Association between COVID-19 and the incidence of type 1 diabetes in Portugal - a registry study.

Background: Viral respiratory infections may precipitate type 1 diabetes (T1D). A possible association between the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for COVID-19, and the incidence of T1D is being determined. This study was carried out using Portuguese registries, aiming at examining temporal trends between COVID-19 and T1D.

Using BCG Vaccine to Enhance Nonspecific Protection of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: The BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) vaccine can induce nonspecific protection against unrelated infections. We aimed to test the effect of BCG on absenteeism and health of Danish health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: A single-blinded randomized controlled trial included 1221 HCWs from 9 Danish hospitals.

Changing genetic architecture of body mass index from infancy to early adulthood: an individual based pooled analysis of 25 twin cohorts.

Background: Body mass index (BMI) shows strong continuity over childhood and adolescence and high childhood BMI is the strongest predictor of adult obesity. Genetic factors strongly contribute to this continuity, but it is still poorly known how their contribution changes over childhood and adolescence. Thus, we used the genetic twin design to estimate the genetic correlations of BMI from infancy to adulthood and compared them to the genetic correlations of height.

Effect of early two-dose measles vaccination on childhood mortality and modification by maternal measles antibody in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa: A single-centre open-label randomised controlled trial.

Background: Early 2-dose measles vaccine (MV) at 4 and 9 months of age vs. the WHO strategy of MV at 9 months of age reduced all-cause child mortality in a previous trial. We aimed to test two hypotheses: 1) a 2-dose strategy reduces child mortality between 4 and 60 months of age by 30%; 2) receiving early MV at 4 months in the presence versus absence of maternal measles antibodies (MatAb) reduces child mortality by 35%.

Mortality Risk Among Frail Neonates and Maternal BCG Vaccine Scar Status: Observational Study From Guinea-Bissau.

Background: Maternal priming with the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been associated with reduced offspring mortality rates. We investigated this association in a cohort of frail neonates.

Methods: We performed an observational study within a randomized BCG trial conducted at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Guinea-Bissau from 2015 to 2017.

Twins in Guinea-Bissau have a 'thin-fat' body composition compared to singletons.

The 'thrifty phenotype' hypothesis proposed that fetal undernutrition increases risk of diabetes in later life. Undernourished low birthweight Indian babies are paradoxically more adipose compared to well-nourished European babies, and are at higher risk of diabetes in later life. Twin pregnancies are an example of growth restrictive environment due to shared maternal nutrition.

Maternal BCG primes for enhanced health benefits in the newborn.

Objectives: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination lowers the risk of severe infection; we tested whether effects are modulated by maternal BCG in a large cohort of BCG-vaccinated newborns from Guinea-Bissau.

Methods: Maternal BCG scar status were inspected at enrolment in a BCG trial conducted from 2014 to 17 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. We tested associations with background factors for potential confounding; maternal age affected effect estimates >5% and accordingly, all analyses were adjusted for maternal age.

The genomic epidemiology of multi-drug resistant invasive non-typhoidal in selected sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Invasive non-typhoidal (iNTS) is one of the leading causes of bacteraemia in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to provide a better understanding of the genetic characteristics and transmission patterns associated with multi-drug resistant (MDR) iNTS serovars across the continent.

Methods: A total of 166 iNTS isolates collected from a multi-centre surveillance in 10 African countries (2010-2014) and a fever study in Ghana (2007-2009) were genome sequenced to investigate the geographical distribution, antimicrobial genetic determinants and population structure of iNTS serotypes-genotypes.

Immediate Bacille Calmette-Guérin Vaccination to Neonates Requiring Perinatal Treatment at the Maternity Ward in Guinea-Bissau: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicate that bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination provides broad beneficial "nonspecific" protection against infections. We investigated the effect on in-hospital mortality of providing BCG immediately upon admission to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), rather than BCG-at-discharge. The pretrial NICU mortality was 13% and we hypothesized that BCG would reduce mortality by 40%.

BCG skin reactions by 2 months of age are associated with better survival in infancy: a prospective observational study from Guinea-Bissau.

Introduction: Receiving Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-Denmark vaccine at birth has been associated with ~40% reductions in all-cause neonatal mortality. We evaluated determinants of BCG skin reaction characteristics by age 2 months and tested the association with subsequent mortality.

Methods: Prospective observational study amalgamating five trials providing BCG-at-birth that were conducted between 2002 and 2018 in Guinea-Bissau.

Using BCG vaccine to enhance non-specific protection of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial in Denmark.

Objectives: The Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against tuberculosis is associated with non- specific protective effects against other infections, and significant reductions in all-cause morbidity and mortality have been reported. We aim to test whether BCG vaccination may reduce susceptibility to and/or the severity of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in health care workers (HCW) and thus prevent work absenteeism.The primary objective is to reduce absenteeism due to illness among HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diabetes in urban Guinea-Bissau; patient characteristics, mortality and prevalence of undiagnosed dysglycemia.

Background: The burden of diabetes mellitus in Sub-Saharan Africa is growing rapidly, and yet the prevalence and patient characteristics are still largely unknown.

Objectives: We analyzed clinical and demographic characteristics of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients attending a diabetes clinic in Guinea-Bissau from February 2008 to April 2014, and estimated the prevalence and risk factors of unknown-impaired fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and diabetes, as well as excess mortality associated with T2DM.

Methods: We characterized T2DM patients attending the national diabetes clinic in Bissau.

BCG vaccination-induced emergency granulopoiesis provides rapid protection from neonatal sepsis.

Death from sepsis in the neonatal period remains a serious threat for millions. Within 3 days of administration, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination can reduce mortality from neonatal sepsis in human newborns, but the underlying mechanism for this rapid protection is unknown. We found that BCG was also protective in a mouse model of neonatal polymicrobial sepsis, where it induced granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) within hours of administration.

Early Vaccination With Bacille Calmette-Guérin-Denmark or BCG-Japan Versus BCG-Russia to Healthy Newborns in Guinea-Bissau: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination remains a cornerstone against tuberculosis. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated that BCG-Denmark lowers all-cause mortality, but a recent RCT found no effect of BCG-Russia. Observational studies indicate that the genetically divergent BCG strains have different effects.

Multicountry Distribution and Characterization of Extended-spectrum β-Lactamase-associated Gram-negative Bacteria From Bloodstream Infections in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health concern, yet, there are noticeable gaps in AMR surveillance data in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to measure the prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Gram-negative bacteria in bloodstream infections from 12 sentinel sites in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Data were generated during the Typhoid Fever Surveillance in Africa Program (TSAP), in which standardized blood cultures were performed on febrile patients attending 12 health facilities in 9 sub-Saharan African countries between 2010 and 2014.

Correction: Effect of early measles vaccine on pneumococcal colonization: A randomized trial from Guinea-Bissau.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Correction: Stillbirths in urban Guinea-Bissau: A hospital- and community-based study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

The CODATwins Project: The Current Status and Recent Findings of COllaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins.

The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity.

The Guinea-Bissau Twin Registry Update: A Platform for Studying Twin Mortality and Metabolic Disease.

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest natural twinning rate in the world. Unfortunately, due to lack of adequate care during pregnancy, labor and postnatally, twin mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa also remains very high. Thus, it has been estimated that one in five twins dies during the childhood years.

The phylogeography and incidence of multi-drug resistant typhoid fever in sub-Saharan Africa.

There is paucity of data regarding the geographical distribution, incidence, and phylogenetics of multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella Typhi in sub-Saharan Africa. Here we present a phylogenetic reconstruction of whole genome sequenced 249 contemporaneous S. Typhi isolated between 2008-2015 in 11 sub-Saharan African countries, in context of the 2,057 global S.

Political instability and supply-side barriers undermine the potential for high participation in HIV testing for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in Guinea-Bissau: A retrospective cross-sectional study.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends HIV testing is included in routine screening tests for all pregnant women in order to prevent mother-to-child-transmission of HIV and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: To assess the proportion of women approached and tested for HIV at delivery and factors associated with non-testing at the maternity ward of the Simão Mendes National Hospital (HNSM) in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study among women presenting for delivery from June 2008 until May 2013.