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Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness, despite having good prognosis with early treatment. We evaluated the global extent of undetected glaucoma and the factors associated with it in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Undetected glaucoma increases the risk of vision impairment, which leads to detrimental effects on the quality-of-life and socioeconomic well-being of those affected. Detailed information on the extent and factors associated with undetected glaucoma aid in the development of public health interventions. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based studies published between January 1, 1990, and June 1, 2020. Article search was conducted in online databases (PubMED, Web-of-Science), grey literatures (OpenGrey), and nongovernment organization reports. Our outcome measure was the proportion of glaucoma cases that were undetected previously. Manifest glaucoma included any form of glaucoma reported in the original studies and may include primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), primary angle-closure-glaucoma, secondary glaucoma, or a combination thereof. Undetected glaucoma was defined as glaucoma cases that were undetected prior to diagnosis in the respective study. Random-effect meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled proportion of undetected glaucoma. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines in our study. We identified 61 articles from 55 population-based studies (n = 189 359 participants; n = 6949 manifest glaucoma). Globally, more than half of all glaucoma cases were undetected previously on average in each geographical region. Africa (odds ratio [OR], 12.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.91–32.86) and Asia (OR, 3.41; 95% CI, 1.63–7.16) showed higher odds of undetected glaucoma as compared with Europe. Countries with low Human Development Index (HDI; <0.55) showed a higher proportion of undetected manifest glaucoma as compared with countries of medium to very high HDI (≥0.55; all P < 0.001). In 2020, 43.78 million POAG cases were projected to be undetected, of which 76.7% were in Africa and Asia. Undetected glaucoma is highly prevalent across diverse communities worldwide and more common in Africa and Asia. Strategies to improve detection are needed to prevent excess visual disability and blindness resulting from glaucoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is an inherited autosomal recessive disease. It is caused due to point mutation that substitutes glutamate with valine at the sixth amino acid position of the beta chain of hemoglobin molecules leading to the sickling of the red blood cells and decreased structural deformability. Silent cerebral infarcts are the most common neurological complication of SCA, while overt stroke comprises substantial burden in patients with SCA. This meta-analysis aimed to find the pooled prevalence of overt stroke in SCA patients and discuss the importance of screening them. PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar were the electronic databases used to search the studies. A total of 765 articles were retrieved upon detailed searching in the abovementioned databases. After a series of removing duplicate articles, title and abstract screening, and full-text review, 20 articles were found eligible and included in the study. The total number of participants from all the included studies was 3,956, and pooled prevalence of stroke in patients with sickle cell anemia in Asia was found to be 5% (95% CI: 4%, 6%) with a range from 1 to 41%. Stroke occurrence in sickle cell anemia patients is an emergency complication that needs immediate intervention and management. Because of the high prevalence of stroke in patients with sickle cell anemia, clinicians should focus on its prevention and treatment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decreases in clinical response of Clostridioides difficile to antibiotics used for its treatment have raised concerns regarding antibiotic resistance. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to study the resistance rates of C. difficile to various antibiotics over time. We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science from inception through 03/31/2017 for observational studies assessing antibiotic resistance rates in C. difficile. Weighted summary estimates were calculated using inverse variance heterogeneity models [MetaXL software (v. 5.3)]. A priori subgroup analyses were done (by study year, continent, susceptibility testing method, origin of isolates); ribotype 027 strains were analyzed separately. From 1982 to 2017, 60 studies (8336 isolates) were analyzed. Fifty-three studies reported vancomycin resistance; weighted pooled resistance (WPR), 2.1% (95% CI, 0%–5.1%; I 2 = 95%). Fifty-five studies reported metronidazole resistance; WPR, 1.9% (95% CI, 0.5%–3.6%; I 2 = 89%). Compared to the period before 2012, vancomycin resistance increased by 3.6% (95% CI, 2.9%–4.2%; P < 0.001) after 2012, and metronidazole resistance decreased by 0.8% (95% CI, 0.1%–1.5%; P = 0.02). No isolates were resistant to fidaxomicin. Resistance of C. difficile to vancomycin is increasing, with a smaller, declining resistance to metronidazole; there is significant heterogeneity between studies. Ongoing monitoring of resistance to commonly used antibiotics is required. • Resistance of Clostridioides difficile to vancomycin has increased with time. • Resistance to metronidazole has decreased, though to a lesser extent. • Highest rates of resistance are from the Americas and Asia. • Resistance to fidaxomicin has not yet been reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With 1 figure and 1 table Abstract To study the conservation of microsatellite regions, a set of 137 microsatellite markers developed from Phaseolus, Cajanus, Lens and Cicer genera of Leguminosae family were tested for their transferability across 16 genotypes of Phaseolus belonging to diverse collections from South America and Asia. Considerable transferability was observed with markers derived from Cajanus (60%), Lens (46%) and Cicer (28%). Of the total 122 loci were amplified, 82 cross-species polymorphic amplicons were obtained. Maximum number of alleles per marker was six ( Cicer markers). Polymorphism information content values ranged from 0.12 to 0.96 with Cajanus, 0.13 to 0.74 with Lens and 0.30 to 0.93 with Cicer markers. Unweighted pair group method employing arithmetic averages cluster analysis of Phaseolus genotypes showed clear demarcation between the commercial cultivars falling in separate cluster with respect to their seed size and maturity. Transferability of genomic SSRs was different from that of expressed sequence tag-derived genic microsatellite markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]