The Headache and Pain Clinic (HPC) is a unit of the Zürich Neurology Department, established in 1966. In the present study demographic features, clinical characteristics and medical management of primary and tertiary care patients were compared in two groups of 181 patients each, seen by general practitioners (GPs) or the HPC, respectively, for primary headaches in 1998. There was a preponderance of women and the socially underprivileged in both samples. Chronic headache was overrepresented in the HPC (44.7%). Loss of work for >2 months was found exclusively in the HPC (9.9%). Of the GP patients, 40% were using triptans and 26.5% in the HPC. One-third of both groups had had complementary and alternative medical treatment. Differences in management strategies reflected differences in headache severity and chronicity. Results indicated that remaining shortcomings of diagnosis and treatment of headache in primary care could be minimized by involving GPs in similar non-commercial studies.

Vaccine hesitancy is a major concern in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper analyzes trends in vaccine hesitancy across 28 European countries for the period 12 February - 28 March 2021. Currently, four main vaccines have been approved by the European Medical Agency. One of them, AstraZeneca, has been linked with deep-vein thrombosis. This controversy led to its suspension in 17 European countries. We investigate the potential impact of the AstraZeneca suspension on vaccine hesitancy, making two substantial contributions. Firstly, we focus on the AstraZeneca controversy itself, asking if the event increased vaccine hesitancy. Secondly, we assess how a particular policy implementation, i.e., the decision to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine, affected vaccine hesitancy. The results suggest that vaccine hesitancy grew steadily from the very beginning of the vaccine roll-out. Instead, the AstraZeneca suspension made a modest contribution to increased hesitancy.