F1000Research
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Bronchiolitis is injury to the bronchioles (small airways with a diameter of 2 mm or less) resulting in inflammation and/or fibrosis. Bronchioles can be involved in pathologic processes that involve predominantly the lung parenchyma or large airways, but, in some diseases, bronchioles are the main site of injury ("primary bronchiolitis"). Acute bronchiolitis caused by viruses is responsible for most cases of bronchiolitis in infants and children. ⋯ Diffuse aspiration bronchiolitis is a form of aspiration-related lung disease that is often unsuspected and confused for interstitial lung disease. Novel forms of bronchiolitis have been described, including lymphocytic bronchiolitis and alveolar ductitis with emphysema recently described in employees at a manufacturing facility for industrial machines. Bronchiolitis is also a component of vaping-related lung injury encountered in the recent outbreak.
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The introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) 7 and 13 into national childhood immunization programs in the US in 2000 and 2010, respectively, proved to be remarkably successful in reducing infant mortality due to invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), resulting in widespread uptake of these vaccines. Secondary herd protection of non-vaccinated adults against IPD has proven to be an additional public health benefit of childhood immunization with PCVs, particularly in the case of the vulnerable elderly who are at increased risk due to immunosenescence and underlying comorbidity. ⋯ Emerging concerns affecting the elderly include the realization that herd protection conferred by the current generation of PCVs (PCV7, PCV10, and PCV13) has reached a ceiling in many countries at a time of global population aging, compounded by uncertainty surrounding those immunization strategies that induce optimum immunogenicity and protection against IPD in the elderly. All of the aforementioned issues, together with a consideration of pipeline and pending strategies to improve access to, and serotype coverage of, PCVs, are the focus areas of this review.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of supraneural transforaminal epidural steroid injection combined with caudal epidural steroid injection with catheter in chronic radicular pain management: Double blinded randomized controlled trial.
Background: Epidural steroid injection (ESI) has been used in managing chronic radicular pain. Regarding various techniques of ESI, the synergistic effect of caudal ESI (CESI) on transforaminal ESI (TFESI) in chronic lumbosacral radicular pain in prospective randomized controlled trial has not been determined. Methods: A total of 54 eligible patients with lumbosacral radicular pain were randomly allocated to undergo TFESI plus CESI (TC group) or TFESI alone (T group). The effective response to treatment was predefined by at least a 30% reduced verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS) from baseline between group comparison and the functional outcomes as measured by improved Oswestry Disability Index by least 15 points from baseline. All participants were evaluated using a single blinded outcome assessor before the procedure and at 1, 3 and 6 months after the procedure. ⋯ Conclusions: A treatment combining TFESI and CESI showed significant pain relief over TFESI alone at 3 months. No effect was found concerning functional evaluation. Registration: Thai Clinical Trials Registry ID TCTR20171101002 01/11/2017F.
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Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) in women is defined variably, but for clinical use it is cyclical or non-cyclical pain of at least 3-6 months' duration. It has major impacts on individuals and society. There are both structural and idiopathic causes. ⋯ The most promising approach is multidisciplinary patient-centered care including cause-directed therapy, lifestyle changes, talking therapies, meditation, acupuncture, and physiotherapy (this is not a complete list). One of the most common structural causes for CPP is endometriosis. This review investigates current scientific concepts and recent innovations in this field as well as for CPP in general.
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Background: Human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is causing a pandemic with significant morbidity and mortality. As no effective novel drugs are available currently, drug repurposing is an alternative intervention strategy. Here we present an in silico drug repurposing study that implements successful concepts of computer-aided drug design (CADD) technology for repurposing known drugs to interfere with viral cellular entry via the spike glycoprotein (SARS-CoV-2-S), which mediates host cell entry via the hACE2 receptor. ⋯ Conclusions: Repurposing is a beneficial strategy for treating COVID-19 with existing drugs. It is aimed at using docking studies to screen molecules for clinical application and investigating their efficacy in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2-S. SARS-CoV-2-S is a key pathogenic protein that mediates pathogen-host interaction. Hence, the molecules screened for inhibitory properties against SARS-CoV-2-S can be clinically used to treat COVID-19 since the safety profile is already known.