Podcasts


podcast

Podcast: Oral killed cholera vaccines for preventing cholera

The Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group produces reviews that cover the prevention and treatment of a wide range of illnesses. These include cholera and their review on cholera vaccines was updated in January 2024. Here's the new lead author, KM Saif-Ur-Rahman from Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Cochrane Ireland in University of Galway to tell us more.

Published January 2024

Podcast: What are the benefits and risks of using topical insect repellents to prevent malaria?

Malaria is arguably the most important parasitic disease in the world and the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group has produced more than 60 relevant reviews. These were added to in August 2023 with a new review of the effects of topical repellents. We asked lead author, Juan Carlos Gabaldon from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain to tell us about the findings in this podcast.

Published January 2024

Podcast:  House modifications for preventing malaria 

Cochrane Infectious Diseases has produced dozens of reviews on the prevention and treatment of malaria. These include interventions, such as drugs, taken by people, as well as some at the level of the environment. One of these looks at house modifications for preventing malaria and  lead author, Tilly Fox from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK tells us about the importance of the October 2022 update and its findings.

Published February 2023

Podcast:  Xpert Ultra for diagnosing tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in children

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In September 2022, one of these diagnostic test accuracy reviews was updated for a test used to detect tuberculosis in children. The lead author, Alex Kay and co-author, Tara Ness, from the Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston in the USA, tell us about the importance of the review and its latest findings in this podcast.

Podcast published January 2023

Podcast: How accurate are rapid antigen tests for diagnosing COVID-19

Several of the Cochrane reviews in our collection for COVID-19 relate to diagnosis and the second update for one of these, on the use of rapid point-of-care antigen tests was published in July 2022. Here's lead author Jacqueline Dinnes from the University of Birmingham in the UK to tell us what they found.

Podcast published September 2022

Podcast: Community views on mass drug administration for filariasis: a qualitative evidence synthesis 

Alongside quantitative evidence on the effects of healthcare interventions, it's important to have qualitative evidence on people's views about these interventions, particularly if they are delivered at the population level. This is the case with mass drug administration for filariasis, which is a parasitic disease that can result in swollen limbs and disability and, in February 2022, the Cochrane Infectious Diseases group, based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, published a qualitative evidence synthesis on community views about this intervention.

Podcast published July 2022

Podcast: How accurate is chest imaging for diagnosing COVID-19? 

The Cochrane programme of reviews for COVID-19 covers both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease and reviews are being updated as new evidence becomes available. Among these is a review of chest imaging for diagnosing the condition, and its fourth version was published in May 2022. Lead author, Sanam Ebrahimzadeh, from The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, describes the latest findings in this podcast. 

Podcast published July 2022

Podcast: How accurate are symptoms and medical examination to diagnose COVID-19?  

Cochrane is preparing a series of reviews to help decision makers deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact. We are keeping these up to date as new evidence becomes available and the review of using signs and symptoms to diagnose whether someone has the disease has been updated for the second time. The review was first published in June 2020 and the most recent update was published in May 2022. Here's the lead author, Thomas Struyf from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, to tell us about the latest findings.

Thomas Struyf from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, to tell us about the latest findings. 

Podcast published in May 2022

Podcast: Ivermectin for preventing and treating COVID-19 

Cochrane is producing a series of reviews relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, the authors published the first version of their review on the effects of ivermectin for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, in collaboration with  Cochrane's Infectious Diseases and Haematological Malignancy Groups. 

Maria Popp from University Hospital Wuerzburg in Germany, tells us about their findings.

Podcast published in August 2021

Podcast: Do probiotics help to treat acute infectious diarrhoea

Infectious diarrhoea is responsible for many thousands of deaths every day around the world and probiotics have been suggested as a possible treatment. The relevant Cochrane Review was updated for the second time in December 2020 and first author, Shelui Collinson from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK describes the latest findings in this podcast.

Podcast published June 2021

Updated Podcast: Xpert Ultra versus Xpert MTB/RIF for pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults with presumptive pulmonary tuberculosis

The Cochrane Library contains more than 140 Cochrane Reviews of the accuracy of diagnostic tests,covering a very wide range of conditions. One of these reviews, on a test used to detect tuberculosis in the lungs, was updated for the third time in February 2021 and Karen Steingart from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK speaks with first author, Jerry Zifodya from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA about the latest findings in this podcast. This review is also included in the Cochrane Library Special Collection for World Tuberculosis Day on 'Diagnosing tuberculosis'.

Podcast published April 2021

Updated Podcast: How accurate is chest imaging for diagnosing COVID-19?

Our programme of rapid reviews for COVID-19 covers both the diagnosis and treatment of the disease and the reviews are being updated as new evidence becomes available. Among these is a review on imaging tests for diagnosing the condition, and we asked the lead author of the March 2021 update, Nayaar Islam from The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, to describe the latest findings in this podcast.

Podcast published April 2021

Podcast: How accurate are rapid tests for diagnosing COVID-19?

Within our growing collection of reviews relevent to COVID-19, we have several relating to its diagnosis. One of these, on the use of rapid point-of-care tests was updated in March 2021. Here's  lead author Jacqueline Dinnes from the University of Birmingham in the UK to tell us what they found for antigen tests.

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review

Podcast published April 2021

Updated Podcast: Can symptoms and medical examination accurately diagnose COVID-19 disease?

Cochrane is preparing a special series of reviews to help decision makers deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact, and we are keeping these up to date as new evidence becomes available. One of these reviews examines the accuracy of using signs and symptoms to diagnose whether someone has the disease. It was first published in June 2020 and has been updated in February 2021. Here’s the lead author, Thomas Struyf from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, to tell us about the latest findings.

Podcast published February  2021

Podcast: How accurate are tests (Xpert Ultra and Xpert MTB/RIF) for diagnosing tuberculosis outside the lungs (extrapulmonary tuberculosis) and rifampicin resistance?

More than 140 Cochrane Reviews investigate the accuracy of diagnostic tests, covering a very wide range of conditions. One of these reviews, on a test used to detect tuberculosis, was updated in January 2021. The first author, Mikashmi Kohli from McGill University in Montreal Canada, tells us about the updating of the review and what they found. 

Podcast published February 2021

Updated Podcast: How accurate is chest imaging for diagnosing COVID-19? 

The  COVID-19 pandemic is creating challenges for diagnosis of the disease, as well as for its treatment. The rapid reviews being prepared and updated by Cochrane are covering both areas. We asked the lead author of the November 2020 versions of our review of the evidence on using imaging tests to diagnose the condition, Nayaar Islam from The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, to describe the latest findings in this podcast.

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review
Podcast published January 2021

Podcast: How accurate is chest imaging for diagnosing COVID-19?

The COVID-19 pandemic is creating challenges for diagnosis of the disease, as well as for its treatment and the rapid reviews being prepared by Cochrane are covering both of these areas. We asked the lead author of the September 2020 review of the evidence on using imaging tests to diagnose the condition, Jean-Paul Salameh from The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada, to describe their findings in this podcast.

Salameh  J-P, Leeflang  MMG, Hooft  L, Islam  N, McGrath  TA, Pol  CB, Frank  RA, Prager  R, Hare  SS, Dennie  C, Spijker  R, Deeks  JJ, Dinnes  J, Jenniskens  K, Korevaar  DA, Cohen  JF, Van den Bruel  A, Takwoingi  Y, de Wijgert  J, Damen  JAAG, Wang  J, McInnes  MDF.  

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review
Podcast published October 2020

Updated Podcast: How effective is quarantine alone or combined with other public health measures to control coronavirus (COVID-2019)?

Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, has spread quickly throughout the world, and Cochrane is producing a series of rapid reviews of the evidence to help decision makers respond to the pandemic. In this podcast, lead author, Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit from Danube University Krems in Austria outlines the findings of their  review on the effectiveness of quarantine, which was requested by the World Health Organization and published in early April 2020.

Nussbaumer-Streit B, Mayr V, Dobrescu Alulia, Chapman A, Persad E, Klerings I, Wagner G, Siebert U, Christof C, Zachariah C, Gartlehner G

Podcast published September  2020

Podcast: Can symptoms and medical examination accurately diagnose COVID-19 disease?

COVID-19 has spread quickly throughout the world, and Cochrane is producing a series of rapid reviews to help decision makers deal with the pandemic and its impact. One of these reviews, published in June 2020, examines the accuracy of using signs and symptoms to diagnose whether someone has the disease. We asked the lead author, Thomas Struyf from the KU Leuven in Belgium, to tell us why the review is needed and what they found.

Struyf  T, Deeks  JJ, Dinnes  J, Takwoingi  Y, Davenport  C, Leeflang  MMG, Spijker  R, Hooft  L, Emperador  D, Dittrich  S, Domen  J, Horn  SR A, Van den Bruel  A

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review
Podcast published July 2020

Podcast: Does cleaning hands with ash stop or reduce the spread of viral and bacterial infections compared with soap or other materials? 

Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, has spread quickly throughout the world, and Cochrane is producing a series of rapid reviews of the evidence to help decision makers respond to the pandemic. In April 2020,  a rapid review was published on the effects of using ash for cleaning hands when soap and water are not available. In this podcast, Lars Jørgensen from the Nordic Cochrane Centre spoke to his colleague, Asger Paludan-Müller, about the review.

Paludan-Müller  AS, Boesen  K, Klerings  I, Jørgensen  KJ, Munkholm  K

Podcast published April 2020

Podcast: Factors that influence whether healthcare workers follow infection prevention and control guidelines for respiratory  infectious diseases 

COVID-19 has spread quickly, and Cochrane is producing a series of rapid reviews of relevant evidence to help decision makers. One of these looks at the views of healthcare workers on infection prevention and control guidelines, and we asked lead author, Catherine Houghton from the National University of Ireland in Galway to describe the key findings, published in April 2020.

Houghton  C, Meskell  P, Delaney  H, Smalle  M, Glenton  C, Booth  A, Chan  XHS, Devane  D, Biesty  LM

Podcast published April 2020

Podcast: How effective is quarantine alone or combined with other public health measures to control coronavirus (COVID-2019)?

Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, has spread quickly throughout the world, and Cochrane is producing a series of rapid reviews of the evidence to help decision makers respond to the pandemic. In this podcast, lead author, Barbara Nussbaumer-Streit from Danube University Krems in Austria outlines the findings of our review of the effectiveness of quarantine, which was requested by the World Health Organization and published in early April 2020.

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review
Podcast published April 2020

Podcast: Xpert MTB/RIF and Xpert Ultra for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number provide evidence on how to diagnose a disease. In June 2019, one of these, on a test used to detect tuberculosis, was updated. The lead author, David Horne from the University of Washington in Seattle in the USA, sets the scene and tells us what the review found.

Horne  DJ, Kohli  M, Zifodya  JS, Schiller  I, Dendukuri  N, Tollefson  D, Schumacher  SG, Ochodo  EA, Pai  M, Steingart  KR

This podcast is for an earlier version of this review
Podcast Published October 2019 

Podcast: Effects of starting antiretroviral therapy within one week of diagnosis on people living with HIV 

Among the dozens of Cochrane Reviews of various treatments for people with HIV or AIDS, are some that look more at how the treatments should be used, rather than the treatments themselves. One of these examines the timing of the start of treatment, and it was published in June 2019. Lead author, Alberto Mateo from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, tells us about the evidence base and the findings for this important question.

Mateo‐Urdiales  A, Johnson  S, Smith  R, Nachega  JB, Eshun‐Wilson  I

Podcast published September 2019


Podcast: Vaccines for preventing rotavirus diarrhoea: vaccines in use 

Rotavirus infection is a common cause of diarrhea and a variety of vaccines are used to try to prevent it. The evidence for these is examined in the fourth update of a Cochrane Review, published in March 2019 . Hanna Bergman one of the authors based in the Cochrane Response team in London UK tells us  about the problem and the latest findings.

Soares‐Weiser  K, Bergman  H, Henschke  N, Pitan  F, Cunliffe  N

Podcast published May 2019

Podcast: Xpert® MTB/RIF  assay for extrapulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance 

Most Cochrane Reviews look at the effects of interventions on health, but a growing number are providing evidence on the accuracy of different ways of diagnosing a disease. These were added to in August 2018 by a new review on a test used in the management of tuberculosis. The review's first author, Mikashmi Kohli from McGill University in Montreal Canada, sets the scene and tells us what they found in this podcast.

Kohli M, Schiller I, Dendukuri N, Dheda k, Denkinger CM, Schumacher SG, Steingart KR

Podcast published October 2018

Podcast: The accuracy of rapid diagnostic tests  for detecting typhoid and paratyphoid (enteric) fever

Point-of-care rapid diagnostic tests which use a small amount of blood are available for infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV, and make an important contribution to patient management. Cochrane reviews of the accuracy of such tests have influenced WHO policy and, in May 2017, they were added to with a new Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy review of rapid tests for typhoid and paratyphoid fevers. Lalith Wijedoru from the Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool in UK tells us more in this podcast.

Wijedoru L, Mallett S, Parry CM

Podcast published October 2017

Podcast: School-based interventions for preventing HIV, sexually transmitted infections,and pregnancy in adolescents

Mason-Jones AJ, Sinclair D, Mathews C, Kagee A, Hillman A, Lombard C

Podcast published March 2017

Podcast: 3ie London Evidence Week, April 2016

3ie interviewed Professor Paul Garner, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Coordinating Editor, Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group on the relevance of systematic reviews and evidence gap maps in policymaking

Published April 2016

Podcast: Directly observed therapy for treating tuberculosis

Jamlick Karumbi, Paul Garner 

Published 23 July 2015

Podcast: Intermittent preventive antimalarial treatment for children with anaemia

Anke Rohwer, based at the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, describes the rationale and findings in this Evidence Podcast.

Published 20 April  2015

 

Podcast: Drugs for treating urinary schistosomiasis 

Kramer CV, Zhang F, Sinclair D, Olliaro P

Published 6 August 2014

 

 Podcast: LSTM Podcast April 2013

Paul Garner - Systematic reviews, Cochrane and international development

Podcast: Xpert® MTB/RIF test for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance in adults

Steingart KR, Schiller I, Horne DJ, Pai M, Boehme CC, Dendukuri N

Published 1 January 2013

 

Podcast: Deworming drugs for treating soil-transmitted intestinal worms in children: effects on nutrition and school performance 

Taylor-Robinson DC, Maayan N, Soares-Weiser K, Donegan S, Garner P

Published 14 November 2012

 

Podcast: Vaccines for preventing rotavirus diarrhoea: vaccines in use 

Soares-Weiser K, MacLehose H, Bergman H, Ben-Aharon I, Nagpal S, Goldberg E, Pitan F, Cunliffe N

Published 14 November 2012
This podcast is for an earlier version of this review

 

Podcast: Rapid diagnostic tests for diagnosing uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in endemic countries

Abba  K, Deeks  JJ, Olliaro  PL, Naing  CM, Jackson  SM, Takwoingi  Y, Donegan  S, Garner  P.

Published 06 July 2011

 

Podcast: Probiotics for treating acute infectious diarrhoea

Allen SJ, Martinez EG, Gregorio GV, Dans LF

Published 8 December 2010