The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional global point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) education and training, as a result of travel restrictions. It has also provided an opportunity for innovation using a virtual platform. Tele-ultrasound and video-conferencing are alternative and supportive tools to augment global POCUS education and training. There is a need to support learners and experts to ensure that maximum benefit is gained from the use of these innovative modalities.

The brain drain of professionals from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) to developed countries is well documented and partially due to the challenges faced by biomedical researchers to establish themselves back at home, after training abroad. These challenges may result in the loss of highly trained individuals from LMICs and reduce the availability of local expertise to develop/inform best practices in health care and to direct locally relevant research. The path of training of LMIC researchers in high-income countries is well documented. However, strategies for a successful reintegration of biomedical researchers back to their home research institutions in LMICs are less clear. We report observations of workshops addressing repatriation needs of researchers returning to their home countries after training abroad during the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) 2017 and 2018 annual meetings. Strategies proposed include maintaining connections with the home research institution, ideally through collaborations, planning 18 months ahead before returning with grants applications submitted, and engaging in networking throughout the training period. In addition to presenting our observations, we hope to build a network to facilitate this process, compile resources, and identify expertise within the ASTMH to develop robust strategies to allow young biomedical researchers to flourish in LMICs.

No significant difference in image quality was found between commercial and noncommercial gels on US image review.

Purpose: Cervical traumas are frequent in emergency department and X-ray, CT, and MRI are the essential imaging modalities in the diagnosis. However, especially for pregnant and morbid obese patients and children, these techniques can be challenging. We tested the success of point-of-care ultrasound in the evaluation of cervical traumas. Methods: This is a case series of cervical vertebra imaging with ultrasound in emergency department. We used linear probe and placed it anterolaterally to the neck, parallel to cervical spine. Images were obtained by an ultrasound-certified emergency physician. The height of the anterior wall of vertebral body, irregularity in vertebral body, and intervertebral space were assessed. Results: We presented a case series of six patients. Ultrasound images of cervical vertebral bodies and intervertebral spaces were able to obtain for all the patients. Any pathology was not observed in ultrasound imaging. This finding was compatible with cervical X-ray and CT scans and all the patients were discharged. Conclusions: However, this is a case series report of minor cervical trauma, and we were able to obtain ultrasound images of cervical vertebra bodies with point-of-care ultrasound examination by an emergency physician. This technique can be important for the patients contraindicated to CT or MRI. Also, it can give additional information to X-ray and CT scans especially for soft tissues. A2 A new technique in verifying the placement of a nasogastric tube: obtaining the longitudinal view of nasogastric tube in addition to transverse view with ultrasound

Objective:Cervical cancer is a common preventable cancer among African women living with HIV (WLWH). Molecular diagnostics for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) genotypes are standard components of cervical cancer screening in resource-rich countries but not in resource-limited settings. We evaluated HR-HPV genotypes among women with and without HIV in four African countries to inform cervical cancer preventive strategies.Methods:The African Cohort Study (AFRICOS) enrolled participants with and without HIV at 12 clinics in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria. Cervical cytobrush specimens from women were genotyped for 14 HR-HPV types using the multiplex Seegene Anyplex real-time PCR assay. Robust Poisson regression was used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with HR-HPV in WLWH.Results:From January 2015 to March 2020, 868 WLWH and 134 women living without HIV (WLWoH) were tested for HR-HPV with prevalence of 50.9 and 38.1%, respectively (P = 0.007). Among WLWH, 844 (97.4%) were antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced and 772 (89.7%) virally suppressed 1000 copies/ml or less. The most frequent HR-HPV types among WLWH were HPV-16 (13.5%), HPV-52 (9.5%), and HPV-35 (9.3%). HR-HPV infection was more common among Tanzanian WLWH (adjusted RR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.05–1.44, P = 0.012). Also, WLWH with CD4+ T cells of less than 200 cell/μl had 1.51-fold increased risk of having HR-HPV (95% CI 1.23–1.86, P < 0.001).Conclusion:HR-HPV was common in WLWH in four African countries, particularly among women with low CD4+ cell count. Scale up of HPV vaccines and development of vaccines with broader activity against less common HR-HPV types may improve cervical cancer prevention in Africa.