Publications by authors named "G Arunkumar"

Asia remains vulnerable to new and emerging infectious diseases. Understanding how to improve next generation sequencing (NGS) use in pathogen surveillance is an urgent priority for regional health security. Here we developed a pathogen genomic surveillance assessment framework to assess capacity in low-resource settings in South and Southeast Asia.

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Background: Inclusion of additional influenza A/H3N2 strains in seasonal influenza vaccines could expand coverage against multiple, antigenically distinct, cocirculating A/H3N2 clades and potentially replace the no longer circulating B/Yamagata strain. We aimed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of three next-generation seasonal influenza mRNA vaccines with different compositions that encode for haemagglutinins of multiple A/H3N2 strains, with or without the B/Yamagata strain, in adults.

Methods: This randomised, open-label, phase 1/2 trial enrolled healthy adults aged 50-75 years across 22 sites in the USA.

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In 2022, mpox virus (MPXV) spread worldwide, causing 99,581 mpox cases in 121 countries. Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine use reduced disease in at-risk populations but failed to deliver complete protection. Lag in manufacturing and distribution of MVA resulted in additional MPXV spread, with 12,000 reported cases in 2023 and an additional outbreak in Central Africa of clade I virus.

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Article Synopsis
  • A research study in Nepal aimed to measure the seroprevalence of COVID-19 and identify risk factors in the general population using two sampling rounds: one in October 2020 and another in July-August 2021.
  • In the first round, seroprevalence was 14.4% nationally, with significant variation between provinces; in the second round, it surged to 70.7%, reflecting increased exposure, especially in Madhesh Province.
  • Gender differences in seroprevalence were minimal, and there were notable disparities across different ecozones, with vaccination efforts starting in January 2021 as the country faced a substantial rise in infection rates.
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