Explore the vast range of titles available.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy is a stark reminder of the necessity of incorporating the social, economic, and political context in planning responses to public health emergencies. During the ongoing global COVID-19 crisis, it is not just crucial but a shared responsibility to supplement epidemiological approaches with insights from the social sciences. This ensures effective and equitable policies, and it is a responsibility that each of us in the field shares. This discussion is relevant and timely, relating directly to the current global crisis and its potential implications for future public health strategies. This comment underscores the key points of Masino and Enria’s paper, illuminating the importance of integrating social sciences into public health strategies, the pivotal role of inequalities in shaping pandemic experiences, and, most importantly, the profound and urgent implications for future epidemic preparedness and response. The urgency of these implications cannot be overstated, and we must act on them swiftly and decisively.

The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG) against tuberculosis (TB) shows beneficial nonspecific effects, which are likely related to innate immune training. Until 2016, a single BCG dose was administered to all newborns in Portugal. In July 2016, a clinical guideline established that only children under 6 years belonging to high-risk groups should receive BCG. This might have prevented nonvaccinated children from developing trained immunological responses as effectively as BCG-vaccinated children. This study aims to investigate if there is variation in TB-related and all-cause mortality, and severe, moderate, or mild morbidity in children under 5 years of age, and whether such variation might be explained by the BCG vaccination policy change in 2016. This population-based historical birth cohort study includes children under 5 years of age born in Portugal between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2021. Newborns with low birth weight, premature status, or known or suspected HIV infection are excluded. The follow-up period is until the completion of 5 years of age or the end of follow-up (June 30, 2021). The study will use secondary data from the National Health Service user registry, death certificate database, vaccination registry, communicable diseases surveillance system, TB surveillance system, diagnosis-related group information system for hospital admissions and emergency department visits, and primary health care information system. The data will be linked. Primary outcomes include person-time incidence rates of death (all causes and TB), TB diagnosis, and all causes and some specific causes of severe, moderate, or mild morbidity, and the incidence rate ratio of nonvaccinated to BCG-vaccinated children. We will compare the probability of surviving the first and fifth years of life or of not having severe, moderate, or mild morbidity during the follow-up period according to exposure (BCG vaccinated or nonvaccinated, number of doses, and time from birth until the first dose), using the log-rank test for assessing differences in survival rates between exposed and nonexposed children and hazard ratios for quantifying the differences. Moreover, we will perform a proportional hazards regression analysis. Ethics approval has been obtained. In March 2022, database owners were contacted to present the project and discuss the request for data. A unique identifier will be used. In July 2023, a process of redefinition of the variables per database was initiated. Data were received in October and November 2023. In November 2023, further work was conducted. By April 2024, we expect to start analyzing the full data set. The results will contribute to the accumulating body of knowledge and might have relevance to guide global BCG vaccination policy. Data linkage can contribute to a swifter mechanism to use available health data to conduct population-based studies and inform policy decision-making. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05471167; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05471167. DERR1-10.2196/55332.

Atualmente estamos a viver os melhores e os piores tempos. Houve um progresso global em direção à melhoria dos resultados neonatais. No entanto, assistimos a um abrandamento e, é possível verificar disparidades significativas entre continentes, países e até a nível subnacional. Além disso, assistimos a um momento de reestruturação dos sistemas de saúde devido aos choques externos causados pelas mudanças climáticas, as migrações e alteração nos padrões das doenças infeciosas. Por este motivo, ambicionamos alertar para a tendência da mortalidade neonatal nos países em desenvolvimento e ainda refletir sobre importância do cumprimento dos Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Organização das Nações Unidas.O objetivo global deste estudo passa por identificar fatores associados à mortalidade neonatal no Uganda entre 2011 e 2016. Em primeiro lugar, iremos proceder à identificação e enquadramento da mortalidade neonatal e de um conjunto de outros fatores que estão associados a esta (fatores socioeconómicos, caraterísticas maternas e caraterísticas do recém-nascido e do parto). Seguidamente iremos utilizar o modelo conceptual dos Três Atrasos para explicar a mortalidade neonatal.Os dados para este estudo foram retirados do Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2016. Foram construídas regressões logísticas para os três atrasos e para as caraterísticas do recém-nascido e do parto. Uma vez identificadas as variáveis estatisticamente significativas, foi desenvolvida uma regressão logística final com as mesmas.Os nossos resultados mostram que os fatores de risco mais relevantes associados à mortalidade neonatal são a idade da mãe, o número total de filhos, o método canguru e ainda a vacinação contra o tétano durante a gravidez.Ambicionamos que o presente estudo contribua para o alargamento do conhecimento da morte neonatal no Uganda, assim como alertar para a importância de colocar estes fatores explicativos no centro da agenda política do país de forma a concertar um desenvolvimento sustentável e substancial.

A Fibrose Quística é a doença autossómica recessiva mais prevalente na Europa e é causada por uma mutação na proteína CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator- regulador da condutância transmembranar da Fibrose Quística), que codifica um canal de cloro. Já foram descritas mais de 1900 mutações causadoras desta doença, motivo pelo qual é uma boa candidata a medicina personalizada. Existem duas abordagens para corrigir o defeito básico: a correção do defeito genético, sem resultados até à data, e a correção do defeito molecular, que tem mostrado resultados promissores com dois fármacos já aprovados - ivacaftor para mutações classe III e uma mutação classe IV e ivacaftor+lumafactor para a mutação mais frequente, F508del, da classe II. Outras moléculas encontram-se ainda em estudo, como o caso do ataluren e do VX-661, no âmbito de mutações classe I e II, respetivamente. Tendo em conta a exigência e complexidade das terapêuticas anteriormente existentes para esta doença, as alternativas revistas neste artigo representam um futuro promissor no âmbito da Fibrose Quística.

Background Pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 deletions are threatening Plasmodium falciparum malaria diagnosis by rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) due to false negatives. This study assesses the changes in the frequencies of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 deletions ( pfhrp2 Del and pfhrp3 Del , respectively) and the genes in their flaking regions, before and after RDT introduction in Equatorial Guinea. Methods A total of 566 P. falciparum samples were genotyped to assess the presence of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 deletions and their flanking genes. The specimens were collected 18 years apart from two provinces of Equatorial Guinea, North Bioko (Insular Region) and Litoral Province (Continental Region). Orthologs of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 genes from other closely related species were used to compare sequencing data to assess pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 evolution. Additionally, population structure was studied using seven neutral microsatellites. Results This study found that pfhrp2 Del and pfhrp3 Del were present before the introduction of RDT; however, they increased in frequency after their use, reaching more than 15%. Haplotype networks suggested that pfhrp2 Del and pfhrp3 Del emerged multiple times. Exon 2 of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 genes had high variability, but there were no significant changes in amino acid sequences. Conclusions Baseline sampling before deploying interventions provides a valuable context to interpret changes in genetic markers linked to their efficacy, such as the dynamic of deletions affecting RDT efficacy.

Dogs can discriminate between people infected with SARS-CoV-2 from those uninfected, although their results vary depending on the settings in which they are exposed to infected individuals or samples of urine, sweat or saliva. This variability likely depends on the viral load of infected people, which may be closely associated with physiological changes in infected patients. Determining this viral load is challenging, and a practical approach is to use the cycle threshold (Ct) value of a RT-qPCR test. The hypothesis was that dogs should have a specific Ct range at which they could detect people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, the objective was to determine this Ct range. Sweat samples and epidemiological data were collected from 89 infected and 289 non-infected individuals at real life settings (e.g. health centers, offices, football fields). To determine each person’s infection status, the Norgen Biotek kit for RT-qPCR was used; targeting the N1 and N2 regions of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid N gene. The performance of 11 trained dogs was evaluated on sweat samples of 379 individuals to determine their sensitivity and specificity (± 95% Confidence Intervals; CI) in detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections. Additionally, the SARS-CoV-2 viral load was calculated from Ct values using a reference curve, and the Ct range at which dogs showed optimal performance was determined. Six dogs exhibited a marginal performance, as their sensitivity 95% CI overlapped with the region of randomness (50%). The remaining five dogs demonstrated sensitivity values between 67% and 87%, with none of their 95% CIs overlapping the randomness region. Regarding specificity, three dogs showed values between 87% and 92%, while all other dogs exhibited values of ≥ 90%. Dogs demonstrated higher detection accuracy in a range of Ct values between 18.49 and 29.17 for the N1 region and between 24.07 and 26.69 for the N2 region of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid gene. Detection significantly decreases for Ct values greater than 30 or less than 16, indicating an optimal range in which dogs are most effective. These performance values concur well with those reported for commercial rapid antigen tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2. Consequently, it is considered that using properly trained animals could offer a viable option to supplement existing diagnostic methods, allowing for rapid diagnosis while optimizing time and economic resources. Moreover, this approach is ecologically sustainable, as it generates less waste compared to the use of rapid tests, while continuing to confirm positive cases.

Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZDs) remain some of the most dynamic and complex challenges in veterinary medicine, public health, and environmental sciences [...].Vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZDs) remain some of the most dynamic and complex challenges in veterinary medicine, public health, and environmental sciences [...].

To assess the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission as function of stray dog presence and health status, a cross-sectional study was carried out in a large city of southern Mexico that lacks comprehensive strategies for the control of stray canine populations. The photographic capture-recapture method was used to estimate the density of dogs/km2. In the same way, dog feces from 14 public parks of the city were collected to determine the prevalence and intensity of infection with gastrointestinal parasites. The canine population was estimated between 65 and 80 thousand dogs, with a population density of 1,081 dogs/km2, mostly males (71.4%). A high proportion of dogs (72.3%) were found to be in good body condition score (BCS 3). The person:dog ratio was 2.3. The likelihood of being in the BCS 2 category was lower in areas with a higher density of dogs. All feces collected from the parks contained eggs of intestinal parasites, most of them with a medium (42.9%) to high (35.7%) infection intensity, notably Ancylostoma caninum. It was recorded that cases with a low-intensity of GI infection showed polyparasitism (35.7%) associated with A. caninum. There is a large population of stray dogs that roam freely in the streets of Campeche city with access to sources of food, which is reflected by their good BCS, and dogs do not have access to preventive medicine programs (de-worming) and thus contaminate public parks with feces with significant parasitic egg loads of zoonotic importance.

Blood consists of different cell populations with distinct functions and correspondingly, distinct gene expression profiles. In this study, global miRNA expression profiling was performed across a panel of nine human immune cell subsets (neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes, B cells, NK cells, CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, mDCs and pDCs) to identify cell-type specific miRNAs. mRNA expression profiling was performed on the same samples to determine if miRNAs specific to certain cell types down-regulated expression levels of their target genes. Six cell-type specific miRNAs (miR-143; neutrophil specific, miR-125; T cells and neutrophil specific, miR-500; monocyte and pDC specific, miR-150; lymphoid cell specific, miR-652 and miR-223; both myeloid cell specific) were negatively correlated with expression of their predicted target genes. These results were further validated using an independent cohort where similar immune cell subsets were isolated and profiled for both miRNA and mRNA expression. miRNAs which negatively correlated with target gene expression in both cohorts were identified as candidates for miRNA/mRNA regulatory pairs and were used to construct a cell-type specific regulatory network. miRNA/mRNA pairs formed two distinct clusters in the network corresponding to myeloid (nine miRNAs) and lymphoid lineages (two miRNAs). Several myeloid specific miRNAs targeted common genes including ABL2, EIF4A2, EPC1 and INO80D; these common targets were enriched for genes involved in the regulation of gene expression (p<9.0E-7). Those miRNA might therefore have significant further effect on gene expression by repressing the expression of genes involved in transcriptional regulation. The miRNA and mRNA expression profiles reported in this study form a comprehensive transcriptome database of various human blood cells and serve as a valuable resource for elucidating the role of miRNA mediated regulation in the establishment of immune cell identity.

With the objective to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal disease (PD) and monitor the most affected teeth in dogs under the subtropical conditions in Mexico, 184 randomly selected dogs underwent a periodontal examination. Of the evaluated dogs, 78.8% showed some degree of gingivitis most of them (76.6%) with a moderate index, and 30.4% presented some degree of PD being most of them of a mild degree. Old age and small size dogs were more prone to develop PD as reported elsewhere. Higher mobility index and furcation were seen in maxillary teeth 108 and 208 and mandibular teeth 308 and 408, but some other teeth were involved in less proportion. On probing, bleeding was observed in maxillary teeth 202, 11, 102, and 202 and mandibular teeth 309 and 409. Dental plaque and calculus were more frequent in maxillary teeth 202 and 102 and mandibular teeth 309, 310, and 409. Finally, dental loss was observed with more frequency in all maxillary incisors (102, 201, and 202) and molars 109 and 209; mandibular molars 411 and 311 were more prompt to be losed. This study demonstrates the high prevalence of gingivitis and development of PD in dogs in subtropics in Mexico and reveals the predisposition of some maxillary and mandibular teeth to develop PD and consequently their loss. The clinical implications of the study indicate that special attention should be paid to these teeth to be checked when the dogs come for consultation, during brushing and in dental prophylaxis.