Implementation of a Prospective Index-Cluster Sampling Strategy for the Detection of Presymptomatic Viral Respiratory Infection in Undergraduate Students
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PROVIDER: S-EPMC10911223 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundRespiratory viral infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, their characterization is incomplete because prevalence estimates are based on syndromic surveillance data. Here, we address this shortcoming through the analysis of infection rates among individuals tested regularly for respiratory viral infections, irrespective of their symptoms.MethodsWe carried out longitudinal sampling and analysis among 214 individuals enrolled at multiple New York City locations from fall 2016 to spring 2018. We combined personal information with weekly nasal swab collection to investigate the prevalence of 18 respiratory viruses among different age groups and to assess risk factors associated with infection susceptibility.Results17.5% of samples were positive for respiratory viruses. Some viruses circulated predominantly during winter, whereas others were found year round. Rhinovirus and coronavirus were most frequently detected. Children registered the highest positivity rates, and adults with daily contacts with children experienced significantly more infections than their counterparts without children.ConclusionRespiratory viral infections are widespread among the general population with the majority of individuals presenting multiple infections per year. The observations identify children as the principal source of respiratory infections. These findings motivate further active surveillance and analysis of differences in pathogenicity among respiratory viruses.
| S-EPMC6468062 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundEarly and accurate identification of individuals with viral infections is crucial for clinical management and public health interventions. We aimed to assess the ability of transcriptomic biomarkers to identify naturally acquired respiratory viral infection before typical symptoms are present.MethodsIn this index-cluster study, we prospectively recruited a cohort of undergraduate students (aged 18-25 years) at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) over a period of 5 academic years. To identify index cases, we monitored students for the entire academic year, for the presence and severity of eight symptoms of respiratory tract infection using a daily web-based survey, with symptoms rated on a scale of 0-4. Index cases were defined as individuals who reported a 6-point increase in cumulative daily symptom score. Suspected index cases were visited by study staff to confirm the presence of reported symptoms of illness and to collect biospecimen samples. We then identified clusters of close contacts of index cases (ie, individuals who lived in close proximity to index cases, close friends, and partners) who were presumed to be at increased risk of developing symptomatic respiratory tract infection while under observation. We monitored each close contact for 5 days for symptoms and viral shedding and measured transcriptomic responses at each timepoint each day using a blood-based 36-gene RT-PCR assay.FindingsBetween Sept 1, 2009, and April 10, 2015, we enrolled 1465 participants. Of 264 index cases with respiratory tract infection symptoms, 150 (57%) had a viral cause confirmed by RT-PCR. Of their 555 close contacts, 106 (19%) developed symptomatic respiratory tract infection with a proven viral cause during the observation window, of whom 60 (57%) had the same virus as their associated index case. Nine viruses were detected in total. The transcriptomic assay accurately predicted viral infection at the time of maximum symptom severity (mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] 0·94 [95% CI 0·92-0·96]), as well as at 1 day (0·87 [95% CI 0·84-0·90]), 2 days (0·85 [0·82-0·88]), and 3 days (0·74 [0·71-0·77]) before peak illness, when symptoms were minimal or absent and 22 (62%) of 35 individuals, 25 (69%) of 36 individuals, and 24 (82%) of 29 individuals, respectively, had no detectable viral shedding.InterpretationTranscriptional biomarkers accurately predict and diagnose infection across diverse viral causes and stages of disease and thus might prove useful for guiding the administration of early effective therapy, quarantine decisions, and other clinical and public health interventions in the setting of endemic and pandemic infectious diseases.FundingUS Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
| S-EPMC7515566 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The importance of culinary and lifestyle medicine education to combat the growing burden of chronic disease is gaining recognition in the United States. However, few medical schools offer in-depth training with a 4-year longitudinal track. The Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Track (CLMT) is a 4-year curriculum thread created at West Virginia University School of Medicine to address the need for comprehensive culinary and lifestyle medicine education. CLMT teaches concepts of healthy nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and restorative sleep. CLMT students complete approximately 300 h of in-person and virtual culinary and lifestyle medicine education, including hands-on teaching kitchens, distributed over the preclinical and clinical years. Students are selected into the track prior to matriculation after an application and interview process. The students have exceeded expectations for scholarly and community activity. Track graduates have entered into primary care as well as specialty and surgical residencies, demonstrating that lifestyle education plays a role for students interested in a wide range of careers. Exit survey responses from learners reflected tangible and intangible benefits of participation and offered constructive feedback for improvement. Presented here are the components of the curricular design, implementation, and initial outcomes.
| S-EPMC11233148 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aim of this study is to evaluate a teaching strategy designed to teach first-year undergraduate life sciences students at a research university how to learn to read authentic research articles. Our approach-based on the work done in the field of genre analysis and argumentation theory-means that we teach students to read research articles by teaching them which rhetorical moves occur in research articles and how they can identify these. Because research articles are persuasive by their very nature, we focused on the rhetorical moves that play an important role in authors' arguments. We designed a teaching strategy using cognitive apprenticeship as the pedagogical approach. It was implemented in a first-year compulsory course in the life sciences undergraduate program. Comparison of the results of a pretest with those of the posttest showed that students' ability to identify these moves had improved. Moreover, students themselves had also perceived that their ability to read and understand a research article had increased. The students' evaluations demonstrated that they appreciated the pedagogical approach used and experienced the assignments as useful. On the basis of our results, we concluded that students had taken a first step toward becoming expert readers.
| S-EPMC4041503 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundOral histology is perceived by dental students as a challenging subject and often struggle to recognize the long-term relevance of understanding the cells and tissues at the microscopic level. Serious games have been reported to have a positive effect on student cognitive skills and learning motivation. However, there is still a limited amount of research supporting the effectiveness of serious games as a learning method in dentistry. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of serious game of HistoRM as a complementary learning strategy for oral histology.MethodsThe study design was a crossover randomized controlled trial. A total of 74 first year dental students of Universitas Indonesia participated in the study and divided into 2 groups. Study intervention included HistoRM game for 3 days followed by a combination of HistoRM and script-based handouts for another 4 days. The groups represented different intervention sequences. Evaluation was performed using pre-test, post-test on day 3 and 7 and a questionnaire.ResultsThe data showed significant improvement of student cognitive skills (p < 0.001) and it was influenced by the number of game missions completed. Students who completed the whole 15 missions have a higher day-7 post-tests scores (p = 0.03). Perception of dental students on HistoRM was positive in all domains tested, the learning content, games and learning experience domains. Immediate feedback given after each gameplay helped the students understand the subject matters.ConclusionSerious game of HistoRM effectively improved students' understanding of oral histology learning outcome and provided more interesting learning experiences. This innovative learning can be recommended as a complementary learning strategy of oral histology for dental students.
| S-EPMC10463426 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic demonstrates the need for accurate and convenient approaches to diagnose and therapeutically monitor respiratory viral infections. We demonstrated that self-sampling with foam swabs at home is well-tolerated and provides quantitative viral output concordant with flocked swabs. Nasal cytokine levels correlate and cluster according to immune cell of origin. Periods of stable viral loads are followed by rapid elimination, which could be coupled with cytokine expansion and contraction using mathematical models. Nasal foam swab self-sampling at home provides a precise, mechanistic readout of respiratory virus shedding and local immune responses.
| S-EPMC7276008 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic demonstrates the need for accurate and convenient approaches to diagnose and therapeutically monitor respiratory viral infections. We demonstrated that self-sampling with mid-nasal foam swabs is well-tolerated and provides quantitative viral output concordant with flocked swabs. Using longitudinal home-based self-sampling, we demonstrate that nasal cytokine levels correlate and cluster according to immune cell of origin. Periods of stable viral loads are followed by rapid elimination, which could be coupled with cytokine expansion and contraction. Nasal foam swab self-sampling at home provides a precise, mechanistic readout of respiratory virus shedding and local immune responses.
| S-EPMC7454707 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The DOSPERT, developed by Weber, Blais and Betz, can be used to measure risk behaviors in a variety of domains. We investigated the use of this scale in China. The participants were 1144 undergraduate students. After we removed some items that were not homogeneous, a principal component analysis extracted six components that accounted for 44.48% of the variance, a value similar to that obtained in the analysis conducted by Weber et al. Chinese undergraduates scored higher on the investment subscale compared with the results of Weber's study. The analysis of individual differences indicated that there was a significant gender difference in the ethical, investment and health/safety subscales, where males scored significantly higher than females. The type of home location was also significant on the ethical and health/safety subscales, where undergraduates from the countryside scored lower than undergraduates from cities and towns on the ethical subscale, and undergraduates from towns scored higher than those from other two areas on the health/safety subscale. Male undergraduates from towns scored higher than male undergraduates from other areas on the gambling subscale.
| S-EPMC4024034 | biostudies-other
Project description:OBJECTIVE:to identify the intensity of depressive symptoms and their associated factors in healthcare undergraduate students. METHOD:cross-sectional study developed with undergraduate health students from a public higher education institution using the Beck Depression Inventory-version II and a student characterization questionnaire. The study involved 792 participants. For data analysis, we used descriptive statistics, chi-squared test and Poisson regression. RESULTS:the intensity of depressive symptoms was moderate to severe in 23.6% of the students, associated with the non-performance of physical and leisure activities and with speech therapy and nursing courses. CONCLUSION:several factors may be associated with depression, thus, further investigation into the related factors that cause its emergence in this period of life is necessary, as well as raising institutional awareness and developing strategies at the personal and group level to promote well-being, improve time management and interpersonal relationships, in order to achieve better academic results and personal development.
| S-EPMC7021484 | biostudies-literature
Project description:From very early on, my personal/professional life has been shaped by teachers in many different settings. Teaching and learning form a two-way street. In the process of teaching undergraduate students, particularly in the research lab, I have learned some profound lessons about the importance of listening to them, challenging them, giving them autonomy, and allowing them to enjoy success and to risk failure. I am now working with a team of faculty members to implement these lessons in a course-based undergraduate research experience in the biochemistry teaching laboratory. Our goal is to seek answers to the question "How do students become scientists?" and to implement those answers with our future students.
| S-EPMC6036191 | biostudies-literature