patients had a significant higher risk of readmission, embolic events, heart failure or death.
Introduction: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is a chronic autoimmune lymphocytic thyroiditis characterised by thyroid autoantibodies. Early detection and treatment of this condition help in reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with it. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis among patients with thyroid disorders visiting a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients visiting the outpatient department of a tertiary care centre. Data from 14 April 2017 to 13 April 2019 was collected between 30 June 2022 to 15 September 2022 from medical records. Ethical approval was obtained from the Nepal Health Research Council. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis was diagnosed based on clinical presentation and positive antibodies to thyroid antigens. Convenience sampling method was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Among 813 patients with thyroid disorders, 393 (48.33%) (44.89-51.77, 95% Confidence Interval) had Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. The manifestation of the spectrum of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis were euthyroid in 215 (54.70%), subclinical hypothyroidism in 102 (25.95%), subclinical hyperthyroidism in 23 (5.85%), overt hyperthyroidism in 9 (2.30%) and overt hypothyroidism in 4 (1.02%). Conclusions: The prevalence of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis among patients with thyroid disorders was higher than in other studies done in similar settings.
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