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Chris Low

Publications and source records attributed to Chris Low.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Herd-level risk factors associated with the presence of Phage type 21/28 E. coli O157 on Scottish cattle farms.

BACKGROUND: E. coli O157 is a bacterial pathogen that is shed by cattle and can cause severe disease in humans. Phage type (PT) 21/28 is a subtype of E. coli O157 that is found across Scotland and is associated with particularly severe human morbidity. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of Scottish cattle farms was conducted in the period Feb 2002-Feb 2004 to determine the prevalence of E. coli O157 in cattle herds. Data from 88 farms on which E. coli O157 was present were analysed using generalised linear mixed models to identify risk factors for the presence of PT 21/28 specifically. RESULTS: The analysis identified private water supply, and northerly farm location as risk factors for PT 21/28 presence. There was a significant association between the presence of PT 21/28 and an increased number of E. coli O157 positive pat samples from a farm, and PT 21/28 was significantly associated with larger E. coli O157 counts than non-PT 21/28 E. coli O157. CONCLUSION: PT 21/28 has significant risk factors that distinguish it from other phage types of E. coli O157. This finding has implications for the control of E. coli O157 as a whole and suggests that control could be tailored to target the locally dominant PT.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2002

Child abuse and neglect presentations to a pediatric emergency department.

This study describes the epidemiology of reported abuse (physical, sexual, and neglect) in a teaching, metropolitan Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) with approximately 30,000 annual visits. A retrospective chart review was conducted of all cases from the PED that were referred to the Department of Social Work and reported to the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), the New York children's protective services, from May 1996 through December 1998. Demographic information about the victims as well as past medical history, number of previous PED visits, information about the perpetrator and the nature of the injuries were obtained. We identified 106 cases over this period of time that were reported for child abuse or neglect from the PED. Fifty-five percent of cases were reported for suspected physical abuse, 15% for sexual abuse, and 30% for neglect. The suspected perpetrator was the mother in 41% of cases and the father in 21% of cases. Bruises were the most frequent injury reported, seen in 25% of cases. The mean age of the patients was 6.4 years old. They averaged 4.6 previous PED visits. The majority of patients lived near the hospital. Sixty-nine percent of the patients presented for care between the hours of 5 PM and 9 AM. Most of the patients claimed their primary physician was located in a clinic near their home (44%). Only 12.7% were unsure of their primary physician. Significantly more victims (89%) had Medicaid or no insurance compared with other PED patients (71%). Victims did not live in zip codes with lower incomes compared with other PED patients. Upon complete investigation by ACS, 49 cases (46%) were deemed 'indicated,' 21 cases (20%) 'unfounded,' and for the remaining 36 cases (34%) follow-up information could not be determined. The incidence of reported abuse and neglect was lower than previous studies have shown. The majority of reported cases (especially those of sexual abuse) did not have any physical findings at the time of presentation, stressing the need of a careful search for both abuse and neglect.

Adolescent↗