TY - JOUR AB - Objective: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the literature on the therapeutical application of bacteriophages. Methods: First, a bibliometric analysis was performed using the database Web of Science to determine annual number of publications and citations. Second, a systematic literature review was conducted on randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) of phage therapy in PubMed. Results: Over the past decade, the number of publications on bacteriophage therapy increased more than fourfold with 212 articles in 2011 and 739 in 2022. The systematic search in PubMed yielded 7 RCTs eligible for inclusion, reporting on a total of 418 participants. Identified indications in this study included bacterial diarrhea, urinary tract infections, infected burn wounds, chronic otitis, chronic venous leg ulcers, and chronic rhinosinusitis. In three studies, mild to moderate adverse events were reported in 10/195 participants (5.1%). Three of the studies reported a statistically significant difference in outcomes comparing phage therapy with standard of care or placebo. Conclusion: Phage therapy has gained increasing interest over the years. RCTs on different indications suggest the safety of phage therapy; however, reasons why phage therapy is not yet well accepted are limitations in the study designs. For a successful translation into clinical practice researchers and clinicians should learn from the earlier experiences and consider issues such as the quality of phage preparation, sensitivity testing, titer and dosages, as well as access to the infection site and stability for standardized protocols and future trials. AU - Walter, N.* AU - Mirzaei, M.K. AU - Deng, L. AU - Willy, C.* AU - Alt, V.* AU - Rupp, M.* C1 - 70351 C2 - 55500 CY - Allschwilerstrasse 10, Ch-4009 Basel, Switzerland SP - 1-9 TI - The potential of bacteriophage therapy as an alternative treatment approach for antibiotic-resistant infections. JO - Med. Princ. Pract. VL - 33 IS - 1 PB - Karger PY - 2024 SN - 1011-7571 ER - TY - JOUR AB - OBJECTIVE: In humans, males are born slightly in excess of females. Many factors have been shown to affect this ratio, including stressful events such as terrorist attacks. Two shootings occurred in early August 2019 in the Oregon District in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, and in El Paso County, Texas, in the USA. This study was carried out in order to identify whether there were any effects on sex ratio at birth at the state or county level 3-5 months later. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Births by sex, month of birth (2015-2019), and county were obtained for Ohio and Texas from the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ordinary linear logistic regression was used to assess the time trend in the probability of boys and to investigate changes in the trend functions. Poisson regression (SAS GENMOD) and linear logistic regression using SAS procedure LOGISTIC was applied. RESULTS: This study analyzed 2,623,714 live births, 1,939,938 in Texas (sex odds [SO] 1.044) and 683,776 in Ohio (SO 1.045). The only significant effect noted was seasonality (month) at the state level. CONCLUSION: It has been postulated that male fetal loss in pregnant women during stressful periods may occur in accordance with the Trivers-Willard hypothesis. Several studies have found significant effects after terrorist attacks in the USA (as well as in other countries), but this study did not reveal such effects. This may be due to several reasons including underpowered datasets and the possibility that populations may be becoming relatively immured to these events. AU - Grech, V.* AU - Scherb, H. C1 - 64612 C2 - 51881 SP - 83-87 TI - No local birth sex ratio changes following the August 2019 shootings in Montgomery County, Ohio, and in El Paso County, Texas. JO - Med. Princ. Pract. VL - 31 IS - 1 PY - 2022 SN - 1011-7571 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Objective: This study was carried out in order to ascertain whether or not Hurricane Katrina and related factors (i.e. the amount of rainfall) influenced the male-to-female birth ratio (M/F). Materials and Methods: Monthly births by gender for the affected states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi) for January 2003 to December 2012 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Wonder, Atlanta, Ga., USA). Precipitation data was obtained from the US National Weather Service. Ordinary linear logistic regression was used for trend analysis. A p value ≤0.05 was taken to represent a statistically significant result. Results: Of the total of 3,903,660 live births, 1,996,966 (51.16%) were male and 1,906,694 (48.84%) were female. Significant seasonal variation was noted (the maximum M/F in May was 1.055, the minimum M/F in September was 1.041, p = 0.0073). There was also a separate and significant rise in M/F 8-10 months after the storm (April to June 2006, peak M/F 1.078, p = 0.0074), which translated to an approximate deficit of 800 girls compared to 46,072 girls born in that period if the M/F increase was theoretically only due to a girls' deficit in the denominator of the ratio. This spike was only present in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, all of which received heavy rainfall. Florida did not receive heavy rainfall and experienced no such M/F spike. Conclusion: In this study there was a dose-response relation between the amount of rainfall after Hurricane Katrina and the monthly sex ratio of live births in the US states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi 8-10 months later. The well-known yet unexplained distinct sex ratio seasonality may be due to natural or man-made radiation contained in the rain. AU - Grech, V.* AU - Scherb, H. C1 - 45661 C2 - 37409 CY - Basel SP - 477-485 TI - Hurricane Katrina: Influence on the male-to-female birth ratio. JO - Med. Princ. Pract. VL - 24 IS - 5 PB - Karger PY - 2015 SN - 1011-7571 ER -