Status of the national immunization technical advisory groups in the Americas: recommendations for improvement.

Objectives: To evaluate the structure and operation of national immunization technical advisory groups (NITAGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean and to make recommendations for improvement.

Methods: A convenience sample of six current and eight former NITAG members representing 12 countries in the region were invited in 2022 to answer a web-based questionnaire on NITAG structure, organization, and procedures. The questionnaire used indicators similar to those in the Joint Reporting Form on Immunization.

Spectral norm and energy of a digraph with respect to a VDB topological index.

The set of singular values of a digraph with respect to a vertex-degree based topological index is the set of all singular values of its general adjacency matrix. The spectral norm is the largest singular value and the energy the sum of the singular values. In this paper we characterize the digraphs which have exactly one singular value different from zero and the digraphs for which all singular values are equal.

Strategies for expanding childhood vaccination in the Americas following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To provide an overview of the status of the childhood vaccination schedule in the Americas, outline program structures, and identify updated implementation strategies to improve vaccination coverage following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A group of experts in pediatrics, epidemiology, vaccines, and global and public health discussed the current status of the childhood vaccination schedule in the Americas, describing the program structure and identifying new implementation strategies that have the potential to improve vaccination coverage in the post-pandemic context, after the challenges COVID-19 presented for more than two years.

Results: The Americas currently face a high risk of resurgence of diseases that were previously controlled or eliminated.

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Background: This project aimed to synthesize the quantitative/qualitative evidence on the effectiveness of overweight/obesity prevention strategies implemented in Colombia and their barriers and facilitators.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted by searching PubMed, SciELO, Scopus, and the grey literature (2012–2023). In-depth interviews were also conducted among key stakeholders on their perception of these strategies’ effectiveness, barriers, and facilitators.

Improving Middle-Income Countries Access to Vaccines. A Blueprint to Overcome Current Challenges.

The Global Health Consortium at Florida International University developed an end-to-end solution framework based on the input of a diverse panel of experts from middle-income country (MIC) government agencies, public health think tanks, academia, and nonprofit organizations to identify mechanisms to help MIC governments and stakeholders increase access to novel vaccines for infectious diseases. The resultant layout can be deployed to improve vaccine discovery and development, strengthen regulatory processes, and boost vaccine production, access, and implementation. Mechanisms include policies and incentives MIC governments can use to stimulate vaccine investment and activity, as well as actions government agencies can take together with other stakeholders to coordinate efforts or build capabilities.

Microbial diversity across compartments in an aquaponic system and its connection to the nitrogen cycle.

Aquaponics combines hydroponic crop production with recirculating aquaculture. These systems comprise various compartments (fish tank, biofilter, sump, hydroponic table, radial flow settler and anaerobic digester), each with their own specific environmental pressures, which trigger the formation of unique microbial communities. Triplicated aquaponic systems were used to investigate the microbial community composition during three lettuce growing cycles.

Obesity in Latin America, a scoping review of public health prevention strategies and an overview of their impact on obesity prevention.

Objective: To describe the strategies implemented in seventeen Latin American countries for obesity prevention and to provide an overview of their impact.

Design: A thorough search of strategies and their impact was done through an Internet search, governmental webpages, reports and research articles in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Setting: Latin America (not including the Caribbean countries).

Environmental parameters and microbial community profiles as indication towards microbial activities and diversity in aquaponic system compartments.

Background: An aquaponic system couples cultivation of plants and fish in the same aqueous medium. The system consists of interconnected compartments for fish rearing and plant production, as well as for water filtration, with all compartments hosting diverse microbial communities, which interact within the system. Due to the design, function and operation mode of the individual compartments, each of them exhibits unique biotic and abiotic conditions.

Review: Type 2 diabetes in Latin America and the Caribbean: Regional and country comparison on prevalence, trends, costs and expanded prevention.

Purpose: To present an overview of type 2 diabetes status in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Methods: The data were collected from the International Diabetes Federation Atlas and other available published sources where we identified the prevalence in Latin America and the Caribbean, the trends by regions, and sex. Also, we summarized the type 2 diabetes direct and indirect costs, and the current preventative programs and policies available for each region.

The decline of dengue in the Americas in 2017: discussion of multiple hypotheses.

Objective: Since the 1980s, dengue incidence has increased 30-fold. However, in 2017, there was a noticeable reduction in reported dengue incidence cases within the Americas, including severe and fatal cases. Understanding the mechanism underlying dengue's incidence and decline in the Americas is vital for public health planning.

Varicella epidemiology in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Introduction: The Latin American Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (SLIPE), with the support of the Americas Health Foundation (AHF), has developed a position paper on varicella prevention in Latin America and Caribbean countries (LAC). This article summarizes the most relevant aspects of varicella in LAC, and emphasizes the need to include the varicella vaccine in the national immunization programs in the Region and evaluate its impact disease burden.

Areas Covered: A systematic review was conducted of the medical evidence published and presented at various regional medical conferences on the disease burden in LAC, the advances made by prevention programs, the available vaccines in the Region, and their immunogenicity, efficacy, effectiveness, and safety.