Retrospective Analysis of RSV Infection in Pediatric Patients: Epidemiology, Comorbidities, Treatment, and Costs in Dubai (2014-2023).

Infections attributable to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are a major cause of hospitalization among young children worldwide. Despite substantial clinical and economic burden, real-world data associated with RSV infections in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are limited. This study aimed to assess among children (<18 years) diagnosed with RSV the epidemiology, seasonality, comorbidities, treatment patterns, length of hospital stay, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and costs associated with pediatric infection in Dubai, UAE.

National recommendations for adult pneumococcal vaccination in countries of the WHO regions of Americas, Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asia, and Western Pacific.

Background: Adults who are elderly or who have underlying health conditions are at particular risk of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections, and pneumococcal vaccines are available. Nonetheless, only national recommendations from countries of North America and Europe have been previously reviewed in the literature.

Methods: Consequently, we aimed to collate national guidelines for adult pneumococcal immunization across the 161 countries within the World Health Organization (WHO) regions-the Americas (except Canada and the United States of America), Africa, Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asia, and Western Pacific-from country-level official websites and documents, from the WHO portal, and from direct contact with public health officials, pertinent governmental sources, or local vaccination experts.

Nasopharyngeal carriage of among children aged 30 days to <60 months in Beijing and Shenzhen, China (2018-2021) during pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Objectives: To describe the carriage rate, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of () nasopharyngeal (NP) isolates among healthy children aged 30 days to <60 months in the cities of Beijing and Shenzhen during 2018-2021.

Methods: A NP swab sample was collected among four annual cohorts of healthy children at routine well-child visits. was identified by culture, optochin sensitivity and bile solubility, serotypes determined by latex agglutination and Quellung, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing performed using E-test strips.

Adult indication 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine clinical development overview: formulation, safety, immunogenicity (dosing and sequence), coadministration, and efficacy.

Introduction: There was no 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) adult antibody concentration threshold regulatory criterion for licensure - unlike the pediatric indication; consequently, for the adult indication, PCV13 serotype-specific opsonophagocytic activity (OPA) geometric mean titer (GMT) values were immunobridged to the 23-valent plain polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) to infer efficacy against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Subsequently, a double-blind, randomized, controlled PCV13 efficacy trial (CAPiTA) was performed in community-living, older adults to confirm efficacy against vaccine-serotype IPD (VT-IPD) and establish efficacy against vaccine-serotype pneumococcal community-acquired pneumonia (VT-CAP).

Areas Covered: This article summarizes 31 publications from the PCV13 adult indication clinical development trials and other PCV13 clinical studies, organized by formulation, reactogenicity and safety, immunogenicity, coadministration, and clinical efficacy.

Serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease from countries of the WHO Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific regions: a systematic literature review from 2010 to 2021.

Background: Most publications on invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) serotype distribution are from about 20 countries (Australia, Canada, China, European Union members, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and USA). Here, we reviewed the literature among underrepresented countries in the Americas (AMRO), Africa (AFRO), Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO) WHO regions.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of the most recent IPD serotype surveillance publications (from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2021, Medline/Embase) in those WHO regions.

The burden of Clostridioides difficile infections in South-East Asia and the Western Pacific: A narrative review.

Background: Clostridioides difficile (formerly Clostridium difficile) is well-documented in Europe and North America to be a common cause of healthcare-associated gastrointestinal tract infections. In contrast, C difficile infection (CDI) is infrequently reported in literature from Asia, which may reflect a lack of clinician awareness. We conducted a narrative review to better understand CDI burden in Asia.

Retrospective database analysis for clinical diagnoses commonly associated with pneumococcal diseases in the Malaysian healthcare system over a 3-year period (2013-2015).

Background: Pneumococcal disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important cause of morbidity and mortality across all ages, particularly in younger children and older adults. Here, we describe pneumococcal disease hospitalizations at Ministry of Health (MoH) facilities in Malaysia between 2013 and 2015.

Methods: This was a retrospective databases analysis.

Outcomes among Thai children with risk conditions hospitalized for pneumococcal disease (invasive or non-bacteraemic pneumonia): A multi-centre, observational study.

Objective: To describe the risk condition status and clinical outcomes among Thai children hospitalized with pneumococcal disease.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, children with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) or x-ray-confirmed non-bacteraemic pneumococcal pneumonia (NBPP) were identified from nine hospitals in Thailand between 2010 and 2019. Data on risk factors and outcomes were extracted from medical records.

Incidence of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe: A Systematic Review (2005-2020).

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in Europe, but the burden of disease is incompletely described. We conducted a systematic review across PubMed, EMBASE, and CABI Direct (Global Health) databases, from January 1, 2005, to November 20, 2020, of epidemiological studies reporting incidence of LB in Europe (PROSPERO, CRD42021236906). The systematic review yielded 61 unique articles describing LB incidence (national or subnational) in 25 European countries.

Incidence of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe from National Surveillance Systems (2005-2020).

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne disease in Europe. To inform European intervention strategies, including vaccines under development, we conducted a systematic review for LB incidence. We searched publicly available surveillance data reporting LB incidence in Europe from 2005 to 2020.

Seroprevalence of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe: Results from a Systematic Literature Review (2005-2020).

Lyme borreliosis (LB), a tick bite-transmitted infection caused by () complex spirochetes, is the most common tickborne disease in Europe. Studies in European countries have reported LB seroprevalence (prevalence of antibodies to infection) and diagnostic strategies used for testing. We conducted a systematic literature review to summarize contemporary LB seroprevalence in Europe.

Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Lyme Disease Data and Seropositivity for Borrelia burgdorferi, China, 2005‒2020.

Since its initial identification in 1986, Lyme disease has been clinically diagnosed in 29 provinces in China; however, national incidence data are lacking. To summarize Lyme disease seropositivity data among persons across China, we conducted a systematic literature review of Chinese- and English-language journal articles published during 2005‒2020. According to 72 estimates that measured IgG by using a diagnostic enzyme-linked assay (EIA) alone, the seropositivity point prevalence with a fixed-effects model was 9.

Correction: Theilacker et al. PCV13 Vaccination of Adults against Pneumococcal Disease: What We Have Learned from the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Immunization Trial in Adults (CAPiTA). 2022, , 127.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...

PCV13 Vaccination of Adults against Pneumococcal Disease: What We Have Learned from the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Immunization Trial in Adults (CAPiTA).

The Community-Acquired Pneumonia immunization Trial in Adults (CAPiTA) evaluated older adult pneumococcal vaccination and was one of the largest vaccine clinical trials ever conducted. Among older adults aged ≥65 years, the trial established 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) efficacy in preventing first episodes of bacteremic and nonbacteremic pneumococcal vaccine serotype (VT) community acquired pneumonia (CAP), and of vaccine serotype invasive pneumococcal disease (VT-IPD). Since the publication of the original trial results, 15 additional publications have extended the analyses.

Vaccine-Preventable Disease Incidence Based on Clinically, Radiologically, and Etiologically Confirmed Outcomes: Systematic Literature Review and Re-analysis of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Efficacy Trials.

Background: Vaccine regulatory decision making is based on vaccine efficacy against etiologically confirmed outcomes, which may underestimate the preventable disease burden. To quantify this underestimation, we compared vaccine-preventable disease incidence (VPDI) of clinically defined outcomes with radiologically/etiologically confirmed outcomes.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of efficacy trials for several vaccines (1997-2019) and report results for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.

Impact of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on laboratory-confirmed pneumococcal meningitis and purulent meningitis among children ˂5 years in Cameroon, 2011-2018.

Background: The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) entered Cameroon's childhood national immunization programme (NIP) in July 2011 under a 3-dose schedule (6, 10, 14 weeks of age) without any catch-up. We described the impact of PCV13 onserotype distribution among pneumococcal meningitis cases over time.

Methods: We used laboratory-based sentinel surveillance data to identify meningitis cases among 2- to 59-month-old children with clinically-suspected bacterial meningitis (CSBM) admitted to hospitals in Yaoundé (August 2011-December 2018).

Diabetes mellitus as a vaccine-effect modifier: a review.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a highly prevalent, chronic condition in adults worldwide. Little is known about the potential role of diabetes as an effect modifier of vaccine protective responses.

Areas Covered: We conducted a literature review of the immunogenicity, efficacy and effectiveness of immunization in individuals, in studies that compared subjects with DM (DM+) and without DM (DM-).

The Optical Effective Attenuation Coefficient as an Informative Measure of Brain Health in Aging.

Aging is accompanied by widespread changes in brain tissue. Here, we hypothesized that head tissue opacity to near-infrared light provides information about the health status of the brain's cortical mantle. In diffusive media such as the head, opacity is quantified through the Effective Attenuation Coefficient (EAC), which is proportional to the geometric mean of the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients.

Age-related differences in functional brain network segregation are consistent with a cascade of cerebrovascular, structural, and cognitive effects.

Age-related declines in cognition are associated with widespread structural and functional brain changes, including changes in resting-state functional connectivity and gray and white matter status. Recently we have shown that the elasticity of cerebral arteries also explains some of the variance in cognitive and brain health in aging. Here, we investigated how network segregation, cerebral arterial elasticity (measured with pulse-DOT-the arterial pulse based on diffuse optical tomography) and gray and white matter status jointly account for age-related differences in cognitive performance.