Background: The efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in the acute management of burns remains unclear. The purpose of this trial was to compare standard Acticoat™ and Mepitel™ dressings with combined Acticoat™, Mepitel™ and continuous NPWT to determine the effect of adjunctive NPWT on re-epithelialization in paediatric burns. Methods: This two-arm, single-centre RCT recruited children with acute thermal burns covering less than 5 per cent of their total body surface area. The primary outcome was time to re-epithelialization. Blinded assessments were performed using photographs captured every 3-5 days until discharge. Secondary measures included pain, itch, grafting, perfusion and scar management referrals. Results: Some 114 patients were randomized. Median time to re-epithelialization was 8 (i.q.r. 7-11) days in the NPWT group and 10 (8-14) days in the control group. In a multivariable model, NPWT decreased the expected time to wound closure by 22 (95 per cent c.i. 7 to 34) per cent (P = 0⋅005). The risk of referral to scar management was reduced by 60 (18 to 81) per cent (P = 0⋅013). Four participants in the control group and one in the NPWT group underwent grafting. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in pain, itch or laser Doppler measures of perfusion. Adverse events were rare and minor, although NPWT carried a moderate treatment burden, with ten patients discontinuing early. Conclusion: Adjunctive NPWT hastened re-epithelialization in small-area burn injuries in children, but had a greater treatment burden than standard dressings alone. Registration number: ACTRN12618000256279 (http://ANZCTR.org.au).

Despite the rare appearance of potent HIV-neutralizing mAbs in infected individuals requiring prolonged affinity maturation, little is known regarding this process in the majority of viremic individuals. HIV-infected individuals with chronic HIV viremia have elevated numbers of nonconventional tissue-like memory (TLM) B cells that predominate in blood over conventional resting memory (RM) B cells. Accordingly, we investigated affinity maturation in these 2 memory B cell populations. Analysis of IgG-expressing TLM B cells revealed a higher number of cell divisions compared with RM B cells; however, TLM B cells paradoxically displayed significantly lower frequencies of somatic hypermutation (SHM). To assess Ab reactivity in TLM and RM B cells, single-cell cloning was performed on HIV envelope CD4–binding site–sorted (CD4bs-sorted) B cells from 3 individuals with chronic HIV viremia. Several clonal families were present among the 127 cloned recombinant mAbs, with evidence of crosstalk between TLM and RM B cell populations that was largely restricted to non-VH4 families. Despite evidence of common origins, SHM frequencies were significantly decreased in TLM-derived mAbs compared with SHM frequencies in RM-derived mAbs. However, both cell populations had lower frequencies of SHMs than did broadly neutralizing CD4bs–specific mAbs. There was a significant correlation between SHM frequencies and the HIV-neutralizing capacities of the mAbs. Furthermore, HIV neutralization was significantly higher in the RM-derived mAbs compared with that seen in the TLM-derived mAbs, and both SHM frequencies and neutralizing capacity were lowest in TLM-derived mAbs with high polyreactivity. Thus, deficiencies in memory B cells that arise during chronic HIV viremia provide insight into the inadequacy of the Ab response in viremic individuals.

Study objective: First-aid guidelines recommend the administration of cool running water in the early management of thermal injury. Our objective is to analyze the associations between first aid and skin-grafting requirements in children with burns.Methods: This cohort study used a prospectively collected registry of patients managed at a tertiary children's hospital. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between first aid and the requirement for skin grafting. Secondary outcomes included time to re-epithelialization, wound depth, hospital admission and length of stay, and operating room interventions. Adequate first aid was defined as 20 minutes of cool running water within 3 hours of injury.Results: In our cohort of 2,495 children, 2,259 (90.6%) received first aid involving running water, but only 1,780 (71.3%) were given the adequate duration. A total of 236 children (9.5%) required grafting. The odds of grafting were decreased in the adequate first aid group (odds ratio [OR] 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4 to 0.8). The provision of adequate running water was further associated with reductions in full-thickness depth (OR 0.4; 95% CI 0.2 to 0.6), hospital admission (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.3 to 0.9), and operating room interventions (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.5 to 0.9), but not hospital length of stay (hazard ratio¼0.9; 95% CI 0.7 to 1.2; P¼.48). Conclusion:Burn severity and clinical outcomes improved with the administration of cool running water. Adequate first aid must be prioritized by out-of-hospital and emergency medical services in the preliminary management of pediatric burns.

Although most burns occurred in close proximity to sources of CRW, first aid was poor across all demographics. The highest levels of undertreatment were found in children aged 0-2, adolescents aged 15-16, those living rurally or remotely, and the socioeconomically disadvantaged. SO WHAT?: The study highlights the need for improved public education of first aid for burn injuries.