METHODS: This was an open-label, prospective, multicentre, randomized trial. Three hospitals where the current protocol was to administer prophylactic amoxycillin-clavulanic acid served as the sites of recruitment. Women who delivered vaginally beyond 24+ 0 weeks of gestation with ragged membranes were invited to participate in the trial and randomized into prophylaxis or expectant management with medical advice by blocks of 10, at a 1:1 ratio. A medication adherence diary was provided and patients followed up at 2 weeks and 6 weeks postpartum.

RESULTS: A total of 6569 women gave birth vaginally in three centres during the trial period, of which 10.9% had ragged membranes. The incidence of endometritis was not significantly raised in women with or without prophylaxis (0.90% vs 0.29%; p = 0.60). All cases of endometritis presented within the first 2 weeks and preventive use of antibiotics did not ameliorate the severity of endometritis since rates of ICU admission, surgical evacuation and transfusion were comparable.

CONCLUSION: Preventive use of antibiotics after vaginal delivery in women with ragged placental membranes did not result in a reduction of endometritis. Educating women on the signs and symptoms of endometritis would suffice. Based on the reported incidence of ragged membranes, a change in practice would result in 1500 less prescriptions of antibiotics per annum in these three centres.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires, recruiting 374 UTAR's students as the respondents by using convenience sampling method. Respondents were categorized as having good/poor level of knowledge and positive/negative attitude towards HPV vaccination.

RESULTS: Over half of the respondents were females (64.5%) and the majority were aged 20 years old and below (55.8%). Generally, 54.7% of the total respondents had a high level of knowledge towards HPV vaccine while 57.5% of the total respondents showed a negative attitude towards HPV vaccine. Female respondents aged 20 years old and below showed good knowledge (56.4%) and a more positive attitude (55.8%) towards HPV vaccine. Students from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) exhibited higher knowledge (67.3%) and positive attitude (62.4%) as compared to the Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) which showed only 32.7% of knowledge and 37.6% of positive attitude towards the HPV vaccination.

RESEARCH QUESTION: The differential impact of frequently used CSs and their regimens on long-term (> 5 years) cardiorespiratory progression in children with DMD is unknown.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a retrospective longitudinal study including children with DMD followed at Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre, Great Ormond Street Hospital London, England, from May 2000 to June 2017. Patients enrolled in any interventional clinical trials were excluded. We collected patients' anthropometrics and respiratory (FVC, FVC % predicted and absolute FVC, and noninvasive ventilation requirement [NIV]) and cardiac (left ventricular shortening function [LVFS%]) function. CSs-naïve patients had never received CSs. Patients who were treated with CSs took either deflazacort or prednisolone, daily or intermittently (10 days on/10 days off) for > 1 month. Average longitudinal models were fitted for yearly respiratory (FVC % predicted) and cardiac (LVFS%) progression. A time-to-event analysis to FVC % predicted < 50%, NIV start, and cardiomyopathy (LVFS% < 28%) was performed in CS-treated (daily and intermittent) vs CS-naïve patients.

RESULTS: There were 270 patients, with a mean age at baseline of 6.2 ± 2.3 years. The median follow-up time was 5.6 ± 3.5 years. At baseline, 263 patients were ambulant. Sixty-six patients were treated with CSs daily, 182 patients underwent CSs intermittent > 60% treatment, and 22 were CS-naïve patients. Yearly FVC % predicted declined similarly from 9 years (5.9% and 6.9% per year, respectively; P = .27) in the CSs-daily and CSs-intermittent groups. The CSs-daily group declined from a higher FVC % predicted than the CSs-intermittent group (P < .05), and both reached FVC % predicted < 50% and NIV requirement at a similar age, > 2 years later than the CS-naïve group. LVFS% declined by 0.53% per year in the CSs-treated group irrespective of the CSs regimen, significantly slower (P < .01) than the CSs-naïve group progressing by 1.17% per year. The age at cardiomyopathy was 16.6 years in the CSs-treated group (P < .05) irrespective of regimen and 13.9 years in the CSs-naïve group.

METHODS: Urologists worldwide completed a Société Internationale d'Urologie online survey from 16 April 2020 until 1 May 2020. Analysis was carried out to evaluate their knowledge about protecting themselves and others in the workplace, including their confidence in their ability to remain safe at work, and any regional differences.

RESULTS: There were 3488 respondents from 109 countries. Urologists who stated they were moderately comfortable that their work environment offers good protection against coronavirus disease 2019 showed a total mean satisfaction level of 5.99 (on a "0 = not at all" to "10 = very" scale). A large majority (86.33%) were confident about protecting themselves from coronavirus disease 2019 at work. However, only about one-third reported their institution provided the required personal protective equipment (35.78%), and nearly half indicated their hospital has or had limited personal protective equipment availability (48.08%). Worldwide, a large majority of respondents answered affirmatively for testing the healthcare team (83.09%). Approximately half of the respondents (52.85%) across all regions indicated that all surgical team members face an equal risk of contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (52.85%). Nearly one-third of respondents reported that they had experienced social avoidance (28.97%).