WikiJournal of Medicine
WikiJournal of Medicine
Open access • Publication charge free • Public peer review • Wikipedia-integrated
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The WikiJournal of Medicine is an open access, free-to-publish Wikipedia-integrated journal devoted to medicine and biomedicine. It is part of the larger WikiJournal publishing group. Its function is to put articles through academic peer review for stable, citable versions, whose content can potentially benefit Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. VOLUME 9 (2022)
ISSUE 1
Current issue
Authors: Richard Abidin, Logan Smith, Hannah Kim, Eric Youngstrom
Parenting Stress relates to stressors that are a function of being in and executing the parenting role. It is a construct that relates to both psychological phenomena and to the human body’s physiological state as a parent or caretaker of a child. This article serves as a brief narrative review of the construct.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2022.003
Author: Siang Ching Raymond Chieng
Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacterium Leptospira. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild (headaches, muscle pains, and fevers) to severe (bleeding in the lungs or meningitis). Weil's disease, the acute, severe form of leptospirosis, causes the infected individual to become jaundiced (skin and eyes become yellow), develop kidney failure, and bleed. Pulmonary hemorrhage in association with leptospirosis is known as "severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome". [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2022.002
Author: Osmin Anis
The Kivu Ebola epidemic began on 1 August 2018, when four cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were confirmed in the eastern region of Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The disease affected the DRC, Uganda, and is suspected to have also affected Tanzania, though the Ministry of Health there never shared information with the WHO. The outbreak was declared ended on 25 June 2020, with a total of 3,470 cases and 2,280 deaths. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2022.001
Author: Osmin Anis
The Kivu Ebola epidemic began on 1 August 2018, when four cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were confirmed in the eastern region of Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The disease affected the DRC, Uganda, and is suspected to have also affected Tanzania, though the Ministry of Health there never shared information with the WHO. The outbreak was declared ended on 25 June 2020, with a total of 3,470 cases and 2,280 deaths. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2021.005 VOLUME 8 (2021)
ISSUE 1
Current issue
Authors: Joana Azeredo, Jean-Paul Pirnay, Diana Priscila Pires, Mzia Kutateladze, Krystyna Dabrowska, Rob Lavigne, Bob G Blasdel
Phage therapy refers to the use of bacteriophages (phages - bacterial viruses) as therapeutic agents against infectious bacterial diseases. This therapeutic approach emerged in the beginning of the 20th century but was progressively replaced by the use of antibiotics in most parts of the world after the second world war. More recently however, the alarming rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria and the consequent need for antibiotic alternatives has renewed interest in phages as antimicrobial agents. Several scientific, technological and regulatory advances have supported the credibility of a second revolution in phage therapy. Nevertheless, phage therapy still faces many challenges that include: i) the need to increase phage collections from reference phage banks; ii) the development of efficient phage screening methods for the fast identification of the therapeutic phage(s); iii) the establishment of efficient phage therapy strategies to tackle infectious biofilms; iv) the validation of feasible phage production protocols that assure quality and safety of phage preparations; and (v) the guarantee of stability of phage preparations during manufacturing, storage and transport. Moreover, current maladapted regulatory structures represent a significant hurdle for potential commercialization of phage therapeutics. This article describes the past and current status of phage therapy and presents the most recent advances in this domain.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2021.004
Author: Kholhring Lalchhandama
The history of penicillin was shaped by the contributions of numerous scientists. The ultimate result was the discovery of the mould Penicillium's antibacterial activity and the subsequent development of penicillins, the most widely used antibiotics. Following an accidental discovery of the mould, later identified as Penicillium rubens, as the source of the antibacterial principle (1928) and the production of a pure compound (1942), penicillin became the first naturally derived antibiotic. There is anecdotal evidence of ancient societies using moulds to treat infections and of awareness that various moulds inhibited bacterial growth. However, it is not clear if Penicillium species were the species traditionally used or if the antimicrobial substances produced were penicillin. In 1928, Alexander Fleming was the first to discover the antibacterial substance secreted by the Penicillium mould and concentrate the active substance involved, giving it the name penicillin. His success in treating Harry Lambert's streptococcal meningitis, an infection until then fatal, proved to be a critical moment in the medical use of penicillin. Many later scientists were involved in the stabilisation and mass production of penicillin and in the search for more productive strains of Penicillium. Among the most important were Ernst Chain and Howard Florey, who shared with Fleming the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2021.003
Authors: Sofia M. Ramos, Reinhardt G. Dreyer, Thandi E. Buthelezi
Bilateral persistent sciatic artery (PSA) is a rare vascular anomaly. We report an exceptionally rare case of complete bilateral PSAs, diagnosed on computed tomography angiography (CTA) in a patient who sustained a gunshot wound to the lower limb. Incidental PSAs are unlikely to have clinical significance, however, the unusual anatomy and higher incidence of complications requires accurate reporting of such variants. In this case, the anomaly paradoxically proved beneficial given the proximity of the gunshot wound to the femoral vessels. The embryology, clinical and imaging findings, potential complications, and treatment options regarding PSA are discussed.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2021.002
Authors: Denise Smith, James Heilman, Leela Raj
Background: Wikipedia is frequently used as a source of health information. However, the quality of its content varies widely across articles. The DISCERN tool is a brief questionnaire developed in 1996 by the Division of Public Health and Primary Health Care of the Institute of Health Sciences of the University of Oxford. They claim it provides users with a valid and reliable way of assessing the quality of written information. However, the DISCERN instrument’s reliability in measuring the quality of online health information, particularly whether or not its scores are affected by reader biases about specific publication sources, has not yet been explored. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2021.001 VOLUME 7 (2020)
ISSUE 1
Previous issue
Authors: Ankita Gupta, Kate Meriwether, Sara Petruska, Sydni Fazenbaker-Crowell, Collin M McKenzie, Adam L Goble, J Ryan Stewart
Objective: We aim to evaluate hysterectomy-recovery related videos on YouTube. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.006
Authors: Jack Nunn, Steven Chang
Systematic reviews are a type of review that uses repeatable analytical methods to collect secondary data and analyse it. Systematic reviews are a type of evidence synthesis which formulate research questions that are broad or narrow in scope, and identify and synthesize data that directly relate to the systematic review question. While some people might associate ‘systematic review’ with 'meta-analysis', there are multiple kinds of review which can be defined as ‘systematic’ which do not involve a meta-analysis. Some systematic reviews critically appraise research studies, and synthesize findings qualitatively or quantitatively. Systematic reviews are often designed to provide an exhaustive summary of current evidence relevant to a research question. For example, systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials are an important way of informing evidence-based medicine, and a review of existing studies is often quicker and cheaper than embarking on a new study. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.005
Authors: Kyung tak Yoo, Gowoon Woo, Tae Young Jang, Jae Seok Song
Objective: Measure time required to determine total body surface area (TBSA) burned (%TBSA) using the Lund-Browder chart and BurnCase 3D®, and calculate discrepancy between the two methods' %TBSA estimates. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.002
Authors: Eric Youngstrom, Stephen Hinshaw, Alberto Stefana, Jun Chen, Kurt Michael, Anna Van Meter, Victoria Maxwell, Erin Michalak, Emma Grace Choplin, Logan Smith, Caroline Vincent, Avery Loeb, Eduard Vieta
Beyond public health and economic costs, the COVID-19 pandemic adds strain, disrupts daily routines, and complicates mental health and medical service delivery for those with mental health and medical conditions. Bipolar disorder can increase vulnerability to infection; it can also enhance stress, complicate treatment, and heighten interpersonal stigma. Yet there are successes when people proactively improve social connections, prioritize self-care, and learn to effectively use mobile and telehealth.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.004
Authors: Salma Rehman, Parveen Ali, Kurt Michael, Aasia Rajpoot
Interpreters play an important role in the health and social care system. The aim of this review is to synthesize available qualitative studies exploring experiences of interpreters when working with individuals and groups who have experienced domestic violence and abuse or other traumatic situations. A comprehensive literature search of databases helped identify 18 studies including 3 quantitative and 15 qualitative studies published between 2003-2017. The studies were conducted in various countries and data analysis resulted in the development of 5 themes which included: ‘role and impact of interpreter’; ‘psychological and emotional impact of interpreting’; ‘workplace challenges faced by interpreters’; ‘coping strategies used by interpreters’; and ‘interpreters’ support needs’. Themes are discussed in relation to the available literature and gaps in the literature are identified.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.003
Author: Mario Rizzetto
Hepatitis D is a globally occurring liver disease. It afflicts those who have been infected by both the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and also the Hepatitis D virus (HDV), since HDV needs the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to replicate. It is therefore most prevalent in countries where HBV infection is also common, currently the Amazon basin and low income regions of Asia and Africa. Improved measures to control HBV in industrialised countries (such as by vaccination) have also reduced the prevalence of HDV, with the main remaining at-risk populations in those countries being injection drug users and immigrants from endemic HDV areas.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2020.001.2 Updated from previous version VOLUME 6 (2019)
ISSUE 1
Previous issue
Author: Osmin Anis
Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulty learning to read and spell. Underlying deficits typically include impaired phonological awareness (an awareness of the sound structure of words) and processing; difficulty with verbal working memory; and slow verbal processing speed. Observable problems include frequent spelling errors that same-age children do not exhibit; difficulty learning how to decode individual words, including "sounding out" words; and struggling to pronounce words correctly and fluently when reading aloud. Deficits in reading comprehension often occur as a secondary consequence. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.005
Author: Kholhring Lalchhandama
Orientia tsutsugamushi is a mite-borne bacterium belonging to the family Rickettsiaceae and is responsible for the disease scrub typhus in humans. It is an obligate intracellular parasite of trombiculid mites, in which natural transmission is maintained from the female to its eggs (transovarial transmission) and from the eggs to adults (transstadial transmission). With a genome of only 2.0–2.7 Mb, it has the most repeated DNA sequences among bacteria. It is transmitted by mite larvae (chiggers) from rodents, the natural hosts of mites, to humans through accidental bites. Naosuke Hayashi first described it in 1920, giving it the name Theileria tsutsugamushi, but it was renamed to Orientia tsutsugamushi in 1995, owing to its unique properties. Unlike other Gram-negative bacteria, its cell wall lacks lipophosphoglycan and peptidoglycan. It instead has a unique 56-kDa type-specific antigen (TSA56), which gives rise to many strains (sub-types) of the bacterium such as Karp, Gilliam, Kato, Shimokoshi, Kuroki, and Kawasaki. It is most closely related to Candidatus Orientia chuto, a species described in 2010. Primarily indicated by undifferentiated febrile illnesses, the infection can be complicated and often fatal. Diagnosis is difficult and requires laborious detection methods such as the Weil–Felix test, rapid immunochromatographic test, immunofluorescence assays, ELISA, or PCR. Eschar, if present on the skin, is a good diagnostic indicator. One million infections are estimated to occur annually in the endemic region called the Tsutsugamushi Triangle, which covers the Russian Far East in the north, Japan in the east, northern Australia in the south, and Afghanistan in the west. However, infections have also spread to Africa, Europe and South America. Antibiotics such as azithromycin and doxycycline are the main prescription drugs. There is no vaccine for the infection.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.004
Author: Osmin Anis
Hepatitis E is inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus. It is one of five known human hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D, and E. HEV is a positive-sense, single-stranded, nonenveloped, RNA icosahedral virus. HEV has mainly a fecal-oral transmission route. Infection with this virus was first documented in 1955 during an outbreak in New Delhi, India. A preventive vaccine (HEV 239) is approved for use in China. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.003
Author: Abdulmutalab Musa
Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic fever caused by Lassa virus (Lassa mammarenavirus), a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the Arenaviridae family. In most cases Lassa virus infection is asymptomatic (presenting no symptom). When symptomatic it is characterized by mild acute febrile disease to a chronic fatal disease with severe toxaemia, capillary leak, hemorrhagic situations, shock and multiple organ failure. Early diagnosis of Lassa fever is very important because of the transmissibility of infection, the need for potent isolation of infected persons and for containing potentially infectious specimens during laboratory testing. Lassa fever was first elucidated in the 1950s, but the virus was not recognized until 1969 when it infected two missionary nurses in Lassa Village, Borno State, Northeastern Nigeria. Natal multimammate rat or common African rat of Mastomys genus are the reservoir of Lassa virus. When the rodents become infected with Lassa virus, they infect humans through their urine and faeces, but remain unharmed. Because of its similarities with other febrile diseases such as malaria, typhoid, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, early detection is difficult. Thus when persons have persistent fever not responding to normal conventional therapies, they should be screened for other possible causes (especially in endemic regions). When the presence of Lassa fever is established in a community, immediate isolation of infected individuals, screening, standard infection prevention and control practices and meticulous contact tracing can halt outbreaks. Treatment involves supportive measures and early use of the antiviral drug ribavirin.
doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.002.2 Updated from previous version
Author: Osmin Anis
The Western African Ebola virus epidemic (2013–2016) was the most widespread outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in history—causing major loss of life and socioeconomic disruption in the region, mainly in the countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The first cases were recorded in Guinea in December 2013; later, the disease spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, with minor outbreaks occurring elsewhere. It caused significant mortality, with the case fatality rate reported which was initially considerable, while the rate among hospitalized patients was 57–59%, the final numbers 28,616 people, including 11,310 deaths, for a case-fatality rate of 40%.* Small outbreaks occurred in Nigeria and Mali,* and isolated cases were recorded in Senegal, the United Kingdom and Italy. In addition, imported cases led to secondary infection of medical workers in the United States and Spain but did not spread further.* The number of cases peaked in October 2014 and then began to decline gradually, following the commitment of substantial international resources. As of 8 May 2016 , the World Health Organization (WHO) and respective governments reported a total of 28,616 suspected cases and 11,310 deaths (39.5%), though the WHO believes that this substantially understates the magnitude of the outbreak.* [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.001
Author: Jouko Tuomisto
Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds comprise a group of chemicals including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), as well as certain dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCB), and potentially others. They act via a common mechanism, stimulation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AH receptor, AHR), a vital transcription factor in cells. There are very high differences in potency among these compounds, i.e. in the ability to stimulate the receptor. This leads to ten thousand fold or higher differences in doses causing similar toxic effects. Most of these compounds are eliminated very slowly in the environment, animals, or humans, which makes them persistent. They are much more soluble in fat than in water, and therefore they tend to accumulate in lipid or fatty tissues, and concentrate along the food web (bioaccumulation and biomagnification). [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.008
Authors: James Heilman, Aleksandar Brezar
Objective: To assess and compare the readability of the twenty-five most accessed English medical articles on Wikipedia 0, 1, 5 and 10 years ago. Design: The twenty-five most accessed Wikipedia articles on diseases in August 2018 were identified for this study. The content of the lead paragraphs was formatted to remove any hyperlinks, decimals, colons, semicolons and periods used in abbreviations. An online tool was then used to assign a score to the readability of each text sample using the following formulae: Gunning FOG (Frequency of Gobbledygook) index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (F-K), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE). A single reading grade (RG) was calculated for each passage by averaging scores from the FOG, SMOG and F-K tests to facilitate interpretation. These steps were repeated for the lead paragraph of the same medical articles as visible 1, 5 and 10 years ago on Wikipedia. Main Outcome Measures: Readability grade (RG) and reading ease (FRE score) [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.007
Authors: Gloria Likupe, Roger Watson, Salma Rehman
Aim: To evaluate the evidence published in systematic reviews on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at alleviating mealtime difficulties in older people with dementia. [...] doi: 10.15347/WJM/2019.006
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