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Outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) with high case-fatality rates have been reported from Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, for >2 decades. These outbreaks occur during monsoon and postmonsoon seasons [...]

In May 2021, Qatar launched the BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine campaign for adolescents aged 12 to 15 years across all 27 health centers. Our study assessed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine among vaccinated and nonvaccinated adolescents in Qatar. Using a retrospective observational study, we analyzed the medical records of 1956 adolescents who were severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) positive from June 17 to December 17, 2021. The mean age for the vaccinated group was 13.89 ± 0.93 years, and for the nonvaccinated group, it was 12.99 ± 0.93 years. In the vaccinated group, 46% were male (n = 185) compared with 53% in the nonvaccinated group (n = 827) and 54% were female in the vaccinated group (n = 217) versus 47% in the nonvaccinated group (n = 727). Our findings demonstrate satisfactory protection provided by the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, with only one fifth of the study population contracting SARS-CoV-2 infections after the double-dose regimen. These results highlight the importance of maximizing vaccination coverage and considering booster doses for adolescents to enhance protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To predict the future health and economic burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Qatar. Materials and Methods: A dynamic multistate model was designed to simulate the progression of fatal and non‐fatal CVD events among people with T2D in Qatar aged 40‐79 years. First CVD events [i.e. myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke] were calculated via the 2013 Pooled Cohort Equation, while recurrent CVD events were sourced from the REACH registry. Key model outcomes were fatal and non‐fatal MI and stroke, years of life lived, quality‐adjusted life years, total direct medical costs and total productivity loss costs. Utility and cost model inputs were drawn from published sources. The model adopted a Qatari societal perspective. Sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of estimates. Results: Over 10 years among people with T2D, model estimates 108 195 [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 104 249‐112 172] non‐fatal MIs, 62 366 (95% UI 60 283‐65 520) non‐fatal strokes and 14 612 (95% UI 14 472‐14 744) CVD deaths. The T2D population accrued 4 786 605 (95% UI 4 743 454, 4 858 705) total years of life lived and 3 781 833 (95% UI 3 724 718‐3 830 669) total quality‐adjusted life years. Direct costs accounted for 57.85% of the total costs, with a projection of QAR41.60 billion (US$11.40 billion) [95% UI 7.53‐147.40 billion (US$2.06‐40.38 billion)], while the total indirect costs were expected to exceed QAR30.31 billion (US$8.30 billion) [95% UI 1.07‐162.60 billion (US$292.05 million‐44.55 billion)]. Conclusions: The findings suggest a significant economic and health burden of CVD among people with T2D in Qatar and highlight the need for more enhanced preventive strategies targeting this population group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Middle East and North Africa region accounts for the largest prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Qatar ranks top 10 for global T2D prevalence, with 17 percent in 2022. Also, 50 to 70 percent of the cardiovascular events occurred in T2D. We sought to estimate the future health and economic burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in T2D from 2023 to 2032. Methods: A dynamic multistate model in people with T2D was constructed. The demographic profile of the population was based on Qatari citizens and residents with T2D aged 40 to 90 years in 2022. First CVD events (i.e., myocardial infarction [MI] and stroke) were calculated via the 2013 Pooled Cohort Equation using data from Primary Health Care Corporation. Recurrent CVD events were sourced from the global Reduction of Atherothrombosis for Continued Health (REACH) registry. Outcomes were MI and stroke, years of life lived, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), total direct and productivity loss costs. Utility and cost model inputs were drawn from published sources. The model adopted a Qatari societal perspective. Results: The model estimates 123,524 non-fatal MIs (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 116,923, 130,065), 70,466 non-fatal strokes (95% UI: 67,945, 73,476) and 15,410 CVD deaths (95% UI: 15,217, 15,794), respectively. T2D population accrued 4,834,146 (95% UI: 4,781,235, 4,881,695) total years of life lived and 3,817,246 (95% UI: 3,756,963, 3,870,616) total QALYs. Direct costs accounted for 59.52 percent of the total costs, with a projection of QAR43.59 billion (USD11.98 billion) (95% UI: QAR9.14 billion [USD2.5 billion], QAR134.20 billion [USD36.87 billion]), while the total indirect costs were expected to exceed QAR29.65 billion (USD8.14 billion) (95% UI: QAR2.40 billion [USD659.34 million], QAR113 billion [USD31.04 billion]). Conclusions: This study highlights that the considerable rising burden of CVD in T2D in Qatar will impact not only the healthcare system but also the society overall. The findings may be used to prioritize strategies targeting T2D to prevent CVD burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Multimorbidity (MM) is a global concern following the increase in life expectancy, the conquering of major infectious diseases, and the advances in the management of chronic illnesses. It places a substantial burden on patients and healthcare systems. Aims: This study aims to describe the prevalence and pattern of MM in adults among primary healthcare users in Qatar. Settings and Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study design. Methods and Material: Data were extracted from the electronic health records of patients aged 18 years and above who registered for care with 27 primary health centres in Qatar from 1st January 2017 to 30th June 2020. The distribution of MM among age groups, gender and nationality was analysed. Results: In the study population of 7,96,427, the prevalence of MM was found to be 22.1%. MM was more prevalent in females (51.2%) than males (48.8%). The prevalence of MM showed an increasing trend with increasing age, with a peak of 25.8% found in the 46–55 age group. Qatari nationals accounted for 32.7% of MM, Southeast Asians for 28.3%, North Africans for 16.7% and individuals from other Middle Eastern countries for 14.1%. The five most common long-term chronic conditions were type-2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obesity and eczema, with the first three being the most prevalent disease clusters. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that MM is common in Qatar's primary care centres. While the prevalence of MM was found to increase with increasing age, the largest proportion of patients with MM were those aged 46–55 years. This information adds to the available data on MM and directs health policymakers towards tailoring the management for the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The majority of dog-mediated human rabies as well as rabies-related human deaths are reported from low-income countries of Asia and Africa where access to appropriate postexposure prophylaxis is limited or nonexistent. At present, India is second in position after China in terms of having the highest number of mobile phone users surpassing the United States. Objective: In this context, we decided to develop a user-friendly, technically less demanding, mobile App for health-care professionals, which is accessible even without Internet facility. Methodology: The current study was conducted in four phases, namely assemblage of informational contents on rabies, development of the software, assessment of the reliability of the questionnaire tool and evaluation of the mobile App. The evaluation of App was conducted among physicians and nursing staffs in a tertiary care referral hospital. Results: The information content was prepared referring national and international guidelines. The App was designed with Hypertext Markup Language 5 for presentation on the World Wide Web and was coined the name of "RabiApp." This is a hybrid App of the native App and web App, allowing the information to be stored in the local server. The mobile App was assessed using a validated and reliable questionnaire after confirming the internal consistency by means of Cronbach's alpha. The overall Cronbach's alpha for the main scale was 0.788, which was a respectable score. Conclusion: The developed App is a user-friendly, easily accessible platform, which can help health-care professionals in making decisions regarding rabies wound management, treatment, and prophylaxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In recent decades, clinical research has seen significant advancements, both in the generation and synthesis of evidence through meta-analyses. Despite these methodological advancements, there is a growing concern about the accumulation of repetitive and redundant literature, potentially contributing to research waste. This highlights the necessity for a mechanism to determine when a meta-analysis has conclusively addressed a research question, signaling no further need for additional studies-a concept we term an "exit" meta-analysis., Methods: We introduced a convergence index, the Doi-Abdulmajeed Trial Stability (DAts) index, and a convergence plot to determine the exit status of a meta-analysis. The performance of DAts was examined through simulation and applied to two real-world meta-analyses., Results: The DAts index and convergence plot demonstrate highly effective discriminative ability across varying study scenarios. This represents the first attempt to define an exit meta-analysis using a quantitative measurement of stability (as opposed to sufficiency) and its corresponding plot. The application to real-world scenarios further validated the utility of DAts and the convergence plot in identifying a conclusive (exit) meta-analyses., Conclusion: The new development of DAts and the convergence plot provide a promising tool for investigating the conclusiveness of meta-analyses. By identifying an exit status for meta-analysis, the scientific community may be equipped to make better-informed decisions on the continuation of research on a specific topic, thereby preventing research waste and focusing efforts on areas with unresolved questions., Competing Interests: SAD is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for JBI Evidence Synthesis, but was not involved in the editorial processing of the manuscript. The other authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 JBI.)