Daily zinc cut infections by more than a third in young children with sickle cell anaemia

The edition in brief

ZIPS-2, a double-blind trial in 100 Ugandan children aged one to four with sickle cell anaemia, all on or starting hydroxyurea, found that zinc sulfate 20 mg daily for six months lowered all-cause infections from 481 to 306 per 100 person-years (adjusted incidence rate ratio 0.62), with no adverse events leading to discontinuation. It was a single-centre trial and needs replication. A phase 4 trial in 1,404 Chinese adults found that giving an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine together with PPV23 and then with quadrivalent influenza vaccine preserved antibody responses for most endpoints, with slightly more mild local reactions. A Lancet Infectious Diseases review summarises RSV prevention: maternal vaccination, infant monoclonal antibodies and older-adult vaccines show high real-world effectiveness, but cost has confined their use largely to high-income settings. The FDA recorded a supplement on 24 September to Baxter's application for daptomycin premixed in 0.9% sodium chloride; the record does not describe the change. The pearl covers blood cultures before antibiotics in suspected sepsis.