BMC Public Health
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/content
(Accessed 18 July 2015)

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Research article
Perceptions of Sudanese women of reproductive age toward HIV/AIDS and services for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV
Ibrahim Elsheikh, Rik Crutzen, H.W. Van den Borne
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:674 (17 July 2015)

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Research article
Pilot to evaluate the feasibility of measuring seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness using surveillance platforms in Central-America, 2012
Nathalie El Omeiri, Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner, Wilfrido Clará, Guiselle Guzmán-Saborío, Miguel Elas, Homer Mejía, Ida Molina, Yadira De Molto, Sara Mirza, Marc-Alain Widdowson, Alba Ropero-Álvarez
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:673 (17 July 2015)
Abstract
Background
Since 2004, the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean has markedly increased. However, vaccine effectiveness (VE) is not routinely measured in the region. We assessed the feasibility of using routine surveillance data collected by sentinel hospitals to estimate influenza VE during 2012 against laboratory-confirmed influenza hospitalizations in Costa-Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama. We explored the completeness of variables needed for VE estimation.
Methods
We conducted the pilot case–control study at 23 severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) surveillance hospitals. Participant inclusion criteria included children 6 months–11 years and adults ≥60 years targeted for vaccination and hospitalized for SARI during January–December 2012. We abstracted information needed to estimate target group specific VE (i.e., date of illness onset and specimen collection, preexisting medical conditions, 2012 and 2011 vaccination status and date, and pneumococcal vaccination status for children and adults) from SARI case-reports and for children ≤9 years, inquired about the number of annual vaccine doses given. A case was defined as an influenza virus positive by RT-PCR in a person with SARI, while controls were RT-PCR negative. We recruited 3 controls per case from the same age group and month of onset of symptoms.
Results
We identified 1,186 SARI case-patients (342 influenza cases; 849 influenza-negative controls), of which 994 (84 %) had all the information on key variables sought. In 893 (75 %) SARI case-patients, the vaccination status field was missing in the SARI case-report forms and had to be completed using national vaccination registers (36 %), vaccination cards (30 %), or other sources (34 %). After applying exclusion criteria for VE analyses, 541 (46 %) SARI case-patients with variables necessary for the group-specific VE analyses were selected (87 cases, 236 controls among children; 64 cases, 154 controls among older adults) and were insufficient to provide precise regional estimates (39 % for children and 25 % for adults of minimum sample size needed).
Conclusions
Sentinel surveillance networks in middle income countries, such as some Latin American and Caribbean countries, could provide a simple and timely platform to estimate regional influenza VE annually provided SARI forms collect all necessary information.

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Research article
Double burden of malnutrition: increasing overweight and obesity and stall underweight trends among Ghanaian women
David Doku, Subas Neupane
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:670 (16 July 2015)

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Research article
Latin American and Caribbean countries’ baseline clinical and policy guidelines for responding to intimate partner violence and sexual violence against women
Donna Stewart, Raquel Aviles, Alessandra Guedes, Ekaterina Riazantseva, Harriet MacMillan BMC Public Health 2015, 15:665 (15 July 2015)

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Research article
Does introducing an immunization package of services for migrant children improve the coverage, service quality and understanding? An evidence from an intervention study among 1548 migrant children in eastern China
Yu Hu, Shuying Luo, Xuewen Tang, Linqiao Lou, Yaping Chen, Jing Guo, Bing Zhang
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:664 (15 July 2015)
Abstract
Background
An EPI (Expanded Program on Immunization) intervention package was implemented from October 2011 to May 2014 among migrant children in Yiwu, east China. This study aimed to evaluate its impacts on vaccination coverage, maternal understanding of EPI and the local immunization service performance.
Methods
A pre- and post-test design was used. The EPI intervention package included: (1) extending the EPI service time and increasing the frequency of vaccination service; (2) training program for vaccinators; (3) developing a screening tool to identify vaccination demands among migrant clinic attendants; (4) Social mobilization for immunization. Data were obtained from random sampling investigations, vaccination service statistics and qualitative interviews with vaccinators and mothers of migrant children. The analysis of quantitative data was based on a “before and after” evaluation and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis.
Results
The immunization registration (records kept by immunization clinics) rate increased from 87.4 to 91.9 % (P = 0.016) after implementation of the EPI intervention package and the EPI card holding (EPI card kept by caregivers) rate increased from 90.9 to 95.6 % (P = 0.003). The coverage of fully immunized increased from 71.5 to 88.6 % for migrant children aged 1–4 years (P < 0.001) and increased from 42.2 to 80.5 % for migrant children aged 2–4 years (P < 0.001). The correct response rates on valid doses and management of adverse events among vaccinators were over 90 % after training. The correct response rates on immunization among mothers of migrant children were 86.8–99.3 % after interventions.
Conclusion
Our study showed a substantial improvement in vaccination coverage among migrant children in Yiwu after implementation of the EPI intervention package. Further studies are needed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the interventions, to identify individual interventions that make the biggest contribution to coverage, and to examine the sustainability of the interventions within the existing vaccination service delivery system in a larger scale settings or in a longer term.

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Research article
Improved stove interventions to reduce household air pollution in low and middle income countries: a descriptive systematic review
Emma Thomas, Kremlin Wickramasinghe, Shanthi Mendis, Nia Roberts, Charlie Foster
BMC Public Health 2015, 15:650 (14 July 2015)