Long-Term Kidney Outcome of Lupus Nephritis by Renal Response Status.

Introduction: Limited evidence exists that clinical trial treatment response criteria predict long-term outcomes in Asian patients with lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: This retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the Hong Kong Queen Mary Hospital Cohort categorized adults with biopsy-proven LN (Class III, IV, V, or mixed [III ± V, IV ± V]) after standard treatment for 2 years postbiopsy and immunosuppression induction according to modified primary efficacy renal response (mPERR: estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥ 60 ml/min per 1.73 m or ≤ 20% below biopsy value AND urine protein-to-creatinine ratio [uPCR] ≤ 0.

Renal response status to predict long-term renal survival in patients with lupus nephritis: results from the Toronto Lupus Cohort.

Objective: To evaluate modified versions of the Belimumab International Study in Lupus Nephritis (BLISS-LN) belimumab study primary efficacy renal response (mPERR) and complete renal response (mCRR) criteria (excluding mandatory corticosteroid tapering) as predictors of real-world, long-term renal outcomes among patients with lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods: This retrospective, observational study (GSK Study 212866) used deidentified data between 1970 and 2015 from the University of Toronto Lupus Cohort from adults diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus and biopsy-proven Class III±V, IV±V or V LN. At 24 months postbiopsy, patients were retrospectively indexed as responders/non-responders based on mPERR (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≤20% below biopsy value/≥60 mL/min/1.

Real-world effectiveness of belimumab in patients with lupus in China: RELIABLE observational cohort study protocol.

Introduction: The efficacy of belimumab in SLE has been demonstrated in randomised clinical trials, and its real-world effectiveness has been shown in studies in several countries. While belimumab was approved for treating SLE in China in 2019, data on its benefit in clinical practice are limited. This study will evaluate belimumab's effectiveness in China, using practical clinical measures, such as Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS), to add to the body of real-world evidence.

Hospital Healthcare Resource Utilization and Associated Hospital Costs of Patients With Lupus Nephritis in China: A National Administrative Claim Database Study.

Objectives: Assess hospital healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and associated hospital costs of patients with lupus nephritis (LN) in China and compare these outcomes with a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort (SLE with/without LN) as well as exploring the effect of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).

Methods: This retrospective administrative claims-based analysis identified patients with SLE and SLE with LN from China using diagnosis codes and keywords. Patients with LN were subcategorized by presence of ESKD.

Healthcare Costs and Utilization for Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in China: A National Claims Database Study.

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and healthcare costs associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) management in China from the patient's and the payer's perspective.

Methods: HCRU and medical costs (2017 US dollar [USD]) between January 1 and December 31, 2017, were extracted from the national medical insurance claims database, China Health Insurance Research Association (consisting of claims from all public health insurance schemes in China), for adults with ≥ 1 SLE-related claim. The main analysis group comprised all adults with an SLE diagnosis and claim during 2017 (overall group); the annual subgroup (SLE diagnosis and claim in January 2017) informed annual HCRU and costs.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Concerning Maternal Immunization Among Pregnant/Postpartum Women and Health Care Professionals in Peru.

Introduction: For pregnant women, vaccination with inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) and tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) is recommended. In Peru, uptake is nonetheless low. A study was conducted to identify factors affecting maternal vaccination coverage.

Belimumab use during pregnancy: a summary of birth defects and pregnancy loss from belimumab clinical trials, a pregnancy registry and postmarketing reports.

Objective: Describe available data on birth defects and pregnancy loss in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) exposed to belimumab.

Methods: Data collected from belimumab clinical trials, the Belimumab Pregnancy Registry (BPR), and postmarketing/spontaneous reports up to 8 March 2020 were described. Belimumab exposure timing, concomitant medications and potential confounding factors were summarised descriptively.

Belimumab use during pregnancy: Interim results of the belimumab pregnancy registry.

Background: Belimumab is approved for active, autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis, but limited data exist regarding its use in pregnancy. The Belimumab Pregnancy Registry (BPR, GSK Study BEL114256; NCT01532310) was created to evaluate pregnancy and infant outcomes following belimumab exposure.

Methods: Individuals with SLE exposed to belimumab from 4 months before and/or during pregnancy can enroll into the BPR.

Incidence and Mortality Trends of Acute Gastroenteritis and Pneumococcal Disease in Children Following Universal Rotavirus and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccination in Ecuador.

Introduction: Ecuador introduced routine infant rotavirus (RV) vaccination in 2008 and pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV) in 2011 to manage disease and mortality in children caused by gastroenteritis (GE) and by pneumonia (PNE) and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), respectively.

Methods: This retrospective ecological database study described vaccination coverage as well as the trends in incidence and mortality in the pre- versus post-vaccination periods and used time-trend analysis models to assess the impact of vaccination.

Results: RV vaccination coverage of the second dose was between 79-97% from 2008 to 2016.

Acute Gastroenteritis Morbidity and Mortality Trends Following Universal Rotavirus Vaccination in Children in Peru: Ecological Database Study with Time-Trend Analysis.

Introduction: Rotavirus (RV) infection is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in children worldwide. It is responsible for around 25% of gastroenteritis (GE) cases, 33% of hospitalized GE cases, and an annual mortality rate of 113.4/100,000 in children < 5 years of age in Peru.

Burden of Seasonal Influenza A and B in Panama from 2011 to 2017: An Observational Retrospective Database Study.

Introduction: Influenza A and B viruses constantly evolve and cause seasonal epidemics and sporadic outbreaks. Therefore, epidemiological surveillance is critical for monitoring their circulation pattern. Trivalent and quadrivalent vaccine formulations are available in Panama (until and since 2016, respectively).

Pertussis infant morbidity and mortality trends after universal maternal immunisation in Mexico: An ecological database study with time-series analysis.

Introduction: Pertussis is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis and a leading cause of infant mortality in Mexico. The Tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine was recommended in the Mexican Immunisation Programme for pregnant women in 2013. We describe pertussis morbidity and mortality trends in infants ≤2 and ≤12 months of age), before and after maternal Tdap immunisation implementation in Mexico.

Incidence and mortality of pertussis disease in infants <12 months of age following introduction of pertussis maternal universal mass vaccination in Bogotá, Colombia.

Background: Maternal immunization with tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine confers protection to young infants. We aimed to describe trends in pertussis incidence and associated mortality in children aged <12 months before and after introduction of maternal Tdap immunization in Bogotá, Colombia.

Methods: Data on pertussis-related cases/deaths in infants aged <12 months were collected from SIVIGILA for the period 2005-2016, and compared incidence for the pre-vaccine introduction (2005-2012) and post-maternal Tdap vaccination (2014-2016) periods in infants aged <12 months and in three distinct age-strata; ≤6 weeks, 7-<28 weeks, and 28-52 weeks.

Trends in all-cause pneumonia and otitis media in children aged <2 years following pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Colombia.

In Colombia, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) were implemented into the infant universal mass vaccination program in a stepwise manner; PCV-7 between 2009 and 2011 in different geographic regions/cities, with nationwide introduction of a 10-valent vaccine (PHiD-CV) in 2012. We aimed to describe trends in all-cause pneumonia mortality and overall mortality, and in the incidence of all-cause pneumonia and otitis media (OM) in Colombian children <2 y (y = years) of age, before and after PCV introduction. We obtained mortality and incidence data, nationally and for five major cities (Bogota, Medellin, Barranquilla, Cali and Cartagena) from 2005-2016 and 2008-2016, respectively, comparing mortality and incidence proportions in the post-PCV introduction period with those in the pre-PCV period.

Highlights of an Expert Advisory Board on Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (AE-COPD) in Latin America.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a preventable and usually progressive lung disease that affects millions of people worldwide and is the sixth leading cause of death in the Americas. Viral and bacterial respiratory tract infections and air pollution may cause acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) ranging from mild, moderate to severe. The greatest proportion of the overall COPD burden on the health system is due to disease exacerbations.

Barriers to vaccination in Latin America: A systematic literature review.

Current vaccination coverage rates in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are lower than the region-wide rates set by the Pan American Health Organization. To improve vaccination uptake, it is crucial to identify barriers to vaccination. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify the key barriers to vaccination in the LAC region, and to classify and quantify factors affecting vaccination coverage using the barrier categories outlined by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) working group.

Vaccine coverage and compliance in Mexico with the two-dose and three-dose rotavirus vaccines.

Worldwide, rotavirus infection has been a leading cause of severe diarrhea morbidity and mortality. Two rotavirus vaccines have been used in the National Immunization Program (NIP) in Mexico; two-dose from 2006 to 2011 and three-dose since 2011. This study assessed coverage (receiving at least one dose or full dose series) in eligible infants, compliance (% completing dose series and % completing series on schedule) in eligible infants vaccinated with (2010) versus (2012), using Mexican Social Security Institute data nationwide and by regions.

Association of water quality with soil-transmitted helminthiasis and diarrhea in Nueva Santa Rosa, Guatemala, 2010.

Improved water quality reduces diarrhea, but the impact of improved water quality on Ascaris and Trichuris, soil-transmitted helminths (STH) conveyed by the fecal-oral route, is less well described. To assess water quality associations with diarrhea and STH, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in households of south-eastern Guatemala. Diarrhea was self-reported in the past week and month.

Effects of community-based sales of micronutrient powders on morbidity episodes in preschool children in Western Kenya.

Background: Although the use of micronutrient powders (MNPs) is considered the preferred approach for childhood anemia control, concerns about iron-related morbidity from clinical trials have challenged programmatic scale-up.

Objective: We aimed to measure the effects of community-based sales of MNPs on diarrhea-, fever-, cough-, and malaria-morbidity episodes in children 6-35 mo of age.

Design: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in rural Western Kenya where 60 villages were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding rabies and exposure to bats in two rural communities in Guatemala.

Background: Rabies is a fatal encephalitis caused by rabies virus, of the genus Lyssavirus. The principal reservoir for rabies in Latin America is the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), which feeds routinely on the blood of cattle, and when livestock are scarce, may prey on other mammals, including humans. Although rabies is endemic in common vampire bat populations in Guatemala, there is limited research on the extent of exposure to bats among human populations living near bat refuges.

Genetic Evidence of Importation of Drug-Resistant Plasmodium falciparum to Guatemala from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Imported malaria threatens control and elimination efforts in countries that have low rates of transmission. In 2010, an outbreak of Plasmodium falciparum malaria was reported among United Nations peacekeeping soldiers from Guatemala who had recently returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Epidemiologic evidence suggested that the soldiers were infected in the DRC, but local transmission could not be ruled out in all cases.

Importation of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum by Guatemalan peacekeepers returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Background: Malaria elimination is being pursued in five of seven Central American countries. Military personnel returning from peacekeeping missions in sub-Saharan Africa could import chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum, posing a threat to elimination and to the continued efficacy of first-line chloroquine (CQ) treatment in these countries. This report describes the importation of P.

National outbreak of type a foodborne botulism associated with a widely distributed commercially canned hot dog chili sauce.

Background: On 7 and 11 July 2007, health officials in Texas and Indiana, respectively, reported 4 possible cases of type A foodborne botulism to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Foodborne botulism is a rare and sometimes fatal illness caused by consuming foods containing botulinum neurotoxin.

Methods: Investigators reviewed patients' medical charts and food histories.