A quarter of patients presenting with a non-hip non-vertebral fragility fracture have an undiagnosed vertebral fracture. Older people are more likely to have vertebral fractures and more likely to have multiple fractures. VFA during bone densitometric assessment can further aid stratifying future fracture risk.

Over 50 systemic conditions may affect the pleura and, thus, unilateral pleural effusions may present for a variety of reasons. Investigating the cause is essential to providing appropriate management. Various pleural interventions are available in current practice, but have varying diagnostic sensitivity. It is, therefore, vital to consider the intervention with the highest diagnostic yield appropriate to the particular clinical situation. The diagnostic pathway in unilateral pleural effusion is increasingly outpatient based, avoiding hospitalisation, which is particularly relevant with the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

No abstract

The fall in non-COVID-19 respiratory viruses, including seasonal influenza, during the pandemic is well reported [1–4]. It is thought to be a result of a combination of social distancing, lockdowns, improved hand hygiene and potentially virus-virus interactions and cross-protection impacting population dynamics. However, as vaccines weaken the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, clinicians remain vigilant for a potential resurgence of other respiratory pathogens and the implications of an ongoing rise in new SARS-CoV-2 variants.