Invasive pneumococcal disease is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among persons aged 65 years and older. Pneumococcal disease burden also remains high among adults over 50 years of age. In this editorial the authors discuss the priority of continued 23‐valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine use in older adults, whilst also emphasising the importance of directing future attention to the development of vaccines that utilise conserved pneumococcal protein antigens.

Image: m_bartosch

Self‐medication results in wastage of resources, increases resistance of pathogens and generally causes serious health hazards such as adverse drug reactions, prolonged suffering and drug dependence. This study was undertaken to determine the reasons for self‐medication and the pattern of self‐medication among medical students.

Image: scottchan

Smoking, both active and passive, creates a plethora of health-related problems, which primarily affect the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. There is very little evidence on the effects of tobacco smoke on the eye, especially regarding anterior ocular surface related pathology. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of smoking on the ocular surface and the tear film in smokers.

Image: 'Africa'

Appropriate graft tension and secure graft incorporation in bone tunnels are essential for successful anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstrings tendon autografts. The WhipKnot™ soft tissue cinch, introduced by Smith and Nephew in 2004, is an alternative option to the commonly used whipstitch technique during preparation of the hamstring autograft in ACL reconstruction. The results from this study indicate that the Whipknot™ technique is a safe, reliable and practical option for the preparation of hamstrings autografts.

Image: jannoon028

The use of electronic resources in education, including i-applications used on portable handheld devices, is increasing. Many gross anatomy i-applications are available, however no information on the quality of free anatomy products is available. This study aims to evaluate the quality and range of free i-applications that are applicable for tertiary level gross anatomy education. 

Image: photostock

Myotonic disorders are those inherited muscle conditions characterised by slow relaxation due to spontaneous discharges. There are currently two clinical and molecular defined forms of myotonic dystrophy:  myotonic dystrophy type 1, also known as ‘Steinert’s disease’; and myotonic dystrophy type 2, also known as proximal myotonic myopathy. This case study reports a rare case of type 1 dystrophia myotonica in combination with mega cisterna magna.

Image: Suat Eman

Foreign body aspiration can be a life-threatening event especially in young children. A delay in diagnosis and subsequent therapeutic intervention can further increase the risk of morbidity as a retained foreign body can result in inflammatory response and granulation tissue formation around the object which make the foreign body removal difficult. Rigid bronchoscopy under general anaesthesia is the gold standard of diagnosis and management of foreign body aspiration, although most pulmonary physicians are nowadays also treated in the use of flexible bronchoscopy. This case study reports a case of a neglected foreign body which remained in the bronchus of a child for 11 days, before being successfully removed by flexible bronchoscopy.

Image: dream designs

Micronutrient deficiency including that of folate and vitamin B12 as well as hyperhomocysteinemia has been found to be associated with increased cancer risk by causing DNA damage due to single and double strand breaks and oxidative injury. This letter reports a study to determine the levels of Homocysteine, folate and vitamin B12 in patients of acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the time of diagnosis and after one month of induction chemotherapy.

Image: pixbox 77

This book addresses the major issues of surveillance to reduce antimicrobial use, measures to ensure better use of antibiotics, reducing antibiotic use in animal husbandry, infection control and prevention control techniques in health facilities, fostering innovation to facilitate the development and production of newer antibiotics and creating political commitment for action.

Image: Michelle Meiklejohn