Clinical medicine (London, England)
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Review Historical Article
100 years of the Royal Air Force's contribution to medicine: providing care in the air and delivering care by air.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) came into being during World War I as the world's first independent air force on the 1 April 1918, amalgamating elements of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), itself established in 1912 and the Royal Naval Air Service which had formally separated from the Admiralty's administered Air Wing of the RFC in 1915. The RAF therefore celebrates its 100th anniversary in the same year that the Royal College of Physicians of London celebrates its 500th. This article will cover the contribution that military aviation has made to medicine since 1913 with the emphasis of three examples focusing on delivering care by air, providing care in the air and in developing systems for supporting aircrew or patients at the extremes of physiological stress.
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Public Health England (PHE) issued a guidance report on the management of Mycobacterium chimaera endocarditis following cardiac valve surgery. M chimaera is a non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) belonging to mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). ⋯ Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) presents as the frequent and severe form of infective endocarditis (IE). The objective of this review is to discuss the role of clinicians in assessment, treatment and reassurance of all the patients who are recalled for clinical consultation following their risk of suspected M chimaera infection after open-heart surgery.
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In November 2017, the deferral on blood donations from high-risk groups in Great Britain was changed to 3 months from last at-risk sexual contact following recommendations from the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs. This represented a reduction from 12 months for men who have sex with men, and from a lifetime ban for sex workers. ⋯ Clearly it is vital that the welfare of blood transfusion recipients is prioritised and they are not exposed to unacceptable risks. However, with the increasingly sophisticated technology used to screen blood, it can be argued that the evidence shows that the reduction in deferral does not go far enough.