Respiratory

Rick Body and colleagues discuss the COVID-19 vaccine evidence as the UK rollout gathered pace in January 2021. The episode notes link to the Moderna, Oxford and Pfizer trials, providing a record of the science and questions informing that early stage of vaccination.

Esther Murray and colleagues explore moral injury and the psychological impact of working through COVID-19. This video discussion considers recognition, prevention and support, emphasising honest conversations and the importance of feeling heard when difficult experiences challenge clinicians' values.

A December 2020 review of RECOVERY's lopinavir/ritonavir results in hospitalised patients with COVID-19. It discusses the lack of demonstrated benefit, the limits of extrapolating to earlier disease and how adaptive platform trials made rapid evaluation of proposed treatments possible.

Thomas Shanahan examines the December 2020 RECOVERY preprint on azithromycin for hospitalised patients with COVID-19. The review covers the absence of a mortality benefit, incomplete follow-up at publication and the importance of avoiding antibiotic use without a supported indication.

Iain and Simon look back at November and early December 2020 on the St Emlyn's blog. The Christmas round-up covers emerging COVID-19 research, purpura in children, the future of medical conferences and research in emergency medicine.

Why did COVID-19 cause such different outcomes in different people? John McDermott reviews the December 2020 GenOMICC findings, explaining genetic associations with severe illness, their potential to guide research and why they cannot predict an individual patient's fate on their own.