COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy: A safety weapon against pandemic

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is raising great concern all over the world. The recent introduction of vaccines has offered reason for optimism, however, new issues have arisen, such as vaccine reluctance. The safety of vaccines for pregnant women is one of the most serious of these concerns. The purpose of this review article is to provide updated international vaccine recommendations, results of ongoing studies and clinical trials, and the role of gynecologists in counseling the women to understand the risks versus benefits as well as form an informed decision towards vaccine acceptance for COVID-19.Although COVID-19 infection increases the risk of severe morbidity and mortality in pregnant women, pregnant women were not included in the initial vaccine trials. As a result, safety information is scarce. Nations have differing recommendations, though many have recently approved the COVID-19 immunization in pregnancy following a risk-benefit analysis. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) of the United Kingdom recently approved an mRNA vaccination for pregnant women. Vaccination is recommended by the CDC, ACOG, ARFM, and WHO. India recently took a stand, with the ICMR and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recommending vaccination during pregnancy and lactation.     

Single-handed practices – their contribution to an undergraduate teaching network in the first year of the new curriculum

OBJECTIVES: The new curriculum at King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, which commenced in September 1996, requires all medical undergraduates to have a general practice placement throughout the 5 years of their medical education. DESIGN: This paper discusses recruitment, training and support of teaching practices for the new curriculum, reviews the distribution of single-handed general practices in the network and, via a selection of monitoring and evaluation procedures, discusses the implications of a policy which is inclusive of single-handed practices. The findings relate to the experience of the first semester of the first year of the new curriculum. It also examines the contributions that single-handed practices have made to the teaching network and the kind of support needed, if single-handed practices are to continue to contribute to the King's teaching network. SETTING: King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry. SUBJECTS: Medical undergraduates. RESULTS: The findings of this paper revealed that over a third of general practice provision is via single-handed practices in South-east London. Within the undergraduate teaching network, 10% of practices are single-handed. Students are welcomed and receive a learning experience comparable to those students in larger practices. Attendance at training events has proved difficult for some of these tutors, but the extra input from the department, in order to address this deficit, has not been onerous. Indeed, single-handed practices have not been unique with regard to difficulties in attendance at training events. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that single-handed practices can make satisfactory provision for undergraduates in the new curriculum and there is no evidence from this study to suggest otherwise.     

Family history as an independent risk factor for ischaemic heart disease in a low incidence area (Galicia, Spain)

It has been suggested that a family history positive for coronaryheart disease (CHD) increases the risk of CHD. We studied thisassociation to determine the degree of risk, the independenceof this association and the presence of interaction of a familyhistory of CHD with the major known risk factors in a law incidencearea. One hundred and six hospital cases (85 males and 21 females)of CHD and 106 hospital controls individually matched with eachcase for sex, age and place of residence (rural–urban)were studied. From every participant, information was collectedon their personal and family history of cardiovascular diseaseand risk factors; height, weight, lipid profile and blood pressurewere measured, and an electrocardiogram was recorded. Conditionallogistic regression was used in the analysis. The observed odds ratio of patients suffering from CHD amongthose with, compared to those without, a positive family historyof CHD was 4.95 (95. confidence interval = 1.27–19.28)after adjusting for the major known risk factors in each individualand their families (no interaction term remained in the model). The results support the hypothesis that a family history ofCHD, acting through mechanisms other than known risk factorsor their familial aggregation, is an independent risk factorfor CHD even in a low incidence area. No interaction effectwas observed between family history and the presence of thethree major risk factors of CHD. This should help to identifyindividuals at greater risk of CHD.     

Headache and family history

In two headache questionnaire surveys we inquired about the occurrence of headache in the mothers, fathers, siblings and children of the respondents. In total, 633 people completed valid questionnaires, 260 in the first survey and 373 in the second. The hypothesis was that familial headache occurrence would be positively associated with headache frequency. In each survey, the regression of headache frequency on the number of parents having headache was highly significant. Neither sex nor the sibling and children variables were significant predictors. In the cross-tabulations of the parental occurrence of headache with headache frequency we saw a clear "break-point" between the "no headache" and the headache frequency categories studied. For the final analyses the dichotomy "headache/no headache" was related in fourfold tables to headache occurrence in the father and the mother separately, and to the number of headache parents. The positive associations were not simply due to the large number of migraine cases since they remained after removing the migraineurs.     

A factor analytic study of teaching in off-campus general practice clerkships

The Preceptor-evaluation questionnaire (PEQ) was developed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center to evaluate the clinical teaching behaviour of general practice doctors in private practice who have one or more third-year medical students per year in their offices for a required general practice clerkship. The PEQ was designed to provide feedback to these doctors and the sponsoring department in an effort to improve teaching in this setting. Developed from the input of family practice doctors who have supervised students in their offices and from a review of related literature, the instrument was given to students to determine the level of importance they attributed to each teaching characteristic. A principle components factor analysis and subsequent varimax rotation produced six significant teaching factors in this setting. These six factors were:

• 1 demonstrates a humanistic orientation toward patients and staff;
• 2 demonstrates a humanistic orientation toward student;
• 3 provides opportunity for practice;
• 4 motivates and stimulates student's thinking;
• 5 communicates effectively with student; and
• 6 demonstrates comfort and confidence in the roles of doctor and teacher.

The factor relating to the humanistic orientation toward student has not appeared as a separate factor in other studies of clinical teaching. This may be due to the unique aspects of the relationship between student and doctor in this setting which may not occur in other settings. The PEQ and similar reliable and valid instruments can provide valuable information for the doctors in these off-campus teaching situations as well as provide useful programme planning information for the sponsoring academic departments. This information may also be valuable for off-campus residency training.     

The clinical physiology of aging

International Urology and Nephrology -     

HBV 感染、家族肝癌史与 ABO 血型在低发区原发性肝癌的关系

本文研究了高、低发区５１０例ＰＨＣＨＢＶ感染、家族肝癌史及与ＡＢＯ血型的关系，结果表明：１肝癌低发区与高发区一样，合并ＨＢＶ感染的ＰＨＣ患者达８０．７４％，远多于无ＨＢＶ感染者；男性多于女性；有家族肝癌史的ＰＨＣ患者占４０．００％，且合并ＨＢＶ感染的ＰＨＣ有家族肝癌史者显著多于ＨＢＶ阴性组（Ｐ＜０．０５）；２低发区ＰＨＣ中，有家族肝癌史的Ａ型血者显著多于相应对照组（Ｐ＜０．０５）。提示我国肝癌低发区ＰＨＣ发生的最重要外因亦为ＨＢＶ感染，遗传易感性则是其内因；而有ＨＢＶ感染或有家族肝癌史者是ＰＨＣ的高危人群，且后者中的Ａ型血者更为易患，对这一人群需加强监测，警惕ＰＨＣ的发生。     

Helicobacter pylori Risk Associated with Sibship Size and Family History of Gastric Diseases in Japanese Adults

Helicobacter pylori is thought to be a cause of gastric cancer. Risk factors of H. pylori positivity were investigated among 4,361 public service workers in Japan. Sera and information on family history and lifestyle were collected, and H. pylori antibody was measured using the sera. Sex- and age-adjusted odds ratios of factors expected to influence H. pylori seropositivity were calculated. The factors with a significant influence were included in a logistic regression model and the final model was obtained by backward elimination. Sibship size (4 and more vs. 1), smoking habit (current vs. never), and paternal and siblings' histories of gastric diseases showed significant relationships to H. pylori seropositivity, with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.5 (1.0–2.1), 0.8 (0.7–0.9), 1.5 (1.3–1.8) and 1.7 (1.1–2.6) respectively. However, spouse's history was not related. In the final model, sibship size and paternal history remained as positive factors, and smoking as a negative one. Contradictory results on the relationship between H. pylori status and smoking among recent studies indicate the existence of hidden confounding factors. It is suggested that infection from family members in childhood considerably affects the H. pylori status of Japanese adults, whereas infection between adults is rare.     

附生型兰科药用植物化学成分及药理活性研究进展

附生型兰科植物是兰科中的一大类群,其中许多植物具有很高的药用价值。近年来国内外对于该类药用植物的化学成分和活性给予了很大关注。作者综述了近15年来附生型兰科药用植物的化学成分及药理活性的研究进展。为今后从化学成分角度阐明不同类型的兰科药用植物之间的亲缘关系和从中开发新药提供参考。     

家庭环境对4～5岁儿童行为问题的影响

目的探讨家庭环境对4～5岁儿童行为问题的影响,以降低学龄前儿童行为问题的发生率.方法采用问卷调查的方法对600名4～5岁儿童的行为及家庭环境进行调查,应用SPSS软件进行多元回归分析.结果不同家庭精神环境特征对4～5岁儿童行为问题的影响不同,且存在明显的性别差异.影响男性儿童行为问题的家庭特征有亲密度、矛盾性、知识性、组织性和成功性;影响女性儿童的家庭特征有亲密度、矛盾性、知识性、组织性、成功性和娱乐性.结论家庭环境对4～5岁儿童行为发育产生重要影响.在进行学龄前儿童行为问题的诊断和干预时,要重视家庭环境的作用,并要注意性别差异.