Structured, multicomponent, community-based programme for women's health and infant health and development in rural Vietnam: a parallel-group cluster randomised controlled trial.

Background: Interventions to improve early childhood development have previously addressed only one or a few risk factors. Learning Clubs is a structured, facilitated, multicomponent programme designed to address eight potentially modifiable risk factors, and offered from mid-pregnancy to 12 months post partum; we aimed to establish whether this programme could improve the cognitive development of children at 2 years of age.

Methods: For this parallel-group cluster-randomised controlled trial, 84 of 116 communes (the clustering unit) in HaNam Province in rural Vietnam were randomly selected and randomly assigned to receive the Learning Clubs intervention (n=42) or usual care (n=42).

Unequal distribution of genetically-intact HIV-1 proviruses in cells expressing the immune checkpoint markers PD-1 and/or CTLA-4.

Introduction: HIV-1 persists in resting CD4 T-cells despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). Determining the cell surface markers that enrich for genetically-intact HIV-1 genomes is vital in developing targeted curative strategies. Previous studies have found that HIV-1 proviral DNA is enriched in CD4 T-cells expressing the immune checkpoint markers programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) or cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein-4 (CTLA-4).

Healthcare seeking during travel: an analysis by the GeoSentinel surveillance network of travel medicine providers.

Background: International travellers may seek care abroad to address health problems that arise during their trip or plan healthcare outside their country of residence as medical tourists.

Methods: Data were collected on travellers evaluated at GeoSentinel Network sites who reported healthcare during travel. Both unplanned and planned healthcare were analysed, including the reason and nature of healthcare sought, characteristics of the treatment provided and outcomes.

All Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia-inducing strains can cause infective endocarditis: Results of GWAS and experimental animal studies.

Objectives: We aimed at determining whether specific S. aureus strains cause infective endocarditis (IE) in the course of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB).

Methods: A genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 924 S.

Risk Factors for Nephrotoxicity in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteraemia: A Post Hoc Analysis of the CAMERA2 Trial.

Background: Clinical risk factors for nephrotoxicity in Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia remain largely undetermined, despite its common occurrence and clinical significance. In an international, multicentre, prospective clinical trial (CAMERA2), which compared standard therapy (vancomycin monotherapy) to combination therapy (adding an anti-staphylococcal beta-lactam) for methicillin-resistant S. aureus bacteraemia, significantly more people in the combination therapy arm experienced acute kidney injury compared with those in the monotherapy arm (23% vs 6%).

Memory CD4 T cells that co-express PD1 and CTLA4 have reduced response to activating stimuli facilitating HIV latency.

Programmed cell death 1 (PD1) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA4) suppress CD4 T cell activation and may promote latent HIV infection. By performing leukapheresis (n = 21) and lymph node biopsies (n = 8) in people with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and sorting memory CD4 T cells into subsets based on PD1/CTLA4 expression, we investigate the role of PD1 and CTLA 4 in HIV persistence. We show that double-positive (PD1CTLA4) cells in blood contain more HIV DNA compared with double-negative (PD1CTLA4) cells but still have a lower proportion of cells producing multiply spliced HIV RNA after stimulation as well as reduced upregulation of T cell activation and proliferation markers.

Reducing malaria transmission in forest-going mobile and migrant populations in Lao PDR and Cambodia: protocol for stepped-wedge cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Background: Countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region aim to achieve malaria elimination by 2030. In the region, malaria is concentrated in high-risk areas and populations such as forest-going mobile and migrant populations (MMPs). However, routine protective measures such as long-lasting insecticidal nets do not prevent all infectious bites in these high-risk populations.

Whole genome sequencing for tuberculosis in Victoria, Australia: A genomic implementation study from 2017 to 2020.

Background: Whole genome sequencing (WGS) is increasingly used by tuberculosis (TB) programs to monitor () transmission. We aimed to characterise the molecular epidemiology of TB and transmission in the low-incidence setting of Victoria, Australia, and assess the utility of WGS.

Methods: WGS was performed on all first isolates from TB cases from 2017 to 2020.

Endocytic membrane repair by ESCRT-III controls antigen export to the cytosol during antigen cross-presentation.

Despite its crucial role in initiation of cytotoxic immune responses, the molecular pathways underlying antigen cross-presentation remain incompletely understood. The mechanism of antigen exit from endocytic compartments into the cytosol is a long-standing matter of controversy, confronting two main models: transfer through specific channels/transporters or rupture of endocytic membranes and leakage of luminal content. By monitoring the occurrence of intracellular damage in conventional dendritic cells (cDCs), we show that cross-presenting cDC1s display more frequent endomembrane injuries and increased recruitment of endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT)-III, the main repair system for intracellular membranes, relative to cDC2s.

Niche-specific genome degradation and convergent evolution shaping adaptation during severe infections.

During severe infections, moves from its colonising sites to blood and tissues and is exposed to new selective pressures, thus, potentially driving adaptive evolution. Previous studies have shown the key role of the locus in pathoadaptation; however, a more comprehensive characterisation of genetic signatures of bacterial adaptation may enable prediction of clinical outcomes and reveal new targets for treatment and prevention of these infections. Here, we measured adaptation using within-host evolution analysis of 2590 .

State-wide genomic epidemiology investigations of COVID-19 in healthcare workers in 2020 Victoria, Australia: Qualitative thematic analysis to provide insights for future pandemic preparedness.

Background: COVID-19 has affected many healthcare workers (HCWs) globally. We performed state-wide SARS-CoV-2 genomic epidemiological investigations to identify HCW transmission dynamics and provide recommendations to optimise healthcare system preparedness for future outbreaks.

Methods: Genome sequencing was attempted on all COVID-19 cases in Victoria, Australia.

Reprogramming of Cell Death Pathways by Bacterial Effectors as a Widespread Virulence Strategy.

The modulation of programmed cell death (PCD) processes during bacterial infections is an evolving arms race between pathogens and their hosts. The initiation of apoptosis, necroptosis, and pyroptosis pathways are essential to immunity against many intracellular and extracellular bacteria. These cellular self-destructive mechanisms are used by the infected host to restrict and eliminate bacterial pathogens.

Tackling variants with antibodies.

Antibodies targeting the protein that causes placental malaria can recognise multiple variants of the protein, which may help guide the development of new vaccines to protect pregnant women from malaria.

ICOS-play: dressing T cells for residency.

Efficient generation of tissue-resident memory T (T) cells is essential for long-lived immune protection in barrier tissues. Peng et al. now show that the costimulatory molecule ICOS enhances CD8 T cell lodgment by promoting early tissue retention.

COVID-19: Integrating genomic and epidemiological data to inform public health interventions and policy in Tasmania, Australia.

Objective: We undertook an integrated analysis of genomic and epidemiological data to investigate a large health-care-associated outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to better understand the epidemiology of COVID-19 cases in Tasmania, Australia.

Methods: Epidemiological data collected on COVID-19 cases notified in Tasmania between 2 March and 15 May 2020, and positive samples of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or RNA extracted from the samples were included. Sequencing was conducted by tiled amplicon polymerase chain reaction with ARTIC v1 or v3 primers and Illumina sequencing.

Gut microbiomes from Gambian infants reveal the development of a non-industrialized Prevotella-based trophic network.

Distinct bacterial trophic networks exist in the gut microbiota of individuals in industrialized and non-industrialized countries. In particular, non-industrialized gut microbiomes tend to be enriched with Prevotella species. To study the development of these Prevotella-rich compositions, we investigated the gut microbiota of children aged between 7 and 37 months living in rural Gambia (616 children, 1,389 stool samples, stratified by 3-month age groups).

salivary antigens as serological biomarkers of vector exposure and malaria transmission: A systematic review with multilevel modelling.

Background: Entomological surveillance for malaria is inherently resource-intensive and produces crude population-level measures of vector exposure which are insensitive in low-transmission settings. Antibodies against salivary proteins measured at the individual level may serve as proxy biomarkers for vector exposure and malaria transmission, but their relationship is yet to be quantified.

Methods: A systematic review of studies measuring antibodies against salivary antigens (PROSPERO: CRD42020185449).

Lithography-free synthesis of periodic, vertically-aligned, multi-walled carbon nanotube arrays.

Until now, the growth of periodic vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube (VA-MWCNT) arrays was dependent on at least one lithography step during fabrication. Here, we demonstrate a lithography-free fabrication method to grow hexagonal arrays of self-standing VA-MWCNTs with tunable pitch and MWCNT size. The MWCNTs are synthesized by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from Ni catalyst particles.

Typhoid fever in travellers: estimating the risk of acquisition by country.

Background: Typhoid fever is a notifiable disease within Australia. Although studies in endemic regions give an indication of acquisition risk, many countries lack reliable data, and little is known of the absolute or relative risk in Australian travellers. By combining notified case data with travel statistics provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the aim of this study was to give an indication of risk for typhoid acquisition among Australian travellers.