It does not have to be fancy to be effective! We have been studying patients with brain infections such as encephalitis and meningitis for decades. We have developed novel diagnostic tests, and worked on new treatments, but sometimes it’s the relatively simple things that can have the greatest impact. Our brilliant research Fellow @b5ingh has led an amazing programme over the past five years looking at the early management of brain infections, and trying to understand where it goes wrong, so that we could develop a package of interventions to improve things. And it’s actually worked! With hospital stakeholders, policy makers, and patient and public representatives, we co-designed a multifaceted clinical and laboratory intervention, informed by an evaluation of routine practice. The intervention, tailored for each setting, included a diagnostic and management algorithm, a lumbar puncture pack, a testing panel, and staff training. The study took place in hospitals across India, Malawi, and Brazil. We found the percentage of patients getting the correct diagnosis increased, they got on the right treatment quicker and there were improvements in functional outcome measures. Importantly, because we involved policy makers right from the start, and only used interventions which they said they could afford to maintain if they proved effective, these are sustainable interventions which are now being used every day. And what’s really exciting is that the intervention is already feeding into national practice guidelines and WHO meningitis and encephalitis initiatives, to be scaled up globally. Here’s a little video which tells you a bit more: youtube.com/watch?v=6d2-x_AS… And here is the paper just published in the Lancet for those who want to read more. thelancet.com/journals/lance…

A very important study has been carried out by researchers at @LSTMnews, who are a founding partner of @ThePandemicInst The benefits of the method, if proved effective, really would be unprecedented for mosquito-prone areas during disease outbreaks. lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/new…