In March we further increased the resources and guidance on our website. For clinicians at Monash Children’s Hospital, we added relevant paediatric resources – including eBooks, guidelines, and videos – to many of our online clinical resource guides. Our guides provide curated resources for 40 clinical specialties. 

We also have a new clinical resource guide on wound care, useful for nurses, OTs, physiotherapists, and others working in rehabilitation, aged care, geriatrics, and surgery. It provides key links and guidance alongside recommended eBooks, journals, and educational resources.  
 
Visit our new Apps Guide to see our pick of the best mobile apps for health professionals. In addition to clinical decision support tools such as UpToDate, the highlighted apps provide quick access to clinical practice guidelines, research and education material, and more. 

Rising case numbers and a fourth vaccine dose have been prominent issues this month. Recent commentary in The Lancet Infectious Diseases discusses the successes and ongoing challenges of a rapid vaccine rollout. Meanwhile, lagging vaccination rates in Australian children may be due to “a complex mix of access and acceptance barriers for parents”. 

The second anniversary of the pandemic also sparked a flurry of retrospectives. An article from the Australian Bureau of Statistics – based on registered deaths, rather than health surveillance data – tracks COVID-19 deaths over time and shows the most common pre-existing chronic conditions.  

 
Selected COVID-19 articles:

• In patients with long COVID, the most common peripheral neuropathy was “prolonged, often disabling, small-fiber neuropathy”. Evidence suggests that immune dysregulation was triggered by the COVID-19 infection.  

• Seeking emotional support during COVID-19 through social networking sites may have negative consequences, such as obsession and exhaustion. 

• An online survey reported in Psychiatry Research assessed anxiety and depression during COVID-19, finding that almost one third of respondents had stress symptoms indicative of possible PTSD. 

• Sotrovimab: First Approval -- published in the latest issue of Drugs -- includes its pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and an overview of adverse events (diarrhoea being the most common). 

• Lessons from HIV: strengths and weaknesses in the response to COVID-19, on the Doherty Institute’s podcast, features reflections from Professor Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, virologist and Nobel laureate.

Explore our range of journals on BrowZine.

• This systematic review in Intensive Care Medicine found that among comatose cardiac arrest survivors, it is possible to identify those destined for a good neurological outcome. A summary of the predictive indices is included. 
   
• In this new study from the Monash Ageing Research Centre, family members of aged care residents were supportive of deprescribing but recognised significantly fewer psychotropics than non-psychotropics. With more education about the medications prescribed, family members could be a valuable resource in the deprescribing process. 
   
• Tracing the origins of the handshake and the high-five, this paper reflects on how either greeting can be used to promote the care of children and demonstrate respect. 
   
• An educational program on noise reduction strategies for the operating room improved anaesthetists’ perceived ability to perform, as reported in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia.  
   
• Pelvic floor muscle training combined with electrical stimulation therapy significantly improves storage and voiding symptoms of postpartum women with LUTS. 
   
• Via a discussion of patient cases, this article aims to assist health professionals with applying routine screening recommendations to the care of adult transgender and gender diverse patients receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy.