A review of potential use cases for measles-rubella, measles-mumps-rubella, and typhoid-conjugate vaccines presented on microarray patches.

As an innovative vaccine delivery technology, vaccine microarray patches could have a meaningful impact on routine immunization coverage in low- and middle-income countries, and vaccine deployment during epidemics and pandemics. This review of the potential use cases for a subset of vaccine microarray patches in various stages of clinical development, including measles-rubella, measles-mumps-rubella, and typhoid conjugate, highlights the breadth of their applicability to support immunization service delivery and their potential scope of utilization within national immunization programs. Definition and assessment of the use cases for this novel vaccine presentation provide important insights for vaccine developers and policymakers into the strengths of the public health and commercial value propositions, and the preparatory requirements for public health systems for the future rollout of vaccine microarray patches. An in-depth understanding of use cases for vaccine microarray patches serves as a foundational input to overcoming the remaining technical, regulatory, and financial challenges. Additional efforts will help to realize the potential of vaccine microarray patches as part of the global effort to improve the coverage and equity of national immunization programs.

A systematic review of the applications of free tissue transfer for paediatric lower limb salvage following trauma.

BACKGROUND: Since the advent of microsurgical free tissue transfer in the 1960s, it has now become an indispensable part of limb salvage surgery. However, its application in children was initially met with concerns regarding vessel diameter, increased potential for vasospasm and its potential impact on normal growth and development. This resulted in its restriction to specialist paediatric facilities. With improvements and greater confidence in microsurgical techniques, more units are starting to rewrite the initially popularised narrative regarding free tissue transfer in paediatric limb salvage following trauma. A systematic review was undertaken, using the PRISMA criteria for systematic reviews, of all published literature relating to the use of free flaps in paediatric lower limb salvage following trauma. METHODS: Inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined and Medline, Embase, PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched from inception to September 2014 with the following search terms: "free tissue transfer", "free flaps", "microvascular free tissue transfer", "paediatric/pediatric", "children", "lower limb", "trauma" and "reconstruction". RESULTS: A total of 375 studies were retrieved following the electronic database search, of which 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. Two further studies were found via a hand-search of the reference lists of the retrieved studies. A total of 25 studies were, thus, included in the review. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a synthesis of the literature available on the indications, timing, selection, viability, complications and functional outcome of free tissue transfer following lower limb trauma in paediatric patients. Limitations of current studies with potential areas for further research are also discussed.