Yearly Archives: 2021

Immunogenicity of the UK group B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB) schedule against groups B and C meningococcal strains (Sched3): outcomes of a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial

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Lancet Infectious Diseases
May 2021 Volume 21 Number 5 p579-742, e110-e140
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

 

Immunogenicity of the UK group B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB) schedule against groups B and C meningococcal strains (Sched3): outcomes of a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial
Kimberly Davis, et al

The Use and Misuse of Mathematical Modeling for Infectious Disease Policymaking: Lessons for the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Medical Decision Making (MDM)
Volume 41 Issue 4, May 2021
http://mdm.sagepub.com/content/current

 

Review
The Use and Misuse of Mathematical Modeling for Infectious Disease Policymaking: Lessons for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Lyndon P. James, Joshua A. Salomon, Caroline O. Buckee, Nicolas A. Menzies
First Published February 3, 2021; pp. 379–385

COVID vaccines: time to confront anti-vax aggression

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Nature
Volume 592 Issue 7856, 29 April 2021
https://www.nature.com/nature/volumes/592/issues/7856

 

World View | 27 April 2021
COVID vaccines: time to confront anti-vax aggression
Halting the spread of the coronavirus will require a high-level counteroffensive against new destructive forces.
Peter Hotez
Nearly one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in less than six months, but anti-vaccine disinformation and targeted attacks on scientists are undermining progress. These threats must be confronted directly, and the authority and expertise of the health community alone aren’t enough to do this.

Even before the pandemic, I had a front-row seat to all of this. I have co-led efforts to develop vaccines in programmes, including a COVID-19 vaccine currently being tested in India. I also have an adult daughter with autism; my 2018 book, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, became a dog whistle for anti-vaccine activists.

The World Health Organization recognized vaccine hesitancy as a top threat to global health before the pandemic. As COVID-19 vaccines moved through development, the public-health communities anticipated considerable vaccine hesitancy. Teams of experts, including me, began meeting regularly online to discuss how best to amplify evidence-based messages, deliver public-service announcements and address concerns around COVID-19 immunization.

I experienced sinking feelings during our Zoom calls. Although certainly worthwhile, I knew that messaging alone would be inadequate. We’d already seen this inadequacy in our efforts to prevent measles from returning to the United States and Europe in 2019, and to bolster vaccination rates for human papillomavirus to prevent cervical and other cancers. With COVID-19, our pro-vaccine messages would be drops in a vast sea of misinformation, much of it poured in deliberately by anti-vaccine forces.

I have a long-standing disagreement with many of my US public-health colleagues. I admire their commitment to disease prevention, but when I ask for a more direct way to counter anti-vaccine aggression, I’m told, “that’s not our approach; confrontation gives them a platform and oxygen.” In my opinion, this attitude reflects a time when we had dial-up modems. Today, the anti-vaccine empire has hundreds of websites and perhaps 58 million followers on social media. The bad guys are winning, in part because health agencies either underestimate or deny the reach of anti-science forces, and are ill-equipped to counter it.

Investigations by the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office have described how Russian intelligence organizations seek to discredit Western COVID-19 vaccines. One campaign implies that it could turn people into monkeys. This builds on a longer, well-documented history of Russia-sponsored disinformation, presumably to destabilize the United States and other democratic countries. The administration of US President Joe Biden has warned Russian media groups to halt their anti-vaccine aggression, and announced sanctions tied to disinformation and other behaviour, but we need much more.

The United States hosts the world’s largest and best-organized anti-vaccine groups. According to the London-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, these are influential groups, not a spontaneous grass-roots movement. Many far-right extremist groups that spread false information about last year’s US presidential election are doing the same about vaccines. Anti-vaccine groups also target Black communities; an anti-vaccine documentary released in March vilifies COVID-19 vaccine testing among African Americans, calling it “medical racism”.

Global anti-vaccine messaging around the adenovirus vaccines means that more people will die and the pandemic will be prolonged. Extremely rare but life-threatening blood clots caused the United States to pause roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and many European nations have stopped or restricted use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine for similar reasons. However, those regions have other vaccine options, which is not the case for many countries. In March, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo halted use of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, and the African Union has stopped procurement.

Many people in Africa are tapping into anti-vaccine messaging. A rumour-tracking program from the analytics company Novetta in McLean, Virginia, finds that Russia specifically targets African countries to discredit Western vaccines in favour of its own Sputnik V. US-based anti-vaccine groups invoke colonialism and eugenics. Now, tens of thousands of vaccine doses are going unused. Anti-vaccine disinformation has turned reasonable questions and concerns over rare side effects into conspiracy worries, exaggerated fears, and outrage at being treated like ‘guinea pigs’.

Accurate, targeted counter-messaging from the global health community is important but insufficient, as is public pressure on social-media companies. The United Nations and the highest levels of governments must take direct, even confrontational, approaches with Russia, and move to dismantle anti-vaccine groups in the United States.

Efforts must expand into the realm of cyber security, law enforcement, public education and international relations. A high-level inter-agency task force reporting to the UN secretary-general could assess the full impact of anti-vaccine aggression, and propose tough, balanced measures. The task force should include experts who have tackled complex global threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and nuclear armament, because anti-science is now approaching similar levels of peril. It is becoming increasingly clear that advancing immunization requires a counteroffensive.

The influence of evolutionary history on human health and disease

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Nature Reviews Genetics
Volume 22 Issue 5, May 2021
https://www.nature.com/nrg/volumes/22/issues/5

 

Review Article | 06 January 2021
The influence of evolutionary history on human health and disease
Our evolutionary history has resulted in highly complex and sophisticated human physiology. Yet evolutionary footprints have also left us prone to diseases. In this Review, the authors discuss how events from the earliest history of life on Earth through to modern human evolution influence many disease traits and outcomes. They describe how an understanding and application of evolutionary frameworks can inform precision medicine initiatives.
Mary Lauren Benton, Abin Abraham, John A. Capra

African genetic diversity and adaptation inform a precision medicine agenda

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Nature Reviews Genetics
Volume 22 Issue 5, May 2021
https://www.nature.com/nrg/volumes/22/issues/5

 

Review Article | 11 January 2021
African genetic diversity and adaptation inform a precision medicine agenda
Africa is a continent with deep evolutionary history, which has implications for the genetic underpinnings of disease. In this Review, the authors discuss how genetic features of African populations provide both challenges and opportunities for understanding disease genetics in Africa. They describe how this genetic knowledge — combined with initiatives including capacity-building, data sharing and increased representation of African genomes in genetic variation databases — can be leveraged towards achieving precision medicine approaches in African healthcare.
Luisa Pereira, Leon Mutesa, Michèle Ramsay

Vaccination plus Decarceration — Stopping Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons

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New England Journal of Medicine
April 29, 2021 Vol. 384 No. 17
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

 

Perspective
Vaccination plus Decarceration — Stopping Covid-19 in Jails and Prisons
Benjamin A. Barsky, J.D., M.B.E., Eric Reinhart, B.A., Paul Farmer, M.D., Ph.D., and Salmaan Keshavjee, M.D., Ph.D.
… Stopping the epidemic in jails and prisons is vital for protecting staff and incarcerated people; it is also critical for curbing the spread of Covid-19 into surrounding communities, especially Black and Latinx communities that are disproportionately affected by jail- and prison-linked coronavirus spread.1 Furthermore, as we become aware of an increasing range of SARS-CoV-2 variants, we face greater urgency to disrupt the ideal environment that current carceral conditions provide for viral mutations that could undermine the efficacy of available vaccines and threaten health far beyond American borders.
Vaccination of incarcerated people is important for changing this dynamic, but it is not enough. We believe that it must be coupled with large-scale decarceration to increase the real-world effectiveness of vaccination, disrupt wide-ranging viral transmission chains, and turn off the epidemiologic pump that puts the health of all at risk from mass incarceration.
Decarceration strategies can guide decisions made by a range of actors who wield power to change current conditions, including federal and state legislators, state and local law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, mayors, governors, the U.S. attorney general, and the president of the United States. We believe the medical community has a parallel responsibility to ensure that science is heard and applied. On the grounds of scientific evidence and our ethical responsibility to protect the vulnerable and the public at large, we can use our influence to demand that policymakers implement decarceration alongside priority vaccination in jails and prisons.

Leveraging Open Science to Accelerate Research

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New England Journal of Medicine
April 29, 2021 Vol. 384 No. 17
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

 

Leveraging Open Science to Accelerate Research
Kushal T. Kadakia, M.Sc., Adam L. Beckman, B.S., Joseph S. Ross, M.D., M.H.S., and Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D.
… The idea of embracing open science represents a vision for research conduct that promotes standard processes for sharing protocols and registering studies, reporting and disseminating results, and sharing data, biospecimens, and code. The advancement of science — an intrinsically iterative process — is contingent on reporting practices that enable data to be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable to permit independent scrutiny, replication, and follow-on investigations. Realizing the value of research and fostering trust in science requires study information to be readily available to the public and the scientific community, including in open-access journals and on preprint platforms. Over the past 20 years, policymakers and investigators have promoted open science to counteract clinical researchers’ tendency to sequester data. Such efforts have included the recent release of NIH data-sharing guidelines and public–private partnerships for data sharing, such as the Yale University Open Data Access Project (which two of us help to lead). The urgency associated with the pandemic has created an imperative to accelerate the adoption of open science…

Choices in a Crisis — Individual Preferences among SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines

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New England Journal of Medicine
April 29, 2021 Vol. 384 No. 17
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

 

Choices in a Crisis — Individual Preferences among SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines
Daniel B. Kramer, M.D., M.P.H., Douglas J. Opel, M.D., M.P.H., Efthimios Parasidis, J.D., M.B.E., and Michelle M. Mello, J.D., Ph.D.
… We believe that public health officials should anticipate these good-faith concerns and provide clear recommendations regarding accommodation of individual preferences. Nevertheless, at this point in the pandemic, we find countervailing considerations more compelling, and we recommend restricting patient choice. The key guideposts for this position are expediency, equity, and equanimity…

Health Outcomes in Young Children Following Pertussis Vaccination During Pregnancy

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Pediatrics
Vol. 147, Issue 5 1 May 2021
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/

 

Articles
Health Outcomes in Young Children Following Pertussis Vaccination During Pregnancy
Meghan Laverty, Natasha Crowcroft, Shelly Bolotin, Steven Hawken, Kumanan Wilson, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Anne Biringer, Jocelynn Cook, Vinita Dubey, Romina Fakhraei, Scott A. Halperin, Frances Jamieson, Jeffrey C. Kwong, Manish Sadarangani, Ewa Sucha, Mark C. Walker, Deshayne B. Fell
Pediatrics, May 2021, 147 (5) e2020042507

Genomic and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa

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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 1 May 2021)

 

Genomic and epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa
Jones Lamptey, Favour Oluwapelumi Oyelami, Michael Owusu, Bernard Nkrumah, Paul Oluwagbenga Idowu, Enoch Appiah Adu-Gyamfi, Armin Czika, Philip El-Duah, Richmond Yeboah, Augustina Sylverken, Oluwatayo Israel Olasunkanmi, Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Christian Drosten, Yaw Adu-Sarkodie
Research Article | published 26 Apr 2021 PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0009335

Risk communication during COVID-19: A descriptive study on familiarity with, adherence to and trust in the WHO preventive measures

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PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 1 May 2021]

 

Risk communication during COVID-19: A descriptive study on familiarity with, adherence to and trust in the WHO preventive measures
Nirosha Elsem Varghese, Iryna Sabat, Sebastian Neumann-Böhme, Jonas Schreyögg, Tom Stargardt, Aleksandra Torbica, Job van Exel, Pedro Pita Barros, Werner Brouwer
Research Article | published 29 Apr 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250872

Potential impact of introducing vaccines against COVID-19 under supply and uptake constraints in France: A modelling study

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PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 1 May 2021]

 

Potential impact of introducing vaccines against COVID-19 under supply and uptake constraints in France: A modelling study
Laurent Coudeville, Ombeline Jollivet, Cedric Mahé, Sandra Chaves, Gabriela B. Gomez
Research Article | published 28 Apr 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250797

Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 among Bangladeshi adults: Understanding the strategies to optimize vaccination coverage

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PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 1 May 2021]

 

Willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19 among Bangladeshi adults: Understanding the strategies to optimize vaccination coverage
Minhazul Abedin, Mohammad Aminul Islam, Farah Naz Rahman, Hasan Mahmud Reza, Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Mohammad Anwar Hossain, Adittya Arefin, Ahmed Hossain
Research Article | published 27 Apr 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250495

Factors Influencing Health Care Workers’ Willingness to Respond to Duty during Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Bioterrorist Events: An Integrative Review

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Prehospital & Disaster Medicine
Volume 36 – Issue 3 – June 2021
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/latest-issue

 

Systematic Review
Factors Influencing Health Care Workers’ Willingness to Respond to Duty during Infectious Disease Outbreaks and Bioterrorist Events: An Integrative Review
Eleanor J. Murray, Matt Mason, Vanessa Sparke, Peta-Anne P. Zimmerman
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 February 2021, pp. 321-337

Guidance for Health Risk Assessment at Recurrent Mass Gatherings: The Jeddah Tool Framework

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Prehospital & Disaster Medicine
Volume 36 – Issue 3 – June 2021
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/prehospital-and-disaster-medicine/latest-issue

 

Special Report
Guidance for Health Risk Assessment at Recurrent Mass Gatherings: The Jeddah Tool Framework
Kingsley L. Bieh, Anas Khan, Ahmed El-Ganainy, Badriah Alotaibi, Sujoud Ghallab, Nour Abdulmalek, Nomai Mukhtar, Hani Jokhdar
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2021, pp. 348-353

A nationwide post-marketing survey of knowledge, attitudes and recommendations towards human papillomavirus vaccines among healthcare providers in China

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Preventive Medicine
Volume 146 May 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/preventive-medicine/vol/146/suppl/C

 

Research article Open access
A nationwide post-marketing survey of knowledge, attitudes and recommendations towards human papillomavirus vaccines among healthcare providers in China
Xiaoqian Xu, Yueyun Wang, Yawen Liu, Yanqin Yu, … Fanghui Zhao
Article 106484

Equity in cost-benefit analysis

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Science
30 April 2021 Vol 372, Issue 6541
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

 

Editorial
Equity in cost-benefit analysis
By Robert W. Hahn
Summary
One key way that many governments around the world incorporate scientific research into policy-making is through cost-benefit analysis (CBA). But despite well-established practices for rigorous estimation of the pros and cons of policies, there is room to improve, particularly in characterizing difficult-to-measure benefits and the distribution of the costs and benefits across different segments of society. In this regard, announcements by US President Biden, if brought to fruition, could have far-reaching implications for how CBA is used in government decision-making. But such promising (and familiar) rhetoric is no guarantee of real progress, and the devil, as always, is in the details. These details are where the scientific community has an important role to play to improve the use of CBA and to hold the administration accountable.

Relief and worry for immune-suppressed people

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Science
30 April 2021 Vol 372, Issue 6541
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

 

In Depth
Relief and worry for immune-suppressed people
By Jennifer Couzin-Frankel
Science30 Apr 2021 : 443-444 Full Access
Early studies suggest COVID-19 vaccine protection varies by ailment and treatment.
Summary
Many millions of people worldwide have suppressed immune systems because of illness or medications, including those taken after an organ transplant, for an autoimmune disease, or to treat cancer—and a big question is how well COVID-19 vaccines work for them. In many, the vaccines do seem to maintain their potency. But in others—particularly organ transplant recipients and those taking specific immune-dampening medications—effectiveness is less assured or even absent. To learn more, researchers are launching larger studies, seeking clarity for these patients and ways to help those in need, especially as their weakened immune systems make protection against COVID-19 all the more urgent.

Dutch COVID-19 lockdown measures increased trust in government and trust in science: A difference-in-differences analysis

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Social Science & Medicine
Volume 275 April 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/social-science-and-medicine/vol/275/suppl/C

 

Research article Open access
Dutch COVID-19 lockdown measures increased trust in government and trust in science: A difference-in-differences analysis
Joost Oude Groeniger, Kjell Noordzij, Jeroen van der Waal, Willem de Koster
Article 113819
Highlights
:: Studies the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures on trust in government and science.
:: Implementing COVID-19 lockdown measures positively affected institutional trust.
:: Impact was greater among those with higher risk of serious health damage.

A decade of rotavirus vaccination in Africa – Saving lives and changing the face of diarrhoeal diseases: Report of the 12th African Rotavirus Symposium

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 17 Pages 2319-2478 (22 April 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/17

 

Conference info Abstract only
A decade of rotavirus vaccination in Africa – Saving lives and changing the face of diarrhoeal diseases: Report of the 12th African Rotavirus Symposium
M. Jeffrey Mphahlele, Michelle J. Groome, Nicola A. Page, Niresh Bhagwandin, … A. Duncan Steele
Pages 2319-2324

Parents’ knowledge, beliefs, acceptance and uptake of the HPV vaccine in members of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 17 Pages 2319-2478 (22 April 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/17

 

Review article Abstract only
Parents’ knowledge, beliefs, acceptance and uptake of the HPV vaccine in members of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies
Kurnia Eka Wijayanti, Heike Schütze, Catherine MacPhail, Annette Braunack-Mayer
Pages 2335-2343

Joining the herd? U.S. public opinion and vaccination requirements across educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 17 Pages 2319-2478 (22 April 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/17

 

Research article Full text access
Joining the herd? U.S. public opinion and vaccination requirements across educational settings during the COVID-19 pandemic
Simon F. Haeder
Pages 2375-2385

Pro-equity immunization and health systems strengthening strategies in select Gavi-supported countries

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Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 17 Pages 2319-2478 (22 April 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/17

 

Research article Abstract only
Pro-equity immunization and health systems strengthening strategies in select Gavi-supported countries
Ibrahim Dadari, Ariel Higgins-Steele, Alyssa Sharkey, Danielle Charlet, … Debra Jackson
Pages 2434-2444