May 30, 2023
A maternal K. pneumoniae vaccine could save thousands of newborns’ lives.
A recent modelling study by OHT researchers and collaborators quantifies the impact of a hypothetical maternal Klebsiella pneumoniae vaccine conferring protection of K. pneumoniae infections in newborns. Assuming a 70 percent efficacy and coverage levels equivalent to those of the maternal tetanus vaccine, this hypothetical vaccine is projected to avert over 80,000 neonatal deaths and approximately 400,000 cases of neonatal sepsis worldwide. The number of deaths averted, including those from drug-resistant infections, represents 1.49 percent of all neonatal deaths, with the greatest impact being observed in the African and South-East Asian regions. [PLOS Medicine]
Gaps in the tuberculosis case management system in India
While India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed in 2018 that the country would reduce the incidence of tuberculosis (TB) by 80 percent by 2025, the country is still far from that goal. OHT’s Ramanan Laxminarayan said TB case detection is inadequate in the Indian healthcare system, resulting in many untreated TB patients and allowing for the disease to spread more. Greater allocation of funds, preventive therapy, and upscaled diagnostic technology are needed to reduce the burden of TB in India and achieve the nation’s goal of TB eradication. [IndiaSpend]
Diagnostics are an essential component of AMR mitigation globally and in our communities.
In OHT’s latest blog article, Jonathan Babuya of Busitema University and a member of Students Against Superbugs Africa illustrated the effects of inequitable and inadequate access to diagnostics in the fight to treat drug-resistant infections and mitigate antimicrobial resistance. Through stories of his experience in hospitals in his community, he makes the argument, “While new diagnostic technology is expensive, improperly diagnosed or non-diagnosed infections are more expensive in the long run. Equitable access to advanced diagnostics and investment in better diagnostics is key to combatting antimicrobial resistance and reducing the burden on healthcare systems and the threat to life and well-being around the world.” [One Health Trust]
Conflicts and climate change threaten the control of neglected tropical diseases in Africa.
A cross-sectional ecological study in highly neglected tropical disease (NTD)-endemic countries in Africa assessed the burden and risk of conflict- and climate-related internal displacements and the need for NTD strategies. More than half a billion individuals in eight of the most populous NTD-endemic African countries will require NTD intervention and long-term surveillance. Internal displacements attributable to conflicts and natural disasters, which researchers quantified to be over 10 million in just one year in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Nigeria, Mozambique, and Niger, threaten the possibility and effectiveness of NTD interventions and long-term surveillance. [BMJ Open]
Distributing an oral rabies vaccine among dogs in Namibia is efficient and effective.
Researchers in Namibia evaluated the efficiency of an oral rabies vaccine (ORV) for dogs as an emergency response rather than a means of generating herd immunity. Using a bait to administer a third-generation ORV, they successfully vaccinated 88 percent of the dogs who were offered bait, equivalent to vaccinating approximately 20 dogs per hour. These results indicate the effectiveness of vaccination under field conditions and its applicability to rabies control programs among free-roaming, stray, and owned dogs. [One Health]
Point-of-care ultrasound should be integrated into current tuberculosis diagnostics.
Children and adolescents in Guinea-Bissau with presumptive tuberculosis (TB) underwent point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) assessment to determine the tool’s utility to diagnose TB when performed by POCUS-naive local operators. Two-thirds of individuals with presumptive TB were ultimately diagnosed with TB by POCUS testing, with an average operational time of 23 minutes. More than three-fourths of examinations were of good-to-moderate quality, suggesting that the protocol can be feasibly integrated into the current TB diagnostic workflow in LMICs. [BMJ Open]
Human body heat and odor determine malarial parasites’ host preferences.
Researchers developed a large-scale assay in Zambia to understand the olfactory cues that drive the African malarial parasite Anopheles gambiae to innately seek human skin during late night hours. Similar to previous studies, they found that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions combined with heat trigger An. gambiae landing within a small area. The researchers hypothesize that natural human odorants and bodily convection currents play an important role in dictating preferred biting sites for An. gambiae. The preference assay used in this study should be applied to other host conditions, such as diet, pregnancy, and microbiome, to further investigate the chemosensory drivers of malaria transmission. [Current Biology]
HPV vaccination reduced infection rates in sexually active women in Rwanda.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer among women in Rwanda and in 2011, Rwanda was the first African country to implement a national HPV vaccination program. A cross-sectional study of sexually active women between 17 and 29 years conducted from 2013 to 2014 and 2019 to 2020 estimated the effect of Rwanda’s HPV vaccination program on HPV prevalence. The vaccine program reduced the prevalence of HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 by approximately 50 percent. HPV infection reduction was higher among women who had completed more years of school, indicating a need to extend HPV vaccine coverage to girls not attending school. [The Lancet Global Health]
Untreated water in Brazilian indigenous communities increases the risk of human and canine toxoplasmosis infection.
A One Health-based investigation of Toxoplasma gondii exposure in indigenous people, their dogs, and the environment in Brazil revealed that water sanitation is crucial for toxoplasmosis prevention in these communities. Indigenous populations living in remote areas often lack basic sanitation, potable water, and veterinary care, increasing the prevalence of zoonotic diseases such as toxoplasmosis. Analysis of human and dog serum samples and soil samples revealed that 49 percent of indigenous participants and 38 percent of their dogs were T. gondii seropositive. Factors including consumption of game meat, lower schooling attainment, and consumption of untreated water increased the risk of contracting toxoplasmosis. [The Lancet Global Health]
Image from Canva
