London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The impact of COVID-19 on all-cause mortality and life expectancy: findings from a population-based cohort in uMkhanyakude district, northern KwaZulu-natal

Abstract Background Despite the comprehensive death reporting system in South Africa, significant gaps persist in our understanding of the pandemic’s impact in rural areas. Methods We computed monthly death counts stratified by demographic factors from a population-based demograp...

Impact of COVID ‐19 Restrictions on Estimating Causal Effects: Fluoroquinolones and Tendon Rupture

ABSTRACT Purpose The COVID‐19 pandemic disrupted healthcare services, potentially affecting causal effect estimation using real‐world data. As a case study, we replicated a cohort study using Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum to evaluate whether pandemic‐related disruptio...

The next generation of maternal vaccines: scientific advances, regulatory readiness, and strategic planning in Europe

With the recent approval of maternal RSV vaccines and late-phase trials underway for a GBS vaccine, Europe is entering a new era of maternal immunisation. Yet scientific progress is outpacing pregnancy-specific evidence and preparedness for equitable implementation. Pregnant wome...

When your eye patient is a child

In this issue of the journal, we address the eye health needs of young children, focusing on those aged less than six years old. All of you who have tried to examine or measure the visual acuity of young children will know that this can be very challenging and difficult; it can b...

Sex work or male-with-male sexual activity and the risks of HIV and hepatitis C acquisition among people who inject drugs: a global systematic review and meta-analysis

Background People who inject drugs (PWID) may engage in sexual behaviours that increase their HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) risk, including sex work and male-with-male sexual activity. We undertook a global systematic review to assess whether PWID who engage in these behaviours...

Protectionist politics: A postcolonial analysis of the discourse introducing the UK's medical training prioritisation bill

INTRODUCTION: Rising nationalist sentiment and backlash against equity, diversity and inclusion are reshaping Western political discourse, increasingly framing international medical graduates (IMGs) as threats despite health systems' reliance on them. In January 2026, the UK Parl...

Health services intervention integrating HTN and HIV care improves long-term blood pressure control among people living with HIV in Uganda

Background Globally, the prevalence of hypertension (HTN) among people with HIV (PWH) has increased dramatically over the last decade. In a cluster randomized trial, we evaluated the effect of a multicomponent intervention model on blood pressure (BP) control among PWH in rural U...

Surgical waiting times in patients with high‐ and low‐risk renal cell carcinoma in England

Objectives To assess to what extent hospitals meet the uniform English National Health Service ‘timely’ treatment standard, what happens after a breach, and determinants of delay for patients with high‐risk renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Patient and Methods Population‐based study us...

Hepatocellular carcinoma in the hepatitis B likely vaccinated and likely unvaccinated age groups in The Gambia: a prospective cohort study

The Gambia started Hepatitis B vaccination in July 1986 and achieved nationwide coverage in February 1990. However, not much is known about its effect on Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in The Gambia. We assess the differences in the features of HCC in both the Hepatitis B likely...

Outdoor attractive targeted sugar bait Phase III trials for malaria control in Kenya, Mali, and Zambia: An individual participant data meta-analysis

Attractive targeted sugar baits (ATSB) are a potential new class of vector control tool that act through an “attract and kill” mechanism on mosquitoes. We conducted a meta-analysis using data from three large-scale Phase III trials of the Westham Sarabi v1.2 ATSB (0.11% dinotefur...

A systematic review of evidence on weight change following initiation of long‐acting cabotegravir for the prevention or treatment of HIV

Abstract Background Weight gain is an increasingly recognized concern among people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) and may increase the risk of non‐communicable diseases. Integrase inhibitors (INSTIs) such as dolutegravir (DTG) have been associated with weight gain, but th...

Potential health impacts and costs of active case finding guided by Mycobacterium tuberculosis immunoreactivity survey results in Blantyre, Malawi: A mathematical modeling study

Background Active case finding (ACF) for tuberculosis (TB) can reduce transmission, yet efficient targeting requires high-quality surveillance data. We investigated the potential costs and impact of targeted ACF, guided by local estimates of the annual risk of TB infection (ARTI)...

The Framework for Policy Decision on the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine: the use of emerging data to inform global policy on the first malaria vaccine

The World Health Organization (WHO)-coordinated Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) supported pilot introductions of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine by the ministries of health through the childhood immunization programmes in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi from 2019 through 2...

Multi-omics analyses reveal key immunological and metabolic correlates of mortality in HIV-associated Pneumocystis pneumonia

Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) remains a major cause of life-threatening respiratory failure in people with advanced HIV, yet the biological factors associated with mortality are incompletely understood. We performed integrated transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic p...

Latent profiles of male peers returning HIV self-test results after secondary distribution by men who have sex with men in Zhuhai, China

BACKGROUND: Secondary distribution of HIV self-testing (HIVST) can extend testing through social and sexual networks of men who have sex with men, but the peer subgroups reached by this approach remain insufficiently understood. We aimed to identify latent profiles of peers who r...

Preferred service model and other factors associated with pre-exposure prophylaxis willingness among Indonesian men who have sex with men: analysis of PrEP APPEAL survey

BACKGROUND: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV in Indonesia. To prevent transmission, there is a need to scale-up HIV prevention, especially pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). This analysis aims to identify the preferred service model and factors...

Ethical and design considerations related to automated, confidential HIV testing invitations: insights from senders and recipients of SMS-based HIV testing invitations in Tanzania

Abstract Background Identifying individuals with undiagnosed HIV remains a global challenge. Mobile health (mHealth) approaches that leverage social networks hold potential to increase HIV testing uptake but also raise ethical considerations. Methods We conducted a qualitative st...

Transforming Agricultural Water Management for Healthy People and Planet: Thinking Beyond Water

ABSTRACT This paper develops the concept of Thinking Beyond Water , a transdisciplinary paradigm that reframes agricultural water management (AWM) as a systems catalyst for planetary health, equity, justice and resilience. Moving beyond conventional irrigation‐centric models, we...

Immune correlates of protection are exposure-dependent: evidence from the Dominican Republic

Immune protection against infection is often treated as a fixed property of a person’s immune response. But infection risk also depends on the number of infectious contacts a person experiences, which generally increases as community transmission rises. This matters for vaccine e...

Development and evaluation of a quality assessment tool for equality, diversity, and inclusion (QUALITY-EDI) within healthcare research

Implementing equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in healthcare research is critical to ensuring findings are translatable and provide the greatest benefit to patients who need it most. A quality assessment scoring tool (QUALITY-EDI) was developed to evaluate the conduct of E...