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Central line-associated bloodstream infections are frequent, deadly, costly, and preventable. The study aimed to explore how some hospital-related characteristics were associated with incidence rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections reported by community hospitals in California from January to December 2019. This retrospective, cross-sectional study used combined data from records submitted to the California Department of Public Health, California Open Data Portal, the California Health and Human Services Open Data Portal, and the American Hospital Directory by community hospitals in California with central line-associated bloodstream infections in 2019. Results showed that CLABSIs are significantly associated with bed capacity, health care system affiliation, ownership, and hospital accreditation status (p < 0.0001). CLABSI remains a relevant threat to patient safety and quality of care, even more so in the community hospital setting. Understanding if a relationship exists between institutional factors and CLABSI rates might better prepare leaders in healthcare organizations to reduce HAIs., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Interleukin (IL)-13 genetic polymorphisms have shown adverse effects on respiratory health. However, few studies have explored the interactive effects between IL-13 haplotypes and environmental exposures on childhood asthma. The aims of our study are to evaluate the effects of IL-13 genetic variants on asthma phenotypes, and explore the potential interaction between IL-13 and household environmental exposures among Taiwanese children. We investigated 3,577 children in the Taiwan Children Health Study from 14 Taiwanese communities. Data regarding children's exposure and disease status were obtained from parents using a structured questionnaire. Four SNPs were tagged accounting for 100% of the variations in IL-13. Multiple logistic regression models with false-discovery rate (FDR) adjustments were fitted to estimate the effects of IL-13 variants on asthma phenotypes. SNP rs1800925, SNP rs20541 and SNP rs848 were significantly associated with increased risks on childhood wheeze with FDR of 0.03, 0.04 and 0.04, respectively. Children carrying two copies of h1011 haplotype showed increased susceptibility to wheeze. Compared to those without carpet use and h1011 haplotype, children carrying h1011 haplotype and using carpet at home had significantly synergistic risks of wheeze (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.4-4.4; p for interaction, 0.01) and late-onset asthma (OR, 4.7; 95% CI, 2.0-10.9; p for interaction, 0.02). In conclusions, IL-13 genetic variants showed significant adverse effects on asthma phenotypes among children. The results also suggested that asthma pathogenesis might be mediated by household carpet use.

Background: The importance of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions on asthma is well documented in literature, but a systematic analysis on the interaction between various genetic and environmental factors is still lacking., Methodology/principal Findings: We conducted a population-based, case-control study comprised of seventh-grade children from 14 Taiwanese communities. A total of 235 asthmatic cases and 1,310 non-asthmatic controls were selected for DNA collection and genotyping. We examined the gene-gene and gene-environment interactions between 17 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in antioxidative, inflammatory and obesity-related genes, and childhood asthma. Environmental exposures and disease status were obtained from parental questionnaires. The model-free and non-parametrical multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR) method was used for the analysis. A three-way gene-gene interaction was elucidated between the gene coding glutathione S-transferase P (GSTP1), the gene coding interleukin-4 receptor alpha chain (IL4Ra) and the gene coding insulin induced gene 2 (INSIG2) on the risk of lifetime asthma. The testing-balanced accuracy on asthma was 57.83% with a cross-validation consistency of 10 out of 10. The interaction of preterm birth and indoor dampness had the highest training-balanced accuracy at 59.09%. Indoor dampness also interacted with many genes, including IL13, beta-2 adrenergic receptor (ADRB2), signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). We also used likelihood ratio tests for interaction and chi-square tests to validate our results and all tests showed statistical significance., Conclusions/significance: The results of this study suggest that GSTP1, INSIG2 and IL4Ra may influence the lifetime asthma susceptibility through gene-gene interactions in schoolchildren. Home dampness combined with each one of the genes STAT6, IL13 and ADRB2 could raise the asthma risk.