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RCGP Council 2021

I usually post up what I’ve said. It was a very long meeting. I try not to repeat things that others have said. I contributed towards one paper written by Victoria Tzortziou Brown. My concern is that honours etc given out by college (eg lecturerships, FRCGPs) should be actively trying to increase diversity, the sex […]

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World Service – ovarian cancer screening

Lancet study for UKCTOCS -2021 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00731-5/fulltext and 2015 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(15)01224-6/fulltext Puerto Rico practice https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2014/920915/ US Preventive services taskforce https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/ovarian-cancer-screening NHS advice on ovarian cancer symptoms https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ovarian-cancer/

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Yellow Cards

Yellow Card link https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/about Government website on adverse reactions Click to access COVID-19_AstraZeneca_Vaccine_Analysis_Print.pdf York review – history of patient reporting https://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2164/2957/mon1520_YCS.pdf;jsessionid=70780E9E705E664188E0B406FFFD2605?sequence=1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting Denmark pause https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/11/denmark-pauses-astrazeneca-vaccines-to-investigate-blood-clot-reports

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Covid ‘immunity’ ‘vaccination’ ‘testing’ passports

Quarantine – historical https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003591574503800701 WHO and international vaccine certification https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-73772-5_120 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/003591574503800701 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7454779/ Click to access Green-Book-Chapter-14v2_0.pdf WHO and current guidance https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/interim-position-paper-considerations-regarding-proof-of-covid-19-vaccination-for-international-travellers UK currently reviewing ‘complex issues’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55970801 previous problems with IHR https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0098858816658273 loopholes with yellow fever vaccination https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31670-8/fulltext issues with apps and data security https://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2021/se/new-tool-reveals-security-and-privacy-issues-with-contact-tracing-apps.html fantastic tracker from Ada Lovelace Institute https://www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/project/international-monitor-vaccine-passports-covid-status-apps/ Rabies vaccination and […]

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Human Challenge Trials – Inside Health 2nd March 21

Government press release https://www.gov.uk/government/news/worlds-first-coronavirus-human-challenge-study-receives-ethics-approval-in-the-uk Ethical issues https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-30992030438-2/fulltext Pfizer study – the numbers! https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577 Nuremberg trials and code https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199711133372006 ethical frameworks https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5926904/ https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30518-X/fulltext other types human challenge trials hookworm, – https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/5/5/ofy083/4976553 malaria https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3195259/ but also RSV – many trials of deliberately infecting humans https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02755948 Click to access 77021661.pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3904492/ Helicobacter story https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2661189/ Click to access en_v31n3a02.pdf […]

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Inside Health 23/2/21

Government consultation on ‘minipill’ – POP https://www.gov.uk/government/news/views-sought-on-making-the-oral-contraceptive-pill-desogestrel-available-from-pharmacies recommendations of extended use of implant and (some!) coils https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-ceu-recommendation-on-extended-use-of-the-etonogestrel/ service standards for family planning+sexual health during covid-19https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-guidance-essential-srh-services–third-covid-19-lockdown/ and https://www.fsrh.org/documents/fsrh-update-provision-of-contraception-during-covid19/

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Screening for covid-19

conclusion: this needs tested, may do more harm than good,  and cannot be assumed to ‘work’ Government announcement https://www.gov.uk/government/news/asymptomatic-testing-to-be-rolled-out-across-the-country-starting-this-week including “With the expansion of asymptomatic testing for those unable to work from home, added to our comprehensive COVID-Secure guidance, we can keep our economy on the move while giving individuals in key sectors complete confidence […]

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Vitamin D and Covid-19

initial publications https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgaa733/5934827 UK biobank Our findings do not support a potential link between vitamin D concentrations and risk of COVID-19 infection, nor that vitamin D concentration may explain ethnic differences in COVID-19 infection. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32413819/ Lancet https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(20)30268-0/fulltext systematic review on vitamin D supplementation and preventing acute resp infections BMJ 2017 https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583 Meta-analysis of IPD from […]

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2021 ‘trends’ – which do not equal evidence

https://www.cochrane.org/CD003048/INFECTN_do-probiotics-help-treat-acute-infectious-diarrhoea https://gutscharity.org.uk/advice-and-information/health-and-lifestyle/gut-microbiome-poo-testing/#section-5 https://www.bsg.org.uk/strategic-areas/research/gut-microbiota-for-health-expert-panel/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23439798/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0934-0 https://clevrblends.com/pages/faq https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/4/Supplement_2/1547/5844467 https://academic.oup.com/cdn/article/4/Supplement_2/1518/5845874 https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)01481-6#fig5 https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(15)01481-6#secsectitle0035 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3991026/

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Inside Health 13/10/20 – non drug interventions, Test and trace

BESSI collaboration :https://www.bessi-collab.net/about-us SAGE on non drug interventions https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925854/S0769_Summary_of_effectiveness_and_harms_of_NPIs.pdf rates of covid-19 testing https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/?_ga=2.54504936.1326017125.1602531867-289927355.1585336355

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