The variables perceived to be important during patient handover by South African prehospital care providers.

Introduction: High-acuity patients are typically transported directly to the emergency centre via ambulance by trained prehospital care providers. As such, the emergency centre becomes the first of many physical transition points for patients, where a change of care provider (or handover) takes place. The aim of this study was to describe the variables perceived to be important during patient handover by a cohort of South African prehospital care providers.

Neonatal mycobacterial specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte and cytokine profiles in response to distinct BCG vaccination strategies.

This study evaluated whether different bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) strains, routes of administration, vaccination age and percutaneous tools influenced immune responses to BCG vaccination in infants. Proliferative responses, cytokine production and cell-mediated cytotoxicity obtained in post-vaccinated children were compared to baseline cord bloods and unvaccinated 10-week-old infants. BCG vaccination generally induced strong lymphoproliferative and T helper type 1 (Th1)-type cytokine responses.