Publications by authors named "Nicholas P B Thomas"

Article Synopsis
  • The study follows the PANORAMIC trial, investigating the long-term effectiveness of molnupiravir for COVID-19 on wellbeing, persistent symptoms, new infections, healthcare use, and time off work at 3 and 6 months post-randomization.
  • Participants included adults over 50 or younger with specific health issues, who were affected by COVID-19 for less than 5 days and were divided into either a molnupiravir treatment group or a standard care group.
  • The trial involved 25,783 participants and aimed to assess various secondary outcomes, including self-reported wellness, symptom severity, health-related quality of life, and overall healthcare usage after the initial
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Type 1 diabetes (T1D) screening can help prevent severe complications by testing islet autoantibodies (IAbs) in children, especially since most cases don't have a family history; a single screening at ages 3-5 is suggested.* -
  • In a study conducted in Oxfordshire, UK, 134 parents were invited to participate, and 66 were recruited; almost all enrolled children (97%) successfully provided blood samples, identifying one child with T1D autoantibodies.* -
  • Parents generally supported the idea of screening during routine vaccinations, emphasizing that combining the two would encourage participation, although there are concerns about the amount of blood needed for testing.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Given the proven benefits of screening to reduce diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) likelihood at the time of stage 3 type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and emerging availability of therapy to delay disease progression, type 1 diabetes screening programs are being increasingly emphasized. Once broadly implemented, screening initiatives will identify significant numbers of islet autoantibody-positive (IAb+) children and adults who are at risk for (confirmed single IAb+) or living with (multiple IAb+) early-stage (stage 1 and stage 2) type 1 diabetes. These individuals will need monitoring for disease progression; much of this care will happen in nonspecialized settings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Given the proven benefits of screening to reduce diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) likelihood at the time of stage 3 type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and emerging availability of therapy to delay disease progression, type 1 diabetes screening programmes are being increasingly emphasised. Once broadly implemented, screening initiatives will identify significant numbers of islet autoantibody-positive (IAb) children and adults who are at risk of (confirmed single IAb) or living with (multiple IAb) early-stage (stage 1 and stage 2) type 1 diabetes. These individuals will need monitoring for disease progression; much of this care will happen in non-specialised settings.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common debilitating condition in women, with limited prophylactic options. d-Mannose has shown promise in trials based in secondary care, but effectiveness in placebo-controlled studies and community settings has not been established.

Objective: To determine whether d-mannose taken for 6 months reduces the proportion of women with recurrent UTI experiencing a medically attended UTI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

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 PDF

Background: The evidence for whether ivermectin impacts recovery, hospital admissions, and longer-term outcomes in COVID-19 is contested. The WHO recommends its use only in the context of clinical trials.

Methods: In this multicentre, open-label, multi-arm, adaptive platform randomised controlled trial, we included participants aged ≥18 years in the community, with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, and symptoms lasting ≤14 days.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effects of molnupiravir on viral clearance, antibody response, and mutagenesis in non-hospitalized individuals within 5 days of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, comparing it to usual care.
  • Results show that while molnupiravir accelerates the decline of viral load, many participants still test positive for the virus 5 days later, and significantly lower antiviral antibodies are observed after 14 days compared to those receiving usual care.
  • Serial sequencing suggests that treatment with molnupiravir leads to increased mutations of the virus, raising concerns about the emergence of potentially transmissible variants, indicating that the current treatment duration may be insufficient.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: There is an urgent need to determine the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of novel antiviral treatments for COVID-19 in vaccinated patients in the community at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19.

Methods And Analysis: PANORAMIC is a UK-wide, open-label, prospective, adaptive, multiarm platform, randomised clinical trial that evaluates antiviral treatments for COVID-19 in the community. A master protocol governs the addition of new antiviral treatments as they become available, and the introduction and cessation of existing interventions via interim analyses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Key Points: A randomized controlled trial demonstrates that a simple and cheap 1-month intervention empowers people with CKD to lower their dietary salt intake. The effect of the intervention persisted after the intervention finished.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of a simple low-cost intervention to empower people with CKD to reduce their dietary salt intake.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of molnupiravir, an oral antiviral medication for SARS-CoV-2, has not been established in vaccinated patients in the community at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. We aimed to establish whether the addition of molnupiravir to usual care reduced hospital admissions and deaths associated with COVID-19 in this population.

Methods: PANORAMIC was a UK-based, national, multicentre, open-label, multigroup, prospective, platform adaptive randomised controlled trial.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: It remains unclear to what extent reductions in urgent referrals for suspected cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic were the result of fewer patients attending primary care compared to GPs referring fewer patients.

Methods: Cohort study including electronic health records data from 8,192,069 patients from 663 English practices. Weekly consultation rates, cumulative consultations and referrals were calculated for 28 clinical features from the NICE suspected cancer guidelines.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A study wanted to find out if inhaled budesonide helps people with COVID-19 who are at high risk of getting really sick.
  • They tested this by giving some people budesonide and others just regular treatment, then tracked their recovery over 28 days.
  • The results showed that using budesonide may help people recover faster and lower the chances of needing to go to the hospital or dying from COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Doxycycline, commonly used for COVID-19 respiratory symptoms, lacks clinical trial evidence, prompting a study to assess its effectiveness in high-risk individuals.
  • The study was part of a national trial in the UK that included older adults and those with certain health conditions who showed symptoms of COVID-19.
  • Results showed that the trial stopped randomising participants to doxycycline due to a lack of expected benefits, with the analysis including over 2500 participants and evaluating recovery time and hospitalisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The trial aims to find effective treatments for COVID-19 that shorten illness duration and prevent hospitalizations, especially for those at higher risk.
  • Conducted as an open-label, multiarm clinical trial, it evaluates treatments like hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, and doxycycline in symptomatic participants aged 50 and older with additional health risks.
  • Outcomes will be measured through daily online symptom diaries for 28 days, with the main goals being recovery time and hospital admissions, alongside ethical oversight for the research process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Increased caveolin-1 expression is a marker of the differentiation of lung alveolar epithelial type II cells into a type I phenotype. Here, we show in both a primary differentiating rat alveolar culture, and a human alveolar cell line (A549) that caveolae formation and caveolin-1 expression are dependent upon dexamethasone Dex, and is inhibited by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist, mifepristone. Study of a panel of 20 different cell types showed the effect of (Dex) upon caveolin-1 expression to be highly cell selective for lung alveolar epithelial cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF