Value of combining targeted emergency nursing with psychological nursing in children with febrile convulsions

BACKGROUND Febrile convulsions are a common pediatric emergency that imposes significant psychological stress on children and their families.Targeted emergency care and psychological nursing are widely applied in clinical practice,but their value and impact on the management of pediatric febrile convulsions are unclear.AIM To determine the impact of targeted emergency nursing combined with psychological nursing on satisfaction in children with febrile convulsions.METHODS Data from 111 children with febrile convulsions who received treatment at Nantong Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital between June 2021 and October 2022 were analyzed.The control group consisted of 44 children who received conventional nursing care and the research group consisted of 67 children who received targeted emergency and psychological nursing.The time to fever resolution,time to resolution of convulsions,length of hospital stays,Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index,patient compliance,nursing satisfaction of the parents,occurrence of complications during the nursing process,and parental anxiety and depression were compared between the control and research groups.Parental anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression(HAMD)and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety(HAMA).RESULTS The fever resolution,convulsion disappearance,and hospitalization times were longer in the control group compared with the research group(P<0.0001).The time to falling asleep,sleep time,sleep quality,sleep disturbance,sleep efficiency,and daytime status scores were significantly better in the research group compared with the control group(P<0.0001).The HAMD and HAMA scores for parents of children in the research group were lower than the scores in the control group after nursing(P<0.05).Compliance with treatment of children in the research group was higher than in the control group(P<0.05).Parental satisfaction with nursing in the research group was higher than in the control group(P<0.05).The total complication rate of children in the control group was higher than in the research group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Combining psychological nursing with targeted emergency nursing improved the satisfaction of children’s families and compliance with treatment and promoted early recovery of clinical symptoms and improvement of sleep quality.

Repeated febrile convulsions impair hippocampal neurons and cause synaptic damage in immature rats: neuroprotective effect of fructose-1,6-diphosphate

Fructose-1,6-diphosphate is a metabolic intermediate that promotes cell metabolism. We hypothesize that fructose-1,6-diphosphate can protect against neuronal damage induced by febrile convulsions. Hot-water bathing was used to establish a repetitive febrile convulsion model in rats aged 21 days, equivalent to 3–5 years in humans. Ninety minutes before each seizure induction, rats received an intraperitoneal injection of low- or high-dose fructose-1,6-diphosphate（500 or 1,000 mg/kg, respectively）. Low- and high-dose fructose-1,6-diphosphate prolonged the latency and shortened the duration of seizures. Furthermore, high-dose fructose-1,6-diphosphate effectively reduced seizure severity. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that 24 hours after the last seizure, high-dose fructose-1,6-diphosphate reduced mitochondrial swelling, rough endoplasmic reticulum degranulation, Golgi dilation and synaptic cleft size, and increased synaptic active zone length, postsynaptic density thickness, and synaptic interface curvature in the hippocampal CA1 area. The present findings suggest that fructose-1,6-diphosphate is a neuroprotectant against hippocampal neuron and synapse damage induced by repeated febrile convulsion in immature rats.

Prevalence of recent immunisation in children with febrile convulsions

AIM:To determine the prevalence of recent immunisation amongst children under 7 years of age presenting for febrile convulsions.METHODS:This is a retrospective study of all children under the age of seven presenting with febrile convulsions to a tertiary referral hospital in Sydney.A total of 78 cases occurred in the period January 2011 to July 2012 and were included in the study.Data was extracted from medical records to provide a retrospective review of the convulsions.RESULTS:Of the 78 total cases,there were five medical records which contained information on whether or not immunisation had been administered in the preceding 48 h to presentation to the emergency department.Of these five patients only one patient(1.28%of the study population) was confirmed to have received a vaccination with Infanrix,Prevnar and Rotavirus.The majority of cases reported a current infection as a likely precipitant to the febrile convulsion.CONCLUSION:This study found a very low prevalence of recent immunisation amongst children with febrile convulsions presenting to an emergency department at a tertiary referral hospital in Sydney.This finding,however,may have been distorted by underreporting of vaccination history.

PROPHYLAXIS OF INTERMITTENT DIAZEPAM IN CHILDREN WITH FEBRILE CONVULSIONS（FC）

The purpose of this study was to limit intermittent diazcpam prophyiaxis of children with FC to the patients who haye the second recurrence.A series of 156 children with FC received prophylactic treatment.During 1￣5 years for Follow-up (average,2 years and 10 months),28 cases of prophylactic group suffered recurrence of FC 48 times. 54 of 126 cases in control group suffered it 108 times. The difference in case number and recurrent rate between the prophylactic and control groups was highly significant (P<0. 01). Diazepam was found tO be considerably effective in reducing the risk of recurrence of FC.

Clinical analysis between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, interleukin-6 levels and febrile convulsion in children

Objective:To investigate the relation between febrile convulsions and 25hydroxy-vitamin D_(3)[25-(OH)D_(3)]and interleukin-6(IL-6)levels in children.Methods:241 children(divided into simple febrile convulsions and complex febrile convulsions),who were diagnosed with febrile convulsions at the Women and Children's Medical Center of Hainan Province from January 2017 to October 2022,were selected into the febrile convulsions group;100 healthy children,who had no uncomfortable symptoms and attended the outpatient clinic of the Women and Children's Medical Center of Hainan Province for physical examination,for the control group.All the subjects measured the serum 25-(OH)D_(3) and IL-6 levels,and clinical information,such as age,gender and season,was recorded.Results:1)Serum 25-(OH)D_(3) levels in the febrile convulsion group were significantly lower than in the healthy control group(78.77±20.37 nmol/L versus 96.55±29.74 nmol/L,respectively),and there was a statistically significant between the two groups(t value-6.359,P<0.001).Serum IL-6 levels in the febrile convulsion group were significantly higher than in the healthy control group,and there was a statistically significant between the two groups(Z value of-14.291,P<0.001).2)Serum 25-(OH)D_(3) levels in children with complex febrile convulsions were significantly lower than those in children with simple febrile convulsions,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(t-value of 6.612,P<0.05).IL-6 levels were higher in children with complex febrile convulsions than in children with simple febrile convulsions,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(Z value-10.151,P<0.001).The difference in the severity of febrile convulsions was statistically significant in serum 25-(OH)D_(3) levels(x^(2)=29.83,P<0.001).3)The results of correlation analysis showed that serum 25-(OH)D_(3) level was negatively correlated with febrile convulsion(γ=-0.393,P<0.05);serum 25-(OH)D_(3) level was positively correlated with that(γs=0.328,P<0.05).4)The correlation analysis results showed that the serum 25-(OH)D_(3) level was negatively correlated with the clinical characteristics of febrile convulsion(γ=-0.393,P<0.05).However,serum IL-6 water is positively correlated with it(γs=0.328,P<0.05).4)In contrast,there was no statistically significant difference in serum 25-(OH)D_(3) levels among children with febrile convulsions in different seasons(P>0.05).Conclusions:There is a correlation between febrile convulsion and serum levels of 25-(OH)D_(3) and IL-6.25-(OH)D_(3) and IL-6 may participate in the pathogenesis of febrile convulsion.

Febrile Convulsions in Infants at the Pediatrics University Hospital Center Charles de Gaulle of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Context: Seizures rank high among the commonest emergencies encountered in Pediatrics. As far as the etiologies are concerned, the most frequently confronted cause is infectious diseases. Therefore, particularly in the present work context, febrile seizures have been inadequately investigated. The study aimed at assessing the prevalence of febrile convulsions in our pediatrics department. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was performed in the Pediatrics Medical Service Department of the Pediatrics University Hospital Charles de Gaulle of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (West Africa). Infants from one and thirty months of age, hospitalized between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012, were included in this study. Seizures are defined as those who accompany fevers above or equal to 38°C. However, the exclusions from the study included those infants recognized as epileptics;those with abnormal psychomotor development;those afflicted with encephalitis and meningitis;and children with hypoglycemia or dehydration with ionic disorders, as well as those infants who lacked lumbar puncture results. Data were analyzed using the Epi Info software version 3.5.1. Results: While the average age of the patients was 13 months, the average incidence of the febrile seizures was 2.5%. The seizures occurred all through the year, peaking in October (14.1%). The peak frequency (38.7%) was recorded in children from 12 to 24 months. About one-half of the patients (46.2%) registered a temperature from 38.5°C to 39.4°C. In 68.9% of the cases, the tonic convulsions were of the common type of convulsions. The number of convulsions was in the range of >2 episodes/24 h in 83.3% of the children. The pathologies commonly associated with tonic convulsions included acute gastroenteritis (29.4%), malaria (25.8%) and bronchopneumopathies (23.3%). The evolution was favorable in 95.3% of the cases. Conclusion: While this study confirms the benign character of the febrile convulsions, their recurrent quality necessitates the codification of a prospective study, for clearer identification and closer case monitoring.

Seroprevalence of dengue virus among adults presenting with acute febrile illness at a tertiary care hospital in South India

Dengue virus,a member of the Flavivirus genus in the Flaviviridae family,has four serotypes(DEN-1 to DEN-4),and is responsible for both mild and severe dengue fever(dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome)[1].Dengue cases are under reported in India and the cases are treated clinically based on the clinical triage of symptoms[2].Nonstructural protein(NS1)antigen is a highly conserved glycoprotein found in Flavivirus group such as Dengue,Zika,and Japanese encephalitis virus.Simultaneous detection of NS1 antigen,IgM and IgG antibody in a single cassette is used for testing primary and secondary dengue infection.Early diagnosis of disease progression associated with severe dengue and accessibility to appropriate medical care reduces severe dengue fatality rates to less than 1%.This retrospective study,conducted from January 2021 to December 2021 in the tertiary care hospital,South India,was aimed to determine the seroprevalence of dengue adult patients with acute febrile illness.

Efficacy and Safety Assessment of Antifungal Sequential Therapy from Micafungin to Liposomal Amphotericin B for Antibiotics-Refractory Febrile Neutropenia in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Invasive fungal infections are a major challenging problem in the management of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with hematologic malignancies. Liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) or micafungin (MCFG) has been widely used as a first-line empirical antifungal therapy for suspected fungal infection in such patients. However, there are several issues in patients receiving these agents: drug related toxicities for L-AmB and breakthrough fungal infections for MCFG. In order to make the best use of these 2 agents, we conducted a prospective study of sequential therapy from MCFG to L-AmB, and evaluated the efficacy and safety of this strategy in FN patients with hematologic malignancies. A total of 18 patients were enrolled, and 11 patients who fulfilled the protocol defined criteria were evaluated. Underlying diseases consisted of acute leukemia (n = 9), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 1), and myelodysplastic syndrome (n = 1). Treatment success was achieved in 8 patients (72.7%). Drug-related adverse events occurred in 8 patients (72.7%). All of those adverse events except one case were below grade 2. Three patients required discontinuation of L-AmB. Although our empirical antifungal sequential therapy seems to be encouraging for antibiotics-refractory FN in patients with hematologic malignancies, further investigation in large-scale studies is warranted.

A case of dissociative convulsions presented as frequent epilepsylike seizures

Dissociative convulsions, a prominent form of dissociative (conversion) disorder formerly known as hysteria, are a common and elusive differential diagnosis from epilepsy. However, the treatment of such patients is always challenging and frustrating due to poor response to the routinely used interventions in most situations. Here, we present a case with dissociative convulsions in order to catch the eye of the clinicians and researchers on the recognition of clinical manifestation and exploration of therapeutic strategies.

Changes of Immunoreactive β-Endorphin in Plasma, Pituitary and Hypothalamus of Rats during Oxygen-Induced Convulsions

We observed for the first time the differences of immunoreactive β-endorphin(IR -β- EP) content in plasma, pituitary and hypothalamus of rats under various conditionsusing radioimmunoassay (RIA) and the effects of naloxone and β - endorphin (β- EP) antiserumon initial time of convulsions (ITC), severity of convulsions(SOC) and mortality on surface(MOS) of rats to hyperbaric oxygen(HBO). The results suggest thatβ- EP may partici-pate in the course of oxygen - induced convulsions and be one of endogenous convulsion - causingagents.

Construction and application of knowledge graph of Treatise on Febrile Diseases

Objective To establish the knowledge graph of“disease-syndrome-symptom-method-formula”in Treatise on Febrile Diseases(Shang Han Lun,《伤寒论》)for reducing the fuzziness and uncertainty of data,and for laying a foundation for later knowledge reasoning and its application.Methods Under the guidance of experts in the classical formula of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),the method of“top-down as the main,bottom-up as the auxiliary”was adopted to carry out knowledge extraction,knowledge fusion,and knowledge storage from the five aspects of the disease,syndrome,symptom,method,and formula for the original text of Treatise on Febrile Diseases,and so the knowledge graph of Treatise on Febrile Diseases was constructed.On this basis,the knowledge structure query and the knowledge relevance query were realized in a visual manner.Results The knowledge graph of“disease-syndrome-symptom-method-formula”in the Treatise on Febrile Diseases was constructed,containing 6469 entities and 10911 relational triples,on which the query of entities and their relationships can be carried out and the query result can be visualized.Conclusion The knowledge graph of Treatise on Febrile Diseases systematically realizes its digitization of the knowledge system,and improves the completeness and accuracy of the knowledge representation,and the connection between“disease-syndrome-symptom-treatment-formula”,which is conducive to the sharing and reuse of knowledge can be obtained in a clear and efficient way.

The Role of Human Herpesvirus Type-6 (HHV-6) in Convulsions Seen in Children at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra

Background: Since the isolation of HHV-6 in 1986, extensive investigation has revealed it to be ubiquitous and responsible for the majority of cases of a common febrile rash illness of infants known as roseola. Other clinical associations including seizure disorders, encephalitis and meningitis have also been stated in various publications. Objective: The aim of the study is to find out if there is any association between HHV-6 infection and the convulsions prevailing at the Child Health Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra-Ghana. Methods and Results: Children admitted into the Department of Child Health with episode of convulsions were recruited after informed consent had been sought from subjects. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and Plasma were obtained from patients. PCR directed at the detection of the large tegument protein (LTP) gene in the SIE strain of the HHV-6 in Plasma and CSF from patients was done. The mean age of study subjects was 37.44 months with 53 (64.6%) being males. There was a significant relationship between the convulsions and fever (P < 0.05). Based on CSF characteristics gathered, viral infections may be the probable cause of the observed convulsions but not malaria or bacterial infections. None of the samples from the patients had evidence of HHV-6. Conclusion: The study was unable to establish HHV-6 infection in the CSF and Plasma of patients. What role if any HHV-6 has in convulsions seen in children or neurological diseases at large merits further studies. Other neurotropic viruses need to be investigated as possible causes for the convulsions.

Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia presenting as limb convulsions:A case report

BACKGROUND Primary intestinal lymphangiectasia(PIL)is a rare protein-losing enteropathy characterized by abnormally dilated lymphatic structures,resulting in leakage of lymph(rich in protein,lymphocytes,and fat)from the intestinal mucosal and submucosal layers and thus hypoproteinemia,lymphopenia,hypolipidemia,and pleural effusion.CASE SUMMARY A 19-year-old Chinese male patient complained of recurrent limb convulsions for the last 1 year.Laboratory investigations revealed low levels of calcium and magnesium along with hypoproteinemia and high parathyroid hormone levels,whereas gastroscopy exhibited chronic non-atrophic gastritis and duodenal lymphatic dilatation.Subsequent gastric biopsy showed moderate chronic inflammatory cell infiltration distributed around a small mucosal patch in the descending duodenum followed by lymphatic dilatation in the mucosal lamina propria,which was later diagnosed as PIL.The following appropriate mediumchain triglycerides nutritional support significantly improved the patient’s symptoms.CONCLUSION Since several diseases mimic the clinical symptoms displayed by PIL,like limb convulsions,low calcium and magnesium,and loss of plasma proteins,it is imperative to conduct a detailed analysis to avoid any misdiagnosis while pinpointing the correct clinical diagnosis and simultaneously ruling out other clinical aspects in the reported cases without any past disease history.A careful assessment should always be made to ensure an accurate diagnosis in a timely manner so that the patient can be delivered quality health services for a positive health outcome.

The enlightenment and application of“Laxative method used in early stage of Febrile Disease”in treating COVID-19

The theory of the TCM laxative method is rich in content.Doctors of past dynasties have used it to treat febrile diseases.And the theory of“Laxative method used in early stage of Febrile Disease”has been praised by later generations.It advocates chasing away evil influence early and paying attention to the laxative method to prevent the spread of disease.the Novel Coronavirus(COVID-19)Infectious Pneumonia belongs to the category of"epidemic"in traditional Chinese medicine.The reasonable application of the cathartic is an important way to provide a way out for evil.However,don’t be blind to use laxative method,you should get it at the right time.The treatment of COVID-19 has different solution at different stages.You should adapt to the changes of the disease to use cathartic.A case in here is attached for reference.

Heterogeneous graph construction and node representation learning method of Treatise on Febrile Diseases based on graph convolutional network

Objective To construct symptom-formula-herb heterogeneous graphs structured Treatise on Febrile Diseases(Shang Han Lun,《伤寒论》)dataset and explore an optimal learning method represented with node attributes based on graph convolutional network(GCN).Methods Clauses that contain symptoms,formulas,and herbs were abstracted from Treatise on Febrile Diseases to construct symptom-formula-herb heterogeneous graphs,which were used to propose a node representation learning method based on GCN−the Traditional Chinese Medicine Graph Convolution Network(TCM-GCN).The symptom-formula,symptom-herb,and formula-herb heterogeneous graphs were processed with the TCM-GCN to realize high-order propagating message passing and neighbor aggregation to obtain new node representation attributes,and thus acquiring the nodes’sum-aggregations of symptoms,formulas,and herbs to lay a foundation for the downstream tasks of the prediction models.Results Comparisons among the node representations with multi-hot encoding,non-fusion encoding,and fusion encoding showed that the Precision@10,Recall@10,and F1-score@10 of the fusion encoding were 9.77%,6.65%,and 8.30%,respectively,higher than those of the non-fusion encoding in the prediction studies of the model.Conclusion Node representations by fusion encoding achieved comparatively ideal results,indicating the TCM-GCN is effective in realizing node-level representations of heterogeneous graph structured Treatise on Febrile Diseases dataset and is able to elevate the performance of the downstream tasks of the diagnosis model.

Viral and Bacterial Etiology of Acute Febrile Respiratory Syndrome among Patients in Qinghai, China

Objective This study was conducted to investigate the viral and bacterial etiology and epidemiology of patients with acute febrile respiratory syndrome(AFRS) in Qinghai using a commercial routine multiplex-ligation-nucleic acid amplification test(NAT)-based assay. Methods A total of 445 nasopharyngeal swabs specimens from patients with AFRS were analyzed using the RespiFinderSmart22 kit(PathoFinder BV, Netherlands) and the LightCycler 480 real-time PCR system. Results Among the 225(225/445, 51%) positive specimens, 329 positive pathogens were detected, including 298(90.58%) viruses and 31(9%) bacteria. The most commonly detected pathogens were influenza virus(IFV;37.39%;123/329), adenovirus(AdV;17.02%;56/329), human coronaviruses(HCoVs;10.94%;36/329), rhinovirus/enterovirus(RV/EV;10.03%;33/329), parainfluenza viruses(PIVs;8.51%;28/329), and Mycoplasma pneumoniae(M. pneu;8.51%;28/329), respectively. Among the co-infected cases(17.53%;78/445), IFV/AdV and IFV/M. pneu were the most common co-infections. Most of the respiratory viruses were detected in summer and fall. Conclusion In our study, IFV-A was the most common respiratory pathogen among 22 detected pathogens, followed by AdV, HCoV, RV/EV, PIV, and M. pneu. Bacteria appeared less frequently than viruses, and co-infection was the most common phenomenon among viral pathogens. Pathogens were distributed among different age groups and respiratory viruses were generally active in July, September, and November. Enhanced surveillance and early detection can be useful in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of AFRS, as well as for guiding the development of appropriate public health strategies.

Effect of zinc protoporphyrin on carbon monoxide/heme oxygenase-1 system in rats subjected to recurrent febrile convulsion

BACKGROUND： Studies on febrile convulsion （FC）-caused brain injury are disputed in many aspects. How FC cause nervous system injury in the developmental period and what are the characteristics of these pathological injury are unknown. The current studies have demonstrated that berne oxygenase-1 （HO-1） exerts effects on brain injury mainly by catalyzing hemoglobin to produce degradation products, and HO-1 not only has neuroprotective effects, but also has neurotoxic effects during the FC-caused brain injury. Study on the effect of zinc protoporphyrin （ZnPP） on brain injury is still in the stage of animal experiment. OBJECTIVE： To observe the effects of ZnPP on carbon monoxide （CO）/HO-1 system of rats subjected to FC, and to analyze the action pathway of ZnPP in brain protective effect. DESIGN： A randomized controlled animal experiment. SETTING： Department of Pediatrics, First Hospital Affiliated to Jiamusi University. MATERIALS： Sixty-five Wistar rats, of either gender, were involved in this study. They were randomized into normal control group（ n =14, 37℃ water bath） and febrile treatment group （n =51, 44.5℃ hot water bath）. Febrile treatment group was sub-divided into febrile non-convulsion group （FNC group, n =16） and FC group （n =35）. FC group was further sub-divided into simple convulsion group （n =20） and ZnPP treatment group （n =15）. HO-1 mRNA in situ hybridization kit was provided by Boster Bioengineering Co.,Ltd. ZnPP（dark brown powder） was the product of Jingmei Bioengineering Company. METHODS： This study was carried out in the postgraduate laboratory of Jiamusi University between January 2004 and January 2007. Rats in the febrile treatment group were placed in the 44.5℃ hot water bath box. If rats did not convulse in the water within 5 minutes, they were taken out, namely FNC group （n = 16）, and those, which were convulsed within 5 minutes, were taken out immediately when they presented such a phenomenon, namely FC group （n =35）. Convulsion induction was conducted once every other day, totally 10 times. Rats were euthanized for analysis at 24 hours after the last induction. Rats in the control group were placed in the 37℃ water. Rats in the ZnPP treatment group were intraperitoneally injected with ZnPP at 45 μ mol/kg before FC attack. Rats in the simple convulsion group were only induced to be convulsed but not administrated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： CO level in the brain tissue homogenate and plasma of rats in each group was detected with a spectrophotometer. HO-1 mRNA expression in the hippocampal CAI region, CA3 region and dentate gyrus of rats was observed by in situ hybridization technique. RESULTS： Sixty-five Wistar rats were involved in the study. Two rats died respectively due to drowning and convulsion in the FC group. One rat died due to convulsion drowning in the ZnPP treatment group. ①Plasma CO concentration of control group and ZnPP treatment group was significantly lower than that of the FC group （P 〈 0.01）, and was significantly higher in the ZnPP treatment group than in the FNC group （P 〈 0.05）. ②CO level in the brain tissue homogenate was significantly lower in the control group and ZnPP treatment group than in the FC group （P 〈 0.01）, and was very significantly higher in the ZnPP treatment group than in the control group （P 〈 0.01）. ③HO-1 mRNA expressions in the neuron of hippocampal CAl region, CA3 region and dentate gyrus of the control group were the lowerest, and those in the FC group were the highest. HO-1 mRNA expression in the neuron of dentate gyrus in the FC group was significantly higher than that in the ZnPP treatment group （P 〈 0.01）, and those in the FNC group and control group was significantly lower than that in the ZnPP treatment group （P 〈 0.01）. CONCLUSION： FC can cause brain injury. Over-expression of HO-I mRNA and the increase of CO are involved in the patho-physiological process of FC. ZnPP can inhibit HO-lmRNA activity and decrease CO level, which is one of pathways for protecting brain.

Gentianine protects hippocampal neurons in a rat model of recurrent febrile convulsion

Gentianine has been shown to have a protective effect on hippocampal CA1 neurons in rats subjected to recurrent febrile convulsion（FC）.The present study sought to explore the possible mechanism of gentianine by intraperitoneally injecting gentianine into rats with warm water-induced FC.The results revealed that neuronal organelle injury was slightly ameliorated in the hippocampal CA1 region.The level of glutamate was decreased,but the level of γ-aminobutyric acid was increased,as detected by ninhydrin staining.In addition,glutamate acid decarboxylase expression in hippocampal CA1 was increased,as determined by immunohistochemistry.The results demonstrated that gentianine can ameliorate FC-induced neuronal injury by enhancing glutamate acid decarboxylase activity,decreasing glutamate levels and increasing γ-aminobutyric acid levels.

Next-generation Sequencing Study of Pathogens in Serum from Patients with Febrile Jaundice in Sierra Leone

Objective People in Western Africa suffer greatly from febrile jaundice, which is caused by a variety of pathogens. However, yellow fever virus(YFV) is the only pathogen under surveillance in Sierra Leone owing to the undeveloped medical and public health system there. Most of the results of YFV identification are negative. Elucidation of the pathogen spectrum is required to reduce the prevalence of febrile jaundice. Methods In the present study, we used Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing to profile the pathogen spectrum in archived YFV‐negative sera from 96 patients in Sierra Leone who presented with unexplained febrile jaundice. Results The most frequently identified sequencing reads belonged to the following pathogens: cytomegalovirus(89.58%), Epstein‐Barr virus(55.21%), hepatitis C virus(34.38%), rhinovirus(28.13%), hepatitis A virus(20.83%), coxsackievirus(10.42%), Ebola virus(8.33%), hepatitis E virus(8.33%), lyssavirus(4.17%), leptospirosis(4.17%), chikungunya virus(2.08%), Crimean‐Congo hemorrhagic fever virus(1.04%), and hepatitis B virus(1.04%). Conclusion The distribution of sequencing reads suggests a broader spectrum of pathogens for consideration in clinical diagnostics and epidemiological surveillance in Sierra Leone.