Vaccine hesitancy: Causes, consequences, and a call to action.

Vaccine hesitancy reflects concerns about the decision to vaccinate oneself or one's children. There is a broad range of factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy, including the compulsory nature of vaccines, their coincidental temporal relationships to adverse health outcomes, unfamiliarity with vaccine-preventable diseases, and lack of trust in corporations and public health agencies. Although vaccination is a norm in the U.

Total aortic arch replacement: A comparative study of zone 0 hybrid arch exclusion versus traditional open repair.

Objective: We attempted to identify predictors of adverse outcomes after traditional open and hybrid zone 0 total aortic arch replacement.

Methods: We performed multivariable analysis using 16 variables to identify predictors of adverse outcomes (mortality, permanent neurologic events, and permanent renal failure necessitating hemodialysis) in 319 consecutive patients who underwent total aortic arch replacement in the past 8.5 years and a subgroup analysis in 25 propensity-matched pairs.

The association of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration with peripheral arterial disease: A meta-analysis of observational studies.

Background And Aims: The association of vitamin D deficiency with cardiovascular disease is controversial. The present meta-analysis was performed to examine if circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were lower in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) when compared to non-PAD controls.

Methods: A comprehensive database search was conducted in Web of science, Scopus, PubMed, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library to identify observational studies reporting 25(OH)D concentrations in PAD patients and non-PAD participants.

Active Surveillance for Adverse Events After a Mass Vaccination Campaign With a Group A Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PsA-TT) in Mali.

Background: The monovalent meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (PsA-TT, MenAfriVac) was developed for use in the "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa. Mali was 1 of 3 countries selected for early introduction. As this is a new vaccine, postlicensure surveillance is particularly important to identify and characterize possible safety issues.

Impact of Statins on Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Medically Attended Acute Respiratory Illness.

Background: Statins have antiinflammatory effects that may impact vaccine-induced immune responses. We investigated the impact of statin therapy on influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) against medically attended acute respiratory illness (MAARI).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study over nine influenza seasons using research databases of a large managed care organization in the United States.

Association of Tdap Vaccination With Acute Events and Adverse Birth Outcomes Among Pregnant Women With Prior Tetanus-Containing Immunizations.

Importance: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends the tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine for pregnant women during each pregnancy, regardless of prior immunization status. However, safety data on repeated Tdap vaccination in pregnancy is lacking.

Objective: To determine whether receipt of Tdap vaccine during pregnancy administered in close intervals from prior tetanus-containing vaccinations is associated with acute adverse events in mothers and adverse birth outcomes in neonates.

MMR vaccination status of children exempted from school-entry immunization mandates.

Background: Child immunizations are one of the most successful public health interventions of the past century. Still, parental vaccine hesitancy is widespread and increasing. One manifestation of this are rising rates of nonmedical or "personal beliefs" exemptions (PBEs) from school-entry immunization mandates.

A systematic review of adverse events following immunization during pregnancy and the newborn period.

In 2013, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) requested WHO to develop a process and a plan to move the maternal immunization agenda forward in support of an increased alignment of data safety evidence, public health needs, and regulatory processes. A key challenge identified was the continued need for harmonization of maternal adverse event following immunization (AEFI) research and surveillance efforts within developing and developed country contexts. We conducted a systematic review as a preliminary step in the development of standardized AEFI definitions for use in maternal and neonatal clinical trials, post-licensure surveillance, and other vaccine studies.

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks in 188 countries, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

Background: The Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor study 2013 (GBD 2013) is the first of a series of annual updates of the GBD. Risk factor quantification, particularly of modifiable risk factors, can help to identify emerging threats to population health and opportunities for prevention. The GBD 2013 provides a timely opportunity to update the comparative risk assessment with new data for exposure, relative risks, and evidence on the appropriate counterfactual risk distribution.

Vaccine Hesitancy: Causes, Consequences, and a Call to Action.

Vaccine hesitancy reflects concerns about the decision to vaccinate oneself or one's children. There is a broad range of factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy, including the compulsory nature of vaccines, their coincidental temporal relationships to adverse health outcomes, unfamiliarity with vaccine-preventable diseases, and lack of trust in corporations and public health agencies. Although vaccination is a norm in the U.

Influenza vaccine acceptance among pregnant women in urban slum areas, Karachi, Pakistan.

Background: Facilitators and barriers to influenza vaccination among pregnant women in the developing world are poorly understood, particularly in South Asia. We assessed intention to accept influenza vaccine among ethnically diverse low-income pregnant women in Pakistan.

Methods: From May to August 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of pregnant women who visited health centers in urban slums in Karachi city.

The Beneficial Effect of Cape Gooseberry Juice on Carbon Tetrachloride- Induced Neuronal Damage.

Objective: Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) belongs to the Solanaceae family. Physalis has many medicinal properties however, the beneficial effect of physalis in protecting against neurotoxins has not yet been evaluated.

Impact of Gender-Specific Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Recommendations on Uptake of Other Adolescent Vaccines: Analysis of the NIS-Teen (2008-2012).

In the United States, human papillomavirus vaccination was routinely recommended for adolescent females in 2006 and provisionally recommended for adolescent males in 2009. We evaluated the hypothesis that gender-specific human papillomavirus vaccination recommendations would impact gender-specific uptake of other vaccines using National Immunization Survey-Teen public use data sets (2008-2012). Female adolescents had higher coverage than males of at least 1 other adolescent vaccine in 2008 (3.

The Effectiveness of a Patient-Centred Assessment with a Solution-Focused Approach (DIALOG+) for Patients with Psychosis: A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomised Controlled Trial in Community Care.

Background: DIALOG+ was developed as a computer-mediated intervention, consisting of a structured assessment of patients' concerns combined with a solution-focused approach to initiate change. This study tested the effectiveness of DIALOG+ in the community treatment of patients with psychosis.

Method: This was a pragmatic, exploratory, parallel-group, cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Three randomized trials of maternal influenza immunization in Mali, Nepal, and South Africa: Methods and expectations.

Influenza infection in pregnancy can have adverse impacts on maternal, fetal, and infant outcomes. Influenza vaccination in pregnancy is an appealing strategy to protect pregnant women and their infants. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is supporting three large, randomized trials in Nepal, Mali, and South Africa evaluating the efficacy and safety of maternal immunization to prevent influenza disease in pregnant women and their infants <6 months of age.

Improving influenza and Tdap vaccination during pregnancy: A cluster-randomized trial of a multi-component antenatal vaccine promotion package in late influenza season.

Background: Evidence-based interventions to improve influenza vaccine coverage among pregnant women are needed, particularly among those who remain unvaccinated late into the influenza season. Improving rates of antenatal tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination is also needed.

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of a practice-, provider-, and patient-focused influenza and Tdap vaccine promotion package on improving antenatal influenza and Tdap vaccination in the obstetric setting.

Delivering a "dose of hope": a faith-based program to increase older african americans' participation in clinical trials.

Background: Underrepresentation of older-age racial and ethnic minorities in clinical research is a significant barrier to health in the United States, as it impedes medical research advancement of effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Objective: The objective of the study was to develop and test the feasibility of a community-developed faith-based intervention and evaluate its potential to increase the number of older African Americans in clinical research.

Methods: Using a cluster-randomized design, we worked with six matched churches to enroll at least 210 persons.

Measuring the hepatic venous pressure gradient in the upper digestive hemorrhages.

The upper digestive hemorrhage is one of the main causes of mortality from liver cirrhosis (CH). The measurement of the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) by angiographic way can be used for the determination of the risk of hemorrhage. The aim of this study is to verify the influence of the HVPG measurement upon the survival in patients with CH and upper digestive hemorrhage.

Assessing providers' vaccination behaviors during routine immunization in India.

Progress has been made toward improving routine immunization coverage in India, but universal coverage has not been achieved. Little is known about how providers' vaccination behaviors affect coverage rates. The purpose of this study was to identify provider behaviors that served as barriers to vaccination that could lead to missed opportunities to vaccinate.

Factors Associated with Intention to Receive Influenza and Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Acellular Pertussis (Tdap) Vaccines during Pregnancy: A Focus on Vaccine Hesitancy and Perceptions of Disease Severity and Vaccine Safety.

Background: Improving influenza and tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine coverage among pregnant women is needed.

Purpose: To assess factors associated with intention to receive influenza and/or Tdap vaccinations during pregnancy with a focus on perceptions of influenza and pertussis disease severity and influenza vaccine safety.

Methods: Participants were 325 pregnant women in Georgia recruited from December 2012 - April 2013 who had not yet received a 2012/2013 influenza vaccine or a Tdap vaccine while pregnant.

Reprint of: Reoperations on the total aortic arch in 119 patients: short- and mid-term outcomes, focusing on composite adverse outcomes and survival analysis.

Objectives: To determine the preoperative and perioperative risk factors that significantly predict adverse outcomes after total arch replacement in patients with previous proximal aortic surgery and to analyze patient survival.

Methods: We performed univariate analysis and logistic regression on data extracted from a prospectively maintained database for 119 patients who had undergone total arch operations during a 7.5-year period.

Improved Plasmids for Fluorescent Protein Tagging of Microtubules in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The ability to fluorescently label microtubules in live cells has enabled numerous studies of motile and mitotic processes. Such studies are particularly useful in budding yeast owing to the ease with which they can be genetically manipulated and imaged by live cell fluorescence microscopy. Because of problems associated with fusing genes encoding fluorescent proteins (FPs) to the native α-tubulin (TUB1) gene, the FP-Tub1 fusion is generally integrated into the genome such that the endogenous TUB1 locus is left intact.