Ivermectin therapy for young children with scabies infection: a multicentre phase 2 non-randomized trial.

Background: Ivermectin, an effective treatment for scabies, is not licensed for children weighing <15 kg. Pharmacokinetic modelling has shown a 3 mg dose in young children (2-4 years, weighing 10-14 kg) achieves comparable drug exposure to a 200 μg/kg dose in children aged ≥5 years. This trial evaluated a 3 mg dose in young children.

Protocol for integrated solutions for healthy birth, growth and development: a cluster-randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a mixed nutrition intervention package in reducing child undernutrition in Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Introduction: While Lao People's Democratic Republic has seen economic gains in recent years, one-third of children aged 5 years and under are stunted. There is a need for evidence around clinically effective and cost-effective integrated nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions in the local context.

Methods And Analysis: We aim to conduct a cluster-randomised control trial to test the effectiveness of an integrated package of community-based nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions compared with the standard government package of nutrition actions.

Added socioeconomic burden of non-communicable disease on HIV/AIDS affected households in the Asia Pacific region: A systematic review.

Background: HIV/AIDS causes significant socioeconomic burden to affected households and individuals, which is exacerbated by non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The Asia Pacific Region (APR) comprises about 60% of the global population and has been significantly affected by HIV/AIDS with 5.8 million after Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019.

Antimicrobial resistance in the Pacific Island countries and territories.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health threat with a disproportionate impact on low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to their higher burden of infections, reduced laboratory surveillance infrastructure and fewer regulations governing antimicrobial use among humans or animals. While there have been increasing descriptions of AMR within many LMICs in WHO's Western Pacific and South East Asian regions, there remains a paucity of data from Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs). The PICTs represent 22 predominantly middle-income countries and territories with a combined population of 12 million people and 20 official languages, spread over hundreds of separate islands spanning an area corresponding to more than 15% of the earth's surface.

Adverse effects of amphotericin B in children; a retrospective comparison of conventional and liposomal formulations.

Aims: Lipid formulations of amphotericin B, rather than conventional amphotericin (c-amB), are increasingly used despite limited data comparing these preparations in children. Data on the incidence of adverse effects with amphotericin B at standard doses are scarce. This study aimed to compare the adverse effects associated with standard doses of c-amB and liposomal amphotericin (l-amB) in children.

The development of One Health approaches in the Western Pacific.

The Western Pacific Region, the most populous of six regional groupings of World Health Organization (WHO) member states, has seen the emergence of a series of novel zoonotic infections in the last decade. This has focused attention on addressing underlying risks and vulnerabilities in the complex interactions among people, animals, and environments as a better way to counter emerging diseases. This "One Health" approach is pertinent to the region because, it is a "hot spot" for the emergence of novel diseases from wildlife, because unexpected epidemics of re-emerging zoonotic diseases have caused morbidity and mortality in urban and periurban communities, and because it remains a sanctuary for well-known zoonotic infections.

Are hard-to-reach populations being reached with immunization services? Findings from the 2005 Papua New Guinea national immunization coverage survey.

Objective: To measure immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and to assess if and why there are differences between hard-to-reach and more accessible communities.

Methods: WHO cluster sampling methodology was employed to measure immunization coverage in PNG's four regions. Survey data were re-analyzed according to a local assessment of geographical accessibility indicated by census unit type: urban, rural and hard-to-reach.

Global control of hepatitis B virus: does treatment-induced antigenic change affect immunization?

Since its widespread introduction, the hepatitis B vaccine has become an essential part of infant immunization programmes globally. The vaccine has been particularly important for countries where the incidence of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma is high. Effective treatment options for individuals with chronic hepatitis B infection were limited until 1998 when lamivudine, the first nucleoside analogue drug, was introduced.