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Varo R, Crowley VM, Mucasse H, Sitoe A, Bramugy J, Serghides L, Weckman AM, Erice C, Bila R, Vitorino P, Mucasse C, Valente M, Ajanovic S, Balanza N, Zhong K, Derpsch Y, Gladstone M, Mayor A, Bassat Q, Kain KC. Adjunctive rosiglitazone treatment for severe pediatric malaria: A randomized placebo-controlled trial in Mozambican children. Int J Infect Dis 2024; 139:34-40. [PMID: 38013152 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2023.11.031] [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] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We tested the hypothesis that adjunctive rosiglitazone treatment would reduce levels of circulating angiopoietin-2 (Angpt-2) and improve outcomes of Mozambican children with severe malaria. METHODS A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of rosiglitazone vs placebo as adjunctive treatment to artesunate in children with severe malaria was conducted. A 0.045 mg/kg/dose of rosiglitazone or matching placebo were administered, in addition to standard of malaria care, twice a day for 4 days. The primary endpoint was the rate of decline of Angpt-2 over 96 hours. Secondary outcomes included the longitudinal dynamics of angiopoietin-1 (Angpt-1) and the Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio over 96 hours, parasite clearance kinetics, clinical outcomes, and safety metrics. RESULTS Overall, 180 children were enrolled; 91 were assigned to rosiglitazone and 89 to placebo. Children who received rosiglitazone had a steeper rate of decline of Angpt-2 over the first 96 hours of hospitalization compared to children who received placebo; however, the trend was not significant (P = 0.28). A similar non-significant trend was observed for Angpt-1 (P = 0.65) and the Angpt-2/Angpt-1 ratio (P = 0.34). All other secondary and safety outcomes were similar between groups (P >0.05). CONCLUSION Adjunctive rosiglitazone at this dosage was safe and well tolerated but did not significantly affect the longitudinal kinetics of circulating Angpt-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique.
| | - Valerie M Crowley
- S. A. Rotman Laboratories, Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Humberto Mucasse
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Antonio Sitoe
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Justina Bramugy
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Lena Serghides
- Toronto General Research Institute (TGRI), University Health Network, Toronto, Canada; Women's College Research Institute, Women's College Hospital, Toronto, Canada; Department of Immunology and Institute of Medical Sciences University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Andrea M Weckman
- S. A. Rotman Laboratories, Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Clara Erice
- S. A. Rotman Laboratories, Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Rubao Bila
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Pio Vitorino
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Campos Mucasse
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Marta Valente
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Sara Ajanovic
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kathleen Zhong
- S. A. Rotman Laboratories, Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Yiovanna Derpsch
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Melissa Gladstone
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Alfredo Mayor
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique; Department of Physiologic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique; Spanish Consortium for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique; Spanish Consortium for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain; Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Kevin C Kain
- S. A. Rotman Laboratories, Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada; Toronto General Research Institute (TGRI), University Health Network, Toronto, Canada; Tropical Diseases Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, UHN-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
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Balanza N, Francis CK, Crowley VM, Weckman AM, Zhong K, Baro B, Varo R, Bassat Q, Kain KC. Neurofilament Light Chain as a Biomarker of Neuronal Damage in Children With Malaria. J Infect Dis 2024; 229:183-188. [PMID: 37647876 PMCID: PMC10786245 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad373] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Malaria can cause brain injury. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a biomarker of neuronal damage. Here we examined longitudinal plasma NfL levels in children aged 1-12 years with uncomplicated and severe malaria from Mozambique. NfL levels were similar in all malaria cases at hospital admission. However, levels increased over time and the increment was significantly higher in severe malaria cases with neurological manifestations (ie, coma, impaired consciousness, or repeated seizures). NfL may be useful to identify and quantify brain injury in malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clinic–University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Caroline K Francis
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Valerie M Crowley
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrea M Weckman
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kathleen Zhong
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clinic–University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clinic–University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clinic–University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu–University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Kevin C Kain
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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3
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Balanza N, Francis CK, Crowley VM, Weckman AM, Zhong K, Baro B, Varo R, Bassat Q, Kain KC. Reply to Zayet et al. J Infect Dis 2024; 229:296-297. [PMID: 37943681 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 11/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Caroline K Francis
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Valerie M Crowley
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrea M Weckman
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kathleen Zhong
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu-University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Kevin C Kain
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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4
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Agravat P, Loucaides EM, Kumar MB, Howells A, García AM, Sebina I, Balanza N, Fitchett EJA, Lawn JE. Research funding for newborn health and stillbirths, 2011-20: a systematic analysis of levels and trends. Lancet Glob Health 2023; 11:e1794-e1804. [PMID: 37858589 PMCID: PMC10603613 DOI: 10.1016/s2214-109x(23)00379-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Worldwide, an estimated 4·4 million newborn deaths and stillbirths occurred in 2020, and 98% of these deaths occurred in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to analyse new research grants for newborns and stillbirth awarded by major funders in 2019-20, and all research funding allocated to LMIC-based institutions in 2011-20. METHODS For this systematic analysis, we searched Dimensions, the world's largest research funding database, for grants relevant to neonatal and stillbirth research. Included grants were categorised by in-depth content analysis, with descriptive quantitative analyses by funder and recipient countries, research pipeline, topic, and year. FINDINGS Globally, in 2019-20, major funders awarded a mean annual total of US$577·1 million per year for newborn and stillbirth research (mean total of 550 grants per year). $166·3 million (28·8%) of $577·1 million was directed to small and vulnerable newborn research, but only $8·4 million (1·5%) was directed to stillbirth research. The majority of funding, $537·0 million (93·0%), was allocated to organisations based in high-income countries. Between 2011 and 2020, LMIC-based recipients were named on 1985 grants from all funders worth $486·7 million, of which $73·1 million (15·0%) was allocated to small and vulnerable newborn research and $12·0 million (2·5%) was allocated to stillbirth research. Most LMIC funding supported preclinical or observational studies ($236·8 million [48·7%] of $486·7 million), with implementation research receiving only $13·9 million (2·9%). INTERPRETATION Although investment in research related to neonatal health and stillbirths has increased between 2011 and 2020, there are marked disparities in distribution geographically, between major causes of mortality, and among research pipeline types. Stillbirth research received minimal funding in both high-income countries and LMICs, despite a similar number of deaths compared with neonates. Direct investment in LMIC-led research, especially for implementation research, could accelerate the slow global progress on stillbirth prevention and newborn survival. FUNDING None. TRANSLATIONS For the French, German and Spanish translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Meghan Bruce Kumar
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK; KEMRI-Wellcome Trust, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Anna Howells
- King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | | | - Ismail Sebina
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD, Australia
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Joy E Lawn
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK
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5
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Balanza N, Erice C, Ngai M, McDonald CR, Weckman AM, Wright J, Richard-Greenblatt M, Varo R, López-Varela E, Sitoe A, Vitorino P, Bramugy J, Lanaspa M, Acácio S, Madrid L, Baro B, Kain KC, Bassat Q. Prognostic accuracy of biomarkers of immune and endothelial activation in Mozambican children hospitalized with pneumonia. PLOS Glob Public Health 2023; 3:e0001553. [PMID: 36963048 PMCID: PMC10021812 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Pneumonia is a leading cause of child mortality. However, currently we lack simple, objective, and accurate risk-stratification tools for pediatric pneumonia. Here we test the hypothesis that measuring biomarkers of immune and endothelial activation in children with pneumonia may facilitate the identification of those at risk of death. We recruited children <10 years old fulfilling WHO criteria for pneumonia and admitted to the Manhiça District Hospital (Mozambique) from 2010 to 2014. We measured plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, Angpt-2, sTREM-1, sFlt-1, sTNFR1, PCT, and CRP at admission, and assessed their prognostic accuracy for in-hospital, 28-day, and 90-day mortality. Healthy community controls, within same age strata and location, were also assessed. All biomarkers were significantly elevated in 472 pneumonia cases versus 80 controls (p<0.001). IL-8, sFlt-1, and sTREM-1 were associated with in-hospital mortality (p<0.001) and showed the best discrimination with AUROCs of 0.877 (95% CI: 0.782 to 0.972), 0.832 (95% CI: 0.729 to 0.935) and 0.822 (95% CI: 0.735 to 0.908), respectively. Their performance was superior to CRP, PCT, oxygen saturation, and clinical severity scores. IL-8, sFlt-1, and sTREM-1 remained good predictors of 28-day and 90-day mortality. These findings suggest that measuring IL-8, sFlt-1, or sTREM-1 at hospital presentation can guide risk-stratification of children with pneumonia, which could enable prioritized care to improve survival and resource allocation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Clara Erice
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michelle Ngai
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chloe R. McDonald
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrea M. Weckman
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Julie Wright
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Melissa Richard-Greenblatt
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Elisa López-Varela
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Antonio Sitoe
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Pio Vitorino
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Justina Bramugy
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Miguel Lanaspa
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Sozinho Acácio
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Lola Madrid
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kevin C. Kain
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (University of Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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6
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Dobaño C, Alonso S, Vidal M, Jiménez A, Rubio R, Santano R, Barrios D, Pons Tomas G, Melé Casas M, Hernández García M, Girona-Alarcón M, Puyol L, Baro B, Millat-Martínez P, Ajanovic S, Balanza N, Arias S, Rodrigo Melero N, Carolis C, García-Miquel A, Bonet-Carné E, Claverol J, Cubells M, Fortuny C, Fumadó V, Codina A, Bassat Q, Muñoz-Almagro C, Fernández de Sevilla M, Gratacós E, Izquierdo L, García-García JJ, Aguilar R, Jordan I, Moncunill G. Multiplex Antibody Analysis of IgM, IgA and IgG to SARS-CoV-2 in Saliva and Serum From Infected Children and Their Close Contacts. Front Immunol 2022; 13:751705. [PMID: 35154094 PMCID: PMC8828491 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.751705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [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: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 affects children to a lesser extent than adults but they can still get infected and transmit SARS-CoV-2 to their contacts. Field deployable non-invasive sensitive diagnostic techniques are needed to evaluate the infectivity dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric populations and guide public health interventions, particularly if this population is not fully vaccinated. We evaluated the utility of high-throughput Luminex assays to quantify saliva IgM, IgA and IgG antibodies against five SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) antigens in a contacts and infectivity longitudinal study in 122 individuals (52 children and 70 adults). We compared saliva versus serum/plasma samples in infected children and adults diagnosed by weekly RT-PCR over 35 days (n=62), and those who consistently tested negative over the same follow up period (n=60), in the Summer of 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. Saliva antibody levels in SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR positive individuals were significantly higher than in negative individuals and correlated with those measured in sera/plasmas. Asymptomatic infected individuals had higher levels of anti-S IgG than symptomatic individuals, suggesting a protective anti-disease role for antibodies. Higher anti-S IgG and IgM levels in serum/plasma and saliva, respectively, in infected children compared to infected adults could also be related to stronger clinical immunity in them. Among infected children, males had higher levels of saliva IgG to N and RBD than females. Despite overall correlation, individual clustering analysis suggested that responses that may not be detected in blood could be patent in saliva, and vice versa. In conclusion, measurement of SARS-CoV-2-specific saliva antibodies should be considered as a complementary non-invasive assay to serum/plasma to determine COVID-19 prevalence and transmission in pediatric populations before and after vaccination campaigns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlota Dobaño
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Selena Alonso
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Vidal
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alfons Jiménez
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Rocío Rubio
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rebeca Santano
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Diana Barrios
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Pons Tomas
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain
| | - María Melé Casas
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain
| | - María Hernández García
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain
| | - Mònica Girona-Alarcón
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Laura Puyol
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Barbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Sara Ajanovic
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Arias
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Natalia Rodrigo Melero
- Biomolecular Screening and Protein Technologies Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlo Carolis
- Biomolecular Screening and Protein Technologies Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aleix García-Miquel
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisenda Bonet-Carné
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joana Claverol
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Cubells
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Claudia Fortuny
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Victoria Fumadó
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Codina
- Biobank Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique.,Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Department of Medicine, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.,Molecular Microbiology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain
| | - Mariona Fernández de Sevilla
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain
| | - Eduard Gratacós
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBER-ER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis Izquierdo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan José García-García
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain
| | - Ruth Aguilar
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Iolanda Jordan
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues, Spain.,Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gemma Moncunill
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Madrid, Spain
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7
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Alonso S, Català M, López D, Álvarez-Lacalle E, Jordan I, García-García JJ, Fumadó V, Muñoz-Almagro C, Gratacós E, Balanza N, Varo R, Millat P, Baro B, Ajanovic S, Arias S, Claverol J, de Sevilla MF, Bonet-Carne E, Garcia-Miquel A, Coma E, Medina-Peralta M, Fina F, Prats C, Bassat Q. Individual prevention and containment measures in schools in Catalonia, Spain, and community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 after school re-opening. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263741. [PMID: 35171936 PMCID: PMC8849486 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite their clear lesser vulnerability to COVID-19, the extent by which children are susceptible to getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 and their capacity to transmit the infection to other people remains inadequately characterized. We aimed to evaluate the role of school reopening and the preventive strategies in place at schools in terms of overall risk for children and community transmission, by comparing transmission rates in children as detected by a COVID-19 surveillance platform in place in Catalonian Schools to the incidence at the community level. METHODS AND FINDINGS Infections detected in Catalan schools during the entire first trimester of classes (September-December 2020) were analysed and compared with the ongoing community transmission and with the modelled predicted number of infections. There were 30.486 infections (2.12%) documented among the circa 1.5M pupils, with cases detected in 54.0% and 97.5% of the primary and secondary centres, respectively. During the entire first term, the proportion of "bubble groups" (stable groups of children doing activities together) that were forced to undergo confinement ranged between 1 and 5%, with scarce evidence of substantial intraschool transmission in the form of chains of infections, and with ~75% of all detected infections not leading to secondary cases. Mathematical models were also used to evaluate the effect of different parameters related to the defined preventive strategies (size of the bubble group, number of days of confinement required by contacts of an index case). The effective reproduction number inside the bubble groups in schools (R*), defined as the average number of schoolmates infected by each primary case within the bubble, was calculated, yielding a value of 0.35 for primary schools and 0.55 for secondary schools, and compared with the outcomes of the mathematical model, implying decreased transmissibility for children in the context of the applied measures. Relative homogenized monthly cumulative incidence ([Formula: see text]) was assessed to compare the epidemiological dynamics among different age groups and this analysis suggested the limited impact of infections in school-aged children in the context of the overall community incidence. CONCLUSIONS During the fall of 2020, SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 cases detected in Catalan schools closely mirrored the underlying community transmission from the neighbourhoods where they were set and maintaining schools open appeared to be safe irrespective of underlying community transmission. Preventive measures in place in those schools appeared to be working for the early detection and rapid containment of transmission and should be maintained for the adequate and safe functioning of normal academic and face-to-face school activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Alonso
- Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Català
- Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
- Comparative Medicine and Bioimage Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB), Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Daniel López
- Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Iolanda Jordan
- Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan José García-García
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Victoria Fumadó
- Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduard Gratacós
- BCNatal | Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
- Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBER-ER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Pere Millat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Ajanovic
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Sara Arias
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joana Claverol
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mariona Fernández de Sevilla
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisenda Bonet-Carne
- BCNatal | Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aleix Garcia-Miquel
- BCNatal | Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ermengol Coma
- Sistema d’Informació dels Serveis d’Atenció Primària (SISAP), Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Manuel Medina-Peralta
- Sistema d’Informació dels Serveis d’Atenció Primària (SISAP), Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francesc Fina
- Sistema d’Informació dels Serveis d’Atenció Primària (SISAP), Institut Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Clara Prats
- Department of Physics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Quique Bassat
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic—Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
- ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
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8
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Ajanovic S, Garrido-Aguirre J, Baro B, Balanza N, Varo R, Millat-Martínez P, Arias S, Fonollosa J, Perera-Lluna A, Jordan I, Muñoz-Almagro C, Bonet-Carne E, Crosas-Soler A, Via E, Nafria B, García-García JJ, Bassat Q. How Did the COVID-19 Lockdown Affect Children and Adolescent's Well-Being: Spanish Parents, Children, and Adolescents Respond. Front Public Health 2021; 9:746052. [PMID: 34900898 PMCID: PMC8655116 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.746052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [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: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown strategies have been widely used to contain SARS-CoV-2 virus spread. Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable to suffering psychological effects as result of such measures. In Spain, children were enforced to a strict home lockdown for 42 days during the first wave. Here, we studied the effects of lockdown in children and adolescents through an online questionnaire. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Spain using an open online survey from July (after the lockdown resulting from the first pandemic wave) to November 2020 (second wave). We included families with children under 16 years-old living in Spain. Parents answered a survey regarding the lockdown effects on their children and were instructed to invite their children from 7 to 16 years-old (mandatory scholar age in Spain) to respond a specific set of questions. Answers were collected through an application programming interface system, and data analysis was performed using R. Results: We included 1,957 families who completed the questionnaires, covering a total of 3,347 children. The specific children's questionnaire was completed by 167 kids (7–11 years-old), and 100 adolescents (12–16 years-old). Children, in general, showed high resilience and capability to adapt to new situations. Sleeping problems were reported in more than half of the children (54%) and adolescents (59%), and these were strongly associated with less time doing sports and spending more than 5 h per day using electronic devices. Parents perceived their children to gain weight (41%), be more irritable and anxious (63%) and sadder (46%). Parents and children differed significantly when evaluating children's sleeping disturbances. Conclusions: Enforced lockdown measures and isolation can have a negative impact on children and adolescent's mental health and well-being. In future waves of the current pandemic, or in the light of potential epidemics of new emerging infections, lockdown measures targeting children, and adolescents should be reconsidered taking into account their infectiousness potential and their age-specific needs, especially to facilitate physical activity and to limit time spent on electronic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ajanovic
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jon Garrido-Aguirre
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.,B2SLab, Departament d'Enginyeria de Sistemes, Automàtica i Informàtica Industrial, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | | | - Sara Arias
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Fonollosa
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.,Networking Biomedical Research Centre in the Subject Area of Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alexandre Perera-Lluna
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Iolanda Jordan
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.,Molecular Microbiology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisenda Bonet-Carne
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, Barcelona, Spain.,BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aina Crosas-Soler
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Esther Via
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Begonya Nafria
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan José García-García
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,ICREA, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Barcelona, Spain
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9
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Millat-Martínez P, Gabong R, Balanza N, Luana S, Sanz S, Raulo S, Elizah A, Wali C, Paivu B, Dalmas J, Tabie S, Karl S, Laman M, Pomat W, Mitjà O, Baro B, Bassat Q. Coverage, determinants of use and repurposing of long-lasting insecticidal nets two years after a mass distribution in Lihir Islands, Papua New Guinea: a cross-sectional study. Malar J 2021; 20:336. [PMID: 34348727 PMCID: PMC8336363 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-021-03867-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [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: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Universal coverage with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) is an essential component of malaria control programmes. Three-yearly mass distribution of LLINs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been successful in reducing infection transmission since 2009, but malaria prevalence ramped up from 2015 onwards. Although LLIN universal coverage is mostly achieved during these campaigns, it may not be related with net use over time. Uses given to LLINs and non-compliance of this strategy were evaluated. METHODS A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) cross-sectional study was conducted in Lihir Islands, PNG, 2-2.5 years after the last LLIN mass distribution campaign. Data on bed net ownership, use and maintenance behaviour was collected using a household questionnaire administered by trained community volunteers. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with owning at least one LLIN and sleeping under a LLIN the previous night. RESULTS Among 2694 households surveyed, 27.4 % (95 % CI: 25.8-29.2) owned at least one LLIN and 8.7 % (95 % CI: 7.6-9.8) had an adequate LLIN coverage (at least one LLIN for every two people). Out of 13,595 individuals in the surveyed households, 13.6 % (95 % CI: 13.0--4.2) reported having slept under a LLIN the preceding night. Determinants for sleeping under LLIN included living in a household with adequate LLIN coverage [adjusted OR (aOR) = 5.82 (95 % CI: 3.23-10.49)], household heads knowledge about LLINs [aOR = 16.44 (95 % CI: 8.29-32.58)], and female gender [aOR = 1.92 (95 % CI: 1.53-2.40)] (all p-values < 0.001). LLIN use decreased with older age [aOR = 0.29 (95 % CI: 0.21-0.40) for ≥ 15 year-olds, aOR = 0.38 (95 % CI: 0.27-0.55) for 5-14 year-olds] compared to < 5 year-olds (p-value < 0.001). Knowledge on the use of LLIN was good in 37.0 % of the household heads. Repurposed nets were reported serving as fishing nets (30.4 %), fruits and seedlings protection (26.6 %), covering up food (19.0 %) and bed linen (11.5 %). CONCLUSIONS Two years after mass distribution, LLIN coverage and use in Lihir Islands is extremely low. Three yearly distribution campaigns may not suffice to maintain an acceptable LLIN coverage unless knowledge on maintenance and use is promoted trough educational campaigns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pere Millat-Martínez
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. .,Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea.
| | - Rebecca Gabong
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sakaia Luana
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Sergi Sanz
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Department of Basic Clinical Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Silvia Raulo
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Arthur Elizah
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Chilaka Wali
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Benjamin Paivu
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Julian Dalmas
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Samson Tabie
- Lihir Malaria Elimination Programme (LMEP), Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Stephan Karl
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Smithfield, Australia.,Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka/Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Moses Laman
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka/Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - William Pomat
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka/Madang, Papua New Guinea
| | - Oriol Mitjà
- Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation, Badalona, Spain.,Infectious Disease Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Lihir Medical Centre, International SOS, Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
| | - Bàrbara Baro
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.,Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
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10
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Jordan I, de Sevilla MF, Fumado V, Bassat Q, Bonet-Carne E, Fortuny C, Garcia-Miquel A, Jou C, Adroher C, Casas MM, Girona-Alarcon M, Garcia MH, Tomas GP, Ajanovic S, Arias S, Balanza N, Baro B, Millat-Martinez P, Varo R, Alonso S, Álvarez-Lacalle E, López D, Claverol J, Cubells M, Brotons P, Codina A, Cuadras D, Bruijning-Verhagen P, Faust S, Munro A, Muñoz-Almagro C, Català M, Prats C, Garcia-Garcia JJ, Gratacós E. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children in summer schools applying stringent control measures in Barcelona, Spain. Clin Infect Dis 2021; 74:66-73. [PMID: 33709138 PMCID: PMC7989514 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding the role of children in SARS-CoV-2 transmission is critical to guide decision-making for schools in the pandemic. We aimed to describe the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children and adult staff in summer schools. METHODS During July 2020 we prospectively recruited children and adult staff attending summer schools in Barcelona who had SARS-CoV-2 infection. Primary SARS-CoV-2 infections were identified through: (1) surveillance program in 22 summer schools' of 1905 participants, involving weekly saliva sampling for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR during 2-5 weeks; (2)cases identified through the Catalonian Health Surveillance System of children diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection by nasopharyngeal RT-PCR. All centres followed prevention protocols: bubble groups, hand washing, facemasks and conducting activities mostly outdoors. Contacts of a primary case within the same bubble were evaluated by nasopharyngeal RT-PCR. Secondary attack rates and effective reproduction number in summer schools(R*) were calculated. RESULTS Among the over 2000 repeatedly screened participants, 30children and 9adults were identified as primary cases. A total of 253 close contacts of these primary cases were studied (median 9 (IQR 5-10) for each primary case), among which twelve new cases (4.7%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. The R* was 0.3, whereas the contemporary rate in the general population from the same areas in Barcelona was 1.9. CONCLUSIONS The transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection among children attending school-like facilities under strict prevention measures was lower than that reported for the general population. This suggests that under preventive measures schools are unlikely amplifiers of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and supports current recommendations for school opening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iolanda Jordan
- Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Victoria Fumado
- Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Quique Bassat
- Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Pediatric Service. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique.,ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisenda Bonet-Carne
- BCNatal
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya • BarcelonaTech
| | - Claudia Fortuny
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aleix Garcia-Miquel
- BCNatal
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Jou
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Pathology and Biobank Hospital Sant Joan de Deu.,CIBERER, Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Adroher
- Deputy Director of Strategic Planning and Management Control- Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona)
| | - María Melé Casas
- Pediatric Service. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mònica Girona-Alarcon
- Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Gemma Pons Tomas
- Pediatric Service. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Ajanovic
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Arias
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Núria Balanza
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bárbara Baro
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pere Millat-Martinez
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosauro Varo
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sergio Alonso
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems (BIOCOM-SC). Department of Physics. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain
| | - Enric Álvarez-Lacalle
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems (BIOCOM-SC). Department of Physics. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain
| | - Daniel López
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems (BIOCOM-SC). Department of Physics. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain
| | - Joana Claverol
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Cubells
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pedro Brotons
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Codina
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Pathology and Biobank Hospital Sant Joan de Deu
| | - Daniel Cuadras
- Statistics Department, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Patricia Bruijning-Verhagen
- Julius Centre for Health Sciences, department of infectious diseases epidemiology, University Medical Center Utrecht
| | - Saul Faust
- NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and Faculty of Medicine and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Alasdair Munro
- NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; and Faculty of Medicine and Institute for Life Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Carmen Muñoz-Almagro
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Department of Medicine, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Martí Català
- Comparative Medicine and Bioimage Centre of Catalonia (CMCiB), Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), Badalona, Spain
| | - Clara Prats
- Computational Biology and Complex Systems (BIOCOM-SC). Department of Physics. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Castelldefels, Spain
| | - Juan José Garcia-Garcia
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,Pediatric Service. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eduard Gratacós
- BCNatal
- Fetal Medicine Research Center (Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain.,Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBER-ER), Madrid, Spain
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11
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Galatas B, Mayor A, Gupta H, Balanza N, Jang IK, Nhamussua L, Simone W, Cisteró P, Chidimatembue A, Munguambe H, Saúte F, Aide P, Bassat Q. Field performance of ultrasensitive and conventional malaria rapid diagnostic tests in southern Mozambique. Malar J 2020; 19:451. [PMID: 33287822 PMCID: PMC7720469 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-020-03526-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [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: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background An ultrasensitive malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) was recently developed for the improved detection of low-density Plasmodium falciparum infections. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of the PfHRP2-based Abbott Malaria Ag P. falciparum ultrasensitive RDT (uRDT) to that of the conventional SD-Bioline Malaria Ag P. falciparum RDT (cRDT) when performed under field conditions. Methods Finger-prick blood samples were collected from adults and children in two cross-sectional surveys in May of 2017 in southern Mozambique. Using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) as the reference method, the age-specific diagnostic performance indicators of the cRDT and uRDT were compared. The presence of histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) and Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) antigens was evaluated in a subset from dried blood spots by a quantitative antigen assay. pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletions were assessed in samples positive by RT-qPCR and negative by both RDTs. Results Among the 4,396 participants with complete test results, the sensitivity of uRDTs (68.2; 95% CI 60.8 to 74.9) was marginally better than that of cRDTs (61.5; 95% CI 53.9 to 68.6) (p-value = 0.004), while the specificities were similar (uRDT: 99.0 [95% CI 98.6 to 99.2], cRDT: 99.2 [95% CI 98.9 to 99.4], p-value = 0.02). While the performance of both RDTs was lowest in ≥ 15-year-olds, driven by the higher prevalence of low parasite density infections in this group, the sensitivity of uRDTs was significantly higher in this age group (54.9, 95% CI 40.3 to 68.9) compared to the sensitivity of cRDTs (39.2, 95% CI 25.8 to 53.9) (p-value = 0.008). Both RDTs detected P. falciparum infections at similar geometric mean parasite densities (112.9 parasites/μL for uRDTs and 145.5 parasites/μL for cRDTs). The presence of HRP2 antigen was similar among false positive (FP) samples of both tests (80.5% among uRDT-FPs and 84.4% among cRDT-FPs). Only one false negative sample was detected with a partial pfhrp2 deletion. Conclusion This study showed that the uRDTs developed by Abbott do not substantially outperform SD-Bioline Pf malaria RDTs in the community and are still not comparable to molecular methods to detect P. falciparum infections in this study setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Galatas
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.
| | - Alfredo Mayor
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - Himanshu Gupta
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Lidia Nhamussua
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Wilson Simone
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Pau Cisteró
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | - Francisco Saúte
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Pedro Aide
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.,National Institute of Health, Ministry of Health, Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Maputo, Mozambique.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.,ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain.,Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (University of Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain
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12
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION Malaria continues to be a major global health problem, with over 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths estimated to occur annually. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of malaria is essential to decrease the burden and impact of this disease, particularly in children. We aimed to review the main available techniques for the diagnosis of clinical malaria in endemic settings and explore possible future options to improve its rapid recognition. AREAS COVERED literature relevant to malaria diagnosis was identified through electronic searches in Pubmed, with no language or date restrictions and limited to humans. EXPERT OPINION Light microscopy is still considered the gold standard method for malaria diagnosis and continues to be at the frontline of malaria diagnosis. However, technologies as rapid diagnostic tests, mainly those who detect histidine-rich protein-2, offer an accurate, rapid and affordable alternative for malaria diagnosis in endemic areas. They are now the technique most extended in endemic areas for parasitological confirmation. In these settings, PCR-based assays are usually restricted to research and they are not currently helpful in the management of clinical malaria. Other technologies, such as isothermal methods could be an interesting and alternative approach to PCR in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat De Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain.,Centro De Investigação Em Saúde De Manhiça (CISM) , Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat De Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alfredo Mayor
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat De Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain.,Centro De Investigação Em Saúde De Manhiça (CISM) , Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat De Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain.,Centro De Investigação Em Saúde De Manhiça (CISM) , Maputo, Mozambique.,ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23 , Barcelona, Spain.,Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan De Deu (University of Barcelona) , Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio De Investigación Biomédica En Red De Epidemiología Y Salud Publica (CIBERESP) , Madrid, Spain
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13
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Balanza N, Erice C, Ngai M, Varo R, Kain KC, Bassat Q. Host-Based Prognostic Biomarkers to Improve Risk Stratification and Outcome of Febrile Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Front Pediatr 2020; 8:552083. [PMID: 33072673 PMCID: PMC7530621 DOI: 10.3389/fped.2020.552083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fever is one of the leading causes for pediatric medical consultation and the most common symptom at clinical presentation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Most febrile episodes are due to self-limited infections, but a small proportion of children will develop life-threatening infections. The early recognition of children who have or are progressing to a critical illness among all febrile cases is challenging, and there are currently no objective and quantitative tools to do so. This results in increased morbidity and mortality among children with impending life-threatening infections, whilst contributing to the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics, overwhelming health care facilities, and harm to patients receiving avoidable antimicrobial treatment. Specific fever origin is difficult to ascertain and co-infections in LMICs are common. However, many severe infections share common pathways of host injury irrespective of etiology, including immune and endothelial activation that contribute to the pathobiology of sepsis (i.e., pathogen "agnostic" mechanisms of disease). Importantly, mediators of these pathways are independent markers of disease severity and outcome. We propose that measuring circulating levels of these factors can provide quantitative and objective evidence to: enable early recognition of severe infection; guide patient triage and management; enhance post-discharge risk stratification and follow up; and mitigate potential gender bias in clinical decisions. Here, we review the clinical and biological evidence supporting the clinical utility of host immune and endothelial activation biomarkers as components of novel rapid triage tests, and discuss the challenges and needs for developing and implementing such tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Clara Erice
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Michelle Ngai
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Rosauro Varo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Manhiça, Mozambique
| | - Kevin C Kain
- Sandra-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Toronto General Research Institute, University Health Network-Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Tropical Disease Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Quique Bassat
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic - Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça, Manhiça, Mozambique.,ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.,Pediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (University of Barcelona), Barcelona, Spain.,Consorcio de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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14
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Aguilar R, Ubillos I, Vidal M, Balanza N, Crespo N, Jiménez A, Nhabomba A, Jairoce C, Dosoo D, Gyan B, Ayestaran A, Sanz H, Campo JJ, Gómez-Pérez GP, Izquierdo L, Dobaño C. Antibody responses to α-Gal in African children vary with age and site and are associated with malaria protection. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9999. [PMID: 29968771 PMCID: PMC6030195 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28325-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Naturally-acquired antibody responses to malaria parasites are not only directed to protein antigens but also to carbohydrates on the surface of Plasmodium protozoa. Immunoglobulin M responses to α-galactose (α-Gal) (Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R)-containing glycoconjugates have been associated with protection from P. falciparum infection and, as a result, these molecules are under consideration as vaccine targets; however there are limited field studies in endemic populations. We assessed a wide breadth of isotype and subclass antibody response to α-Gal in children from Mozambique (South East Africa) and Ghana (West Africa) by quantitative suspension array technology. We showed that anti-α-Gal IgM, IgG and IgG1–4 levels vary mainly depending on the age of the child, and also differ in magnitude in the two sites. At an individual level, the intensity of malaria exposure to P. falciparum and maternally-transferred antibodies affected the magnitude of α-Gal responses. There was evidence for a possible protective role of anti-α-Gal IgG3 and IgG4 antibodies. However, the most consistent findings were that the magnitude of IgM responses to α-Gal was associated with protection against clinical malaria over a one-year follow up period, especially in the first months of life, while IgG levels correlated with malaria risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Aguilar
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Itziar Ubillos
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Marta Vidal
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Núria Balanza
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Núria Crespo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Alfons Jiménez
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Augusto Nhabomba
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - Chenjerai Jairoce
- Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Manhiça (CISM), Maputo, Mozambique
| | - David Dosoo
- Kintampo Health Research Center, Kintampo, Ghana
| | - Ben Gyan
- Kintampo Health Research Center, Kintampo, Ghana
| | - Aintzane Ayestaran
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Hèctor Sanz
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Joseph J Campo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | | | - Luis Izquierdo
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Carlota Dobaño
- ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
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