Invasive meningococcal disease and the MenACWY-TT conjugate vaccine

In this Product Explainer, Paediatrician Dr Daryl Cheng explains the role of the MenACWY-TT conjugate vaccine for invasive meningococcal disease, the importance of adolescent vaccination and opportunistic immunisation, and the healthcare professional’s role in improving uptake rates in this age group (7 mins).

Bivalent original/omicron pre-filled syringe for COVID-19 vaccination

In this Product Explainer, Public Health Physician Prof Paul Van Buynder explains the role of the Bivalent Original/Omicron BA.4-5 pre-filled syringe COVID-19 vaccine and provides an update on the situation in aged care, and how boosters can assist in protecting the community against symptomatic infection and severe disease (5 mins).

Simple blood test a mortality predictor

Low lymphocyte levels can used as an indicator of an increased risk of mortality, US researchers say.

Lymphopaenia, readily measured through the common full blood count, has been shown to be associated with an increased likelihood of death from conditions such as heart disease, cancer and respiratory infections, according to a retrospective study published in JAMA Network Open.

This relationship was found to be consistent, independent of age, other serum immune markers and traditional clinical risk factors.

However, when patients with lymphopaenia also had other abnormal immune markers, namely elevated red cell distribution width (RDW) and a raised C-reactive protein (CRP), they ‘had a strikingly high risk of mortality’, the study authors said.

Value of pre-implantation genetic testing questioned

If you’re going through IVF, you may be offered a test to look at your embryos’ chromosomes.

Pre-implantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (chromosome abnormalities), known as PGT-A, is an “add on” used to help choose embryos with the right number of chromosomes. It’s promoted by IVF clinics as a way to increase the chance of success, especially for women over 35.

But the evidence shows that in most cases, PGT-A doesn’t improve the chance of a baby.

What is aneuploidy?
Human cells usually contain 46 chromosomes. Aneuploidy is a term that describes a chromosome number that is different from 46 – either too many or too few chromosomes.

In human embryos, most aneuploidies are lethal, resulting in miscarriage, or do not result in pregnancy at all.

The chance of aneuploidy increases with the age of the woman; by the time a woman reaches age 40, approximately 80% of her embryos are aneuploid.

‘Bad cholesterol’ is only as unhealthy as its composition

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the kind of cholesterol found in fast food, processed meats and desserts, has come to be known as ‘bad’ cholesterol due to it’s association with heart attacks and coronary disease.

Despite this, 75% of heart attacks occur in patients whose cholesterol levels don’t indicate they’re at high risk, leading many to suspect the link isn’t as simple as initially thought. Researchers at Ohio University may have just figured out why.

Amiodarone in the aged

This week’s valuable resource award is a little different to the usual.

Rather than a handy algorithm or useful assessment tool, this is, in fact an article from a recent Australian Prescriber.

It’s about all the potential complications and side effects that can potentially occur with amiodarone, that reasonably popular drug that tends to get started in patients with AF and ventricular arrhythmias.

In fact, the list of potential side-effects is quite extensive and not all that intuitive, particularly in elderly patients, which is why having this article bookmarked somewhere to be able to access at a moment’s notice is such a good idea.