Facilitators and barriers to maternal immunization and strategies to improve uptake in low-income and lower-middle income countries: A systematic review.

Maternal immunization (MI) is an emerging strategy to combat infant mortality in low-income (LIC) and lower-middle income countries (LMIC). We conducted a systematic review to identify the facilitators and barriers to MI and strategies that improve uptake in LICs and LMICs. We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies published in English from January 1, 2011, to October 31, 2021, from all LICs and LMICs.

Factors influencing vaccine acceptance in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study from West Bengal, India.

Influenza, COVID-19, tetanus, pertussis and hepatitis B pose increased risk for pregnant women and infants and could be mitigated by maternal immunization. In India Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) and COVID-19 vaccines are recommended during pregnancy, while influenza and tetanus-acellular pertussis-diphtheria (Tdap) vaccines are not. We conducted a multicenter study from November 2021 to June 2022 among pregnant women ( = 172) attending antenatal clinics in three public hospitals in West Bengal, to understand the factors that influence women's decisions to get vaccinated during pregnancy.

Technologies for strengthening immunization coverage in India: a systematic review.

Background: Immunization coverage varies across India in different settings, geographic areas and populations. Technologies for improving immunization access can reduce disparities in coverage. This systematic review, which follows PRISMA guidelines, aims to examine the technologies for strengthening immunization coverage in India.

Building the evidence for hepatitis B vaccination programs for students and researchers working with biological samples in Indian Institutes of Higher Education.

Background: Individuals working with biological samples in Indian universities are at risk for occupational exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and may not be vaccinated.

Aim: We documented the need for HBV vaccination in students and others, developed an institutional HBV vaccination program, delivered HBV vaccines, and then assessed the determinants of vaccine uptake.

Methods: Over a year, we conducted a prospective cohort study documenting the need for HBV vaccination in people working with biological materials in a major Indian institution, developed a HBV vaccination program, delivered HBV vaccines, and assessed determinants of vaccine uptake.

Association of nasopharyngeal viruses and pathogenic bacteria in children and their parents with and without HIV.

Background: Bacteria and respiratory viruses co-occur in the nasopharynx, and their interactions may impact pathogenesis of invasive disease. Associations of viruses and bacteria in the nasopharynx may be affected by HIV.

Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study from a larger cohort study of banked nasopharyngeal swabs from families with and without HIV in West Bengal India, to look at the association of viruses and bacteria in the nasopharynx of parents and children when they are asymptomatic.

Determinants of vaccine uptake in HIV-affected families from West Bengal.

Children living with Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV; CLH) have special vaccine needs. Determinants of household-level uptake of vaccines need to be examined in high-risk families with CLH. We previously conducted a study on the impact of type b conjugate vaccine and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) in 125 HIV-affected families and 47 HIV-unaffected families in West Bengal.

Proteomics in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: the quest for biomarkers.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a debilitating chronic progressive and fibrosing lung disease that culminates in the destruction of alveolar integrity and dismal prognosis. Its etiology is unknown and pathophysiology remains unclear. While great advances have been made in elucidating the pathogenesis mechanism, considerable gaps related to information on pathogenetic pathways and key protein targets involved in the clinical course of the disease exist.

Impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on the carriage density of and in children living with HIV: a nested case-control study.

Nasopharyngeal colonization density of (pneumococcus) is associated with disease severity and transmission. Little is known about the density of pneumococcal carriage in children with HIV (CLH). Pneumococcal vaccines may impact the density of pneumococcus and competing microbes within the nasopharynx.

Streptococcus pneumoniae Acquisition and Carriage in Vaccine Naïve Indian Children with HIV and their Parents: A Longitudinal Household Study.

Objectives: To investigate the difference in pneumococcal carriage, acquisition, antibiotic resistance profiles and serotype distribution, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) affected and unaffected families.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted in children with and without HIV in West Bengal from March 2012 through August 2014, prior to 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) immunization. One thousand four hundred forty one nasopharyngeal swabs were collected and cultured at five-time points from children and their parents for pneumococcal culture, and serotyping by Quellung method.

Increased household exposure to respiratory pathogens in HIV exposed uninfected children due to maternal HIV.

Little is known about household exposures to respiratory pathogens in HIV-exposed uninfected children (HEU) in Indian families. This case series investigates the nasopharyngeal carriage of , , and respiratory viruses at multiple points in three mother child pairs: (1) an HIV-infected child and mother, (2) an HEU child and HIV-infected mother, and (3) an HIV-unexposed uninfected (HUU) child and mother. Nasopharyngeal carriage densities of and were higher in mothers and children living in HIV-affected households, regardless of the child's HIV status.

New insights into therapeutic activity and anticancer properties of curcumin.

Natural compounds obtained from plants are capable of garnering considerable attention from the scientific community, primarily due to their ability to check and prevent the onset and progress of cancer. These natural compounds are primarily used due to their nontoxic nature and the fewer side effects they cause compared to chemotherapeutic drugs. Furthermore, such natural products perform even better when given as an adjuvant along with traditional chemotherapeutic drugs, thereby enhancing the potential of chemotherapeutics and simultaneously reducing their undesired side effects.

Serum metabolomics of Indian women with polycystic ovary syndrome using H NMR coupled with a pattern recognition approach.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most commonly occurring metabolic and endocrinological disorders affecting women of reproductive age. Metabolomics is an emerging field that holds promise in understanding disease pathophysiology. Recently, a few metabolomics based studies have been attempted in PCOS patients; however, none of them have included patients from the Indian population.

Membrane-bound IL-12 and IL-23 serve as potent mucosal adjuvants when co-presented on whole inactivated influenza vaccines.

Background: Potent and safe adjuvants are needed to improve the efficacy of parenteral and mucosal vaccines. Cytokines, chemokines and growth factors have all proven to be effective immunomodulatory adjuvants when administered with a variety of antigens. We have previously evaluated the efficacy of membrane-anchored interleukins (IL) such as IL-2 and IL-4 co-presented as Cytokine-bearing Influenza Vaccines (CYT-IVACs) using a mouse model of influenza challenge.

Tailored vaccines targeting the elderly using whole inactivated influenza vaccines bearing cytokine immunomodulators.

Influenza and its complications disproportionately affect the elderly, leading to high morbidity and mortality in this ever-increasing population. Despite widespread vaccination efforts, the current influenza vaccines are less effective in the elderly; hence newer vaccine strategies are needed to improve their efficacy in this age group. We have previously shown that co-presentation of cytokines on the surface of inactivated influenza virus particles affords better protection from lethal homotypic viral challenge in young adult mice than conventional non-adjuvanted whole inactivated vaccine.

Reducing maternal mortality among Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Objective: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) strove to reduce maternal mortality among Afghan refugees in Hangu district of Pakistan by improving access to emergency obstetric care (EmOC), community knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy, and the use of health information.

Methods: IRC established EmOC centers, trained community members on safe motherhood, linked primary health care with education on danger signs of pregnancy and the importance of skilled attendance, and improved the health information system.

Results: The maternal mortality ratio among Afghan refugees in the area improved from 291 per 100000 live births in 2000 to 102 per 100000 live births in 2004.