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To determine the impact of persistent symptoms after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in an Australian population. We conducted a statewide health survey of a stratified random sample of adults who had had a confirmed acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection (COVID‐19‐positive group) and their close contacts (control group). The sample was drawn from Victoria's COVID‐19 database between January 2020 and October 2022. Data were collected from 12 688 survey respondents between September 2022 and April 2023 (11 174 in the COVID‐19‐positive group and 1514 in the control group). Persistent new symptoms, recovery, and daily function using validated questionnaires for fatigue, neurocognitive symptoms, anxiety, depression and quality of life. At a mean of 12.6 months after infection, 4560 respondents in the COVID‐19‐positive group (39.1%; 95% CI, 37.9–40.3%) reported at least one persistent new symptom, compared with 216 respondents in the control group (20.8%; 95% CI, 18.5–23.1%). A total of 1656 respondents (14.2%; 95% CI, 13.4–15.0%) were classified as having clinical long COVID using the criteria of at least one persistent new symptom and less than 80% recovery three months after the infection. Of the respondents with clinical long COVID, 535 (3.2%; 95% CI, 2.6–3.8%) reported at least moderate problems with usual activities at 12 months after their infection. The proportion of respondents with clinical long COVID was lower for those with more recent infections. The risk factors for clinical long COVID were female sex, age 40–49 years, infection severity, chronic illness, and past anxiety or depression. Factors associated with a decreased risk of having clinical long COVID included infection when the Omicron strain was dominant and infection when the Delta strain was dominant, as compared with when the ancestral strain of the virus was dominant. Persistent symptoms after COVID‐19 are common, though with a lower incidence following infection from less virulent strains. Although long COVID can be largely managed in primary care, a minority of people who have persistent symptoms and impaired function may require specialist care pathways, the effectiveness of which should be a focus of future research.

Systematic mediastinal lymph node staging by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) improves accuracy of staging in patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, patients with locally advanced NSCLC commonly undergo only selective lymph node sampling. This study aimed to determine the proportion of patients with locally advanced NSCLC in whom systematic endoscopic mediastinal staging identified PET-occult lymph node metastases, and to describe the consequences of PET-occult disease on radiotherapy planning.

The modern era of generic medications in the United States began with passage of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984. Commonly known as the Hatch-Waxman [...]

Insects often harbor bacterial endosymbionts that provide them with nutritional benefit or with protection against natural enemies, plant defenses, insecticides, and abiotic stresses. Certain endosymbionts may also alter acquisition and transmission of plant pathogens by insect vectors. We identified bacterial endosymbionts from four leafhopper vectors (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) of ‘CandidatusPhytoplasma’ species by direct sequencing 16S rDNA and confirmed endosymbiont presence and identity by species-specific conventional PCR. We examined three vectors of Ca.Phytoplasma pruni, causal agent of cherry X-disease [Colladonus geminatus(Van Duzee), Colladonus montanus reductus(Van Duzee), Euscelidius variegatus(Kirschbaum)] – and a vector of Ca.Phytoplasma trifolii, the causal agent of potato purple top disease [Circulifer tenellus(Baker)]. Direct sequencing of 16S identified the two obligate endosymbionts of leafhoppers, ‘Ca.Sulcia’ and ‘Ca.Nasuia’, which are known to produce essential amino acids lacking in the leafhoppers’ phloem sap diet. About 57% of C. geminatusalso harbored endosymbiotic Rickettsia. We identified ‘Ca.Yamatotoia cicadellidicola’ in Euscelidius variegatus,providing just the second host record for this endosymbiont. Circulifer tenellusharbored the facultative endosymbiont Wolbachia,although the average infection rate was only 13% and all males were Wolbachia-uninfected. A significantly greater percentage of Wolbachia-infected Ci. tenellusadults than uninfected adults carried Ca.P. trifolii, suggesting that Wolbachiamay increase this insect’s ability to tolerate or acquire this pathogen. Results of our study provide a foundation for continued work on interactions between leafhoppers, bacterial endosymbionts, and phytoplasma.