Clinical, molecular, and drug resistance epidemiology of HIV in Jordan, 2019-2021: A national study.

Background: Limited epidemiologic studies have been conducted in Jordan describing the HIV epidemic. This study aimed to address this gap to inform HIV prevention and control.

Methods: A nationally-representative cross-sectional study was conducted among adults living with HIV in Jordan.

Humoral immune responses associated with control of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infections in a vaccinated US military population.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines have been critical for protection against severe disease following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) but gaps remain in our understanding of the immune responses that contribute to controlling subclinical and mild infections.

Methods: Vaccinated, active-duty US military service members were enrolled in a non-interventional, minimal-risk, observational study starting in May, 2021. Clinical data, serum, and saliva samples were collected from study participants and were used to characterise the humoral immune responses to vaccination and to assess its impact on clinical and subclinical infections, as well as virologic outcomes of breakthrough infections (BTI) including viral load and infection duration.

Analytical validation of quantitative SARS-CoV-2 subgenomic and viral load laboratory developed tests conducted on the Panther Fusion® (Hologic) with preliminary application to clinical samples.

Objective: Validate the performance characteristics of two analyte specific, laboratory developed tests (LDTs) for the quantification of SARS-CoV-2 subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) and viral load on the Hologic Panther Fusion® using the Open Access functionality.

Methods: Custom-designed primers/probe sets targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Envelope gene (E) and subgenomic E were optimized. A 20-day performance validation following laboratory developed test requirements was conducted to assess assay precision, accuracy, analytical sensitivity/specificity, lower limit of detection and reportable range.

Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the chimpanzee adenovirus type 3-vectored Marburg virus (cAd3-Marburg) vaccine in healthy adults in the USA: a first-in-human, phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation trial.

Background: WHO has identified Marburg virus as an emerging virus requiring urgent vaccine research and development, particularly due to its recent emergence in Ghana. We report results from a first-in-human clinical trial evaluating a replication-deficient recombinant chimpanzee adenovirus type 3 (cAd3)-vectored vaccine encoding a wild-type Marburg virus Angola glycoprotein (cAd3-Marburg) in healthy adults.

Methods: We did a first-in-human, phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation trial of the cAd3-Marburg vaccine at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Clinical Trials Center in the USA.

An initiative of cooperation in Zika virus research: the experience of the ZIKABRA study in Brazil.

Background: The Zika virus outbreak has triggered a set of local and global actions for a rapid, effective, and timely public health response. A World Health Organization (WHO) initiative, supported by the Department of Chronic Condition Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections (DCCI) of the Health Surveillance Secretariat (SVS), Brazil Ministry of Health (MoH) and other public health funders, resulted in the start of the "Study on the persistence of Zika virus in body fluids of patients with ZIKV infection in Brazil - ZIKABRA study". The ZIKABRA study was designed to increase understanding of how long ZIKV persists in bodily fluids and informing best measures to prevent its transmission.

Disclosure of Same-Sex Sexual Practices to Family and Healthcare Providers by Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender Women in Nigeria.

Disclosure of same-sex sexual practices by men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) may facilitate appropriate healthcare engagement, including risk assessment for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and negotiation of condom use with partners. However, disclosure may also generate stigma. In these cross-sectional analyses, MSM and TGW were categorized based on self-report of disclosure to family members and healthcare providers (HCP) at enrollment into the TRUST/RV368 study of comprehensive HIV and STI care programs in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria.

Identification of Immune Signatures of Novel Adjuvant Formulations Using Machine Learning.

Adjuvants have long been critical components of vaccines, but the exact mechanisms of their action and precisely how they alter or enhance vaccine-induced immune responses are often unclear. In this study, we used broad immunoprofiling of antibody, cellular, and cytokine responses, combined with data integration and machine learning to gain insight into the impact of different adjuvant formulations on vaccine-induced immune responses. A Self-Assembling Protein Nanoparticles (SAPN) presenting the malarial circumsporozoite protein (CSP) was used as a model vaccine, adjuvanted with three different liposomal formulations: liposome plus Alum (ALFA), liposome plus QS21 (ALFQ), and both (ALFQA).

Self-assembling protein nanoparticles with built-in flagellin domains increases protective efficacy of a Plasmodium falciparum based vaccine.

To eliminate the problems associated with the use of extraneous adjuvants we have designed a Self-Assembling Protein Nanoparticle (SAPN) containing epitopes from the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP) (designated FMP014) and portions of the TLR5 agonist flagellin (designated FMP014) as an intrinsic adjuvant. By combining different molar ratios of FMP014 to FMP014 monomers before self-assembly, we generated multiple nanoparticles and investigated their biophysical characteristics, immunogenicity and protective efficacy. Immunization with the construct formulated with the ratio 58:2 of FMP014 to FMP014 had the highest protective efficacy against a challenge with a transgenic P.