Incidence and Risk of Fatal Vehicle Crashes Among Professional Drivers: A Population-Based Study in Taiwan.

Fatal vehicle crashes (FVCs) are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Professional drivers often drive under dangerous conditions; however, knowledge of the risk factors for FVCs among professional drivers remain scant. We investigated whether professional drivers have a higher risk of FVCs than non-professional drivers and sought to clarify potential risk factors for FVCs among professional drivers. We analyzed nationwide incidence rates of FVCs as preliminary data. Furthermore, by using these data, we created a 1:4 professionals/non-professionals preliminary study to compare with the risk factors between professional and non-professional drivers. In Taiwan, the average crude incidence rate of FVCs for 2003-2016 among professional drivers was 1.09 per 1,000 person-years; professional drivers had a higher percentage of FVCs than non-professional drivers among all motor vehicle crashes. In the 14-year preliminary study with frequency-matched non-professional drivers, the risk of FVCs among professional drivers was significantly associated with a previous history of involvement in motor vehicle crashes (adjustment odds ratio [OR] = 2.157; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.896-2.453), previous history of benzodiazepine use (adjustment OR = 1.385; 95% CI, 1.215-1.579), and speeding (adjustment OR = 1.009; 95% CI, 1.006-1.013). The findings have value to policymakers seeking to curtail FVCs.

Using a Web-Based Platform as an Alternative for Conducting International, Multidisciplinary Medical Conferences During the Novel COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of a Conference.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has stunted medical education activities, resulting in most conferences being cancelled or postponed. To continue professional education during this crisis, web-based conferences can be conducted via livestream and an audience interaction platform as an alternative. OBJECTIVE: The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has affected human connections worldwide. Conventional conferences have been replaced by web-based conferences. However, web-based conferencing has its challenges and limitations. This paper reports the logistics and preparations required for converting an international, on-site, multidisciplinary conference into a completely web-based conference within 3 weeks during the pandemic. METHODS: The program was revised, and a teleconference system, live recording system, director system setup, and broadcasting platform were arranged to conduct the web-based conference. RESULTS: We used YouTube (Alphabet Inc) and WeChat (Tencent Holdings Limited) for the web-based conference. Of the 24 hours of the conventional conference, 21.5 hours (90%) were retained in the web-based conference via live broadcasting. The conference was attended by 71% (37/52) of the original international faculties and 71% (27/38) of the overall faculties. In total, 61 out of 66 presentations (92%) were delivered. A special session-"Dialysis access management under the impact of viral epidemics"-was added to replace precongress workshops and competitions. The conference received 1810, 1452, and 1008 visits on YouTube and 6777, 4623, and 3100 visits on WeChat on conference days 1, 2, and 3, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Switching from a conventional on-site conference to a completely web-based format within a short period is a feasible method for maintaining professional education in a socially responsible manner during a pandemic.

Reconcile the debate over protective effects of BCG vaccine against COVID-19.

While awaiting the COVID-19 vaccines, researchers have been actively exploring the effectiveness of existing vaccines against the new virus, among which the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) receives the most attention. While many reports suggest a potential role for BCG immunization in ameliorating SARS-CoV-2 infection, these findings remain controversial. With country-level COVID-19 outbreak data from Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, and BCG program data from World Atlas of BCG Policies and Practices and WHO/UNICE, we estimated a dynamic model to investigate the effect of BCG vaccination across time during the pandemic. Our results reconcile these varying reports regarding protection by BCG against COVID-19 in a variety of clinical scenarios and model specifications. We observe a notable protective effect of the BCG vaccine during the early stage of the pandemic. However, we do not see any strong evidence for protection during the later stages. We also see that a higher proportion of vaccinated young population may confer some level of communal protection against the virus in the early pandemic period, even when the proportion of vaccination in the older population is low. Our results highlight that while BCG may offer some protection against COVID-19, we should be cautious in interpreting the estimated effectiveness as it may vary over time and depend on the age structure of the vaccinated population.

Experience from a Singapore tertiary hospital with restructuring of a vascular surgery practice in response to national and institutional policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singapore was one of the first countries to be affected by COVID-19, with the index patient diagnosed on January 23, 2020. For 2 weeks in February, we had the highest number of COVID-19 cases behind China. In this article, we summarize the key national and institutional policies that were implemented in response to COVID-19. We also describe in detail, with relevant data, how our vascular surgery practice has changed because of these policies and COVID-19. We show that with a segregated team model, the vascular surgery unit can still function while reducing risk of cross-contamination. We explain the various strategies adopted to reduce outpatient and inpatient volume. We provide a detailed breakdown of the type of vascular surgical cases that were performed during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare it with preceding months. We discuss our operating room and personal protective equipment protocols in managing a COVID-19 patient and share how we continue surgical training amid the pandemic. We also discuss the challenges we might face in the future as COVID-19 regresses.