Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of Switching to Higher-Valency Pediatric Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in the United Kingdom.

Currently, the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) is administered under a 1+1 (1 primary dose) pediatric schedule in the United Kingdom (UK). Higher-valency PCVs, 15-valent PCV (PCV15), or 20-valent PCV (PCV20) might be considered to expand serotype coverage. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of PCV20 or PCV15 using either a 2+1 (2 primary doses) or 1+1 schedule for pediatric immunization in the UK.

Impact of pandemics and disruptions to vaccination on infectious diseases epidemiology past and present.

Infectious diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide with vaccines playing a critical role in preventing deaths. To better understand the impact of low vaccination rates and previous epidemics on infectious disease rates, and how these may help to understand the potential impacts of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a targeted literature review was conducted. Globally, studies suggest past suboptimal vaccine coverage has contributed to infectious disease outbreaks in vulnerable populations.

Public health impact of UK COVID-19 booster vaccination programs during Omicron predominance.

Background: We aimed to estimate the public health impact of booster vaccination against COVID-19 in the UK during an Omicron-predominant period.

Research Design And Methods: A dynamic transmission model was developed to compare public health outcomes for actual and alternative UK booster vaccination programs. Input sources were publicly available data and targeted literature reviews.

Public health impact of booster vaccination against COVID-19 in the UK during Delta variant dominance in autumn 2021.

Aim: To evaluate the public health impact of the UK COVID-19 booster vaccination program in autumn 2021, during a period of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant predominance.

Materials And Methods: A compartmental Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered model was used to compare age-stratified health outcomes for adult booster vaccination versus no booster vaccination in the UK over a time horizon of September-December 2021, when boosters were introduced in the UK and the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was predominant. Model input data were sourced from targeted literature reviews and publicly available data.

Dopamine deficits in the brain: the neurochemical basis of parkinsonian symptoms in AIDS.

We sought to determine whether the motor dysfunctions and neuroleptic sensitivity that can occur in patients with AIDS relates to a deficit of striatal dopamine innervation similar to that of Parkinson's disease. For this purpose we measured concentrations of dopamine and its major metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA) in caudate nucleus tissue taken post-mortem from patients with AIDS and from appropriate age-matched control subjects. Dopamine and HVA concentrations were both significantly reduced in the AIDS group, with 20 of 34 patients exhibiting dopamine concentrations below the control range.

Common profile of D1 receptor antagonists and atypical antipsychotic drugs revealed by analysis of dopamine turnover.

1. Selective antagonists of dopamine D1 and D2 receptors enhanced 3-methoxytyramine (3-MT) accumulation in the striata and accumbens of tranylcypromine pretreated rats. Selective D1 and D2 agonists produced opposite effects.

Electrochemical detection of human brain transmitter amino acids by high-performance liquid chromatography of stable o-phthalaldehyde-sulphite derivatives.

A simple, sensitive, reliable and reproducible isocratic HPLC technique for the measurement of OPA/sulphite derivatives of human brain amino acid neurotransmitters is described. This employs a sample preparation that is also compatible with the concurrent determination of monoamines and their metabolites on a separate HPLC system. The method has been applied to the determination of GABA and glutamate in brain tissue taken post-mortem from patients with Huntington's disease and control subjects.

[3H]nipecotic acid binding to gamma-aminobutyric acid uptake sites in postmortem human brain.

Binding of [3H]nipecotic acid, a proposed marker for GABAergic neurons, was investigated in postmortem human brain by use of a centrifugation assay. Binding was displaceable, apparently saturable, and to a single site, with typical KD and Bmax values of 1.85 microM and 124.

Deficit and hemispheric asymmetry of GABA uptake sites in the hippocampus in schizophrenia.

There is increasing evidence of a deficit or disturbance of neurons in the brains of schizophrenic patients--evidence that particularly implicates the frontal or temporal lobes. As yet there is no direct neurochemical correlate of the transmitter systems involved, although changes in some neurotransmitters in the temporal lobe have been reported. Radiolabeled nipecotic acid, a specific inhibitor of uptake sites to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), has provided a marker of GABAergic neurons.

[3H] GBR 12935 binding to the dopamine uptake site in post-mortem brain tissue in schizophrenia.

Specific [3H] GBR 12935 binding was performed on striatal tissue (caudate nucleus) obtained post-mortem from brains of schizophrenic patients and matched controls. Scatchard analysis of left and right hemisphere caudate tissue was performed on each individual subject. Kd and Bmax values were obtained by linear regression analysis of Scatchard plots.

Alzheimer-like neurotransmitter deficits in adult Down's syndrome brain tissue.

Brain tissue taken at necropsy from five cases of Down's syndrome and six controls was analysed for changes in neurotransmitter markers. Concentrations of noradrenaline (NA), dopamine (DA) and its major metabolite homovanillic acid (HVA), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) were determined by means of HPLC, whilst choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) was measured by a radiochemical technique. Significant reductions in NA, 5HT and ChAT were found in most cortical and subcortical regions of the Down's syndrome tissue investigated.

Maintenance of cortical somatostatin and monoamine levels in the rat does not require intact cholinergic innervation.

Levels of somatostatin, noradrenaline, dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were unchanged in rat neocortex 3 or 6 months after ibotenic acid lesion of the ipsilateral nucleus basalis that reduced cortical choline acetyltransferase levels by over 60%. These results render unlikely the possibility that non-cholinergic neurotransmitter deficits in Alzheimer's disease cortex are the consequence of cholinergic degeneration.