Prevalence Estimation Methods for Time-Dependent Antibody Kinetics of Infected and Vaccinated Individuals: A Markov Chain Approach.

Immune events such as infection, vaccination, and a combination of the two result in distinct time-dependent antibody responses in affected individuals. These responses and event prevalence combine non-trivially to govern antibody levels sampled from a population. Time-dependence and disease prevalence pose considerable modeling challenges that need to be addressed to provide a rigorous mathematical underpinning of the underlying biology.

Contribution of malnutrition to infant and child deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Introduction: Malnutrition contributes to 45% of all childhood deaths globally, but these modelled estimates lack direct measurements in countries with high malnutrition and under-5 mortality rates. We investigated malnutrition's role in infant and child deaths in the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network.

Methods: We analysed CHAMPS data from seven sites (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and South Africa) collected between 2016 and 2023.

A 7-Month Review of Clinical and Demographic Predictors of Childhood Mortality in a Tertiary Children Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Background: Sierra Leone ranks among nations with unacceptably high infant and under-5 mortality rates. Understanding the clinical and demographic dynamics that underpin paediatric mortalities is not only essential but fundamental to the formulation and implementation of effective healthcare interventions that would enhance child survival.

Subjects And Material: This was a 7-month review of all mortalities from May 24th 2021 to December 31st 2021 at Ola During Children's Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid glial fibrillary acidic protein levels in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.

Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) is a rare, multiple malformation/intellectual disability disorder caused by pathogenic variants of DHCR7. DHCR7 catalyzes the reduction of 7-dehydrocholesterol (7DHC) to cholesterol in the final step of cholesterol biosynthesis. This results in accumulation of 7DHC and a cholesterol deficiency.

Neurological Symptoms and Cause of Death Among Young Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Importance: The emergence of acute neurological symptoms in children necessitates immediate intervention. Although low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear the highest burden of neurological diseases, there is a scarcity of diagnostic and therapeutic resources. Therefore, current understanding of the etiology of neurological emergencies in LMICs relies mainly on clinical diagnoses and verbal autopsies.