A phase I trial of WRSS1, a live oral vaccine in Bangladeshi adults and children.

live vaccine candidate, WRSS1, which was previously evaluated in US, Israeli and Thai volunteers, was administered orally to Bangladeshi adults and children to assess its safety, clinical tolerability and immunogenicity. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation, age-descending study, 39 adults (18-39 years) and 64 children (5-9 years) were enrolled. Each adult cohort (n = 13) received one dose of 3x10, or three doses of 3 × 10 or 3 × 10 colony forming unit (CFU) of WRSS1 (n = 10) or placebo (n = 3).

Prenatal high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation has balanced effects on cord blood Th1 and Th2 responses.

Background: Antenatal vitamin D3 (vitD3) supplementation significantly increases maternal and neonatal 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) concentration, yet the effect of an improvement in maternal-fetal vitamin D status on the neonatal immune response is unclear.

Method: To assess the effect of prenatal vitD3 supplementation on cord blood T cell function, healthy pregnant Bangladeshi women (n = 160) were randomized to receive either oral 35,000 IU/week vitD3 or placebo from 26 to 29 weeks of gestation to delivery. In a subset of participants (n = 80), cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMC) were cultured, non-adherent lymphocytes were isolated to assess T cell cytokine responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and anti-CD3/anti-CD28 (iCD3/iCD28), measured by multiplex assay.

Prenatal vitamin D₃ supplementation suppresses LL-37 peptide expression in ex vivo activated neonatal macrophages but not their killing capacity.

Vitamin D has regulatory effects on innate immunity. In the present study, we aimed to assess the effect of prenatal vitamin D₃ (vitD₃) supplementation on neonatal innate immunity in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial by evaluating cathelicidin (LL-37) expression and the killing capacity of macrophages. Healthy pregnant women (n 129) attending a clinic in Dhaka were randomised to receive either a weekly oral dose of 0·875 mg vitD₃ or placebo starting from 26 weeks of gestation up to delivery.

Common values in assessing health outcomes from disease and injury: disability weights measurement study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010.

Background: Measurement of the global burden of disease with disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) requires disability weights that quantify health losses for all non-fatal consequences of disease and injury. There has been extensive debate about a range of conceptual and methodological issues concerning the definition and measurement of these weights. Our primary objective was a comprehensive re-estimation of disability weights for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 through a large-scale empirical investigation in which judgments about health losses associated with many causes of disease and injury were elicited from the general public in diverse communities through a new, standardised approach.

Haemophilus influenzae type-b and non-b-type invasive diseases in urban children (<5years) of Bangladesh: implications for therapy and vaccination.

Objective: To prospectively study the epidemiology and antibiotic resistance of Haemophilus infuenzae isolates from invasive infections in children.

Methods: Children (<5years) with pneumonia, meningitis and septicemia from three hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh were enrolled (1999-2003); clinical and laboratory data, and blood for cultures were collected. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of meningitis cases was analyzed (Gram stain, culture and biochemical tests).