Background: There are gaps in our understanding of the clinical characteristics and disease burden of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among community-dwelling adults. This is in part due to a lack of routine testing at the point of care. More data would enhance our assessment of the need for an RSV vaccination program for adults in the United Kingdom.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The majority of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in young children are managed in primary care, however, the disease burden in this setting remains poorly defined.
Methods: We did a prospective cohort study in primary care settings in Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK during the RSV seasons of 2020-21 (UK only; from Jan 1, 2021), 2021-22, and 2022-23. Children aged younger than 5 years presenting to their general practitioner or primary care paediatrician with symptoms of an acute respiratory tract infection were eligible for RSV testing.
Infectious intestinal disease (IID) is a syndrome consisting of diarrhoea and vomiting symptoms linked to a causative pathogen. The Third Study of IID (IID3) will report its incidence in the community within the UK and assess how it has changed since the second IID study (IID2) in 2012. We implemented an automated, online patient recruitment process within a national sentinel surveillance network and compared its performance versus IID2 in terms of: Patient recruitment rates and demographic characteristics of recruited participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis systematic review describes difference in patient-relevant outcomes between comprehensive cancers (CCCs) versus non-CCCs. Studies were identified in PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, Epistemonikos, and gray literature from January 2002 to May 2024. Data were extracted and appraised by two authors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Monoclonal antibodies are widely used anticancer therapies. Increasing demand for ambulatory care necessitates exploration of efficiency measures.
Objectives: The primary objective was to evaluate the impacts on chair time and associated cost of priming IV administration sets with a bolus of the prescribed monoclonal antibody drugs.
Purpose: Older people with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) have a poor prognosis, reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and require substantial healthcare resources. The objectives of this systematic review were to determine what health state utility values (HSUVs) are reported in the literature that can be used in economic evaluations of interventions for older people with AML, identify research gaps, and discuss directions for future research.
Methods: The following databases were searched for studies published from inception until Feb 2023: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and EconLit.
Background: Influenza contributes to the surge in winter infections and the consequent winter pressures on the health service. Molecular point-of-care testing (POCT) for influenza may improve patient management by providing rapid and accurate clinical diagnosis to inform the timely initiation of antiviral therapy and reduce unnecessary admissions and antibiotics use.
Aim: To explore factors that influence the adoption or non-adoption of POCT in English general practices and provide insights to enable its integration into routine practice workflows.
Influenza Other Respir Viruses
May 2024
Background: We report 2023/2024 season interim influenza vaccine effectiveness for three studies, namely, primary care in Great Britain, hospital settings in Scotland and hospital settings in England.
Methods: A test negative design was used to estimate vaccine effectiveness.
Results: Estimated vaccine effectiveness against all influenzas ranged from 63% (95% confidence interval 46 to 75%) to 65% (41 to 79%) among children aged 2-17, from 36% (20 to 49%) to 55% (43 to 65%) among adults 18-64 and from 40% (29 to 50%) to 55% (32 to 70%) among adults aged 65 and over.
Background: In 2018 a Nursing Research Internship program was started within a major referral and tertiary teaching centre in Australia.
Aim: We aimed to evaluate the first 12 months of the program using an implementation science framework.
Methods: This was a qualitative study.
Background: Prepandemic sentinel surveillance focused on improved management of winter pressures, with influenza-like illness (ILI) being the key clinical indicator. The World Health Organization (WHO) global standards for influenza surveillance include monitoring acute respiratory infection (ARI) and ILI. The WHO's mosaic framework recommends that the surveillance strategies of countries include the virological monitoring of respiratory viruses with pandemic potential such as influenza.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAgricultural soils are a major source of the potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, NO. To implement management practices that minimize microbial NO production and maximize its consumption (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe present England 2021/22 end-of-season adjusted vaccine effectiveness (aVE) against laboratory confirmed influenza related emergency care use in children aged 1-17 and in adults aged 50+, and serological findings in vaccinated vs unvaccinated adults by hemagglutination inhibition assay. Influenza vaccination has been routinely offered to all children aged 2-10 years and adults aged 65 years + in England. In 2021/22, the offer was extended to children to age 15 years, and adults aged 50-64 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Globally there are high numbers of patients with palliative care needs receiving care in hospitals. Patient reported experience measures (PREMs) provide useful data to guide improvement work. How to implement PREMs within palliative care populations is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives To describe current and planned processes and outcome measures to address implementation of the six end-of-life actions in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards (2nd edn) and explore associated barriers and enablers. Methods This study used an exploratory mixed methods national survey of acute healthcare facilities between September 2018 and March 2019. This study involved public and private facilities (N = 765) that provided end-of-life care, which are required to be accredited to the NSQHS Standards.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to be highly effective against hospitalisation and death following COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness estimates against severe endpoints among individuals with clinical conditions that place them at increased risk of critical disease are limited.
Methods: We used English primary care medical record data from the Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre sentinel network (N > 18 million).
Objectives: Understanding what matters most to patients and their caregivers is fundamental to delivering high-quality care. This systematic review aimed to characterize and appraise the evidence from discrete choice experiments eliciting preferences for palliative care.
Methods: A systematic literature search was undertaken for publications up until August 2022.
Background: Molecular point-of-care testing (POCT) used in primary care can inform whether a patient presenting with an acute respiratory infection has influenza. A confirmed clinical diagnosis, particularly early in the disease, could inform better antimicrobial stewardship. Social distancing and lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic have disturbed previous patterns of influenza infections in 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: People with multiple health conditions are more likely to have poorer health outcomes and greater care and service needs; a reliable measure of multimorbidity would inform management strategies and resource allocation.
Aim: To develop and validate a modified version of the Cambridge Multimorbidity Score in an extended age range, using clinical terms that are routinely used in electronic health records across the world (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms, SNOMED CT).
Design And Setting: Observational study using diagnosis and prescriptions data from an English primary care sentinel surveillance network between 2014 and 2019.
Background: The Oxford-Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) is one of Europe's oldest sentinel systems, working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and its predecessor bodies for 55 years. Its surveillance report now runs twice weekly, supplemented by online observatories. In addition to conducting sentinel surveillance from a nationally representative group of practices, the RSC is now also providing data for syndromic surveillance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) commonly causes lower respiratory tract infections and hospitalization in children. In 2019-2020, the Europe-wide RSV ComNet standardized study protocol was developed to measure the clinical and socioeconomic disease burden of RSV infections among children aged <5 years in primary care. RSV has a recognized seasonality in England.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSingle-minded 2 (SIM2) is a neuron-enriched basic Helix-Loop-Helix/PER-ARNT-SIM (bHLH/PAS) transcription factor essential for mammalian survival. SIM2 is located within the Down syndrome critical region (DSCR) of chromosome 21, and manipulation in mouse models suggests Sim2 may play a role in brain development and function. During the screening of a clinical exome sequencing database, nine SIM2 non-synonymous mutations were found which were subsequently investigated for impaired function using cell-based reporter gene assays.
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