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A dengue virus vaccine candidate has passed an important milestone, with promising results in animal model testing providing hope to the 390 million people infected every year. The University of Queensland-developed vaccine candidate, applied to the skin via the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP), has produced a protective immune response in dengue-infected mice.

A study across 55 Queensland hospitals suggests that a recent state policy to introduce a minimum ratio of one nurse to four patients for day shifts has successfully improved patient care, with a 7% drop in the chance of death and readmission, and 3% reduction in length of stay for every one less patient a nurse has on their workload.

A set of physical activity for pregnancy guidelines, developed by The University of Queensland and CQUniversity, was released by the Australian Government Department of Health on Mother's Day.

Australian researchers hope to save significant time, money and resources in hospital wards, with findings from a new University of Queensland-led study published in The Lancet.

A significant proportion of patients who recovered from acute COVID-19 illness are now reporting post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS), a lingering ailment also known as “long COVID” or “post-COVID syndrome”. Patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome generally experience COVID-like symptoms lasting weeks after their acute COVID-19 illness. Symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, as well as some neurologic and psychiatric manifestations including anxiety, headache, loss of taste or smell, and cognitive impairment (i.e. “brain fog”). These symptoms are vague and difficult to quantify, making unbiased study of this syndrome a challenge.

A Monash University study has uncovered for the first time a way to prevent and reverse damage caused by broken-heart syndrome, also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

While safety concerns have dominated the recent discussion about the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, it’s useful to understand the mechanisms behind these types of adenovirus-vectored vaccines that have been in use since the 1950s.

Soft tissues can be easily torn resulting from sporting injuries or through various accidents. Binding the tissue back together can prove problematic for surgeons, as stitches often do more harm than good. Swiss scientists have developed an injectable gel that can attach to various kinds of soft internal tissues and repair tears resulting from an accident or trauma.

Female nurses are roughly twice as likely to commit suicide than the general female population and 70% more likely than female doctors, according to a US study examining suicide among physicians and nurses.

It’s our birthday! This month Queensland Health’s very own clinical information portal, CKN, celebrates a remarkable 20 years supporting the state’s clinicians with world-class evidence for patient care. Since 2001 CKN has quietly toiled behind the scenes to become a uniquely invaluable state-wide resource. Used by Queensland Health’s doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners and paramedics tens of thousands of times each day, CKN is the envy of other public health services around the country.

To mark the occasion, we spoke with some of the key people who have helped CKN to flourish over the past two decades and asked them to offer their thoughts on how far CKN has come.