Ebola crisis: beliefs and behaviours warrant urgent attention.

Markus Diener and colleagues (July 12, p 142) might believe that the study protocol and sample size account for the confl icting fi ndings in the PROUD trial (not showing a prophylactic effect of triclosancoated sutures against surgical site infection [SSI]) and for findings from smaller randomised controlled trials that show benefits for use in antibiotic sutures in prevention of SSI. However, the discrepancy might be more because of differences in baseline characteristics of participants. Antimicrobial eff ects of triclosancoated sutures seem to depend on the length of skin incision, extent of wound contamination at operation, and concurrent diseases amenable to infections, such as diabetes. In a single-centre randomised trial, investigators reported triclosancoated sutures to be of slight benefi t because they decreased the rate of SSIs after open colorectal surgery, but did not change infection *Claire Bayntun, Catherine Houlihan, John Edmunds [email protected]