Geospatial distribution of Hepatitis E seroprevalence in Nepal, 2021.

Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes acute jaundice and poses an important public health problem in low- and middle-income countries. Limited surveillance capacity and suboptimal access to diagnostics leads to under-reporting of HEV infections in affected countries, including Nepal. Serum antibodies against HEV are indicative of past infection.

HYDIN variants cause primary ciliary dyskinesia in the Finnish population.

Introduction: Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by chronic respiratory tract infections and in some cases laterality defects and infertility. The symptoms of PCD are caused by malfunction of motile cilia, hair-like organelles protruding out of the cell. Thus far, disease causing variants in over 50 genes have been identified and these variants explain around 70% of all known cases.

Statistical considerations on real time and extended controlled temperature conditions (ECTC) stability data analysis of vaccines.

Background: Although maintaining vaccines in a strict cold chain has cost and logistical implications in low- and middle-income countries, only a few vaccines have obtained approval for extended controlled temperature conditions (ECTC) application, which permits the administration of vaccines after storage outside of the cold chain for a defined period. We developed a methodology to evaluate stability data and calculate minimum release potency (MRP) in support of ECTC application.

Methods: The methodology is focused on statistical considerations consisting of stability data collection, statistical analysis plan, statistical modelling, and statistical report.

Single Ad26.COV2.S booster dose following two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults: Day 28 results of a phase 1/2 open-label trial.

Background: The inactivated COVID-19 whole-virus vaccine BBIBP-CorV has been extensively used worldwide. Heterologous boosting after primary vaccination can induce higher immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 than homologous boosting. The safety and immunogenicity after 28 days of a single Ad26.

mutation causing primary ciliary dyskinesia in Finland.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare genetic condition characterized by chronic respiratory tract infections and in some cases laterality defects and infertility. The symptoms of PCD are caused by malfunction of motile cilia, hair-like organelles protruding out of the cell that are responsible for removal of mucus from the airways and organizing internal organ positioning during embryonic development. PCD is caused by mutations in genes coding for structural or assembly proteins in motile cilia.

Seroepidemiological Reconstruction of Long-term Chikungunya Virus Circulation in Burkina Faso and Gabon.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a major public health concern worldwide. However, infection levels are rarely known, especially in Africa. We recruited individuals from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Lambaréné, Gabon (age range, 1-55 years), tested their blood for CHIKV antibodies, and used serocatalytic models to reconstruct epidemiological histories.

Changes in variability during intervention for childhood apraxia of speech: implications for therapy.

Typically developing children are variable in their speech production with decreasing variability indicating mastery of speech. Excessive variability which does not change over time may be an indication of unstable motor plans as often seen in children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) provides a framework for understanding the role of variability in speech development and disorder.

Emergency department childhood anaphylaxis presentations in regional/remote Australia.

Aim: Explore the prevalence of childhood anaphylaxis and clinical presentation of anaphylaxis in children across two regional emergency departments over a 7-year period.

Methods: Retrospective audit of all children (0-18 years) presenting to emergency from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2016 with anaphylaxis, defined by Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy definitions and doctor diagnosis.

Results: Seven hundred and twenty-four patients were identified with allergic diagnosis, 60% were diagnosed with non-anaphylaxis allergic reactions or unspecified urticaria and 40% with anaphylaxis (n = 286).

Dengue virus seroprevalence study in Bangphae district, Ratchaburi, Thailand: A cohort study in 2012-2015.

Background: To determine the seroprevalence and transmission dynamics of dengue virus (DENV), age-stratified longitudinal serological surveys were conducted in Bangphae district, Ratchaburi province, Thailand, for 3 years between April 2012 and April 2015.

Methodology: The surveys enrolled 2012 healthy children and adults between 1 and 55 years-of-age, and a longitudinal serosurvey of six repeated bleeds of the same cohort of individuals was conducted every 8 months for the first 2 years (M0, M8, M16) and every half a year (M24, M30, M36) for the rest of the study period. All samples were tested using in-house indirect sandwich dengue IgG ELISA to determine DENV antibody titer, and 640 paired samples which showed rising of DENV IgG titers in paired serum were further tested using in-house neutralization assay, Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT50).

Oral Cholera Vaccine Efficacy and Effectiveness.

Although measuring vaccine efficacy through the conventional phase III study design, randomized, double-blinded controlled trial serves as the "gold standard", effectiveness studies, conducted in the context of a public health program, seek to broaden the understanding of the impact of a vaccine in a real world setting including both individual and population level impacts. Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium . Since the 1980s, either killed or live oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) have been developed and efficacy and effectiveness studies have been conducted on OCV.

Prevalence of autoimmune conditions in pregnant women in a tertiary maternity hospital: A cross-sectional survey and maternity database review.

Background: Autoimmune conditions are associated with adverse pregnancy and offspring outcomes; however, the prevalence in pregnant women is not well understood. Estimates based on administrative data alone may underestimate prevalence.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of women attending a tertiary referral hospital for antenatal care in December 2018-February 2019 and review of the hospital's maternity database of women giving birth from October 2017-June 2018 to estimate autoimmune disease prevalence.

Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics associated with dengue fever in 2011-2016 in Bang Phae district, Ratchaburi province, Thailand.

Background: Dengue is a major public health problem in Thailand, but data are often focused on certain dengue-endemic areas. Methods: To better understand dengue epidemiology and clinical characteristics in Thailand, a fever surveillance study was conducted among patients aged 1-55 years, who presented with non-localized febrile illness at Bang Phae Community Hospital in Ratchaburi province, Thailand from October 2011 to September 2016.

Results: Among 951 febrile episodes, 130 were dengue-confirmed.

Cancer stem cell characteristics and their potential as therapeutic targets.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a tumour subpopulation whose capacity for self-renewal, differentiation and proliferation generates unfavourable patient outcomes, including therapeutic resistance and metastasis. Much research has focused on the generation, biomarkers and therapeutic resistance of CSCs, as well as the development of CSC-targeted therapies. Reviews to date have either addressed general CSC characteristics or focused on CSCs from a well-studied cancer.

Pathogens That Cause Acute Febrile Illness Among Children and Adolescents in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, and Sudan.

Background: The etiology and optimal clinical management of acute febrile illness (AFI) is poorly understood.

Methods: Blood samples taken from study participants with acute fever (≥37.5°C) or a history of fever and recruited into the previous Typhoid Fever Surveillance in Africa (TSAP) study were evaluated using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based TaqMan-Array Card designed to detect a panel of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens.

Estimating force of infection from serologic surveys with imperfect tests.

Background: The force of infection, or the rate at which susceptible individuals become infected, is an important public health measure for assessing the extent of outbreaks and the impact of control programs.

Methods And Findings: We present Bayesian methods for estimating force of infection using serological surveys of infections which produce a lasting immune response, accounting for imperfections of the test, and uncertainty in such imperfections. In this estimation, the sensitivity and specificity can either be fixed, or belief distributions of their values can be elicited to allow for uncertainty.

Epidemiology of dengue fever in Gabon: Results from a health facility-based fever surveillance in Lambaréné and its surroundings.

Background: In Africa, information on dengue is limited to outbreak reports and focused on some countries with continuing transmission in West and East Africa. To estimate the proportion of dengue-positive cases among febrile patients and identify clinical indicators of dengue cases, we conducted passive facility-based fever surveillance in a catchment area population of 70,000 residents of Lambaréné and its surroundings in Gabon.

Methods: Non-malarial febrile patients with current fever or history of fever (≤7 days) between 1 and 55 years of age, were enrolled at Albert Schweitzer Hospital (ASH).

Maternal autoimmunity and inflammation are associated with childhood tics and obsessive-compulsive disorder: Transcriptomic data show common enriched innate immune pathways.

Although genetic variation is a major risk factor of neurodevelopmental disorders, environmental factors during pregnancy and early life are also important in disease expression. Animal models demonstrate that maternal inflammation causes fetal neuroinflammation and neurodevelopmental deficits, and brain transcriptomics of neurodevelopmental disorders in humans show upregulated differentially expressed genes are enriched in immune pathways. We prospectively recruited 200 sequentially referred children with tic disorders/obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 100 autoimmune neurological controls, and 100 age-matched healthy controls.

Estimating the Force of Infection for Dengue Virus Using Repeated Serosurveys, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Because of limited data on dengue virus in Burkina Faso, we conducted 4 consecutive age-stratified longitudinal serologic surveys, ≈6 months apart, among persons 1-55 years of age, during June 2015-March 2017, which included a 2016 outbreak. The seroconversion rate before the serosurvey enrollment was estimated by binomial regression, taking age as the duration of exposure, and assuming constant force of infection (FOI) over age and calendar time. We calculated FOI between consecutive surveys and rate ratios for potentially associated characteristics based on seroconversion using the duration of intervals.

The prevalence, risk factors, and psychosocial impacts of acne vulgaris in medical students: a literature review.

Affecting approximately 9.4% of the population worldwide, acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. Medical students are exposed to higher levels of stress and have a higher prevalence of acne.

Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics associated with dengue fever in Mombasa, Kenya.

Objectives: Information on dengue in Africa is limited. To estimate the proportion of dengue-positive cases among febrile patients and describe clinical indicators of dengue, we conducted passive health facility-based fever surveillance in Mombasa, Kenya.

Methods: Non-malarial febrile patients between one and 55 years were enrolled at three health facilities between March 2016 and May 2017.

The epidemiology of dengue outbreaks in 2016 and 2017 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Background: Dengue is prevalent in as many as 128 countries with more than 100 million clinical episodes reported annually and four billion people estimated to be at risk. While dengue fever is systematically diagnosed in large parts of Asia and South America, the disease burden in Africa is less well investigated. This report describes two consecutive dengue outbreaks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2016 and 2017.