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This article highlights the weakness of the UK's occupational health and safety infrastructure exposed by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Utilising a political economy perspective, it captures the critical role of workplace union safety representatives in mitigating risk and contesting the expropriation of health and recommodification of labour, specifically inadequate sick pay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The development of anti‐drug antibodies (ADAs) is a serious outcome of treatment strategies involving biological medicines. Coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) is used to treat haemophilia A patients, but its immunogenicity precludes a third of severe haemophiliac patients from receiving this treatment. The availability of patient‐derived anti‐drug antibodies can help us better understand drug immunogenicity and identify ways to overcome it. Thus, there were two aims to this work: (i) to develop and characterise a panel of recombinant, patient‐derived, monoclonal antibodies covering a range of FVIII epitopes with varying potencies, kinetics and mechanism of action, and (ii) to demonstrate their applicability to assay development, evaluation of FVIII molecules and basic research. For the first objective we used recombinant antibodies to develop a rapid, sensitive, flexible and reproducible ex vivo assay that recapitulates inhibitor patient blood using blood from healthy volunteers. We also demonstrate how the panel can provide important information about the efficacy of FVIII products and reagents without the need for patient or animal material. These materials can be used as experimental exemplars or controls, as well as tools for rational, hypothesis‐driven research and assay development in relation to FVIII immunogenicity and FVIII‐related products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study examines the prevalence of physical morbidity in elderly psychiatric inpatients and the possible relationships between major psychiatric disorders (organic mental disorders, schizophrenic and mood disorders) and physical illnesses. The clinical implications of such relationships are discussed. Method Data were obtained from two old age psychiatry wards over a six month period. Seventy-nine subjects were studied and information was obtained from their medical files. Demographic characteristics, psychiatric diagnosis, number of physical illnesses and number of body systems affected were collected. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the psychiatric groups on continuous outcome data and χ[sup 2] test to compare psychiatric groups on categorical data. Results Seventy-five per cent of subjects had at least one physical illness. The number of medical illnesses was independent from the psychiatric disorder. Subjects with mood disorders, and especially depression, were more likely to suffer from hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses than subjects with schizophrenic or organic disorders. Subjects with organic disorders had the lowest prevalence of endocrine disease and diabetes. Conclusions It was concluded the link between mood disorders (depression), cardiovascular diseases and hypertension could be of a ‘cause/effect' type or are the results of a survivor effect. The high prevalence of physical morbidity has implications for training and continuing professional development of those in Old Age Psychiatry Services. It should also be taken into consideration when the location of services is being decided. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General practitioners' referrals to the medical and nursing arms of an old age psychiatry service over a 6-month period were examined retrospectively. Doctors were referred patients with a past psychiatric history who had been known to the service, did not live alone and in whom first-time treatments had failed. The nursing team were asked to carry out specific therapies by the UPs. There were no differences in support, diagnosis or medication between the groups. The need for multidisciplinary input to all referrals to services is stressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor about psychogeriatric assessments, published in the August 1995 issue of "International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry."

A letter to the editor is presented regarding the study undertaken at the University of Liverpool in England which examined the presence of pathogenic Leptospira species within the veterinary-visiting canine community.

Presents a letter to the editor about hyponatraemia and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, published in the November 1994 issue of "International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry."