Lacking Clarity or Strategic Ambiguity? Comment on "Competing Frames in Global Health Governance: An Analysis of Stakeholder Influence on the Political Declaration on Non-communicable Diseases".

This commentary engages with Suzuki and colleagues' analysis about the ambiguity of multi-stakeholder discourses in the United Nations (UN) Political Declaration of the 3rd High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (HLM-NCDs), suggesting that blurring between public and private sector in this declaration reflects broader debates about multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) and public-private partnerships (PPPs) in health governance. We argue that the ambiguity between the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors involved may downplay the role (and regulation) of conflicts of interest (COI) between unhealthy commodity industries and public health. We argue that this ambiguity is not simply an artefact of the Political Declaration process, but a feature of multi-stakeholderism, which assumes that commercial actors´ interests can be aligned with the public interest. To safeguard global health governance, we recommend further empirical and conceptual research on COI and how it can be managed.

Nebulized Fentanyl for Dyspnea: A Retrospective Chart Review.

Nebulized fentanyl is well established for analgesia but its use for dyspnea requires further investigation. The aim of our study was to determine the effectiveness of nebulized fentanyl in treating patients with dyspnea and to determine if there were harmful side effects described by patients or their providers. We used a convenience sample of patients from July 1 2014 to July 1 2018 and performed a retrospective chart review. We found that 360 doses of nebulized fentanyl were given to 73 patients during that time period. Of the 73 patients evaluated, 32 patients (43.8%) were female and forty-one were male (56.1%). The median age was 67 and the median length of stay was 9 days. There were no documented findings of bronchospasm, hypotension, or allergic reaction in any of the medical records reviewed. Patients treated with nebulized fentanyl for dyspnea showed a mean decreased respiratory rate of 4.3 breaths/min and a mean increased oxygen saturation of 2.3%. Also, 71% of patients with documented responses experienced an improvement in their dyspnea. Our preliminary data suggest that nebulized fentanyl has limited side effects and may have a role in the treatment of dyspnea. Further research is necessary to determine its efficacy.

Retinal function assessed by ERG before and after induction of ocular aspergillosis and treatment by the anti-fungal, micafungin, in rabbits.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a new antifungal drug, micafungin, and standard antifungal drugs against endophthalmitis induced in a rabbit by intravitreal injection of Aspergillus fumigatus, an important fungal pathogen. Effectiveness was evaluated by the preservation of b-wave amplitude at 72 h after injection of the fungus relative to the b-wave amplitude at baseline before any intravitreal injections. A 0.06 ml inoculum of 10(6) conidia of A. fumigatus was injected into the vitreous of the right eye of all rabbits; and, 12 h later, a 0.06 ml solution containing one of 3 antifungal drugs or saline was injected into the vitreous of both eyes. All three antifungal drugs produced significant b-wave preservation at 72 h in infected eyes compared to that in infected eyes receiving saline injections. There was no statistically significant difference between the effects of micafungin and amphotericin B in the right eyes with fungal endophthalmitis, and both produced significantly more preservation of b-wave amplitude than voriconazole. Amphotericin B, but neither micafungin nor voriconazole produced significant reduction of the b-wave amplitude in the left eyes.

High-dose versus standard-dose amoxicillin for acute otitis media.

BACKGROUND: Emergence of drug-resistant bacteria has led to a recommendation to use high-dose (HD) amoxicillin (80-90 mg/kg/d) rather than standard-dose (SD) amoxicillin (40-45 mg/kg/d) to treat children with acute otitis media (AOM). OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of HD versus SD amoxicillin among children with AOM who were considered at low risk for infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, 3-year clinical trial was conducted using participants who met the following criteria: age >3 mo, weight