The Journey of Insulin: Leaving a Legacy as a Medical Student

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Effect of a serogroup A meningococcal conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT) on serogroup A meningococcal meningitis and carriage in Chad: a community study [corrected].

BACKGROUND: A serogroup A meningococcal polysaccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT, MenAfriVac) was licensed in India in 2009, and pre-qualified by WHO in 2010, on the basis of its safety and immunogenicity. This vaccine is now being deployed across the African meningitis belt. We studied the effect of PsA-TT on meningococcal meningitis and carriage in Chad during a serogroup A meningococcal meningitis epidemic. METHODS: We obtained data for the incidence of meningitis before and after vaccination from national records between January, 2009, and June, 2012. In 2012, surveillance was enhanced in regions where vaccination with PsA-TT had been undertaken in 2011, and in one district where a reactive vaccination campaign in response to an outbreak of meningitis was undertaken. Meningococcal carriage was studied in an age-stratified sample of residents aged 1-29 years of a rural area roughly 13-15 and 2-4 months before and 4-6 months after vaccination. Meningococci obtained from cerebrospinal fluid or oropharyngeal swabs were characterised by conventional microbiological and molecular methods. FINDINGS: Roughly 1·8 million individuals aged 1-29 years received one dose of PsA-TT during a vaccination campaign in three regions of Chad in and around the capital N'Djamena during 10 days in December, 2011. The incidence of meningitis during the 2012 meningitis season in these three regions was 2·48 per 100,000 (57 cases in the 2·3 million population), whereas in regions without mass vaccination, incidence was 43·8 per 100,000 (3809 cases per 8·7 million population), a 94% difference in crude incidence (p<0·0001), and an incidence rate ratio of 0·096 (95% CI 0·046-0·198). Despite enhanced surveillance, no case of serogroup A meningococcal meningitis was reported in the three vaccinated regions. 32 serogroup A carriers were identified in 4278 age-stratified individuals (0·75%) living in a rural area near the capital 2-4 months before vaccination, whereas only one serogroup A meningococcus was isolated in 5001 people living in the same community 4-6 months after vaccination (adjusted odds ratio 0·019, 95% CI 0·002-0·138; p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: PSA-TT was highly effective at prevention of serogroup A invasive meningococcal disease and carriage in Chad. How long this protection will persist needs to be established. FUNDING: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and Médecins Sans Frontères

Considerations for the treatment of pancreatic cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: the UK consensus position.

Funder: DH | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000272Funder: Cancer Research UK (CRUK); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000289The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic epicentre has moved to the USA and Europe, where it is placing unprecedented demands on healthcare resources and staff availability. These service constraints, coupled with concerns relating to an increased incidence and severity of COVID-19 among patients with cancer, should lead to re-consideration of the risk-benefit balance for standard treatment pathways. This is of particular importance to pancreatic cancer, given that standard diagnostic modalities such as endoscopy may be restricted, and that disease biology precludes significant delays in treatment. In light of this, we sought consensus from UK clinicians with an interest in pancreatic cancer for management approaches that would minimise patient risk and accommodate for healthcare service restrictions. The outcomes are described here and include recommendations for treatment prioritisation, strategies to bridge to later surgical resection in resectable disease and factors that modify the risk-benefit balance for treatment in the resectable through to the metastatic settings. Priority is given to strategies that limit hospital visits, including through the use of hypofractionated precision radiotherapy and chemoradiotherapy treatment approaches

Costs and quality of life in a randomized trial comparing minimally invasive and open distal pancreatectomy (LEOPARD trial)

Contains fulltext : 204749.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Should the mitral valve be repaired for moderate ischemic mitral regurgitation at the time of revascularization surgery? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is associated with increased mortality and recurrent congestive heart failure following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. While mitral surgery should be undertaken for severe MR during CABG, the treatment of moderate IMR remains controversial. We conducted a meta‐analysis to determine the outcomes of CABG alone and combine with mitral valve repair (MVr) in moderate IMR. Methods: A literature search was conducted by Pubmed, Ovid, and Embase, which included 643 articles. Eleven studies (seven observational studies and four randomized controlled trials) with a total of 1406 patients were included (CABG alone = 864 and CABG plus MVr = 542). Results: There was no difference in operative mortality (odds ratio 1.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92‐2.71) or long‐term survival at 1 or 5 years (hazard ratio 0.98, 95%CI 0.71‐1.35, P = 0.49) between the two groups, and little evidence of heterogeneity was found in the studies (I2 = 0.0, P = 0.562). There was significantly greater improvement in MR grade (weighted mean difference [WMD] −1.15, 95%CI −1.67 to −0.064, P = < 0.001) and left ventricular systolic diameter (WMD −3.02, 95%CI −4.85 to −1.18, P = 0.001) following CABG and MVr compared to CABG alone. No difference in postoperative functional class or ejection fraction was found. Conclusions: Our results show that in the presence of moderate IMR, adding MVr to revascularization reduces MR grade on follow‐up echocardiography and promotes ventricular remodeling, with no improvement in long‐term survival or functional class