Publications by authors named "Norbert Farkas"

Introduction: New vaccines are being developed to improve the efficacy of seasonal influenza immunization in elderly persons aged ≥65 years. These products require clinical and economic evaluation to aid policy decisions.

Methods: To address this need, a two-part model has been developed, which we have applied to examine the potential clinical and economic impact of vaccinating elderly persons with adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (aTIV) relative to conventional trivalent (TIV) and quadrivalent (QIV) vaccines.

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The ultimate goal of diagnostic testing is to guide disease management in order to improve patient outcomes and patient well-being. Patient populations are rarely homogenous and accurate diagnostic tests can dissect the patient population and identify those patients with similar symptoms but very different underlying pathophysiology that will respond differently to different treatments. This stratification of patients can direct patients to appropriate treatment and is likely to result in clinical benefits for patients and economic benefits for the healthcare system.

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Background: Vaccination is currently the most effective means of preventing influenza infection. Yet evidence of vaccine performance, and the impact and value of seasonal influenza vaccination across risk groups and between seasons, continue to generate much discussion. Moreover, vaccination coverage is below recommended levels.

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Aim: In previous experiments we have demonstrated that by administering low doses of cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8), the process of regeneration following L-arginine (Arg)-induced pancreatitis is accelerated. In rats that were also diabetic (induced by streptozotocin, STZ), pancreatic regeneration was not observed. The aim of this study was to deduce whether the administration of exogenous insulin could in fact restore the hypertrophic effect of CCK-8 in diabetic-pancreatitic rats.

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