Lancet
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This important WHO-funded review and meta-analysis from Canada's COVID-19 SURGE group (Systematic Urgent Review Group Effort) looked at the effect of three non-pharmacological interventions on coronavirus transmission:
- Physical distancing
- Face masks
- Eye protection
Why is this important?
The speed of both the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 and national responses has lead to a bundled-approach to public health interventions for which the evidence-base is still catching up. This review provides reassurance that the core recommendations are likely beneficial.
What did they do?
Reflecting the lack of data, the review group analysed research covering not just SARS-CoV-2, but also SARS and MERS, capturing 172 observational studies with over 25,000 patients in both community and healthcare settings.
What did they find?
Perhaps unsurprisingly (though reassuring!) physical distancing > 1 meter was associated with lower transmission risk (risk difference 95% CI -11.5 to -7.5%) with increasing protection as distance increased beyond 2 meters.
Face-masks were also associated with reduced transmission (risk difference 95% CI -14.3% to -15.9%, though with low certainty), as was eye protection (risk difference 95% CI -12.5% to -7.7%).
N95 masks were even more strongly associated with risk reduction, as was mask use in a health-care setting vs non-health-care. Both N95 and multi-layer surgical masks were more protective than single-layer masks.
Bottom-line?
Simple protective behavioural changes, namely physical distancing, face-mask use and eye protection, are associated with a significant risk reduction in coronavirus transmission.
“...recognize, as an aspect of health worker safety, the precautionary principle that reasonable action to reduce risk, such as the use of a fitted N95 respirator, need not await scientific certainty”.
Campbell (2006) SARS Commission final report
Keep in mind...
Most of the 172 studies reported on bundled interventions (ie. PPE and distancing) so multi-factor analysis was required to tease out the individual contributions to risk reduction. Randomised trials are still pending...
summary -
Pancreatic cancer is a highly fatal disease with a 5-year survival rate of approximately 10% in the USA, and it is becoming an increasingly common cause of cancer mortality. Risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer include family history, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and tobacco use. Patients typically present with advanced disease due to lack of or vague symptoms when the cancer is still localised. ⋯ Systemic chemotherapy combinations including FOLFIRINOX (5-fluorouracil, folinic acid [leucovorin], irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) and gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel remain the mainstay of treatment for patients with advanced disease. Data on the benefit of PARP inhibition as maintenance therapy in patients with germline BRCA1 or BRACA2 mutations might prove to be a harbinger of advancement in targeted therapy. Additional research efforts are focusing on modulating the pancreatic tumour microenvironment to enhance the efficacy of the immunotherapeutic strategies.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Safety and immunogenicity of a mosquito saliva peptide-based vaccine: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 1 trial.
In animal models, immunity to mosquito salivary proteins protects animals against mosquito-borne disease. These findings provide a rationale to vaccinate against mosquito saliva instead of the pathogen itself. To our knowledge, no vector salivary protein-based vaccine has been tested for safety and immunogenicity in humans. We aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of Anopheles gambiae saliva vaccine (AGS-v), a peptide-based vaccine derived from four A gambiae salivary proteins, in humans. ⋯ Office of the Director and the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and National Institutes of Health.