Background Assessment of antibiotic prescribing is an important component of antimicrobial stewardship for the prevention of the misuse of antibiotics [1]. The aim of this study was to assess the prescribed antibiotics given to patients admitted through the Emergency Department (ED) of Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown (CHB) for compliance with the current CHB Guidelines for the use of Antibioti...

cases of CHB. In these cases, a common finding, in addition to involvement of the aortic valve, was extension of the infection to adjacent structures resulting in cardioaortic fistulae. CHB likely resulted from extension of infection to the major conduction tissues. Five of the six patients with CHB died suddenly while in the hospital. One patient was treated with electric pacing while the infe...

It was with sorrow that Epilepsy Action learned of the recent death of Dr Tim Betts. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family at this sad time. Dr Betts was a former consultant neuropsychiatrist specialising in epilepsy at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Birmingham. He was also a clinical reader in psychiatry at the University of Birmingham. He led the Birmingham neuropsychiatry serv...

This study was to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and chronic virus hepatitis elders in the community. Those subjects with positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and/or anti-hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) screened in the community before were invited to this study and 451 responded. All participants underwent anthropometric measurements, blood tests, ultrasound an...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is associated with an increased risk of cirrhosis, hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The likelihood of developing CHB is related to the age at which infection is acquired; the risk being lowest in adults and >90% in neonates whose mothers are hepa...

PURPOSE Using FibroScan® to obtain a reliable liver stiffness measurement (LSM) may require more than 10 valid measurements (VMs), according to the manufacturer's recommendations. However, this requirement lacks scientific evidence in support thereof. We investigated the minimal number of VMs required to assess liver fibrosis without significant loss of accuracy in patients with chronic hepatit...

BACKGROUND Spontaneous acute exacerbation (AE) of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is often detrimental but sometimes leads to sustained immune control and disease remission. The efficacy and safety of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) in patients with spontaneous AE of CHB remains unclear. METHODS We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of NAs in patients with spontaneous AE of CHB. We calcu...

BACKGROUND A recent genome-wide association study has identified a new susceptibility locus, kinesin family member 1B gene (KIF1B), strongly associated with progression from chronic hepatitis B (CHB) to hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Chinese population, this study was carried out to explore the role of the genetic variants in KIF1B in the development of chronic hepa...

PURPOSE Different stages of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be defined by serum HBV DNA levels. This study attempts to (1) investigate serum HBV DNA levels in inactive carriers and patients with chronic HBV (CHB) infection and (2) define cut-off value between inactive carriers and HBeAg (precore antigen of HBV) negative CHB patients in Indian population. METHODS One hundred and forty sa...

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global health burden. Functional exhaustion and numerical reduction of HBV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in the liver and peripheral blood limit anti-HBV CTL activity in patients with chronic HBV infection (CHB). However, the ongoing anti-HBV CD8(+) T cell responses in the lymphoid organs are largely unknown due to the infeasibility...