Epidemiology of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in Japan before 1989

Publication date: Available online 21 October 2015
Source:Vaccine
Author(s): Kohji Ueda
Epidemiological studies of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) in Japan have been conducted since the first nationwide rubella epidemic of 1965–1969 and subsequent epidemics of 1975–1977, 1982, 1987–1988, and 1992–1993. Rubella was non-endemic in Japan before the 1975–1977 epidemic, and endemic thereafter. Japan started a selective rubella vaccination program for junior high school girls in 1977, and universal rubella vaccination of children of both sexes in 1989. No nationwide rubella epidemics have occurred since 1994.Only three children with CRS were reported in Japan before 1964; however, many children with CRS were identified in 1965 when a rubella epidemic struck Okinawa, which has many the United States military bases. After the 1965–1969 and 1975–1977 rubella epidemics on the Japanese mainland, small numbers of children with CRS were identified (hospital survey). These findings led to the hypothesis that, compared to U.S. rubella virus strains, Japanese strains of rubella virus are less teratogenic. This hypothesis strongly affected the development of rubella vaccines in Japan. However, retrospective seroepidemiological studies attributed the CRS in many children in Okinawa to the high rate of rubella infection in pregnant women. According to the survey conducted at special schools for the deaf, 83, 232, 77, and 167 children were born with CRS on the Japanese mainland respectively after the 1965–1969, 1975–1977, 1982, and 1987–1988 nationwide rubella epidemics, suggesting that the incidence of CRS in Japan is in fact comparable to that in the U.S. and Europe.Rubella epidemics in children have been effectively prevented since 1994. However, a rubella outbreak among adult males and CRS occurred between 2012 and 2014.



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A cytomegalovirus DNA vaccine induces antibodies that block viral entry into fibroblasts and epithelial cells

Publication date: Available online 24 October 2015
Source:Vaccine
Author(s): Michael A. McVoy, Ronzo Lee, Frances M. Saccoccio, Jukka Hartikka, Larry R. Smith, Rohit Mahajan, Jian Ben Wang, Xiaohong Cui, Stuart P. Adler
A vaccine to prevent congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections is a national priority. Investigational vaccines have targeted the viral glycoprotein B (gB) as an inducer of neutralizing antibodies and phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) as an inducer of cytotoxic T cells. Antibodies to gB neutralize CMV entry into all cell types but their potency is low compared to antibodies that block epithelial cell entry through targeting the pentameric complex (gH/gL/UL128/UL130/UL131). Hence, more potent overall neutralizing responses may result from a vaccine that combines gB with pentameric complex-derived antigens. To assess the ability of pentameric complex subunits to generate epithelial entry neutralizing antibodies, DNA vaccines encoding UL128, UL130, and/or UL131 were formulated with Vaxfectin^®, an adjuvant that enhances antibody responses to DNA vaccines. Mice were immunized with individual DNA vaccines or with pair-wise or trivalent combinations. Only the UL130 vaccine induced epithelial entry neutralizing antibodies and no synergy was observed from bi- or trivalent combinations. In rabbits the UL130 vaccine again induced epithelial entry neutralizing antibodies while UL128 or UL131 vaccines did not. To evaluate compatibility of the UL130 vaccine with DNA vaccines encoding gB or pp65, mono-, bi-, or trivalent combinations were evaluated. Fibroblast and epithelial entry neutralizing titers did not differ between rabbits immunized with gB alone vs. gB/UL130, gB/pp65, or gB/UL130/pp65 combinations, indicating a lack of antagonism from coadministration of DNA vaccines. Importantly, gB-induced epithelial entry neutralizing titers were substantially higher than activities induced by UL130, and both fibroblast and epithelial entry neutralizing titers induced by gB alone as well as gB/pp65 or gB/UL130/pp65 combinations were comparable to those observed in sera from humans with naturally-acquired CMV infections. These findings support further development of Vaxfectin^®-formulated gB-expressing DNA vaccine for prevention of congenital CMV infections.



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Analyse coût-efficacité de l’introduction du vaccin contre le virus du papillome humain au Honduras

Publication date: Available online 24 October 2015
Source:Vaccine
Author(s): Ida Molina Berenice, Lourdes Otilia Mendoza, Odalys García, Iris Díaz, Jacqueline Figueroa, Rosa María Duarte, Gabriel Perdomo, Ana Gabriela Félix Garcia, Cara Bess Janusz
Contextele cancer du col de l'utérus constitue la principale cause des décès dus au cancer au Honduras. Puisqu'il existe un vaccin pouvant prévenir le virus du papillome humain (VPH), l'agent responsable du cancer du col de l'utérus, le secrétaire à la Santé du Honduras a entrepris une analyse coût-efficacité portant sur l'introduction du vaccin contre le VPH afin de soutenir le processus national de prise de décision.Méthodesune équipe nationale multidisciplinaire a effectué cette analyse à l'aide du modèle CERVIVAC, élaboré par la London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine en collaboration avec l'Initiative ProVac de l'Organisation panaméricaine de la Santé. On a évalué les coûts cumulatifs et les bénéfices pour la santé de l'introduction du vaccin contre le VPH sur toute la durée de vie d'une cohorte unique de fillettes de 11 ans. Nous avons émis l'hypothèse d'une série de trois doses avec couverture vaccinale de 95 % chez cette cohorte; la vaccination serait réalisée à la fois en milieu scolaire et en établissement de santé. Afin d'estimer le nombre de cas et de décès relatifs au cancer du col de l'utérus à l'échelle nationale, nous avons eu recours aux projections démographiques des Nations unies et aux estimations GLOBOCAN fondées sur les données des registres du Salvador, du Guatemala et du Nicaragua. Sur la base d'estimations de l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) et de la Division de la coopération intensifiée avec les pays (ICO), nous sommes partis du principe que 70 % des cancers du col de l'utérus seraient dus aux types de vaccin VPH16 et VPH18. Nous avons utilisé un prix de 13,45 USD par dose de vaccin et des données provenant de la documentation scientifique pour estimer l'efficacité de celui-ci. Nous nous sommes servis d'informations nationales pour estimer l'utilisation et les coûts des services de santé relativement au traitement contre le cancer du col de l'utérus. Tous les coûts et tous les bénéfices pour la santé ont été actualisés à 3 %.Résultatssi on vaccinait complètement 86 906 fillettes de 11 ans, 2 250 cas de cancer du col de l'utérus (chiffre non actualisé) et 1 336 décès (chiffre non actualisé) seraient évités sur toute la durée de vie de la cohorte. Après une actualisation à 3 % par année des bénéfices futurs pour la santé, le nombre de cas et de décès équivalents évités était de 421 et 170. On estime que la vaccination contre le VPH coûte environ 5 millions USD par cohorte vaccinée, mais cette somme serait compensée par des coûts évités d'environ 1 million USD que le gouvernement aurait dû payer pour le traitement du cancer du col de l'utérus. En outre, 4 349 années de vie ajustées sur l'incapacité (DALY) actualisées pourraient être évitées, à un coût de 926 USD par DALY évitée, ce qui fait de la vaccination contre le VPH au Honduras une intervention très efficace au regard des coûts.Analysele coût net de la vaccination contre le VPH par DALY évitée est inférieur au seuil fixé par l'OMS en matière de rapport coût-efficacité. Toutefois, puisqu'il en coûte environ 5 millions USD par cohorte vaccinée, les conséquences budgétaires de l'introduction du vaccin contre le VPH pour ce pays sont un élément important à prendre en considération dans le cadre de cette analyse.Conclusionslorsque l'on compare les coûts et les bénéfices de l'introduction du vaccin contre le VPH au Honduras, cette intervention s'avère clairement d'un très bon rapport coût-efficacité et réduirait considérablement la maladie due au cancer du col de l'utérus. Pour ces raisons, le pays a tout intérêt à étudier les possibilités de financement qui pourraient appuyer l'introduction du vaccin.



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Neptunism and Transformism: Robert Jameson and other Evolutionary Theorists in Early Nineteenth-Century Scotland

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the prevalence of evolutionary ideas in Scotland in the early nineteenth century and establish what connections existed between the espousal of evolutionary theories and adherence to the directional history of the earth proposed by Abraham Gottlob Werner and his Scottish disciples. A possible connection between Wernerian geology and theories of the transmutation of species in Edinburgh in the period when Charles Darwin was a medical student in the city was suggested in an important 1991 paper by James Secord. This study aims to deepen our knowledge of this important episode in the history of evolutionary ideas and explore the relationship between these geological and evolutionary discourses. To do this it focuses on the circle of natural historians around Robert Jameson, Wernerian geologist and professor of natural history at the University of Edinburgh from 1804 to 1854. From the evidence gathered here there emerges a clear confirmation that the Wernerian model of geohistory facilitated the acceptance of evolutionary explanations of the history of life in early nineteenth-century Scotland. As Edinburgh was at this time the most important center of medical education in the English-speaking world, this almost certainly influenced the reception and development of evolutionary ideas in the decades that followed.

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50 Remarkable & Wise Quotes About Patience

Who hasn't heard the saying "Have patience, my friend, have patience; For Rome wasn't built in a day!"?

Nevertheless, this is not the only wise saying about patience. We have actually even omitted this in our quotes collection as there are so many others, even more significant and noteworthy words about patience.

Image: Elena Schaelike (Wisejam)

This collection contains 50 of the best wise sayings and quotes on patience, arranged by birth year of the author. Enjoy!

Wise to resolve,
and patient to perform.
Homer
(7th or 8th century BC,
greatest of ancient Greek epic poets)

Patience is bitter,
but its fruit is sweet.
Aristotle
(384 – 322 BC, Greek philosopher and scientist)

Patience is the best remedy
for every trouble.
Plautus
(c. 254 – 184 BC, Roman playwright of the Old Latin period)

It is easier to find men
who will volunteer to die,
than to find those
who are willing to endure pain with patience.
Gaius Julius Caesar
(100 BC – 44 BC, Roman statesman, general
and notable author of Latin prose)

Bear patiently with a rival.
Publius Ovidius Naso,
known as Ovid
(43 BC – AD 17/18, Roman poet)

Everyone ought to bear patiently
the results of his own conduct.
Phaedrus
(first century Roman fabulist,
Latin author and versifier of Aesop's fables)

Patience is the companion of wisdom.
Augustine of Hippo,
also known as Saint Augustine or Saint Austin
(354 – 430, Algerian Christian theologian and philosopher)

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NSC 2015 Dispatch: APTA President Sharon Dunn

APTA President Sharon Dunn, PT, PhD, OCS, reflects on her experience engaging with PT and PTA students at #APTANSC.

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A "Patient-Like" Orthotopic Syngeneic Mouse Model of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metastasis

The metastatic spread of cancer is the major cause of cancer-related deaths. We provide an in-depth description of our survival surgery methodology for establishing a "patient-like" orthotopic syngeneic mouse model system for studying the mechanisms of metastasis in solid organ tumors.

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