Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2020 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
Globally, diarrhoea is the second commonest infectious cause of death in\nchildren less than 5 years old. It is estimated that more than one billion diarrhoea\nepisodes occur every year causing up to 700,000 deaths among children\nyounger than 5 years of age. Seventy-two percent of these deaths occur in\nchildren below two years and enteric viruses have been recognized as a major\ncause of childhood diarrhoea. This study was undertaken to determine the\nprevalence of enteric Adenoviruses and Rotaviruses in children with diarrhoea\nin rural Enugu communities of Enugu State South East Nigeria. Methods:\nStool samples were collected from children less than 5 years with diarrhoea\nseen in any of the participating hospitals in Enugu State. Samples were\ncollected between June 2015 and May 2017. Detection of rotavirus and enteric\nadenovirus antigens were performed using commercially available ELISA kit\n(Oxoid-ProspecT®). Demographic data of the children were also collected.\nResults: Of the 290 stool samples that had sufficient materials for adenovirus\nand rotavirus ELISA, 14 (4.8%) and 89 (30.7%) were positive for enteric adenovirus\nand rotavirus respectively. 3 (1%) were co-infected with adenovirus\nand rotavirus. Rotavirus positive cases were more among hospitalized patients\nwhile enteric adenovirus was more among outpatients. Marked peaks\nof rotavirus positivity were seen in January of each year but no peak was seen\namong adenovirus positive cases. Higher vomiting frequencies and severe\ndehydration were more among rotavirus positive cases compared to adenovirus\npositive cases (p = 0.030 and 0.001 respectively). Conclusion: Many diarrhoea\ncases among children aged <5 in the population studied were associated\nwith enteric adenoviruses and rotavirus. This finding suggests that enteric viral agents (adenovirus and rotavirus) are important aetiologies for\nchildhood diarrhoea in Enugu state Nigeria. Appropriate preventive, diagnostic\nand treatment interventions should be instituted so as to reduce the\nmortality and morbidity associated with these viruses....
Background: No comparison data have been reported on viral and epidemiological profiles of hospitalized\nchildren with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in Beijing or Shanghai, China.\nMethods: We collected 700 nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) from hospitalized children with SARI in Beijing\n(northern China) and Shanghai (southern China). Multiple respiratory viruses (including 15 common viruses) were\nscreened by validated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or real-time reverse transcription-PCR assays and confirmed\nby sequencing. Demographic data and the distribution of viral infections were also examined.\nResults: Of 700 samples, 547 (78.1%) tested positive for viral infections. The picornaviruses (PIC), which included\nrhinovirus (RV) and enterovirus (EV), were the most common (34.0%), followed by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)\n(28.3%), human bocavirus (HBoV) (19.1%), adenovirus (ADV) (13.7%), human coronaviruses (HCoV) (10.7%), influenza\nA and B (8.9%), parainfluenza virus (PIV 1-3) (7.9%), and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) (5.0%). PIC (RV/EV) and\nRSV were the most prevalent etiological agents of SARI in both cities. The total and age-matched prevalence of\nRSV, HCoV, and hMPV among SARI children under 5 years old were significantly higher in Beijing than in Shanghai.\nDifferent age and seasonal distribution patterns of the viral infections were found between Beijing and Shanghai.\nConclusions: Viral infection was tested and shown to be the most prevalent etiological agent among children with\nSARI in either the Beijing or the Shanghai area, while showing different patterns of viral and epidemiological\nprofiles. Our findings provide a better understanding of the roles of geographic location and climate in respiratory\nviral infections in hospitalized children with SARI....
Background: Female sex workers (FSWs) at substantial risk of HIV are potentially a suitable group for HIV prevention\ntrials including vaccine trials. Few HIV vaccine preparatory studies have been conducted among FSWs in Sub-Saharan\nAfrica (SSA); data are therefore limited on acceptability of vaccine trial procedures. We determined vaccination\ncompletion and one-year retention among FSWs in Kampala, Uganda.\nMethods: We conducted a prospective study that simulated a vaccine efficacy trial among HIV negative FSWs (18-49\nyears). Hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix B) was used to mimic an HIV vaccine product. Volunteers received 1ml intramuscular\ninjection at 0, 1 and 6months, and made additional visits (3 days post-vaccination and months 3, 9 and 12). They were\ncensored at that visit if diagnosed as HIV positive or pregnant. We collected socio-demographic, behavioral and clinical\ndata at baseline, 6 and 12 months and fitted Poisson regression models with robust standard error to find factors\nassociated with vaccination completion and retention.\nResults: We enrolled 290 volunteers (median age 27 years) of whom 230 reached a study end-point as follows: 7\nbecame HIV infected, 11 became pregnant and 212 completed both the vaccination schedule and 12-month visit\ngiving a retention of 77.9% (212/272). Vaccination completion was 82.4%.\nNon-retention at 1 year was more likely among those reporting symptoms of genital ulcer disease (GUD) in the past 3\nmonths (IRR 1.90; 95% CI 1.09-3.32) and those < 35 years; (IRR 6.59; 95% CI 2.11-20.57). Non-completion of the\nvaccination schedule was associated with being < 35 years (IRR 13.10; 95% CI 1.89-90.92, reporting GUD symptoms (IRR\n3.02; 95% CI 1.71-5.33) and reporting consistent condom use with new sexual partners (IRR 2.57; 95% CI 1.10-6.07).\nConclusions: FSWs are at substantial risk of HIV infection and yet willing to participate in HIV vaccine and prevention\nresearch; young FSWs should be empowered, and those reporting GUD symptoms need close follow up to improve\nparticipation in future HIV vaccine trials....
Background: We sought to compare Pneumovax®23 responses in adults with subnormal IgG subclass\nconcentrations. We studied adults with normal total IgG, frequent/severe respiratory infection, and subnormal IgG1,\nIgG3, or IgG1 + IgG3 before and after Pneumovax®23. We defined response as serotype-specific IgG > 1.3 microg/mL\nand aggregate response as IgG > 1.3 microg/mL for Grater than equal to 70% of all serotypes tested. We compared patients with and\nwithout serotype-specific responses and performed logistic regression on aggregate responses using: age; male sex;\nbody mass index; autoimmune condition(s); atopy; other allergies; subnormal IgGSc immunophenotypes; IgA; and\nIgM..................................
Background: Vaccination and naturally acquired immunity against microbial pathogens may have complex\ninteractions that influence disease outcomes. To date, only vaccine-specific immune responses have routinely been\ninvestigated in malaria vaccine trials conducted in endemic areas. We hypothesized that RTS,S/A01E immunization\naffects acquisition of antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum antigens not included in the vaccine and that such\nresponses have an impact on overall malaria protective immunity.\nMethods: We evaluated IgM and IgG responses to 38 P. falciparum proteins putatively involved in naturally\nacquired immunity to malaria in 195 young children participating in a case-control study nested within the African\nphase 3 clinical trial of RTS,S/AS01E (MAL055 NCT00866619) in two sites of different transmission intensity\n(Kintampo high and Manhica moderate/low). We measured antibody levels by quantitative suspension array\ntechnology and applied regression models, multimarker analysis, and machine learning techniques to analyze\nfactors affecting their levels and correlates of protection.\nResults: RTS,S/AS01E immunization decreased antibody responses to parasite antigens considered as markers of\nexposure (MSP142, AMA1) and levels correlated with risk of clinical malaria over 1-year follow-up. In addition, we show\nfor the first time that RTS,S vaccination increased IgG levels to a specific group of pre-erythrocytic and blood-stage\nantigens (MSP5, MSP1 block 2, RH4.2, EBA140, and SSP2/TRAP) which levels correlated with protection against clinical\nmalaria (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 0.53 [0.3-0.93], p = 0.03, for MSP1; 0.52 [0.26-0.98], p = 0.05, for SSP2) in\nmultivariable logistic regression analyses....
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