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This study investigated the acceptability of rapid HIV testing among general practitioners (GP) and aimed to identify perceived barriers and needs in order to implement rapid testing in primary care settings. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed online to all members of the two largest Spanish scientific medical societies for family and community medicine. The study took place between 15 June 2012 and 31 October 2010. Completed questionnaires were returned by 1308 participants. The majority (90.8%) of respondents were GP. Among all respondents, 70.4% were aware of the existence of rapid tests for the diagnosis of HIV but they did not know how to use them. Nearly 80% of participants would be willing to offer rapid HIV testing in their practices and 74.7% would be confident of the result obtained by these tests. The barriers most commonly identified by respondents were a lack of time and a need for training, both in the use of rapid tests (44.3% and 56.4%, respectively) and required pre- and post-test counselling (59.2% and 34.5%, respectively). This study reveals a high level of acceptance and willingness on the part of GPs to offer rapid HIV testing in their practices. Nevertheless, the implementation of rapid HIV testing in primary care will not be possible without moving from comprehensive pre-test counselling towards brief pre-test information and improving training in the use of rapid tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of our study is to analyse the trends in the diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: We conducted an observational retrospective population-based study using data from primary care electronic health records spanning from January 2016 to December 2022 (involving 5.1 million people older than 14 years). We described the daily number of new STI diagnoses from 2016 to 2022; as well as the monthly accumulation of new STI diagnoses for each year. We compared the monthly averages of new diagnoses in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 using the T-test. Finally, we performed a segmented regression analysis of the daily number of STI diagnoses., Results: We analysed 200,676 new STI diagnoses. The number of diagnoses abruptly decreased coinciding with the lockdown. Overall in 2020, we observed a reduction of 15%, with higher reductions for specific STIs such as gonorrhoea (-21%), chlamydia (-24%), and HIV (-31%) compared to 2019. Following this drastic drop, which was temporarily associated with the lockdown, we observed a rapid rebound. In 2021, the number of STI diagnoses was similar to that of 2019. Notably, we found a considerable increase in 2022, particularly for non-specific STI, which lack laboratory confirmation (67% increase). HIV was the only STI with a reduction of up to -38% in diagnoses at the end of 2022 compared to 2019., Conclusions: After a significant reduction in 2020, the number of STIs recorded in primary care rapidly rebounded, and the current trend is similar to that of 2019, except for HIV. These findings underscore the dynamic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on STI diagnoses and highlight the importance of ongoing monitoring and public health interventions in the post-pandemic period., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Delayed prescribing can be a useful strategy to reduce antibiotic prescribing, but it is not clear for whom delayed prescribing might be effective. This protocol outlines an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational cohort studies to explore the overall effect of delayed prescribing and identify key patient characteristics that are associated with efficacy of delayed prescribing., Methods and Analysis: A systematic search of the databases Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, EBSCO CINAHL Plus and Web of Science was conducted to identify relevant studies from inception to October 2017. Outcomes of interest include duration of illness, severity of illness, complication, reconsultation and patient satisfaction. Study authors of eligible papers will be contacted and invited to contribute raw IPD data. IPD data will be checked against published data, harmonised and aggregated to create one large IPD database. Multilevel regression will be performed to explore interaction effects between treatment allocation and patient characteristics. The economic evaluation will be conducted based on IPD from the combined trial and observational studies to estimate the differences in costs and effectiveness for delayed prescribing compared with normal practice. A decision model will be developed to assess potential savings and cost-effectiveness in terms of reduced antibiotic usage of delayed prescribing and quality-adjusted life years., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: 30068). Findings of this study will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals as well as General Practice trade journals and will be presented at national and international conferences. The results will have important public health implications, shaping the way in which antibiotics are prescribed in the future and to whom delayed prescriptions are issued., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42018079400., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

The Mediterranean corn borer, Sesamia nonagrioides (Lefebvre) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a major pest of maize in the Mediterranean area. Transgenic Bt maize expressing the Cry1Ab toxin from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis can effectively control this pest. The characterization of S. nonagrioides population structure, at a large geographical scale, would provide some insight in decision making for resistance management. The genetic relationships among nine populations from Spain, one from France, one from Italy, three from Greece, and one from Turkey were assessed using Random Amplyfied Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Populations from France and Spain formed a cluster independent from a cluster of populations collected in Italy, Turkey, and Greece in a unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic average dendrogram constructed from Nei's genetic distances. Average genetic differentiation among samples was significant for all geographical groupings analyzed (F (ST) = 0.160 +/- 0.014 for Spanish populations; 0.133 +/- 0.022 for Spanish and French populations; and 0.095 +/- 0.010 for Greek, Italian, and Turkish populations). Genetic differentiation was also significant for all paired comparisons of populations, including two Spanish populations separated by only 15 km with no apparent geographical barriers. No pattern of isolation by distance was observed among Mediterranean corn borer populations collected in Spain and France. These results suggest a limited genetic exchange between relatively distant S. nonagrioides populations in Europe, which might contribute to decreased rate of spread of resistance alleles once resistance has developed at a certain site.