Background The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a major worldwide health problem. The present study aims to contribute to surveillance of the immune and clinical response of vaccines to SARS-CoV-2. Methods Observational study of medication on acquired immunity and effectiveness of vaccines. Population: 620 workers in the health service of Almansa (Spain). Representative sample of 150 individuals. Sociodemographic, clinical, and epidemiological data and samples were recorded to determine anti- SARS-CoV2 serum IgG levels 6 and 9 months after vaccination with Pfizer. Results Mean age 46.45 years; 76% women; 85.1% working in a hospital. 19.3% had had COVID-19 in the year prior to vaccination. 96.7% were fully vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNTech. At 6 months, 100% seropositivity and mean IgG levels of 3017.2 AU/ml. Significant variations in IgG levels in individuals with prior COVID-19 infection and smokers. At 9 months, 99.3% remained seropositive; 2.8% infected after vaccination. The repeated measures analysis showed a difference in means of 669.0 AU/ml (significant decrease in IgG levels of 28.9%). Conclusion Antibody levels remained positive 6 and 9 months after vaccination, although IgG levels were found to decay.
Sirmaur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India is a hard-to-reach area situated in the western Himalayas having an extreme landscape with snow-laden mountains and extensive river systems that makes the delivery of immunization services extremely challenging.Vaccinators needed a long walk through the hilly terrain to reach outreach sites.Community mobilizers were unable to go house to house to inform the caregivers to bring children to the site for vaccination.Caregivers were unaware when the vaccinators arrive at the site.As a result, many children missed vaccination or were not vaccinated timely.Age-appropriate vaccination coverage (according to national immunization schedule) in the Sirmaur district was the lowest in the state.Thinking out-of-box to address the communication barriers with the caregivers, the traditional drum beating was used, for the first time in India, in two blocks of the Sirmaur district (Rajpura and Shillai).The initiative was planned and implemented by the district health system with the support of the local community leaders.An exit interview was conducted to know the reach of the drum beating to caregivers, and a baseline and end line household survey was conducted to know the outcome of the initiative on age-appropriate vaccination coverage.Analysis of exit interviews data indicated a very high reach of a drum beating to the caregivers; more than 97% of caregivers in Rajpura and 100% in Shillai heard drum beating, and almost 95% of caregivers in Rajpura and 98% in Shillai knew the purpose of drum
Background: The effectiveness of repeated vaccination for seasonal influenza remains controversial. Here, we measured antibody responses to the influenza virus (A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and B) in a closed cohort of older participants vaccinated against influenza virus in each of 5 consecutive years. Methods: One hundred and 11 volunteers aged >61 years were vaccinated subcutaneously with 1 dose (0.5 ml) of inactivated influenza vaccine as recommended by the World Health Organization from the 2005-2006 season through the 2009-2010 season. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titers were determined. Results: HI antibody titers against all 3 virus strains were significantly higher at 4 weeks after vaccination than at a time point prior to vaccination in each of the 5 seasons (P < .01); HI antibody titers were detected at the original prevaccination levels just prior to re-vaccination the following year. Sero-protection and HI antibody titers at 4 weeks after vaccination were similar against all influenza strains and during most of the 5 seasons evaluated. Vaccine strain changes were associated with specific immune responses in 9 of 12 (75%) intervals. Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggest that annual vaccination is necessary to maintain humoral immunity for the elderly population. Furthermore, our findings revealed that annual seasonal vaccination was not associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness, and that the reformation of the vaccine resulted in amplified immune responses among those undergoing yearly vaccination in the elderly population. (C) 2020 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction: Cervical cancer can be prevented by early vaccination of young people against papillomaviruses and screening for precancerous lesions. After a successful pilot phase, vaccination coverage in the generalization phase is low. The aim of this study was to determine papillomavirus vaccination coverage and to identify associated factors. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted from (1st) to (31th) September (2020) in Koumpentoum district. After a literature review, we conducted two-stage cluster sampling and direct structured interviews. Socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices of mothers or guardians about papillomaviruses vaccination were collected using a standardized questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios. Results: A total of (228) mothers or guardians were interviewed. Coverage for the first dose was (44.74%) CI95% (38.17 - 51.44) compared to (25.88%) CI95% (19.52 - 31.17) for the second dose. Factors statistically and significantly associated with coverage of the first dose of papillomaviruses vaccine were instruction of mothers or guardians (OR = 5.62 (3.16 - 9.99); p 0.001), schooling of the young girls (OR = 4.1 (2.23 - 7.53); p 0.001), information on cervical cancer (OR = 18.97 (5.68 - 63.24); p 0.001), knowledge of risks factors (OR = 8.04 (4.41 - 14.63); p 0.001), information on papillomaviruses vaccine (ORa = 10.26 (1.69 - 62.23); p = 0.011), knowledge on vaccine target (OR = 17.11 (8.51 - 34.41); p 0.001), knowledge of schedule vaccine (ORa = 3.67 (1.2 - 22.51); p = 0.022), knowledge of prevention methods (OR = 26.86 (12.22 - 59.05); p 0.001), and to be favorable in expanded vaccination program in general (ORa = 18.71 (1.5 - 128.41]; p = 0.02). Conclusion: Vaccination of young girls against papillomaviruses in Koumpentoum health district could be improved by comprehensive interpersonal communication with mothers and guardians about cervical cancer and its prevention.
Quil-A and cholesterol can, under certain conditions, form nanoparticles, but the conditions for the formation of a homogeneous population of a particular kind of particles with the same morphology and size have remained elusive. However, a well-defined uniformity, as well as a high degree of batch-to-batch consistency, are prerequisites for adjuvant formulations to be used for practical vaccines. To accomplish the above stated tasks in the present study, we demonstrated that Quil-A and cholesterol form well-defined worm-like stable particles with a mean diameter of around 40 nm by dynamic light scattering (DLS) under carefully controlled thermodynamical conditions with little or no Quil-A degradation. The nanoparticles thus prepared possessed a significantly reduced hemolytic effect in comparison to unformulated free Quil-A. However, when the same conditions were applied to QS-21/cholesterol nanoparticle formation the morphology achieved was coil spring-like particles with a mean diameter of around 70 nm. This discrepancy in particle morphology and size was attributed to the differences in hydrophobicity of the Quil-A, being a heterogenic fraction of acylated as well as deacylated saponins, and the QS-21. With the process optimizations leading to a standardized particle size distribution and nanoparticle morphology presented here, NanoQuil F70 holds the potential as a well-tolerated vaccine adjuvant for veterinary use raising a Th1/Th2 balanced immune response.
Erythema nodosum (EN) is a delayed hypersensitivity response that may be triggered by a range of conditions, including infections and vaccines. Rare cases of EN caused by COVID-19 were recently reported but none due to COVID-19 vaccines were documented. We report here a case of EN occurring after COVID-19 vaccination. Patient presented with painful nodular lesions of all 4 limbs, evolving for one month. These lesions appeared 48 h after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination. The patient reported no recent infectious episodes. The physical examination found numerous, erythematous dermohypodermatitis knots with no palpable adenopathy. Some were regressive according to biligenesis shades. Biology and radiology findings eliminated other common causes of this dermatosis. The skin biopsy was done and suggested EN. The final diagnosis was post COVID-19 vaccine EN. Patient received a symptomatic treatment and had a slight improvement of the lesions 10 days after diagnosis. Physicians should be aware of the side effects of the vaccine including skin manifestations, especially since more people are bound to be vaccinated.
The art of oncoimmunovaccinomics will be concisely explained herein. This scientific insight will explore its history cancer immunotherapy, the molecular basis of cancer immunotherapy, cancer immunotherapeutic approach, cancer immunosurveillance and immunoediting, the hallmarks of cancer (can be) revisited, nanotechnology-based cancer immunotherapy, immunovaccinomics, vaccinomics approach, the theory of vaccinology, adversomics, and immunogenomic perspectives.
Objective: To analyze the severe cases of COVID-19 in Brazil in 2020 and compare those vaccinated and unvaccinated against influenza in invasive ventilation, admission in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and deaths. Method: Cross-sectional study with public data from the OpenDataSUS platform, regarding confirmed severe cases for COVID-19 in Brazil in the year 2020. Data were analyzed by SPSS, from the chi-square test of independence and binary logistic regression. Results: The population was 472,688 cases and 177,640 deaths, with a lethality of 37.58% in severe cases. The test of independence was highly significant in vaccinated survivors (<0.0001), and regression showed an almost twofold odds ratio for invasive ventilation, ICU admission, and death in unvaccinated cases. Conclusion: We recommend mass influenza vaccination as an adjuvant in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.
Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, having high population growth and a complex health care environment, has highest density of unimmunized (zero dose) and under-immunized children.The main reasons of low immunization coverage in Karachi were lack of governance and accountability in a duplicative and fragmented health management structure, weak and inequitable immunization services, and lack of demand and trust among people for immunization services.The Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), Ministry of Health (MOH) in Sindh Province spearheaded a structured and collaborative process to develop strategies for addressing inequity in immunization services towards achieving Universal Immunization Coverage (UIC) in Karachi.The process included a situation analysis with gathering quantitative and qualitative information on the root causes of zero-dose and inequity of the immunization services.The strategies and interventions were developed with multi-layer input and feedback of the stakeholders and partners, and focusing primarily to address gaps in three program areas: governance, leadership and accountability; immunization service delivery; and building demand and trust among the people.The interventions were further prioritized for high-risk areas; identified based on maximum number zero-dose children, presence of large slum areas, measles outbreak and on-going circulation of wild poliovirus.Finally, costing for the Roadmap activities was done through consultation with partners and aligning domestic and external (donor) re-
