Search

Introduction Literature on vulvodynia treatment is heterogeneous in terms of intervention type and study quality. A recently published systematic review (SR) of treatments focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs for provoked vestibulodynia (a vulvodynia subtype) concluded that most studies had very low certainty of evidence, which limited the ability to draw conclusions. The authors noted that their strict eligibility criteria resulted in a restricted number of included studies. It suggests a need for broader, more inclusive SRs to be conducted, the results of which could inform much needed intervention recommendations for vulvodynia. Objective The Female Genitopelvic Pain Subcommittee is conducting a SR of treatments for vulvodynia to assess their effectiveness, safety, and acceptability. The results will provide stakeholders with empirically based treatment recommendations for patients with vulvodynia. Methods Selection criteria: Interventions of interest include pharmacological, surgical, psychological, and physical therapy treatments of premenopausal women with clinician-diagnosed vulvodynia (primary, secondary), defined as idiopathic, chronic (≥3 months) vulvar pain. Included studies are RCTs, SRs, and comparative observational studies. The primary outcomes are pain and sexual outcomes, and safety and adverse events, with additional outcomes focusing on mood and quality of life. Selection of studies was done in DistillerSR by two independent reviewers. Conflicts were resolved by discussion or by involving a third reviewer with excluded studies documented. Full-text screening is adhering to this same process. Search methods: A comprehensive search strategy was developed by an information specialist and was peer reviewed. Numerous electronic databases were searched. No language limit was used, and a date limit was set (1997 or later). Published filters for controlled trials and other study designs were applied. PubMed/MEDLINE was used to develop the search strategy, which was then translated into other databases. A limited grey literature search was also conducted. Data collection and analysis: Data extraction and risk of bias assessment (ROB) will be done in DistillerSR using pre-piloted data extraction forms. Studies will be extracted by one reviewer and independently checked by a second reviewer. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion or by involving a third reviewer. We will extract study characteristics and outcome data. For ROB, we will use the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the ROBINS-I tool. We will narratively synthesize the results by comparisons and outcomes. If appropriate, we will conduct a meta-analysis for studies regarded as suitably homogeneous. Last, the certainty of the body of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. Results After duplicates were removed, the search yielded 10,171 references for title and abstract screening. Of these, 599 full-text articles were assessed for inclusion. All screening and preliminary data extraction will be completed by October 2022. General characteristics of the included studies including interventions identified will be presented. Conclusions We will report on interim progress of the SR. It will be an opportunity to gather initial input from stakeholders on this evidence-based approach. Discussion of possible multi-organization involvement will also help unify intervention recommendations for those with vulvodynia. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Andrew Goldstein – Daré Bioscience (employee), Incyte (consultant), Gynecologic Cancers Research Foundation (Board of Directors, Research Funding).

Introduction Literature on vulvodynia treatment is heterogeneous regarding intervention type and study quality. A recently published systematic review (SR) of treatments focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs for provoked vestibulodynia (a vulvodynia subtype) concluded that most studies had very low certainty of evidence, which limited the ability to draw conclusions. In addition, the authors noted that their strict eligibility criteria resulted in a restricted number of included studies. It suggests a need for broader, more inclusive SRs to be conducted, which could inform much needed intervention recommendations for vulvodynia. Objective The Female Genitopelvic Pain Subcommittee is conducting a SR of treatments for vulvodynia to assess their effectiveness, safety, and acceptability. The results will provide stakeholders with empirically based treatment recommendations for patients with vulvodynia. Methods Selection criteria: Interventions of interest consist of pharmacological, surgical, psychological, physical therapy, and acupuncture treatments of premenopausal women with clinician-diagnosed vulvodynia (primary, secondary), defined as idiopathic, chronic (≥3 months) vulvar pain. Included studies are RCTs, SRs, and comparative observational studies. Primary outcomes are pain and sexuality, safety, and adverse events, with additional outcomes focusing on mood and quality of life. Selection of studies was done in DistillerSR by two independent reviewers. Conflicts were resolved by discussion or by involving a third reviewer, with excluded studies documented. Full-text screening adheres to the same process. Search methods: A comprehensive search strategy was developed by an information specialist and was peer reviewed. Numerous electronic databases were searched from 1997 to present. No language limit was used. Published filters for controlled trials and other study designs were applied. PubMed/MEDLINE was used to develop the search strategy, which was translated into other databases. A limited grey literature search was also conducted. Data collection and analysis: Data extraction and risk of bias assessment (ROB) will be done in DistillerSR using pre-piloted data extraction forms. Studies will be extracted by one reviewer and independently checked by a second reviewer. Disagreements will be resolved by discussion or by involving a third reviewer. We will extract study characteristics and outcome data. For ROB, we will use the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and the ROBINS-I tool. We will narratively synthesize the results by comparisons and outcomes. If appropriate, we will conduct a meta-analysis for studies regarded as suitably homogeneous. Last, the certainty of the body of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. Results The search yielded 10,171 references after duplicates were removed for title and abstract screening. Of these, 599 full-text articles were assessed for inclusion. All screening and preliminary data extraction will be completed by October 2022. General characteristics of the included studies, including interventions identified, will be presented. Conclusions We will report on interim progress of the SR. It will be an opportunity to gather initial input from stakeholders on this evidence-based approach. Discussion of possible multi-organization involvement will also help unify intervention recommendations for those with vulvodynia. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Andrew Goldstein – Daré Bioscience (employee), Incyte (consultant), Gynecologic Cancers Research Foundation (Board of Directors, Research Funding).

In recent years, the introduction of a series of biological drugs for the treatment of psoriasis has considerably increased the therapeutic armamentarium of doctors, and thus a strongly positive impact on the control of this condition has been achieved. With the purpose to provide the best recommendations for the use of these biological agents in patients with psoriasis, the Mexican group of psoriasis experts, PSOMEX, has developed recommendations in order to improve the understanding and therapeutic positioning of this type of medications.En los últimos años, la introducción de diversos medicamentos biológicos para el tratamiento de la psoriasis ha aumentado considerablemente el arsenal terapéutico del médico, con lo cual se ha logrado un fuerte impacto positivo en el control de la enfermedad. Con el fin de proveer de las mejores recomendaciones para el uso de estos biológicos en los pacientes afectados de psoriasis, el grupo mexicano de expertos en psoriasis PSOMEX ha formulado recomendaciones para mejorar la comprensión y el posicionamiento terapéutico de este tipo de medicamentos.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made., The Solar Occultation (SO) channel of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument scans the Martian atmosphere since 21 April 2018. In this work, we present a subset of the NOMAD SO data measured at the mesosphere. We focused on a spectral range that started to be recorded in Martian year (MY) 35. A total of 968 vertical profiles of carbon dioxide density and temperature covering MY 35 and the beginning of MY 36 were investigated until 135° of solar longitude. We compared 47 profiles with co-located profiles of the Mars Climate Sounder onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Most profiles show a good agreement as SO temperatures are only 1.8 K higher, but some biases lead to an average absolute difference of 7.4°K. The SO data set is also compared with simulations from the Global Environmental Multiscale-Mars general circulation model. Both data sets are in good agreement except for the presence of a cold layer in the winter hemisphere and a warm layer at dawn in the Northern hemisphere for solar longitudes between 240° and 360°. Five profiles contain temperatures lower than the limit for CO2 condensation. Strong warm layers were found in 13.5% of the profiles. They are present mainly at dawn and in the winter hemisphere, while the Northern dusks appear featureless. The data set mainly covers high latitudes around 60° and we derived some non-migrating tides. In the Southern winter hemisphere, we derived apparent zonal wavenumber-1 (WN-1) and WN-3 tidal components with a maximum amplitude of 10% and 5% at 63 km, respectively. © 2023. The Authors., The NOMAD experiment is led by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB-BIRA), assisted by Co-PI teams from Spain (IAA-CSIC), Italy (INAF-IAPS), and the United Kingdom (Open University). This project acknowledges funding by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), with financial and contractual coordination by the ESA Prodex Office (PEA 4000103401 and 4000121493), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIU), and European funds under Grants PGC2018-101836-B-I00 and ESP2017-87143-R (MINECO/FEDER), as well as by UK Space Agency through Grants ST/V002295/1, ST/V005332/1, and ST/S00145X/1 and Italian Space Agency through Grant 2018-2-HH.0. This work was supported by the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique—FNRS under Grant 30442502 (ET_HOME). This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant 101004052 (RoadMap project). The IAA/CSIC team acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the “Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa” award for the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709) and funding by Grant PGC2018-101836-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU). G. Villanueva is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration., With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made., The Solar Occultation (SO) channel of the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument has been scanning the Martian atmosphere for almost 2 Martian years. In this work, we present a subset of the NOMAD SO data measured at the mesosphere at the terminator. From the data set, we investigated 968 vertical profiles of carbon dioxide density and temperature covering the Martian Year (MY) 35 as well as MY 36 up to a solar longitude (Ls) of 135° and altitudes around 60–100 km. While carbon dioxide density profiles are directly retrieved from the spectral signature in the spectra, temperature profiles are more challenging to retrieve as unlike density profiles, temperature profiles can present some spurious features if the regularization is not correctly managed. Comparing seven regularization methods, we found that the expected error estimation method provides the best regularization parameters. The vertical resolution of the profiles is on average 1.6 km. Numerous warm layers and cold pockets appear in this data set. The warm layers are found in the Northern hemisphere at dawn and dusk as well as in the Southern hemisphere at dawn. Strong warm layers are present in more than 13.5% of the profiles. The Southern hemisphere at dusk does not present any warm layer between Ls 50° and 150°. The height and latitudinal distribution of those warm layers were similar in MY 35 and MY 36 during the first half of the year (Ls = 0°–135°). © 2023. The Authors., The NOMAD experiment is led by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB-BIRA), assisted by Co-PI teams from Spain (IAA-CSIC), Italy (INAF-IAPS), and the United Kingdom (Open University). This project acknowledges funding by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO), with the financial and contractual coordination by the ESA Prodex Office (PEA 4000103401 and 4000121493), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIU), and by European funds under Grants PGC2018-101836-B-I00 and ESP2017-87143-R (MINECO/FEDER), as well as by UK Space Agency through Grants ST/V002295/1, ST/V005332/1, and ST/S00145X/1 and Italian Space Agency through Grant 2018-2-HH.0. This work was supported by the Belgian Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique—FNRS under Grant 30442502 (ET_HOME). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant 101004052 (RoadMap project). The IAA/CSIC team acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the “Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa” award for the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (SEV-2017-0709) and funding by Grant PGC2018-101836-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, EU). G. Villanueva was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration., With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).

Background: Identifying factors that increase the risk for hospital readmission can help in determining potential targets for quality improvement efforts. This study described the factors that lead to hospital readmission within 30 days of hospital discharge of patients under the General Medicine service of a tertiary government hospital in Manila, Philippines. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study which included service patients 19 years old and above readmitted within 30 days following discharge. A total of 324 hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge from January 1 to December 31, 2019 were reviewed. We estimated the prevalence of 30-day readmission and identified factors associated with preventable readmissions using multivariable logistic regression. Results: Of the 4,010 hospitalizations under General Medicine service in 2019, 602 (18%) were readmissions within 30 days of discharge, majority of which were related to the index admission (90%) and unplanned (68%). Predictors of preventable readmission were emergency readmission (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.72 to 6.60, p= The most frequent reason for readmission among preventable ones is health-care related infection (42.9%). Conclusions: We identified factors which increased the likelihood of preventable readmissions such as type of readmission, number of medications per day, and presence of nosocomial infections. We propose that these issues be addressed to improve healthcare delivery and reduce readmission-related expenditures. Further studies should be pursued to identify impactful evidence-based practices.

Poverty in the Philippines remains a challenge. In a recent nationwide self-rated survey of the Social Weather Station, more Filipino households consider themselves poor despite the positive feedback on one of the government’s poverty alleviation programs, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4PS). This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach to explore the reasons behind this claim. It explored the experiences of poverty from the lower class status, particularly the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries. The study revealed that norms and practices in the family might contribute to their claim of poverty, such as poor lifestyle choices, difficulty prioritizing needs, lack of parenting style, and extended family. Parents’ low education and lack of financial literacy are seen as another factor of poverty. Likewise, religion plays a part in responding to poverty. Participants assert that there is psychological comfort in experiencing poverty because of their religious convictions. Thus, it can be reasoned that sociological factors can affect poverty.

The research aimed to determine the Predictors Affecting the Level of Work Satisfaction in Relation to the Work Performance Among Secondary School Teachers in the Division of Zambales During SY 20120-2021. The descriptive research design were used with survey questionnaire as the data gathering.The study was limited on predictors affecting the level of work performance as to teaching hours, salary/remuneration, school officials/administrators, peer/colleagues, student factor, work environment and community supports predictors respectively. The respondents of the study were Secondary Teachers in the Division of Zambales. The findings revealed that the teacher-respondent is a typical female in her early adulthood, married, Roman Catholic, Mathematics major, Teacher 1, BS degree with masteral units of education and had been teaching for almost a decade. The teacher-respondent agreed on the predictors affecting the level of work performance as to teaching hours, salary/remuneration, school officials/administrators, peer/colleagues, student factor, work environment factor and community support. The teachers were rated “Very Satisfactory” on their level of work performance. There was a significant difference on the assessment towards salary/remuneration when grouped according to civil status, religion and highest educational attainment; on school officials/administrators when grouped according to position/designation. There was significant difference on the assessment of the teacher-respondents towards predictors affecting the level of work satisfaction. There was no significant relationship between the work satisfaction predictors and the level of work performance as reflected in the IPCRF performance rating.

Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) represents a rare but preventable postoperative complication. Unfractionated heparin (UH) and low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) are used to prevent VTE, but comparative studies of their safety and efficacy in the neurosurgical context are limited. Objective To determine the relative safety and efficacy of UH and LMWH for prophylaxis after cranial surgery. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 3204 elective intracranial surgical admissions in 2901 patients over the period 2013 to 2018. From chart review, we extracted demographic and clinical features, including diagnosis and procedure, drugs administered, and the occurrence of VTE events. To compare postoperative outcomes, we performed propensity score matching of patients receiving different drugs, and reviewed postoperative cranial imaging. To contextualize our results, we selected 14 prior neurosurgical studies of VTE prophylaxis to compare our outcomes to the existing literature. Results In our sample of 3204 admissions, the overall rate of VTE was 0.8% (n = 27). Rates of VTE were not statistically different in matched cohorts receiving UH and LMWH (1.7% vs 1.0%, respectively); however, LMWH was associated with a higher rate of clinically significant intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) (3.4% vs 0.5%, P = .008). Literature review and meta-analysis supported these findings. Across studies, UH and LMWH were associated with similar rates of VTE. Studies in which patients received LMWH reported significantly higher rates of ICH (4.9% higher, P = .005). Conclusion We find that LMWH and UH show similar efficacy in preventing VTE; however, LMWH is associated with higher rates of ICH.

While corruption studies abound, there is a dearth of scholarship that deals with corruption from the perspective of set relations. A configurational analysis of corruption is helpful in understanding the complexity of such phenomenon. For one, given the complex nature of corruption, democratic governments and civil society are prompted to address it via holistic and integrative anti-corruption strategies. This complexity seems to resonate with what qualitative comparative analysts hold regarding the import of contexts and with the configurational character of much of social life. From the perspective of set-theoretic, configurational analysis, in particular qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), corruption should also thus be seen as a conjunctural, equifinal, asymmetrical, and multifinal phenomenon.

COVID-19 is an emerging disease threatening the lives of patients and healthcare workers (HCWs) alike. In this article, we present initial results of COVID-19 screening performed among the hospital staff of an infectious diseases referral hospital in Manila, the Philippines. Of 324 HCWs tested, eight were positive; only one was exposed to COVID-19 patients, whereas seven others belonged to two different departments. Routine screening of hospital staff is invaluable for the safety of the HCWs and the patients in hospitals and should be performed on a regular basis. In monitoring HCWs, we protect one of our most valuable assets against COVID-19., American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 103(3), pp.1211-1214; 2020

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) acrylic resins are used to make dentures for edentulous patients.To find out the prevalence of Candida species in patients with and without removable prostheses from a dental clinic in León, Guanajuato, as well as to assess the antifungal effect and biological behavior of an experimental PMMA with silver nanoparticles for its possible application in prostheses.To identify Candida species, smear samples were obtained from the palatal mucosa of 140 patients aged ≥ 60 years. The experimental PMMA with silver nnoparticles was placed in Candida albicans cultures, which were stained with the Live/DeadCandida albicans was the most prevalent species in the evaluated patients, followed by Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei. The acrylic resin with silver nanoparticles significantly decreased the presence of Candida albicans. In the animal model, a discrete and controlled inflammatory reaction was found, which indicated biocompatibility of the acrylic resin that was used.It is possible for the nanostructured material with antifungal effect to be used in order to promote the reduction of oral Candida infections in edentulous patients.Las resinas acrílicas de polimetilmetacrilato (PMMA) son utilizadas para elaborar dentaduras para pacientes edéntulos.Conocer la prevalencia de las especies de Candida en pacientes con y sin prótesis removibles de una clínica de odontología en León, Guanajuato; así como valorar el efecto antifúngico y el comportamiento biológico de un PMMA experimental con nanopartículas de plata para su posible aplicación en prótesis.Para identificar las especies de Candida se obtuvieron muestras para frotis de la mucosa palatina de 140 pacientes con edad ≥ 60 años. El PMMA experimental con nanopartículas de plata fue colocado en cultivos de Candida albicans, los cuales fueron teñidos con el kit Live/Dead® para su análisis bajo microscopia confocal; posteriormente, se implantó en ratas Wistar para conocer su comportamiento en los tejidos circundantes.Candida albicans fue la especie más prevalente en los pacientes valorados, seguida de Candida tropicalis y Candida krusei. La resina acrílica con nanopartículas de plata disminuyó significativamente la presencia de Candida albicans. En el modelo animal se encontró reacción inflamatoria discreta y controlada, lo cual indicó la biocompatibilidad de la resina acrílica utilizada.Es posible utilizar el material nanoestructurado con efecto antifúngico para promover la reducción de infecciones orales por Candida en pacientes edéntulos.

Background In locations where few people have received coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, health systems remain vulnerable to surges in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. Tools to identify patients suitable for community-based management are urgently needed. Methods We prospectively recruited adults presenting to 2 hospitals in India with moderate symptoms of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 to develop and validate a clinical prediction model to rule out progression to supplemental oxygen requirement. The primary outcome was defined as any of the following: SpO2 30 BPM; SpO2/FiO2 Results In total, 426 participants were recruited, of whom 89 (21.0%) met the primary outcome; 257 participants comprised the development cohort, and 166 comprised the validation cohort. The 3 models containing NLR, suPAR, or IL-6 demonstrated promising discrimination (c-statistics: 0.72–0.74) and calibration (calibration slopes: 1.01–1.05) in the validation cohort and provided greater utility than a model containing the clinical parameters alone. Conclusions We present 3 clinical prediction models that could help clinicians identify patients with moderate COVID-19 suitable for community-based management. The models are readily implementable and of particular relevance for locations with limited resources.

Three hatchery experiments for orange-spotted spinefoot, Siganus guttatus (Bloch, 1787), were carried out in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines using larvae and fingerlings produced through induced spawning. The first experiment (E1) involving larvae raised in six 5,000-L concrete tanks until 39 days post-hatch (dph) comparing two stocking densities (T1: 3; and T2: 5 larva.L-1), obtained survival rates (SR) of 6.00 and 7.85 %. The second experiment (E2) monitored the growth and survival of 47 dph juveniles for 3 weeks, raised in 25-L plastic basins, fed with a commercial diet at three stocking densities with five replications. The initial stocking densities (6, 12, 18 ind.L-1) were reduced during the second (4, 8, 12 ind.L-1) and third (2, 4, 6 ind.L-1) week, respectively. The weekly SR for all treatments ranged between 99.2 and 100 %. Weekly final total lengths (TL) were not significantly different except during the second week. The third experiment (E3) evaluated the effects of two types of commercial feeds (T1: grouper feed; T2: milkfish feed) on the growth and survival of 47 dph juveniles in plastic basins for 3 weeks, at similar densities reduced on a weekly basis. The SR (96.2 to 99.9 %) were not significantly different, but the TL of fish in T1 (4.39 cm) were significantly bigger than in T2 (3.52 cm). While there is a need to improve the low and irregular survival of S. guttatus larvae for cost-effective large-scale production, we recommend using small basins in the intensive rearing of juveniles.

Psalm 120 does not follow the usual form-critical view of the lament. Instead of moving from lament to praise, this psalm begins with thanksgiving and ends with lament. To make sense of Psalm 120, some scholars emphasize the thanksgiving part (v. 1) while viewing the lament (vv. 2-7) as a past recollection of the situation before the thanksgiving. Others opt to highlight the lament, interpreting the thanksgiving as a recollection of a past answer to prayer. This paper demonstrates that Psalm 120 represents in miniature form what we find in Psalms 9/10 and Psalm 40 where the lament is preceded by thanksgiving. It argues that Psalm 120 is a literary composition in which the thanksgiving and lament are deliberately juxtaposed, and in this sequence, to express a sense of the tragic.

Utilizing a large-N data that covers about 20000 observations from about 200 countries from 1789 to 2018 from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project, and anchored on institutionalism as an over...

The Philippines has been one of the most affected COVID-19 countries in the Western Pacific region, but there are limited data on COVID-19-related mortality and associated factors from this setting. We aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and associations with mortality among COVID-19-confirmed individuals admitted to an infectious diseases referral hospital in Metro Manila. This was a single-centre retrospective analysis including the first 500 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 individuals admitted to San Lazaro Hospital, Metro Manila, Philippines, from January to October 2020. We extracted clinical data and examined epidemiological and clinical characteristics and factors associated with in-hospital mortality. Of the 500 individuals, 133 (26.6%) were healthcare workers (HCW) and 367 (73.4%) were non-HCW, with HCW more likely presenting with milder symptoms. Non-HCW admissions were more likely to have at least one underlying disease (51.6% vs. 40.0%; p = 0.002), with hypertension (35.4%), diabetes (17.4%), and tuberculosis (8.2%) being the most common. Sixty-one (12.2%) died, comprising 1 HCW and 60 non-HCW (0.7% vs. 16.3%; p < 0.001). Among the non-HCW, no death occurred for the 0–10 years age group, but deaths were recorded across all other age groups. Compared to those who recovered, individuals who died were more likely to be older (p < 0.001), male (p = 0.015), report difficulty of breathing (p < 0.001), be HIV positive (p = 0.008), be intubated (p < 0.001), categorised as severe or critical (p < 0.001), have a shorter mean hospital stay (p < 0.001), or have an additional diagnosis of pneumonia (p < 0.001) or ARDS (p < 0.001). Our analysis reflected significant differences in characteristics, symptomatology, and outcomes between healthcare and non-healthcare workers. Despite the unique mix of cohorts, our results support the country’s national guideline on COVID-19 vaccination which prioritises healthcare workers, the elderly, and people with comorbidities and immunodeficiency states.

Identification of the causative pathogen in infectious diseases is important for surveillance and to guide treatment. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), conventional culture and identification methods, including biochemical methods, are reference-standard. Biochemical methods can lack sensitivity and specificity and have slow turnaround times, causing delays in definitive therapy. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI–TOF MS) is a rapid and accurate diagnostic method. Most studies comparing MALDI–TOF MS and biochemical methods are from high-income countries, with few reports from LMIC with tropical climates. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of MALDI–TOF MS compared to conventional methods in the Philippines. Clinical bacterial or fungal isolates were identified by both MALDI–TOF MS and automated (VITEK2) or manual biochemical methods in the San Lazaro Hospital, Metro Manila, the Philippines. The concordance between MALDI–TOF MS and automated (VITEK2) or manual biochemical methods was analyzed at the species and genus levels. In total, 3530 bacterial or fungal isolates were analyzed. The concordance rate between MALDI–TOF MS and biochemical methods was 96.2% at the species level and 99.9% at the genus level. Twenty-three isolates could not be identified by MALDI–TOF MS. In this setting, MALDI–TOF MS was accurate compared with biochemical methods, at both the genus and the species level. Additionally, MALDI–TOF MS improved the turnaround time for results. These advantages could lead to improved infection management and infection control in low- and middle-income countries, even though the initial cost is high., Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, 6(3), art. no. 112; 2021