Browsing by Author "Saini, Vineet"

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    Antimicrobial resistance: Prevalence, genetics and associations with antimicrobial use in food-producing animals
    (2020-07-27) Borin Nobrega, Diego; Barkema, Herman W.; De Buck, Jeroen M.; Deardon, Rob; Dufour, Simon; Saini, Vineet
    Antimicrobial use (AMU) in livestock has come under growing criticism. There is increasing pressure to optimize AMU in food-producing animals, which will likely entail restrictions and voluntary reductions of their use, as well as implementation of protocols promoting antimicrobial stewardship. In this thesis, 1) methods were compared for obtaining AMU data on dairy farms, 2) factors associated with the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) isolated from intramammary infections were studied, 3) treatment strategies for non-severe clinical mastitis (CM) in dairy cattle were contrasted, and 4) effects of restricted antimicrobial use in food-producing animals towards the prevalence of AMR genes (ARGs) were evaluated. Chapter 2 confirmed that treatment records accurately quantified AMU in well-managed dairy herds. Yet, their widespread adoption into AMU surveillance cannot be recommended, due to an underestimation of AMU in herds with elevated bulk tank somatic cell count. In regard to AMR, Chapter 3 demonstrated that resistance against tetracycline, penicillin and erythromycin in NAS was common in Canadian dairy herds. In Chapter 4, factors associated with AMR were further explored. An association between AMR in NAS and AMU was present when penicillins, 3rd-generation cephalosporins or macrolides were administered systemically, whereas intramammary use of antimicrobials were not associated with AMR. As antimicrobials classified as critically important antimicrobials (CIAs) for humans were associated with AMR, in Chapter 5 a systematic review was done to assess whether CIAs and non-CIAs had comparable efficacy to treat non-severe bovine CM caused by the most prevalent bacteria causing mastitis worldwide. No protocol including the use of CIAs had superior bacteriological cure rates of non-severe CM than protocols relying on non-CIAs. Therefore, no adverse effects in terms of animal health should be expected by ceasing use of CIAs for treating non-severe CM in dairy herds. A second systematic review showed that restricted AMU in food animals was associated with a lower presence of ARGs in bacteria isolated from animals and humans. Reducing use of CIAs to treat non-severe CM in typical dairy herds may reduce load of ARGs without significant impacts on animal health and welfare.
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    Color Coded Health Data: Factors related to willingness to share health information in South Asians
    (2020-09-22) Naeem, Iffat; Chowdhury, Tanvir T; Quan, Hude; Saini, Vineet
    Background: Canada is becoming an increasing multicultural society welcoming individuals of various ethnicities. Ethnicity has become an established modifier of health in Canada, where ethnocultural communities face health disparities for multiple health outcomes. To understand these health disparities further, a call for high quality health data for ethnocultural communities has been made. Since health information availability is controlled by the participant, it is important to understand the willingness to share health information by an ethnic population to increase data availability within ethnocultural communities. Objectives: The objectives of this study aimed to explore and synthesize factors associated with willingness to share health information via a rapid review of literature and qualitative interviews with (South Asian) SA participants, the largest ethnic group in Canada. Findings: Triangulating results from both the rapid review of literature and the qualitative interviews, revealed that factors associated with sharing health information operated at 3 different levels: 1) community level, 2) individual level, and 3) process level. These factors also operated through a lens that considered the cultural and sociodemographic aspect of ethnocultural communities. Conclusions: The results of this study reveal important factors associated with sharing health information for ethnocultural communities, and support the need for culturally sensitive and respectful engagement with the community, ethically sound research practices that make participants feel comfortable to share their information, and an easy and incentivised process to share their information feasibly. Future study should aim to understand and measure data-sharing partnerships between researchers and ethnocultural communities to maximize data availability for ethnic populations.
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    Investigating associations between maternal stress, smoking and adverse birth outcomes: evidence from the All Our Families cohort
    (2023-10-04) Yamamoto, Shelby S.; Premji, Shahirose S.; Saini, Vineet; McDonald, Sheila W.; Jhangri, Gian S.
    Abstract Background Independently, active maternal and environmental tobacco smoke exposure and maternal stress have been linked to an increased risk of preterm birth and low birth weight. An understudied relationship is the potential for interactive effects between these risk factors. Methods Data was obtained from the All Our Families cohort, a study of 3,388 pregnant women < 25 weeks gestation recruited from those receiving prenatal care in Calgary, Canada between May 2008 and December 2010. We investigated the joint effects of active maternal smoking, total smoke exposure (active maternal smoking plus environmental tobacco smoke) and prenatal stress (Perceived Stress Scale, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), measured at two time points (< 25 weeks and 34–36 weeks gestation), on preterm birth and low birth weight. Results A marginally significant association was observed with the interaction active maternal smoking and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores in relation to low birth weight, after imputation (aOR = 1.02, 95%CI: 1.00-1.03, p = 0.06). No significant joint effects of maternal stress and either active maternal smoking or total smoke exposure with preterm birth were observed. Active maternal smoking, total smoke exposure, Perceived Stress Scores, and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores were independently associated with preterm birth and/or low birth weight. Conclusions Findings indicate the role of independent effects of smoking and stress in terms of preterm birth and low birthweight. However, the etiology of preterm birth and low birth weight is complex and multifactorial. Further investigations of potential interactive effects may be useful in helping to identify women experiencing vulnerability and inform the development of targeted interventions.
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    Maternal perceptions of childhood vaccination: explanations of reasons for and against vaccination
    (2019-01-10) McNeil, Deborah A; Mueller, Melissa; MacDonald, Shannon; McDonald, Sheila; Saini, Vineet; Kellner, James D; Tough, Suzanne
    Abstract Background Understanding reasons for and against vaccination from the parental perspective is critical for designing vaccination campaigns and informing other interventions to increase vaccination uptake in Canada. The objective of this study was to understand maternal vaccination decision making for children. Methods Mothers participating in a longitudinal community-based pregnancy cohort, the All Our Babies study in Calgary, Alberta, completed open-ended survey questions providing explanations for the vaccination status of their child by 24 months postpartum. Qualitative responses were linked to administrative vaccination records to examine survey responses and recorded child vaccination status. Results There were 1560 open-ended responses available; 89% (n = 1391) provided explanations for vaccinating their children, 5% (n = 79) provided explanations for not vaccinating/delaying, and 6% (n = 90) provided explanations for both. Themes were similar for those vaccinating and not vaccinating/delaying; however, interpretations were different. Two broad themes were identified: Sources of influence and Deliberative Processes. Sources of influence on decision making included personal, family, and external experiences. Deliberative Processes included risk, research, effectiveness, and balancing risks/benefits. Under Deliberative Processes, responsibility was a category for those vaccinating; while choice, instrumental/practical, and health issues were categories for those not vaccinating/delaying. Mothers’ levels of conviction and motivation provided a Context for understanding their decision making perspectives. Conclusions Vaccination decision making is complex and impacted by many factors that are similar but contribute to different decisions depending on mothers’ perspectives. The results of this study indicate the need to examine new intervention approaches to increase uptake that recognize and address feelings of pressure and parental commitment to choice.
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    Prevalence and Genetic Basis of Antimicrobial Resistance in Non-aureusStaphylococci Isolated from Canadian Dairy Herds
    (Frontiers in Microbiology, 2018-01) Nobrega, Diego B; Naushad, Sohail; Naqvi, S Ali; Condas, Larissa A Z; Saini, Vineet; Kastelic, John P; Luby, Christopher; De Buck, Jeroen; Barkema, Herman W
    Emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a major concern for the dairy industry worldwide. Objectives were to determine: (1) phenotypic and genotypic prevalence of drug-specific resistance for 25 species of non-aureus staphylococci, and (2) associations between presence of resistance determinants and antimicrobial resistance. Broth micro-dilution was used to determine resistance profiles for 1,702 isolates from 89 dairy herds. Additionally, 405 isolates were sequenced to screen for resistance determinants. Antimicrobial resistance was clearly species-dependent. Resistance to quinupristin/dalfopristin was common inStaphylococcus gallinarum(prevalence of 98%), whereasS. cohniiandS. arlettaewere frequently resistant to erythromycin (prevalence of 63 and 100%, respectively). Prevalence of resistance was 10% against β-lactams and tetracyclines. In contrast, resistance to antimicrobials critically important for human medicine, namely vancomycin, fluoroquinolones, linezolid and daptomycin, was uncommon (< 1%). Genes encoding multidrug-resistance efflux pumps and resistance-associated residues in deducted amino acid sequences of thefolPgene were the most frequent mechanisms of resistance, regardless of species. The estimated prevalence of themecAgene was 17% forS. epidermidis. Several genes, includingblaZ, mecA, fexA, erm, mphC, msrA, andtetwere associated with drug-specific resistance, whereas other elements were not. There were specific residues ingyrBfor all isolates of species intrinsically resistant to novobiocin. This study provided consensus protein sequences of key elements previously associated with resistance for 25 species of non-aureusstaphylococci from dairy cattle. These results will be important for evaluating effects of interventions in antimicrobial use in Canadian dairy herds.