Plos One
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Consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines are widely available for enhancing the care of cancer patients. Despite subtle differences in their definition and purpose, these terms are often used interchangeably. We systematically assessed the methodological quality of consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines published in three commonly read, geographically diverse, cancer-specific journals. Methods Consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines published between January 2005 and September 2013 in Current Oncology, European Journal of Cancer and Journal of Clinical Oncology were evaluated. Each publication was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II (AGREE II) rigour of development and editorial independence domains. For assessment of transparency of document development, 7 additional items were taken from the Institute of Medicine's standards for practice guidelines and the Journal of Clinical Oncology guidelines for authors of guidance documents. ⋯ Guidance documents are an essential part of oncology care and should be subjected to a rigorous and validated development process. Consensus statements had lower methodological quality than clinical practice guidelines using AGREE II. At a minimum, journals should ensure that that all consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines adhere to AGREE II criteria. Journals should consider explicitly requiring guidelines to declare pharmaceutical company sponsorship and to identify the sponsor's product to enhance transparency.
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The risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) following the United States' 1976 swine flu vaccination campaign in the USA led to enhanced active surveillance during the pandemic influenza (A(H1N1)pdm09) immunization campaign. This study aimed to estimate the risk of GBS following influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination. ⋯ This study illustrates the potential of conducting European collaborative vaccine safety studies. The main, fully adjusted analysis, showed that the RI of GBS was not significantly elevated after influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination (RI = 1.4 (95% CI: 0.7-2.8). Based on the upper limits of the pooled estimate we can rule out with 95% certainty that the number of excess GBS cases after influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccination would be more than 3 per million vaccinated.
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To study journals' responses to a request from the State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, to retract 88 articles due to ethical concerns, and to check whether the resulting retractions followed published guidelines. ⋯ Guidelines for retracting articles are incompletely followed. The role of publishers in the retraction process needs to be clarified and standards are needed on marking retracted articles. It remains unclear who should check that retractions are done properly. Legal safeguards are required to allow retraction of articles against the wishes of authors.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure (AHF) is usually type 1 of the cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) and has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Early recognition of AKI is critical. This study was to determine if the new KDIGO criteria (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) for identification and short-term prognosis of early CRS type 1 was superior to the previous RIFLE and AKIN criteria. ⋯ KDIGO criteria identified significantly more CRS type 1 episodes than RIFLE or AKIN. AKI missed diagnosed by RIFLE or AKIN criteria was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality, indicating the new KDIGO criteria was superior to RIFLE and AKIN in predicting short-term outcomes in early CRS type 1.
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Historical Article
Tuberculosis epidemiology and selection in an autochthonous Siberian population from the 16th-19th century.
Tuberculosis is one of most ancient diseases affecting human populations. Although numerous studies have tried to detect pathogenic DNA in ancient skeletons, the successful identification of ancient tuberculosis strains remains rare. Here, we describe a study of 140 ancient subjects inhumed in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia) during a tuberculosis outbreak, dating from the 16(th)-19(th) century. ⋯ Results demonstrated that the strain belongs to cluster PGG2-SCG-5, evocating a European origin. Our study suggests that the Yakut population may have been shaped by selection pressures, exerted by several illnesses, including tuberculosis, over several centuries. This confirms the validity and necessity of using a multidisciplinary approach to understand the natural history of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease.