Objective: To assess the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in women before or during pregnancy on SARS-CoV-2 infection-related, pregnancy, offspring and reactogenicity outcomes.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data Sources: Major databases between December 2019 and January 2023.
Objective: To identify and summarise the evidence on the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA detection and persistence in body fluids associated with sexual activity (saliva, semen, vaginal secretion, urine and faeces/rectal secretion).
Eligibility: All studies that reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva, semen, vaginal secretion, urine and faeces/rectal swabs.
Information Sources: The WHO COVID-19 database from inception to 20 April 2022.
We generated 238 Zika virus (ZIKV) genomes from 135 persons in Brazil who had samples collected over 1 year to evaluate virus persistence. Phylogenetic inference clustered the genomes together with previously reported ZIKV strains from northern Brazil, showing that ZIKV has been remained relatively stable over time. Temporal phylogenetic analysis revealed limited within-host diversity among most ZIKV-persistent infected associated samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe urgently need answers to basic epidemiological questions regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant and postpartum women and its effect on their newborns. While many national registries, health facilities, and research groups are collecting relevant data, we need a collaborative and methodologically rigorous approach to better combine these data and address knowledge gaps, especially those related to rare outcomes. We propose that using a sequential, prospective meta-analysis (PMA) is the best approach to generate data for policy- and practice-oriented guidelines.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Zika virus infection is commonly described as a mild and self-limiting illness. However, cardiac complications were associated with acute Zika virus infection.
Case Presentation: A 46-year-old woman without previous comorbidities with a 1-day history of symptoms tested positive for ZIKV by real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).
Objectives: To assess the rates of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in babies born to mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the timing of mother-to-child transmission and perinatal outcomes, and factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 status in offspring.
Design: Living systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data Sources: Major databases between 1 December 2019 and 3 August 2021.
Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol
December 2021
Objective: Clinical trials evaluating pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment of COVID-19, either excluded pregnant women or included very few women. Unlike the numerous systematic reviews on prevalence, symptoms and adverse outcomes of COVID-19 in pregnancy, there are very few on the effects of treatment on maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnancy. We undertook a systematic review of all published and unpublished studies on the effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for COVID-19 on maternal and neonatal pregnancy outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Between 2014 and 2016, Brazil experienced a severe shortage in penicillin supply, resulting in a lack of treatment among some pregnant women and newborns with syphilis and the use of non-evidence-based regimens. This study evaluated all live births in Fortaleza reported with CS in 2015 in order to identify the different therapeutic regimens used in newborns during this period of penicillin shortage.
Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study design was conducted using manually extracted data from medical chart review of maternal and infant cases delivered in 2015 from all public maternity hospitals in the city of Fortaleza.
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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe evaluated sweat, blood and urine specimens obtained from an ongoing cohort study in Brazil. Samples were collected at pre-established intervals after the initial rash presentation and tested for Zika virus (ZIKV) RNA presence by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). From 254 participants with confirmed infection, ZIKV RNA was detected in the sweat of 46 individuals (18.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZika virus (ZIKV) has been detected in blood, urine, semen, cerebral spinal fluid, saliva, amniotic fluid, and breast milk. In most ZIKV infected individuals, the virus is detected in the blood to one week after the onset of symptoms and has been found to persist longer in urine and semen. To better understand virus dynamics, a prospective cohort study was conducted in Brazil to assess the presence and duration of ZIKV and related markers (viral RNA, antibodies, T cell response, and innate immunity) in blood, semen, saliva, urine, vaginal secretions/menstrual blood, rectal swab and sweat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInclusion of pregnant women in COVID-19 clinical trials would allow evaluation of effective therapies that might improve maternal health, pregnancy, and birth outcomes, and avoid the delay of developing treatment recommendations for pregnant women. We explored the inclusion of pregnant women in treatment trials of COVID-19 by reviewing ten international clinical trial registries at two timepoints in 2020. We identified 155 COVID-19 treatment studies of non-biological drugs for the April 7-10, 2020 timepoint, of which 124 (80%) specifically excluded pregnant women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Rapid, robust and continually updated evidence synthesis is required to inform management of COVID-19 in pregnant and postpartum women and to keep pace with the emerging evidence during the pandemic.
Methods And Analysis: We plan to undertake a living systematic review to assess the prevalence, clinical manifestations, risk factors, rates of maternal and perinatal complications, potential for mother-to-child transmission, accuracy of diagnostic tests and effectiveness of treatment for COVID-19 in pregnant and postpartum women (including after miscarriage or abortion). We will search Medline, Embase, WHO COVID-19 database, preprint servers, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure system and Wanfang databases from 1 December 2019.
Around 200,000 people live with chronic hepatitis B in England. Despite national guidance on identification and management of cases and their close contacts, testing rates of close contacts is as low as 43% in high prevalence areas of London. Our study aimed to determine whether a nurse-led enhanced management and contact tracing of chronically infected individuals improved testing uptake, vaccination and onward referral of close contacts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine the clinical manifestations, risk factors, and maternal and perinatal outcomes in pregnant and recently pregnant women with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19).
Design: Living systematic review and meta-analysis.
Data Sources: Medline, Embase, Cochrane database, WHO COVID-19 database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang databases from 1 December 2019 to 6 October 2020, along with preprint servers, social media, and reference lists.
Background: Syphilis is a sexually and vertically transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum for which there are few proven alternatives to penicillin for treatment. For pregnant women infected with syphilis, penicillin is the only WHO-recommended treatment that will treat the mother and cross the placenta to treat the unborn infant and prevent congenital syphilis. Recent shortages, national level stockouts as well as other barriers to penicillin use call for the urgent identification of alternative therapies to treat pregnant women infected with syphilis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak was first declared in China in December 2019, and WHO declared the pandemic on 11 March 2020. A fast-rising number of confirmed cases has been observed in all continents, with Europe at the epicentre of the outbreak at this moment.Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and rights is a significant public health issue during the epidemics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe detected Zika virus RNA in rectal swab samples from 10 patients by using real-time reverse transcription PCR, and we isolated the virus from 1 patient. The longest interval from symptom onset to detection was 14 days. These findings are applicable to diagnosis and infection prevention recommendations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHow do we spot the next sexually transmitted infection? Kyle Bernstein and colleagues look for lessons from past discovery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Highest rates of pertussis occur in infants <3 months of age, too young to be fully vaccinated. The 2012 national outbreak provided a valuable opportunity to study sources of infection for these infants at highest risk of severe complications and death.
Methods: Households of infants <3 months of age with laboratory-confirmed pertussis between August 2012 and October 2013 were invited to complete a questionnaire with information on household members' demographics, relationship with the infant, chronology of cough onset where relevant and vaccination history.
Objectives: During the early ('containment') phase of the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, when the severity of the pandemic was unclear, health care workers (HCWs) across the UK were deployed to swab and prescribe antiviral drugs to suspected cases. This study describes the knowledge, attitudes, experience and behaviour of frontline HCWs in Birmingham, West Midlands, during this period.
Methods: During June 2009, a 25-item semi-structured questionnaire was used to survey HCWs who undertook defined clinical duties as part of the public health response during the early phase of the pandemic.
Background: Infants with pertussis infection are at risk of severe clinical illness and death. Several countries, including the United Kingdom, have introduced maternal pertussis vaccination during pregnancy to protect infants from infection following national increases in pertussis notifications. The objective of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination in protecting infants against laboratory-confirmed pertussis infection.
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