The added effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions and lifestyle behaviors on vaccine effectiveness against severe COVID-19 in Chile: A matched case-double control study.

Background: World Health Organization approved vaccines have demonstrated relatively high protection against moderate to severe COVID-19. Prospective vaccine effectiveness (VE) designs with first-hand data and population-based controls are nevertheless rare. Neighborhood compared to hospitalized controls, may differ in compliance to non-pharmacuetical interventions (NPI) compliance, which may influence VE results in real-world settings.

A cross sectional study found differential risks for COVID-19 seropositivity amongst health care professionals in Chile.

Objective: Health care workers (HCWs) are at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection, however not all face the same risk. We aimed to determine IgG/IgM prevalence and risk factors associated with seropositivity in Chilean HCWs.

Study Design And Setting: This was a nationwide, cross-sectional study including a questionnaire and COVID-19 lateral flow IgG/IgM antibody testing.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy on clinical and laboratory biomarkers associated with gastric damage in healthy school-aged children: A randomized non-blinded trial.

Objectives: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the primary cause of gastric cancer and eradication in healthy adults has proven effective in decreasing cancer incidence. H.

Helicobacter pylori, clinical, laboratory, and noninvasive biomarkers suggestive of gastric damage in healthy school-aged children: A case-control study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori is acquired largely in early childhood, but its association with symptoms and indirect biomarkers of gastric damage in apparently healthy children remains controversial. We aimed to relate persistent H. pylori infection in apparently healthy school-aged children with clinical, laboratory, and noninvasive biomarkers suggestive of gastric damage using a case-control design.

Norovirus compared to other relevant etiologies of acute gastroenteritis among families from a semirural county in Chile.

Objective: To determine the dynamics of norovirus disease, a major cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE), compared to other relevant etiologies, among families living in a lower middle income area.

Study Design: Families with three or more members and with one or more healthy children <24 months of age were followed for 1-2 years to detect any AGE. Stool samples were tested for viral and bacterial pathogens and a questionnaire was completed for those with norovirus or rotavirus AGE.

Parent reported outcomes to measure satisfaction, acceptability, and daily life impact after vaccination with whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccine in Chile.

Aim: To compare parental satisfaction and impact on daily life among parents of children receiving whole-cell pentavalent + oral polio vaccine (Arm1) with an acellular hexavalent vaccine (Hexaxim; Arm2).

Methods: Self-administered electronic questionnaire at vaccination and one week later in six community health clinics of metropolitan Santiago, Chile, exploring parent-reported outcomes on satisfaction, acceptability, and impact on daily life after immunization. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine differences in the responses in both groups (α = 0.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Antibody Prevalence in Blood in a Large School Community Subject to a Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: A severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak affecting 52 people from a large school community in Santiago, Chile, was identified (12 March) 9 days after the first case in the country. We assessed the magnitude of the outbreak and the role students and staff played using self-administered antibody detection tests and a self-administered survey.

Methods: The school was closed on 13 March, and the entire community was placed under quarantine.

Gastric Damage and Cancer-Associated Biomarkers in -Infected Children.

() is well-known to be involved in gastric carcinogenesis, associated with deregulation of cell proliferation and epigenetic changes in cancer-related genes. infection is largely acquired during childhood, persisting long-term in about half of infected individuals, a subset of whom will go on to develop peptic ulcer disease and eventually gastric cancer, however, the sequence of events leading to disease is not completely understood. Knowledge on carcinogenesis and gastric damage-related biomarkers is abundant in adult populations, but scarce in children.

Predominance of Rotavirus G8P[8] in a City in Chile, a Country Without Rotavirus Vaccination.

Rotavirus G8P[8] infection has been common in Africa, but rare in the Americas. Among 23 rotavirus episodes observed during 18 months of surveillance of 100 families in Chile, 11 (48%) were identified as G8P[8]. Genotypes from these strains shared >99% identity with rotavirus sequences described in Asia, and may be misclassified as mixed G8/G12.

Review: Prevalence and dynamics of Helicobacter pylori infection during childhood.

Introduction: Long-term persistent Helicobacter pylori infection has been associated with ulceropeptic disease and gastric cancer. Although H. pylori is predominantly acquired early in life, a clear understanding of infection dynamics during childhood has been obfuscated by the diversity of populations evaluated, study designs, and methods used.

Infection Is Associated with Decreased Expression of SLC5A8, a Cancer Suppressor Gene, in Young Children.

infects half of the world's population and causes gastric cancer in a subset of infected adults. Previous blood microarray findings showed that apparently healthy children, persistently infected with have differential gene expression compared to age-matched, non-infected children. SLC5A8, a cancer suppressor gene with decreased expression among infected children, was chosen for further study based on bioinformatics analysis.

Detection of Helicobacter pylori by Real-Time PCR for 16s rRNA in Stools of NonInfected Healthy Children, Using ELISA Antigen Stool Test as the Gold Standard.

Background: We previously detected Helicobacter pylori infection by stool antigen ELISA assay in 33-41% of asymptomatic Chilean children between 2-3 years of age, of which 11-20% had a transient infection and 21-22% a persistent infection. A total of 88% of ELISA-positive samples were also rtPCR positive, while 37/133 (33%) of ELISA-negative stool samples were rtPCR positive. The significance of a ELISA-negative/rtPCR-positive sample requires clarification.

Persistent and transient Helicobacter pylori infections in early childhood.

Background: Helicobacter pylori, the main cause of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer in adult populations, is generally acquired during the first years of life. Infection can be persistent or transient and bacterial and host factors determining persistence are largely unknown and may prove relevant for future disease.

Methods: Two cohorts of healthy Chilean infants (313 total) were evaluated every 3 months for 18-57 months to determine pathogen- and host-factors associated with persistent and transient infection.

Early empiric antibiotic use in preterm infants is associated with lower bacterial diversity and higher relative abundance of Enterobacter.

Objectives: To determine the impact of empiric ampicillin and gentamicin use in the first week of life on microbial colonization and diversity in preterm infants.

Study Design: The 16s ribosomal DNA community profiling was used to compare the microbiota of 74 infants born ≤32 weeks gestational age by degree of antibiotic use in the first week of life. The degree of antibiotic use was classified as 0 days, 1-4 days, and 5-7 days of antibiotic administration.

Early microbial and metabolomic signatures predict later onset of necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.

Background: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating intestinal disease that afflicts 10% of extremely preterm infants. The contribution of early intestinal colonization to NEC onset is not understood, and predictive biomarkers to guide prevention are lacking. We analyzed banked stool and urine samples collected prior to disease onset from infants <29 weeks gestational age, including 11 infants who developed NEC and 21 matched controls who survived free of NEC.

The relationship between genus richness and geographic area in Late Cretaceous marine biotas: epicontinental sea versus open-ocean-facing settings.

For present-day biotas, close relationships have been documented between the number of species in a given region and the area of the region. To date, however, there have been only limited studies of these relationships in the geologic record, particularly for ancient marine biotas. The recent development of large-scale marine paleontological databases, in conjunction with enhanced geographical mapping tools, now allow for their investigation.