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Umbelino-Walker I, Wong F, Cassolato M, Pantelias A, Jacobson J, Kalume C. Integration of female genital schistosomiasis into HIV/sexual and reproductive health and rights and neglected tropical diseases programmes and services: a scoping review. Sex Reprod Health Matters 2023; 31:2262882. [PMID: 37850814 PMCID: PMC10586082 DOI: 10.1080/26410397.2023.2262882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) affects approximately 56 million women and girls across sub-Saharan Africa and is associated with up to a threefold increased prevalence of HIV. Integrating FGS with HIV programmes as part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services may be one of the most significant missed opportunities for preventing HIV incidence among girls and women. A search of studies published until October 2021 via Scopus and ProQuest was conducted using PRISMA guidelines to assess how FGS can be integrated into HIV/SRH and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) programmes and services. Data extraction included studies that integrated interventions and described the opportunities and challenges. A total of 334 studies were identified, with 22 eligible for analysis and summarised conducting a descriptive numerical analysis and qualitative review. We adapted a framework for integrated implementation of FGS, HIV, and HPV/cervical cancer to thematically organise the results, classifying them into five themes: awareness and community engagement, diagnosis, treatment, burden assessment, and economic evaluation. Most activities pertained to awareness and community engagement (n = 9), diagnosis (n = 9) and were primarily connected to HIV/AIDS (n = 8) and school-based services and programming (n = 8). The studies mainly described the opportunities and challenges for integration, rather than presenting results from implemented integration interventions, highlighting an evidence gap on FGS integration into HIV/SRH and NTD programmes. Investments are needed to realise the potential of FGS integration to address the burden of this neglected disease and improve HIV and SRH outcomes for millions of women and girls at risk.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Felicia Wong
- Independent Consultant, Frontline AIDS, Worthing, UK
| | | | | | - Julie Jacobson
- Managing Partner, Co-Founder, Bridges to Development, Seattle, WA, USA
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Endesfelder D, Oestreicher U, Bucher M, Beinke C, Siebenwirth C, Ainsbury E, Moquet J, Gruel G, Gregoire E, Martinez JS, Vral A, Baeyens A, Valente M, Montoro A, Terzoudi G, Triantopoulou S, Pantelias A, Gil OM, Prieto MJ, Domene MM, Zafiropoulos D, Barquinero JF, Pujol-Canadell M, Lumniczky K, Hargitai R, Kis E, Testa A, Patrono C, Sommer S, Hristova R, Kostova N, Atanasova M, Sevriukova O, Domínguez I, Pastor N, Güçlü I, Pajic J, Sabatier L, Brochard P, Tichy A, Milanova M, Finot F, Petrenci CC, Wilkins RC, Beaton-Green LA, Seong KM, Lee Y, Lee YH, Balajee AS, Maznyk N, Sypko T, Pham ND, Tran TM, Miura T, Suto Y, Akiyamam M, Tsuyama N, Abe Y, Goh VST, Chua CEL, Abend M, Port M. RENEB Inter-Laboratory Comparison 2021: The Dicentric Chromosome Assay. Radiat Res 2023:492028. [PMID: 37018160 DOI: 10.1667/rade-22-00202.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
After large-scale radiation accidents where many individuals are suspected to be exposed to ionizing radiation, biological and physical retrospective dosimetry assays are important tools to aid clinical decision making by categorizing individuals into unexposed/minimally, moderately or highly exposed groups. Quality-controlled inter-laboratory comparisons of simulated accident scenarios are regularly performed in the frame of the European legal association RENEB (Running the European Network of Biological and Physical retrospective Dosimetry) to optimize international networking and emergency readiness in case of large-scale radiation events. In total 33 laboratories from 22 countries around the world participated in the current RENEB inter-laboratory comparison 2021 for the dicentric chromosome assay. Blood was irradiated in vitro with X rays (240 kVp, 13 mA, ∼75 keV, 1 Gy/min) to simulate an acute, homogeneous whole-body exposure. Three blood samples (no. 1: 0 Gy, no. 2: 1.2 Gy, no. 3: 3.5 Gy) were sent to each participant and the task was to culture samples, to prepare slides and to assess radiation doses based on the observed dicentric yields from 50 manually or 150 semi-automatically scored metaphases (triage mode scoring). Approximately two-thirds of the participants applied calibration curves from irradiations with γ rays and about 1/3 from irradiations with X rays with varying energies. The categorization of the samples in clinically relevant groups corresponding to individuals that were unexposed/minimally (0-1 Gy), moderately (1-2 Gy) or highly exposed (>2 Gy) was successfully performed by all participants for sample no. 1 and no. 3 and by ≥74% for sample no. 2. However, while most participants estimated a dose of exactly 0 Gy for the sham-irradiated sample, the precise dose estimates of the samples irradiated with doses >0 Gy were systematically higher than the corresponding reference doses and showed a median deviation of 0.5 Gy (sample no. 2) and 0.95 Gy (sample no. 3) for manual scoring. By converting doses estimated based on γ-ray calibration curves to X-ray doses of a comparable mean photon energy as used in this exercise, the median deviation decreased to 0.27 Gy (sample no. 2) and 0.6 Gy (sample no. 3). The main aim of biological dosimetry in the case of a large-scale event is the categorization of individuals into clinically relevant groups, to aid clinical decision making. This task was successfully performed by all participants for the 0 Gy and 3.5 Gy samples and by 74% (manual scoring) and 80% (semi-automatic scoring) for the 1.2 Gy sample. Due to the accuracy of the dicentric chromosome assay and the high number of participating laboratories, a systematic shift of the dose estimates could be revealed. Differences in radiation quality (X ray vs. γ ray) between the test samples and the applied dose effect curves can partly explain the systematic shift. There might be several additional reasons for the observed bias (e.g., donor effects, transport, experimental conditions or the irradiation setup) and the analysis of these reasons provides great opportunities for future research. The participation of laboratories from countries around the world gave the opportunity to compare the results on an international level.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Endesfelder
- Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS, Oberschleissheim, Germany
| | - U Oestreicher
- Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS, Oberschleissheim, Germany
| | - M Bucher
- Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, BfS, Oberschleissheim, Germany
| | - C Beinke
- Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Munich, Germany
| | - C Siebenwirth
- Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Munich, Germany
| | - E Ainsbury
- UK Health Security Agency, Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards Directorate, Chilton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - J Moquet
- UK Health Security Agency, Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards Directorate, Chilton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
| | - G Gruel
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-Santé, SERAMED, LRAcc Fontenay-aux-Roses 92262, France
| | - E Gregoire
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-Santé, SERAMED, LRAcc Fontenay-aux-Roses 92262, France
| | - J S Martinez
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), PSE-Santé, SERAMED, LRAcc Fontenay-aux-Roses 92262, France
| | - A Vral
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Gent, Belgium
| | - A Baeyens
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Gent, Belgium
| | - M Valente
- Armed Forces Biomedical Research Institute, Department of Radiation Biological, Effects Brétigny-sur-Orge, France
| | - A Montoro
- Laboratorio de Dosimetría Biológica Servicio de Protección Radiológica Hospital Universitario Politécnico la Fe, Spain
| | - G Terzoudi
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos," Health Physics, Radiobiology & Cytogenetics Laboratory, Athens, Greece
| | - S Triantopoulou
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos," Health Physics, Radiobiology & Cytogenetics Laboratory, Athens, Greece
| | - A Pantelias
- National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos," Health Physics, Radiobiology & Cytogenetics Laboratory, Athens, Greece
| | - O Monteiro Gil
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M J Prieto
- Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón; Servicio de Oncología Radioterápica; Laboratorio de dosimetría biológica, Madrid, Spain
| | - M M Domene
- Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón; Servicio de Oncología Radioterápica; Laboratorio de dosimetría biológica, Madrid, Spain
| | - D Zafiropoulos
- Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Legnaro, Italy
| | | | | | - K Lumniczky
- Radiation Medicine Unit, Department of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, National Public Health Centre, Budapest, Hungary
| | - R Hargitai
- Radiation Medicine Unit, Department of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, National Public Health Centre, Budapest, Hungary
| | - E Kis
- Radiation Medicine Unit, Department of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, National Public Health Centre, Budapest, Hungary
| | - A Testa
- Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile, Rome, Italy
| | - C Patrono
- Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile, Rome, Italy
| | - S Sommer
- Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - R Hristova
- National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - N Kostova
- National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - M Atanasova
- National Centre of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - O Sevriukova
- Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Legnaro, Italy
| | - I Domínguez
- Universidad de Sevilla, Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Biología, Sevilla, Spain
| | - N Pastor
- Universidad de Sevilla, Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Biología, Sevilla, Spain
| | - I Güçlü
- Nükleer Arş Ens. Yarımburgaz mah. Nükleer Arş yolu, Turkey
| | - J Pajic
- Serbian Institute of Occupational Health, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - L Sabatier
- PROCyTOX, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France and Université Paris-Saclay, France
| | - P Brochard
- PROCyTOX, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France and Université Paris-Saclay, France
| | - A Tichy
- Department of Radiobiology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
| | - M Milanova
- Department of Radiobiology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
| | - F Finot
- Genevolution, Porcheville, France
| | | | - R C Wilkins
- Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada
| | - L A Beaton-Green
- Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada
| | - K M Seong
- Lab of Biological Dosimetry, National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Y Lee
- Lab of Biological Dosimetry, National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Y H Lee
- Lab of Biological Dosimetry, National Radiation Emergency Medical Center, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - A S Balajee
- Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory; Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS); Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education; Oak Ridge Associated Universities; Oak Ridge, Tennessee
| | - N Maznyk
- aa Radiation Cytogenetics Laboratory; S.P. Grigoriev Institute for Medical Radiology and Oncology of Ukrainian National Academy of Medical Science, Kharkiv, Ukraine
| | - T Sypko
- aa Radiation Cytogenetics Laboratory; S.P. Grigoriev Institute for Medical Radiology and Oncology of Ukrainian National Academy of Medical Science, Kharkiv, Ukraine
| | - N D Pham
- bb Biodosimetry Laboratory, Center for Radiation Technology & Biotechnology; Dalat Nuclear Research Institute; Dalat City, Vietnam
| | - T M Tran
- bb Biodosimetry Laboratory, Center for Radiation Technology & Biotechnology; Dalat Nuclear Research Institute; Dalat City, Vietnam
| | - T Miura
- cc Department of Risk Analysis and Biodosimetry Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Japan
| | - Y Suto
- dd National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan
| | - M Akiyamam
- dd National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan
| | - N Tsuyama
- ee Department of Radiation Life Sciences, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan
| | - Y Abe
- ff Department of Radiation Biology and Protection, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Japan
| | - V S T Goh
- ff Department of Radiation Biology and Protection, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Japan
| | - C E L Chua
- gg Department of Radiobiology, Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNRSI), National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - M Abend
- Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Munich, Germany
| | - M Port
- Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Munich, Germany
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Jacobson J, Pantelias A, Williamson M, Kjetland EF, Krentel A, Gyapong M, Mbabazi PS, Djirmay AG. Addressing a silent and neglected scourge in sexual and reproductive health in Sub-Saharan Africa by development of training competencies to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) for health workers. Reprod Health 2022; 19:20. [PMID: 35073965 PMCID: PMC8785555 DOI: 10.1186/s12978-021-01252-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic worms, that can take two main forms: intestinal or urogenital. If left untreated, the urogenital form can lead to female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) in women and girls; frequently resulting in severe reproductive health complications which are often misdiagnosed as sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) or can be confused with cervical cancer. Despite its impact on women’s reproductive health, FGS is typically overlooked in medical training and remains poorly recognized with low awareness both in affected communities and in health professionals. FGS has been described as the one of the most neglected sexual and reproductive health issues in sub-Saharan Africa (Swai in BMC Infect Dis 6:134, 2006; Kukula in PLoS Negl Trop Dis 13:e0007207; Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2019). Increased knowledge and awareness of FGS is required to end this neglect, improve women’s reproductive health, and decrease the burden of this preventable and treatable neglected tropical disease.
Methods We conducted interactive virtual workshops, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), engaging 64 participants with medical and public health backgrounds from around the world to establish standardized skills (or competencies) for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of FGS at all levels of the health system. The competencies were drafted in small groups, peer-reviewed, and finalized by participants. Results This participatory process led to identification of 27 skills needed for FGS prevention, diagnosis, and management for two categories of health workers; those working in a clinical setting, and those working in a community setting. Among them, ten relate to the diagnosis of FGS including three that involve a pelvic exam and seven that do not. Six constitute the appropriate behaviors required to treat FGS in a clinical setting. Eleven address the community setting, with six relating to the identification of women at risk and five relating to prevention. Conclusion Defining the skills necessary for FGS management is a critical step to prepare for proper diagnosis and treatment of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa by trained health professionals. The suggested competencies can now serve as the foundation to create educative tools and curricula to better train health care workers on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of FGS. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12978-021-01252-2. Schistosomiasis belongs to the group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) found in tropical and subtropical countries, disproportionately affecting poor populations with limited access to safe water and adequate sanitation. Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a chronic disease caused by parasitic worms, schistososomes, transmitted by contact with infested fresh water. When left untreated, FGS can lead to severe reproductive health complications, such as sub-or infertility and ectopic pregnancy. FGS is a leading neglected issue in sexual and reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa; however, health professionals are not familiar with it, leading to misdiagnosis and improper treatment. A critical challenge in addressing the burden of FGS is the knowledge gap about the disease in communities and health professionals in endemic areas and the world at large. As part of an FGS Accelerated Scale Together (FAST) package, and in an attempt to address the knowledge gap in health professionals, we organized an interactive workshop bringing together a group of 64 participants working in sexual and reproductive health generally, and/or FGS specifically. Together, we developed a comprehensive set of required skills for health workers training on FGS. The workshop participants drafted 27 skills (or competencies) to diagnose, treat, and prevent FGS. Establishing what health workers must know is a crucial first step towards the integration of FGS into women’s health care. The competencies are now available and can be used as a framework in the development of training for health professionals, opening the doors to better reproductive health for women.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Megan Williamson
- Bridges to Development, Washington, USA.,University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Eyrun Floerecke Kjetland
- Discipline of Public Health Medicine, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa.,Norwegian Centre for Imported and Tropical Diseases, Department of Infectious Diseases Ullevaal, Oslo University Hospital, 0450, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alison Krentel
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa and Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Margaret Gyapong
- Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana
| | - Pamela Sabina Mbabazi
- Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Amadou Garba Djirmay
- Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
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Wilbur DS, Park SI, Chyan MK, Wan F, Hamlin DK, Shenoi J, Lin Y, Wilbur SM, Buchegger F, Pantelias A, Pagel JM, Press OW. Design and synthesis of bis-biotin-containing reagents for applications utilizing monoclonal antibody-based pretargeting systems with streptavidin mutants. Bioconjug Chem 2010; 21:1225-38. [PMID: 20597486 DOI: 10.1021/bc100030q] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that pretargeting protocols, using cancer-targeting fusion proteins, composed of 4 anti-CD20 single chain Fv (scFv) fragments and streptavidin (scFv(4)-SAv), followed by a biotinylated dendrimeric N-acetyl-galactosamine blood clearing agent (CA), 1, then a radiolabeled DOTA-biotin derivative (a monobiotin), 3a, can provide effective therapy for lymphoma xenografts in mouse models. A shortcoming in this pretargeting system is that endogenous biotin may affect its efficacy in patients. To circumvent this potential problem, we investigated a pretargeting system that employs anti-CD20 scFv(4)-SAv mutant fusion proteins with radioiodinated bis-biotin derivatives. With that combination of reagents, good localization of the radiolabel to lymphoma tumor xenografts was obtained in the presence of endogenous biotin. However, the blood clearance reagents employed in the studies were ineffective, resulting in abnormally high levels of radioactivity in other tissues. Thus, in the present investigation a bis-biotin-trigalactose blood clearance reagent, 2, was designed, synthesized, and evaluated in vivo. Additionally, another DOTA-biotin derivative (a bis-biotin), 4a, was designed and synthesized, such that radiometals (e.g., (111)In, (90)Y, (177)Lu) could be used in the pretargeting protocols employing scFv(4)-SAv mutant fusion proteins. Studies in mice demonstrated that the CA 2 was more effective than CA 1 at removing [(125)I]scFv(4)-SAv-S45A mutant fusion proteins from blood. Another in vivo study compared tumor targeting and normal tissue concentrations of the new reagents (2 and [(111)In]4b) with standard reagents (1 and [(111)In]3b) used in pretargeting protocols. The study showed that lymphoma xenografts could be targeted in the presence of endogenous biotin when anti-CD20 fusion proteins containing SAv mutants (scFv(4)-SAv-S45A or scFv(4)-SAv-Y43A) were employed in combination with CA 2 and [(111)In]4b. Importantly, normal tissue concentrations of [(111)In]4b were similar to those obtained using the standard reagents (1 and [(111)In]3b), except that the blood and liver concentrations were slightly higher with the new reagents. While the reasons for the higher blood and liver concentrations are unknown, the differences in the galactose structures of the clearance agents 1 and 2 may play a role.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Scott Wilbur
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98105, USA.
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