AREAS COVERED: Procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic use was discussed in various clinical conditions across initiation, management, and discontinuation stages. Most experts strongly recommended using PCT-driven antibiotic therapy among patients with lower respiratory tract infections, sepsis, and COVID-19. However, additional research is required to understand the optimal use of PCT in patients with organ transplantation and cancer patients with febrile neutropenia. Implementation of the solutions discussed in this review can help improve PCT utilization in guiding AMS in these regions and reducing challenges.
EXPERT OPINION: Experts strongly support the inclusion of PCT in AMS. They believe that PCT in combination with other clinical data to guide antibiotic therapy may result in more personalized and precise targeted antibiotic treatment. The future of PCT in antibiotic treatment is promising and may result in effective utilization of this biomarker.
METHODS: This study was conducted with 314 participants from Delhi's Sanjay Colony, divided into control and intervention groups. The study spanned 14 months (August 2020 to September 2021). The intervention program comprised two educational sessions held one month apart, covering dengue awareness, health self-care, and environmental maintenance. Data were collected at baseline, after each intervention session, and during a final follow-up assessment three months later.
RESULTS: The primary outcome, the house index (HI), revealed statistically significant differences (P<0.001) favoring the intervention group. The total score (TS) for mosquito-borne disease, TS of knowledge, TS of attitude, and TS of practices all exhibited significant improvements in the intervention group. Participants showed an enhanced understanding of dengue causes, symptoms, and mosquito behavior related to breeding and biting. The HI in the intervention group decreased significantly from 21.65% to 4.45% (P<0.05).
CONCLUSION: This study, grounded in the health belief model (HBM), demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention program in reducing HI and improving knowledge and preventive practices regarding dengue fever in impoverished urban neighborhoods of Delhi. The intervention program may be beneficial in such a poor urban community.
METHODS: This study examined the profile activity, content performance, and demographic characteristics of followers from a single OMS-related Instagram account. Variables assessed include the total number of followers since the account's inception, profile views over the selected time period, and unique media content posts, as well as likes, comments, saves, impressions, and reach for all media content posts. The top 45 countries, cities, and languages based on each follower's geolocation and user settings were also included.
RESULTS: There were 9569 followers of which 6208 (64.9%) were listed as public accounts. Of the 6208 followers with public accounts, 2496 (40.2%) were female. The countries with the most followers included the United States (31.7%), India (12.5%), Malaysia (5.3%), Mexico (4.0%), and Pakistan (3.6%). The cities with the most followers included New York, New York (8.9%), Boston, Massachusetts (5.2%), Cairo, Egypt (4.3%), Santiago, Chile (3.7%), and Karachi, Pakistan (3.5%).
CONCLUSION: OMS-related social media is uniquely positioned to facilitate global collaboration and augment the dissemination of surgical knowledge and expertise. This information is critical in understanding the distribution and demographics of the OMS workforce, trainees, and affiliates around the world.
METHODS: The survey was conducted using physical and online presentation modes in two phases. Phase 1; PowerPoint presentation (PPT), describing the most used classification system (Vertucci et al. 1974) and its supplementary types and Ahmed et al. (2017) classification. A single presenter delivered the PPT to participants, using either a projector in an auditorium/seminar hall (face-to-face) or an online platform (zoom meeting software). Phase 2 involved determining the students' responses. A questionnaire was distributed amongst the participants after the lecture and collected for analysis. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the data statistically, and the significance level was set at 0.05 (p India agreed that Ahmed et al. classification system is more practical and accurate for classifying the root and canal morphology.
METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey by contacting country representatives in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in Asia, including Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Myanmar, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and the upper-middle-income country Malaysia, from March 2022 to April 2022. The affordability of each ASM was calculated by dividing the 30-day ASM cost by the daily wage of the lowest paid unskilled laborers. Treatment costing 1 day's wage or less for a 30-day supply of chronic disease is considered affordable.
RESULTS: Eight LMICs and one upper-middle-income country were included in this study. Lao PDR had no newer ASM, and Vietnam had only three newer ASMs. The most frequently available ASMs were levetiracetam, topiramate, and lamotrigine, and the least frequently available was lacosamide. The majority of the newer ASMs were unaffordable, with the median number of days' wages for a 30-day supply ranging from 5.6 to 14.8 days.
SIGNIFICANCE: All new generation ASMs, whether original or generic brands, were unaffordable in most Asian LMICs.