Global challenges and solutions to achieving and sustaining measles and rubella elimination.

Measles and rubella have long been recognized as priorities for disease prevention because of their devastating consequences for child health; hence, all World Health Organization (WHO) regions currently have a goal to eliminate measles and four out of six WHO regions have a goal to eliminate rubella. Significant global progress has been made in the twenty-first century, with more than 40% of countries in the world verified by a Regional Verification Commission as having eliminated measles and more than 50% of countries having sustained rubella elimination. Making further progress will require addressing fundamental gaps in health systems, a particular challenge in the current global context where many countries face multiple barriers to both sustaining and achieving measles and rubella elimination.

Progress Toward Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2023.

Measles vaccination effectively prevents measles, a highly contagious disease that can cause severe complications and death and requires high population immunity to interrupt transmission. This report describes measles elimination progress during 2000-2023. During 2000-2023, an estimated 60.

Nanostructured Lipid Carrier-based Topical Gels as Novel Drug Delivery System: A Comprehensive Overview.

Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are lipidic nanocarriers that recover the permanency and capacity of drug payloads. NLCs are well-known as second-generation lipid nanocarriers with an unstructured matrix, presenting potentially advantageous nanocarrier systems with marketable opportunities because of reproducible production methodologies and biocompatible lipidic excipients. These (NLCs) are now recognized as a very promising nanocarrier structure for the efficient delivery of drugs via different administration routes.

Mentha spicata Mediated Formulation of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Exhibit Superior Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, and Photodegradation Propensity Compared to Chemically Formulated Counterparts.

Introduction: Iron oxide nanoparticles demonstrate tremendous potential in preserving the ecological balance of the environment since they act as antimicrobial agents and efficient photocatalysts. However, environmental sustainability has challenged the synthesis protocols of nanomaterials.

Method: This study compares the green synthesis method with the scalable chemical synthesis method.

Recent Advances in the Preparation, Properties, and Applications of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles in Drug Delivery.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are one of the extensively utilized nanocarriers in the pharmaceutical field due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. These features of the carrier system have fuelled its use as the drug delivery system since the last three decades. This review presents different SLN preparation techniques, such as high shear homogenization, hot homogenization, cold homogenization, microemulsion-based technique, etc.

Formulation Strategy and An Overview of Nano-Structured Lipid Carrier-Based Topical Gel as a Novel Drug Delivery System.

Nano-Structured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) are improved Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) that recover the permanency and capacity of drug payload. There are 3 different types of NLCs which have been anticipated. The aforementioned Lipid Nano Particles (LNPs) possess possible tenders in drug delivery systems, cosmeceuticals, clinical research and many others.

The Problem with Delaying Measles Elimination.

Measles is a highly infectious disease leading to high morbidity and mortality impacting people's lives and economies across the globe. The measles vaccine saves more lives than any other vaccine in the Essential Programme of Immunization and is also the most cost-effective vaccine, with an extremely high return on investment. This makes achieving measles elimination through vaccination a key child health intervention, particularly in low-income countries, where the overwhelming majority of measles deaths continue to occur.

Success in vaccination programming through community health workers: a qualitative analysis of interviews and focus group discussions from Nepal, Senegal and Zambia.

Objectives: Community health workers are essential to front-line health outreach throughout low-income and middle-income countries, including programming for early childhood immunisation. Understanding how community health workers are engaged for successful early childhood vaccination among countries who showed success in immunisation coverage would support evidence-based policy guidance across contexts.

Design: We employed a multiple case study design using qualitative research methods.

Estimating the Impact of Vaccination Campaigns on Measles Transmission in Somalia.

Somalia is a complex and fragile setting with a demonstrated potential for disruptive, high-burden measles outbreaks. In response, since 2018, Somalian authorities have partnered with UNICEF and the WHO to implement measles vaccination campaigns across the country. In this paper, we create a Somalia-specific model of measles transmission based on a comprehensive epidemiological dataset including case-based surveillance, vaccine registries, and serological surveys.

Progress Toward Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2022.

Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that requires high population immunity for transmission to be interrupted. All six World Health Organization regions have committed to eliminating measles; however, no region has achieved and sustained measles elimination. This report describes measles elimination progress during 2000-2022.

Country ownership as a guiding principle for IA2030: A case study of the measles and rubella elimination programs in Nepal and Nigeria.

Country-owned, as opposed to donor-driven, is a principle within the development sector that recognizes the centrality of countries' leadership, systems, and resources in executing programs and achieving sustainable development. In alignment with this notion, the Immunization Agenda 2030 was developed with country ownership as one of four core principles of the ambitious ten-year plan. This means that the success of immunization programs, including those with eradication and elimination goals such as polio, measles, and rubella, and those with broader equity goals to "leave no one behind" on immunization, would be largely driven by country systems.

Facile fabrication of Nishamalaki churna mediated silver nanoparticles with antibacterial application.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most serious threats to today's healthcare system. The prime factor behind increasing AMR is the formation of complex bacterial biofilms which acts as the protective shield between the bacterial cell and the antimicrobial drugs. Among various nanoformulations, green synthesized metallic silver nanoparticles are currently gaining research focus in safely breaking bacterial biofilms due to the inherent antimicrobial property of silver.

Fortification of orange juice with microencapsulated Y4 towards a novel functional beverage: Biological and quality aspects.

To commercialize functional foods, probiotics must exhibit high resistance and acceptable stability under various unfavorable conditions to maintain the quality of fruit juices. This study will provide an insight into fortification of orange juice with a plant probiotic Y4 by microencapsulation. Therefore, this study investigated the colony release, physicochemical and phytochemical parameters, and antioxidant activity of the orange juice exposed to microencapsulated probiotics and the one without probiotics (control).

Ocular delivery of felodipine for the management of intraocular pressure and inflammation: Effect of film plasticizer and in vitro in vivo evaluation.

Glaucoma may cause irreversible eyesight loss and damage to the optic nerve. Trabecular meshwork obstruction may raise intraocular pressure (IOP) in open-angle and/or closed-angle type inflammatory glaucoma. Ocular delivery of felodipine (FEL) has been undertaken for the management of intraocular pressure and inflammation.

Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2021.

All six World Health Organization (WHO) regions have committed to eliminating measles.* The Immunization Agenda 2021-2030 (IA2030) aims to achieve the regional targets as a core indicator of impact and positions measles as the tracer of a health system's ability to deliver essential childhood vaccines. IA2030 highlights the importance of ensuring rigorous measles surveillance systems to document immunity gaps and achieve 95% coverage with 2 timely doses of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) among children.

Current Treatment Strategies Against Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: A Review.

There are several bacteria called superbugs that are resistant to multiple antibiotics which can be life threatening specially for critically ill and hospitalized patients. This article provides up-to-date treatment strategies employed against some major superbugs, like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli. The pathogen-directed therapeutics decrease the toxicity of bacteria by altering their virulence factors by specific processes.

Critical success factors for high routine immunization performance: A case study of Nepal.

Introduction: The essential components of a vaccine delivery system are well-documented, but robust evidence on how and why the related processes and implementation strategies drive catalytic improvements in vaccination coverage are not well established. To address this gap, we identified critical success factors that may have led to substantial improvements in routine childhood immunization coverage in Nepal from 2000 through 2019.

Methods: We identified Nepal as an exemplar in the delivery of early childhood immunization through analysis of DTP1 and DTP3 coverage data.

Effect of the of 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in Nepal 4 years after introduction: an observational cohort study.

Background: In Nepal, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a common cause of bacterial pneumonia in children, and is a major health concern. There are few data on the effect of vaccination on the disease or colonisation with pneumococci in the nasopharynx of children in this setting. The 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) was introduced into the routine infant immunisation schedule in Nepal in 2015.

Progress Toward Measles Elimination - South-East Asia Region, 2003-2020.

In 2013, member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region* (SEAR) adopted the goal of measles elimination and rubella and congenital rubella syndrome control by 2020 (1). In 2014, to provide impetus toward achieving this goal, the Regional Director declared measles elimination and rubella control one of the Regional Flagship Priorities. In 2019, SEAR member states declared a revised goal of eliminating both measles and rubella by 2023 (2).

Nepal measles outbreak response immunization during COVID-19: A risk-based intervention strategy.

In 2020, National Immunization Programme (NIP) of Nepal implemented a measles outbreak response immunization (ORI) campaign, which was additional to an ongoing preventive measles-rubella SIA campaign. Both campaigns were implemented during ongoing COVID-19 transmission. By April, 220 measles cases and two deaths were confirmed from eight districts of Nepal.

Who gets vaccinated in a measles-rubella campaign in Nepal?: results from a post-campaign coverage survey.

Background: Following the 2015 earthquake, a measles-rubella (MR) supplementary immunization activity (SIA), in four phases, was implemented in Nepal in 2015-2016. A post-campaign coverage survey (PCCS) was then conducted in 2017 to assess SIA performance and explore factors that were associated with vaccine uptake.

Methods: A household survey using stratified multi-stage probability sampling was conducted to assess coverage for a MR dose in the 2015-2016 SIA in Nepal.

Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2020.

In 2012, the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Vaccine Action Plan,* with the objective of eliminating measles in five of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions by 2020 (1). The Immunization Agenda 2021-2030 (IA2030) uses measles incidence as an indicator of the strength of immunization systems. The Measles-Rubella Strategic Framework 2021-2030 and the Measles Outbreaks Strategic Response Plan 2021-2023** are aligned with the IA2030 and highlight robust measles surveillance systems to document immunity gaps, identify root causes of undervaccination, and develop locally tailored solutions to ensure administration of 2 doses of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) to all children.

Development and Characterization of Natural Product Derived Macromolecules Based Interpenetrating Polymer Network for Therapeutic Drug Targeting.

Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)-based bead formulations were exploited by cross-linking different hydrophilic polymers in different combinations and at different ratios. Polyvinyl alcohol, xanthan gum, guar gum, gellan gum, and sodium alginate (Na-alginate) were used in this work as hydrophilic polymers to enhance the solubility of diclofenac sodium and also to target the delivery at preferred locations. IPN beads based on polysaccharides were prepared by the ionic gelation method.