Confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Scottish neonates 2020-2022: a national, population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To examine neonates in Scotland aged 0-27 days with SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by viral testing; the risk of confirmed neonatal infection by maternal and infant characteristics; and hospital admissions associated with confirmed neonatal infections.

Design: Population-based cohort study.

Setting And Population: All live births in Scotland, 1 March 2020-31 January 2022.

Uptake of infant and preschool immunisations in Scotland and England during the COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study of routinely collected data.

Background: In 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown control measures threatened to disrupt routine childhood immunisation programmes with early reports suggesting uptake would fall. In response, public health bodies in Scotland and England collected national data for childhood immunisations on a weekly or monthly basis to allow for rapid analysis of trends. The aim of this study was to use these data to assess the impact of different phases of the pandemic on infant and preschool immunisation uptake rates.

Rosetting revisited: a critical look at the evidence for host erythrocyte receptors in rosetting.

Malaria remains a major cause of mortality in African children, with no adjunctive treatments currently available to ameliorate the severe clinical forms of the disease. Rosetting, the adhesion of infected erythrocytes (IEs) to uninfected erythrocytes, is a parasite phenotype strongly associated with severe malaria, and hence is a potential therapeutic target. However, the molecular mechanisms of rosetting are complex and involve multiple distinct receptor-ligand interactions, with some similarities to the diverse pathways involved in P.

Antenatal vaccination against Group B streptococcus: attitudes of pregnant women and healthcare professionals in the UK towards participation in clinical trials and routine implementation.

Introduction: Maternal vaccination is increasingly part of antenatal care in the UK and worldwide. Trials of Group B streptococcus vaccines are ongoing. This study investigated the attitudes of pregnant women and healthcare professionals towards antenatal vaccination, both in routine care and a clinical trial setting.

Non-specific immunological effects of selected routine childhood immunisations: systematic review.

Objective:  To identify and characterise non-specific immunological effects after routine childhood vaccines against BCG, measles, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus.

Design:  Systematic review of randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies.

Data Sources:  Embase, PubMed, Cochrane library, and Trip searched between 1947 and January 2014.

Attitudes towards antenatal vaccination, Group B streptococcus and participation in clinical trials: Insights from focus groups and interviews of parents and healthcare professionals.

Introduction: Antenatal vaccination has become a part of routine care during pregnancy in the UK and worldwide, leading to improvements in health for both pregnant women and their infants. However, uptake remains sub-optimal. Other antenatal vaccines targeting major neonatal pathogens, such as Group B streptococcus (GBS), the commonest cause of sepsis and meningitis in the neonatal period, are undergoing clinical trials but more information is needed on how to improve acceptance of such vaccines.

Factors influencing women's attitudes towards antenatal vaccines, group B Streptococcus and clinical trial participation in pregnancy: an online survey.

Objectives: To explore factors influencing the likelihood of antenatal vaccine acceptance of both routine UK antenatal vaccines (influenza and pertussis) and a hypothetical group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine in order to improve understanding of how to optimise antenatal immunisation acceptance, both in routine use and clinical trials.

Setting: An online survey distributed to women of childbearing age in the UK.

Participants: 1013 women aged 18-44 years in England, Scotland and Wales.

Persistence of specific bactericidal antibodies at 5 years of age after vaccination against serogroup B meningococcus in infancy and at 40 months.

Background: The multicomponent serogroup B meningococcal (4CMenB) vaccine induces antibodies against indicator strains of serogroup B meningococcus under various schedules. We investigated the persistence of antibodies in 5-year-old children 18-20 months after their last dose (at about 3.5 years of age).

Persistence of bactericidal antibodies to 5 years of age after immunization with serogroup B meningococcal vaccines at 6, 8, 12 and 40 months of age.

Background: A serogroup B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB) has been licensed by the European commission for use in various infant schedules. However, data are limited on persistence of serum bactericidal antibodies (SBA), which is necessary to inform cost-effectiveness analysis.

Methods: Sera were obtained from 3 groups of 5-year-old children previously immunized at 6, 8, 12 and 40 months with either 4CMenB or rMenB (which lacks the outer membrane vesicle of 4CMenB) or at 40 and 42 months with 4CMenB only.

Will booster doses be required for serogroup B meningococcal vaccine?

The European licensure of 4CMenB, the first vaccine licensed to prevent non-epidemic meningococcal B (MenB) disease, marked an important milestone in the fight against meningococcal disease. However, the potential introduction of 4CMenB into the routine infant schedule is complicated by a number of factors. The recent decline in the number of cases of invasive MenB disease in the UK has important implications for cost effectiveness, though the unpredictable nature of meningococcal disease epidemiology (as evidenced by a recent outbreak in MenB disease at Princeton University) means that it is not clear whether this decline will be sustained.