Acceptability of digital vending machines to improve access to sexual and reproductive health in Brighton, UK: a qualitative analysis.

Introduction: Sexual health remains a public health priority and relies on widely available testing to enable prompt diagnosis and treatment. Technology-based approaches to distribute tests have potential to increase access and enable prompt diagnosis and treatment. We evaluated the acceptability of vending machines (VMs) to distribute HIV self-test (HIVST) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) self-sample kits, from the service user and stakeholder perspective.

High SARS-CoV-2 incidence and asymptomatic fraction during Delta and Omicron BA.1 waves in The Gambia.

Little is known about SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in African countries with high levels of infection-driven immunity and low vaccine coverage. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 349 participants from 52 households in The Gambia between March 2021 and June 2022, with routine weekly SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and 6-monthly SARS-CoV-2 serology. Attack rates of 45% and 57% were seen during Delta and Omicron BA.

The impact of COVID-19 on HIV testing in the UK's first Fast-Track HIV city.

Objectives: To describe the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on HIV testing in Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom.

Methods: All HIV tests performed in Brighton and Hove from January 2016 to June 2021 were extracted, de-duplicated and anonymized. Analysis was performed to compare the monthly numbers of tests and diagnoses before and during the pandemic across different services.

Can I go back to work? A case of persistent SARS-CoV-2 with advanced untreated HIV infection.

We describe the case of a 30-year-old care home employee diagnosed with COVID-19 and acute untreated HIV-1. He was unable to return to work for 119 days due to concerns over transmission risk as his SARS-CoV-2 PCR remained detectable. This highlights the uncertainty in interpreting SARS-CoV-2 PCR results post-infection in acute untreated HIV.

The epidemiology of hospital inpatient exposure to SARS-CoV-2: A cohort study.

Background: Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was widespread in hospitals during 2020. The risk of infection after in-hospital exposure has not yet been quantified and effective strategies to prevent it remain unclear.

Methods: All incidences of patient-to-patient exposure to SARS-CoV-2 on non-COVID wards between October and December 2020 at a UK hospital trust were identified.

Low-fidelity simulation of medical emergency and cardiac arrest responses in a suspected COVID-19 patient - an interim report.

Background: COVID-19 poses many challenges to healthcare systems and workers. Responding to medical emergencies in patients with suspected COVID-19 will require new guidelines and protocols. Simulation can support their development.

The global variation of medical student engagement in teaching: Implications for medical electives.

Introduction: International medical electives, whereby undergraduates visit an institution in a country other than their own, are a common part of medical training. Visiting students are often asked to provide local teaching, which may be acceptable where the visitor is acting within the bounds of their own competency and the normal practices of both their home and host institutions. However, the extent to which teaching is an accepted student activity globally has not previously been described.

Single procedure revision cranioplasty with intra-operative autoclave following titanium plate exposure.

Patients with titanium cranioplasties can develop skin defects and plate exposure requiring revision surgery to prevent infection. The management of these patients has historically been staged surgery to remove the exposed plate followed by re-implantation of a sterile plate at a later date. We describe an alternative where the exposed plate is removed, sterilised by autoclaving and re-implanted, in one operation.