Positive Effect of Single-Dose Measles Vaccination in Reducing the Incidence of Pneumonia in Children with Measles.

AIM: Measles is a worldwide common, highly infectious and vaccine-preventable contagious disease with high morbidity and mortality rates. We investigated the effects of administering single-dose measles vaccination in children with measles on the incidence of pneumonia and hospitalization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the hospital records of children aged 0-18 years who were diagnosed with measles within a year before the study in a training and research hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. We compared the measles vaccine ratios, hospitalization rates, hospitalization duration and pneumonia development rates. RESULTS: We found that 34 (15.6%) patients had received measles vaccination, while 184 (84.4%) did not receive the vaccination. All the vaccinated patients received only a single dose of the vaccine. The proportion of those who had received pneumonia vaccine (14/34, 41.2%) was significantly lower than that of those who had never received a dose of measles containing vaccine (179/184, 97.3%) (p = 0.001). Moreover, patients who were immunized [n = 3 (3.1%)] had a significantly lower hospitalization rate than those who were not immunized [n = 94 (96.9%)] (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The risk of pneumonia in children with measles vaccination, rate of hospitalization and length of hospital stay was significantly lower in children who had received even a single dose of the vaccine when compared with that in those who had not vaccinated. The results of this study reiterate the need for more effective global measles vaccination.

Innovation, Royalties, and Introduction of the Patent Hirsch Index within U.S. Academic Neurosurgery.

BACKGROUND: Historically, practicing neurosurgeons have been key drivers of neurosurgical innovation. We sought to describe the patents held by U.S. academic neurosurgeons and to explore the relationship between patents and royalties received. METHODS: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid CMS Open Payments Data was used to identify academic neurosurgeons who had received royalties and royalty amounts during a 5-year period (2013-2017). Online patent databases were used to gather patent details. Patent citations and 5-year individual and departmental patent Hirsch (h)-indexes were calculated. Royalties were correlated with the number of patents, patent citations, and patent h-index. RESULTS: We found that 119 academic neurosurgeons (7.8%) from 57 U.S. teaching programs (48.3%) had received royalty payments; 72 (60.5%) had published 648 patents. All surgeons were men, with approximately one half in the "late" stages of their career (45.3%) and subspecializing in spinal surgery (50.4%). The patented products or devices were most commonly used for spinal surgery (72.1%), with 2010-2019 the most productive period (n = 455; 70.2%). The median number of citations per patent was 32 (range, 0-620), with 33% having ≥100 citations. The highest individual and institutional patent h-index was 95; 25 (34.7%) neurosurgeons had a patent h-index of ≥5. The median total royalty payment per individual neurosurgeon was $111,011 (range, $58.05-$76,715,750.34). Royalties were correlated with the number of patents (Spearman r = 0.37; P ≤ 0.001), citations (Spearman r, 0.38; P ≤ 0.001), and inventor h-index (Spearman r = 0.38; P ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Few U.S. academic neurosurgeons (7.8%) receive royalties and hold patents (4.7%), with an even smaller select group having a patent h-index of ≥5 (1.6%).