TY - JOUR T1 - Highlights from this issue JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - i LP - i DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2016-208953 VL - 71 IS - 7 AU - Nicholas Hart AU - Gisli Jenkins AU - Alan Smyth Y1 - 2016/07/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/71/7/i.abstract N2 - Respiratory symptoms are amongst the most common reasons for not attending work, but some occupations lend more to respiratory illness than others. Welding has been shown to increase the risk of pneumococcal illness and in the manuscript by Marongiu et al welders have a two-fold increase in respiratory symptoms and nearly a 50% increase in consultations for respiratory symptoms over the Winter suggesting that welders have increased susceptibility to infection compared with other manual workers (see page 601). Maybe welders need to “tumble outa bed, stumble into the kitchen, pour a cup of ambition” and put on appropriate PPE.There have been concerns for some years about the veracity of Mary Poppins' advice. Indeed in recent years Saint Mary might have been subject to litigation as the evidence mounts that elevated blood glucose during acute illness contributes to adverse outcome. However, the effect … ER -