Outbreak of listeriosis associated with consumption of deli meats in a hospital, Germany, February to March 2023.

can cause severe illness in individuals with weakened immune systems. In March 2023, was isolated from blood (n = 2) or pleural fluid (n = 1) of three febrile patients receiving synthetic glucocorticoids in a tertiary hospital in Germany. Food supply records suggested sliced parboiled sausage as the likely source, and was isolated from four samples of sealed packaged sliced sausages and ham from one manufacturer.

Direct and indirect vaccination effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection in day-care centres: Evaluating the policy for early vaccination of day-care staff in Germany, 2021.

To mitigate the known high transmission risk in day-care facilities for children aged 0-6 years, day-care staff were given priority for SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in March 2021. This study assessed direct and indirect effects of early vaccination of day-care staff on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in daycares with the aim to provide a basis for the prioritisation of scarce vaccines in the future. Data came from statutory infectious disease notifications in educational institutions and from in-depth investigations by the district public health authorities.

Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in educational institutions, August to December 2020, Germany.

This study aims at providing estimates on the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 in schools and day-care centres. We calculated secondary attack rates (SARs) using individual-level data from state-wide mandatory notification of index cases in educational institutions, followed by contact tracing and PCR-testing of high-risk contacts. From August to December 2020, every sixth of overall 784 independent index cases was associated with secondary cases in educational institutions.

Duration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in COVID-19 patients in home isolation, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 2020 - an interval-censored survival analysis.

We analysed consecutive RT-qPCR results of 537 symptomatic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in home quarantine. Respectively 2, 3, and 4 weeks after symptom onset, 50%, 25% and 10% of patients had detectable RNA from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In patients with mild COVID-19, RNA detection is likely to outlast currently known periods of infectiousness by far and fixed time periods seem more appropriate in determining the length of home isolation than laboratory-based approaches.

Right Ventricular Diastolic Function and Right Atrial Function and Their Relation With Exercise Capacity in Ebstein Anomaly.

Background: Right ventricular (RV) diastolic function and right atrial (RA) function are poorly characterized in patients with Ebstein anomaly (EA) but may influence functional capacity. We aimed to evaluate RV diastolic function and RA function in EA and study their relationship with biventricular systolic function and exercise capacity.

Methods: Seventy-two patients with EA and 69 controls prospectively underwent echocardiography, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing to investigate RV systolic and diastolic function, RA function, and exercise capacity.

No evidence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in stool samples of 1,544 asylum seekers arriving in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, April 2016 to March, 2017.

Introduction: Since 2015, increased migration from Asia and Africa to Europe has raised public health concerns about potential importation of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE), specifically those producing carbapenemases (C-PE), into European hospitals.

Aims: To inform infection control practices about ESBL-PE prevalence in asylum seekers and to investigate whether C-PE prevalence exceeds that in the German population.

Methods: Cross-sectional study from April 2016-March 2017.

Non-invasive Hemodynamic CMR Parameters Predicting Maximal Exercise Capacity in 54 Patients with Ebstein's Anomaly.

Background: Exercise capacity is a well-defined marker of outcome in congenital heart disease. We analyzed seventeen cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) derived parameters and their correlation to exercise capacity in patients with Ebstein's anomaly (EA).

Methods: Fifty-four surgery free patients, age 5 to 69 years (median 30 years) prospectively underwent CMR examination and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET).

[Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence and dependency on country of origin of refugees in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany in 2015].

Background: Hepatitis C, a liver disease transmitted by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), can result in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). According to WHO estimates for 2015, approximately 71 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HCV, representing 1% of the world population. Worldwide migration movements lead to immigration from HCV high- to low-prevalence countries.

Negligible import of enteric pathogens by newly-arrived asylum seekers and no impact on incidence of notified and infections and outbreaks in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, January 2015 to May 2016.

IntroductionThe 2015 refugee crisis raised concerns about an import of infectious diseases affecting the German population. To evaluate public and individual health benefits of stool screening, and explore whether importation of enteric pathogens by newly-arrived asylum seekers impacts on the host population. : We used data from mandatory stool screening to determine the overall, age, sex, and country-specific prevalence of enteric bacteria and helminths.

Management of a Lassa fever outbreak, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 2016.

Due to rapid diagnosis and isolation of imported cases, community outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF) are considered unlikely in industrialised countries. In March 2016, the first documented locally acquired case of Lassa fever (LF) outside Africa occurred, demonstrating the disease's potential as a cross-border health threat. We describe the management surrounding this case of LF in Rhineland-Palatinate - the German federal state where secondary transmission occurred.

Juvenile competitive triathlete after cardiotoxic anthracycline therapy for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Objective: The treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) leads to several functional limitations. Especially cardiac burden following cardiotoxic chemotherapy, which limits exercise and competitive sport in the long-term survivors.

Subject And Methods: We report on a young female amateur triathlete born in 1997, who was diagnosed with AML at the age of fifteen.

Exercise performance in Ebstein's anomaly in the course of time - Deterioration in native patients and preserved function after tricuspid valve surgery.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the longitudinal follow-up of exercise performance in patients with native Ebstein anomaly and patients who had received previous tricuspid valve surgery.

Patients And Methods: We identified 59 patients with Ebstein anomaly who had performed at least two cardiopulmonary exercise tests within a minimum of 6months. 22 patients (15 female, 29.

Clinical outcome following total cavopulmonary connection: a 20-year single-centre experience.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the clinical outcome following total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) and to identify factors affecting early and late outcome.

Methods: Between May 1994 and March 2015, 434 patients underwent TCPC with 50 lateral tunnels and 374 extracardiac conduits. The clinical outcome, exercise capacity and liver examination results were retrospectively reviewed.

Durability of bioprostheses for the tricuspid valve in patients with congenital heart disease.

Objectives: Only little data exist on the durability of bioprostheses in the tricuspid position in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). The aim of the study was to determine the reoperation rate and the valve function after primary implantation.

Methods: Between 1990 and 2013, 51 patients with CHD underwent tricuspid valve (TV) replacement with a bioprosthesis.

Improved Exercise Performance in Patients With Tricuspid Atresia After the Fontan-Björk Modification With Pulsatile Systolic Pulmonary Flow.

Background: After the Fontan-Björk modification for tricuspid atresia, some patients show pulsatile systolic pulmonary flow. We compared the hemodynamic findings and the clinical presentation of patients with and without pulsatile systolic flow after atrioventricular connection.

Methods: According to the pulmonary flow pattern by pulsed-wave Doppler assessment of transthoracic echocardiography, 41 patients after atrioventricular connection were divided into two groups: patients who showed dominant pulsatile systolic pulmonary flow (group P, n = 11), and patients who did not (group N, n = 30).

Tick survey for prevalent pathogens in peri-urban recreation sites in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany).

Ixodid ticks are important vectors of human pathogens in Central Europe. Despite this fact, prevalence studies are scarce, especially with regard to much-frequented peri-urban recreation sites. In this pilot study, 4.

Complete Aortic Valve Cusp Replacement in the Pediatric Population Using Tissue-Engineered Bovine Pericardium.

Three clinical cases of severe pediatric aortic valve defects undergoing complete aortic valve cusp replacement using tissue-engineered bovine pericardium are reported. All patients achieved excellent early results, and are being followed without complications.

Non-volumetric echocardiographic indices and qualitative assessment of right ventricular systolic function in Ebstein's anomaly: comparison with CMR-derived ejection fraction in 49 patients.

Aims: Ebstein's anomaly (EA) is often associated with right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Data on echocardiographic quantification of RV function are, however, rare. The aim of this study was to determine how non-volumetric echocardiographic indices and qualitative assessment of global systolic RV function correlate with cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived RV ejection fraction (EF).

Melody transcatheter valve: Histopathology and clinical implications of nine explanted devices.

Objectives: We examined interventionally implanted valved Melody conduits after surgical explantation by means of histology and immunohistochemistry and matched these findings with clinical data in order to assess in vivo biocompatibility and to identify risk factors for graft failure.

Methods: 9 Melody valves had been implanted in 8 patients (pulmonary n = 7, tricuspid position n = 1). Indication for explantation included significant obstruction in 7 patients and valve insufficiency in 1 patient.

Left pulmonary artery originating from the right coronary artery in a patient with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect.

We describe a patient with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect in whom the left pulmonary artery was originating from the dilated right coronary artery. Successful division of the left pulmonary artery from the right coronary artery and the connection with the right ventricular outflow tract was carried out with closure of the end of the origin. The preoperative accurate diagnosis of this anomaly with ascending aortography is the most important in the surgical management of patients with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect.

Conversion to Total Cavopulmonary Connection Improves Functional Status Even in Older Patients with Failing Fontan Circulation.

Background: Facing longer follow-up of patients after Fontan operation, Fontan conversion was proposed to treat failing Fontan circulation. We reviewed our patients who reached up to 42 years of age.

Methods: Fifteen consecutive patients underwent Fontan conversion to extracardiac conduit combined with biatrial maze procedure between October 2006 and January 2014.

Myocardial blood flow in patients with transposition of the great arteries – risk factor for dysfunction of the morphologic systemic right ventricle late after atrial repair.

Background: Dysfunction of the morphologic systemic right ventricle (RV) is a sequela in long-term survivors with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) after atrial switch operation (AtSO). Impairment of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) are hypothesized as predisposing factors.

Methods And Results: The study group comprised 20 patients after AtSO (22.