Alcohol-attributable healthcare attendances up to 10 years prior to diagnosis of alcoholic cirrhosis: a population based case-control study.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Cirrhosis because of alcohol could be avoided if drinking behaviour could be altered earlier in the disease course. Our aim was to quantify the burden of morbidities in patients prior to alcoholic cirrhosis diagnosis, as this may inform the earlier identification of people at high risk for targeted interventions. METHODS: We carried out a case-control study using 2479 incident cases of alcoholic cirrhosis and 24 790 controls identified from 357 primary and secondary care centres in England. We assessed the prevalence of morbidities that are partly attributable to alcohol (namely malignant neoplasms, diabetes, epilepsy, injuries, cardiovascular and digestive diseases) prior to alcoholic cirrhosis diagnosis. We compared prevalence in cases to the control population and used logistic regression to derive odds ratios (95% CI). RESULTS: Fifty-eight per cent of cases compared to 29% of controls had had at least one alcohol-attributable condition before cirrhosis diagnosis. The most frequent conditions (proportion in cases vs. controls) were intentional injuries (35.9% vs. 11.9%) and cardiovascular diseases (23.2% vs. 15.6%), followed by diabetes (12.8% vs. 5.3%), digestive diseases (6.1% vs. 1.2%) and epilepsy (5.0% vs. 1.1%). The strongest association with alcoholic cirrhosis was found for digestive diseases [OR 5.4 (4.4-6.7)], epilepsy [OR: 4.4 (3.5-5.5)] and injuries [OR: 4.0 (3.7-4.4)] particularly among those aged 18-44 years. CONCLUSION: These data highlight the high burden of other alcohol-attributable conditions in patients prior to alcoholic cirrhosis diagnosis. Reviewing those consistently presenting with any of these conditions more closely could help practitioners reduce/avoid the long-term consequences of development of alcoholic liver disease.

Effectiveness of travel restrictions in the rapid containment of human influenza: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of internal and international travel restrictions in the rapid containment of influenza. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review according to the requirements of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. Health-care databases and grey literature were searched and screened for records published before May 2014. Data extraction and assessments of risk of bias were undertaken by two researchers independently. Results were synthesized in a narrative form. FINDINGS: The overall risk of bias in the 23 included studies was low to moderate. Internal travel restrictions and international border restrictions delayed the spread of influenza epidemics by one week and two months, respectively. International travel restrictions delayed the spread and peak of epidemics by periods varying between a few days and four months. Travel restrictions reduced the incidence of new cases by less than 3%. Impact was reduced when restrictions were implemented more than six weeks after the notification of epidemics or when the level of transmissibility was high. Travel restrictions would have minimal impact in urban centres with dense populations and travel networks. We found no evidence that travel restrictions would contain influenza within a defined geographical area. CONCLUSION: Extensive travel restrictions may delay the dissemination of influenza but cannot prevent it. The evidence does not support travel restrictions as an isolated intervention for the rapid containment of influenza. Travel restrictions would make an extremely limited contribution to any policy for rapid containment of influenza at source during the first emergence of a pandemic virus.

Sex and age differences in the early identification and treatment of alcohol use: a population-based study of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.

AIM: To estimate sex differences in health-care utilization among harmful/hazardous drinkers in the period before alcoholic cirrhosis diagnosis, and estimate sex differences in the extent to which alcohol use and brief alcohol interventions were documented for these individuals compared with a control cohort. DESIGN: Retrospective study using linked general practice and hospital admissions data in England. SETTING: Three hundred and fifty-seven general practitioner (GP) practices in England. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2479 individuals with alcoholic cirrhosis (mean age at diagnosis=56 years), of whom 67% were men; and 24,790 controls without the disease. MEASUREMENTS: Rates of primary care visits and hospital admissions prior to the diagnosis of alcoholic cirrhosis for men and women, and the proportion of men and women with alcohol consumption and/or alcohol brief intervention documented in their medical record. FINDINGS: Compared with the general population, patients with alcoholic cirrhosis used primary and secondary health-care services more frequently in the years leading up to their diagnosis. In the years prior to diagnosis, men used primary and secondary health-care services more than did women (P for sex interaction P<0.0001). Men were more likely than women to have their alcohol use recorded [odds ratio (OR) men=1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.7-2.3; women=1.63, 95% CI=1.4-1.8, P for sex interaction P<0.0017]. By contrast, alcohol interventions were recorded more commonly among women (OR men=4.3, 95% CI=3.7-4.9; women=5.8, 95% CI=4.7-6.9, P for sex interaction=0.07), although less common with increasing age (P for age interaction=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: In the United Kingdom, prior to alcoholic cirrhosis diagnosis, excess health-care utilization is higher in men than women and men are more likely than women to have their alcohol use recorded. However, women appear to be more likely than men to receive alcohol brief interventions.

Use of neuraminidase inhibitors for rapid containment of influenza: a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual and household transmission studies.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of neuraminidase inhibitors for use in rapid containment of influenza. METHOD: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Healthcare databases and sources of grey literature were searched up to 2012 and records screened against protocol eligibility criteria. Data extraction and risk of bias assessments were performed using a piloted form. Results were synthesised narratively and we undertook meta-analyses to calculate pooled estimates of effect, statistical heterogeneity and assessed publication bias. FINDINGS: Nine randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and eight observational studies met the inclusion criteria. Neuraminidase inhibitors provided 67 to 89% protection for individuals following prophylaxis. Meta-analysis of individual protection showed a significantly lower pooled odds of laboratory confirmed seasonal or influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection following oseltamivir usage compared to placebo or no therapy (n = 8 studies; odds ratio (OR) = 0.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.06 to 0.20; p<0.001; I2 = 58.7%). This result was comparable to the pooled odds ratio for individual protection with zanamivir (OR = 0.23; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.35). Similar point estimates were obtained with widely overlapping 95% CIs for household protection with oseltamivir or zanamivir. We found no studies of neuraminidase inhibitors to prevent population-wide community transmission of influenza. CONCLUSION: Oseltamivir and zanamivir are effective for prophylaxis of individuals and households irrespective of treatment of the index case. There are no data which directly support an effect on wider community transmission. PROTOCOL REGISTRY: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013003880.