Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2014 April 22; Volume 11 (Issue 4); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001632
Gerdin M, Clarke M, Allen C, Kayabu B, Summerskill W, et al.
PLOS Med. 2014 April 22; Volume 11 (Issue 4); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001632
Journal Article > ResearchFull Text
PLOS Med. 2005 February 1; Volume 2 (Issue 2); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020014
Dentico N, Ford NP
PLOS Med. 2005 February 1; Volume 2 (Issue 2); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020014
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2013 November 5; Volume 10 (Issue 11); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001544
Minetti A, Bopp C, Fermon F, Francois G, Grais RF, et al.
PLOS Med. 2013 November 5; Volume 10 (Issue 11); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001544
Andrea Minetti and colleagues compare measles outbreak responses from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Malawi and argue that outbreak response strategies should be tailored to local measles epidemiology. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2020 February 14; Volume 17 (Issue 2); e1003028.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003028.
Ford NP, Geng EH, Ellman T, Orrell C, Ehrenkranz PD, et al.
PLOS Med. 2020 February 14; Volume 17 (Issue 2); e1003028.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003028.
Journal Article > ResearchFull Text
PLOS Med. 2007 November 6; Volume 4 (Issue 11); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040302
Schluger N, Karunakara U, Lienhardt C, Nyirenda T, Chaisson RE
PLOS Med. 2007 November 6; Volume 4 (Issue 11); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.0040302
Journal Article > ResearchFull Text
PLOS Med. 2017 October 23; Volume 14 (Issue 10); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002411
Keitel K, Kagoro F, Samaka J, Masimba J, Said Z, et al.
PLOS Med. 2017 October 23; Volume 14 (Issue 10); DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002411
The management of childhood infections remains inadequate in resource-limited countries, resulting in high mortality and irrational use of antimicrobials. Current disease management tools, such as the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) algorithm, rely solely on clinical signs and have not made use of available point-of-care tests (POCTs) that can help to identify children with severe infections and children in need of antibiotic treatment. e-POCT is a novel electronic algorithm based on current evidence; it guides clinicians through the entire consultation and recommends treatment based on a few clinical signs and POCT results, some performed in all patients (malaria rapid diagnostic test, hemoglobin, oximeter) and others in selected subgroups only (C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, glucometer). The objective of this trial was to determine whether the clinical outcome of febrile children managed by the e-POCT tool was non-inferior to that of febrile children managed by a validated electronic algorithm derived from IMCI (ALMANACH), while reducing the proportion with antibiotic prescription.
Journal Article > ResearchFull Text
PLOS Med. 2014 September 9; Volume 11 (Issue 9); e1001718.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001718
Boulle AM, Schomaker M, May MT, Hogg RS, Shepherd B, et al.
PLOS Med. 2014 September 9; Volume 11 (Issue 9); e1001718.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001718
BACKGROUND
High early mortality in patients with HIV-1 starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to Europe and North America, is well documented. Longer-term comparisons between settings have been limited by poor ascertainment of mortality in high burden African settings. This study aimed to compare mortality up to four years on ART between South Africa, Europe, and North America.
METHODS AND FINDINGS
Data from four South African cohorts in which patients lost to follow-up (LTF) could be linked to the national population register to determine vital status were combined with data from Europe and North America. Cumulative mortality, crude and adjusted (for characteristics at ART initiation) mortality rate ratios (relative to South Africa), and predicted mortality rates were described by region at 0–3, 3–6, 6–12, 12–24, and 24–48 months on ART for the period 2001–2010. Of the adults included (30,467 [South Africa], 29,727 [Europe], and 7,160 [North America]), 20,306 (67%), 9,961 (34%), and 824 (12%) were women. Patients began treatment with markedly more advanced disease in South Africa (median CD4 count 102, 213, and 172 cells/µl in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively). High early mortality after starting ART in South Africa occurred mainly in patients starting ART with CD4 count <50 cells/µl. Cumulative mortality at 4 years was 16.6%, 4.7%, and 15.3% in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively. Mortality was initially much lower in Europe and North America than South Africa, but the differences were reduced or reversed (North America) at longer durations on ART (adjusted rate ratios 0.46, 95% CI 0.37–0.58, and 1.62, 95% CI 1.27–2.05 between 24 and 48 months on ART comparing Europe and North America to South Africa). While bias due to under-ascertainment of mortality was minimised through death registry linkage, residual bias could still be present due to differing approaches to and frequency of linkage.
CONCLUSIONS
After accounting for under-ascertainment of mortality, with increasing duration on ART, the mortality rate on HIV treatment in South Africa declines to levels comparable to or below those described in participating North American cohorts, while substantially narrowing the differential with the European cohorts.
High early mortality in patients with HIV-1 starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to Europe and North America, is well documented. Longer-term comparisons between settings have been limited by poor ascertainment of mortality in high burden African settings. This study aimed to compare mortality up to four years on ART between South Africa, Europe, and North America.
METHODS AND FINDINGS
Data from four South African cohorts in which patients lost to follow-up (LTF) could be linked to the national population register to determine vital status were combined with data from Europe and North America. Cumulative mortality, crude and adjusted (for characteristics at ART initiation) mortality rate ratios (relative to South Africa), and predicted mortality rates were described by region at 0–3, 3–6, 6–12, 12–24, and 24–48 months on ART for the period 2001–2010. Of the adults included (30,467 [South Africa], 29,727 [Europe], and 7,160 [North America]), 20,306 (67%), 9,961 (34%), and 824 (12%) were women. Patients began treatment with markedly more advanced disease in South Africa (median CD4 count 102, 213, and 172 cells/µl in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively). High early mortality after starting ART in South Africa occurred mainly in patients starting ART with CD4 count <50 cells/µl. Cumulative mortality at 4 years was 16.6%, 4.7%, and 15.3% in South Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively. Mortality was initially much lower in Europe and North America than South Africa, but the differences were reduced or reversed (North America) at longer durations on ART (adjusted rate ratios 0.46, 95% CI 0.37–0.58, and 1.62, 95% CI 1.27–2.05 between 24 and 48 months on ART comparing Europe and North America to South Africa). While bias due to under-ascertainment of mortality was minimised through death registry linkage, residual bias could still be present due to differing approaches to and frequency of linkage.
CONCLUSIONS
After accounting for under-ascertainment of mortality, with increasing duration on ART, the mortality rate on HIV treatment in South Africa declines to levels comparable to or below those described in participating North American cohorts, while substantially narrowing the differential with the European cohorts.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2016 September 6; Volume 13 (Issue 9); e1002111.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002111
Sheather J, Jobanputra K, Schopper D, Pringle J, Venis S, et al.
PLOS Med. 2016 September 6; Volume 13 (Issue 9); e1002111.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002111
SUMMARY POINTS
• Humanitarian organisations often have to innovate to deliver health care and aid to populations in complex and volatile contexts.
• Innovation projects can involve ethical risks and have consequences for populations even if human participants are not directly involved. While high-level principles have been developed for humanitarian innovation, there is a lack of guidance for how these should be applied in practice.
• Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has well-established research ethics frameworks, but application of such frameworks to innovation projects could stifle innovation by introducing regulation disproportionate to the risks involved. In addition, the dynamic processes of innovation do not fit within conventional ethics frameworks.
• MSF developed and is piloting an ethics framework for humanitarian innovation that is intended for self-guided use by innovators or project owners to enable them to identify and weigh the harms and benefits of such work and be attentive towards a plurality of ethical considerations.
• Humanitarian organisations often have to innovate to deliver health care and aid to populations in complex and volatile contexts.
• Innovation projects can involve ethical risks and have consequences for populations even if human participants are not directly involved. While high-level principles have been developed for humanitarian innovation, there is a lack of guidance for how these should be applied in practice.
• Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has well-established research ethics frameworks, but application of such frameworks to innovation projects could stifle innovation by introducing regulation disproportionate to the risks involved. In addition, the dynamic processes of innovation do not fit within conventional ethics frameworks.
• MSF developed and is piloting an ethics framework for humanitarian innovation that is intended for self-guided use by innovators or project owners to enable them to identify and weigh the harms and benefits of such work and be attentive towards a plurality of ethical considerations.
MSF Ethics Review Board > Publications
PLOS Med. 2009 July 28; Volume 6 (Issue 7); e1000115.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000115
Schopper D, Upshur R, Matthys F, Singh JA, Bandewar SS, et al.
PLOS Med. 2009 July 28; Volume 6 (Issue 7); e1000115.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000115
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2019 May 29; Volume 16 (Issue 5); e1002820.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002820
Ehrenkranz PD, Baptiste SL, Bygrave H, Ellman T, Doi N, et al.
PLOS Med. 2019 May 29; Volume 16 (Issue 5); e1002820.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002820