In a double-blind randomized controlled trial, Xavier Saez-Llorens and colleagues examine the vaccine efficacy of PHiD-CV against community-acquired pneumonia in young children in Panama, Argentina, and Columbia. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Insights gained from focus group methodology can help nurses and other healthcare professionals design and develop appropriate prostate cancer education tools for use in community-based prostate cancer screening programs.

Meeting the challenge of a strong health disparities agenda requires integration of cultural and literacy considerations in outreach program, message, and intervention development. The use of a checklist may help clinicians, educators, and researchers create a sustainable model of community outreach guided by a paradigm that incorporates a multilevel approach to address cancer outcomes for disenfranchised populations.

No abstract

We previously reported 10-valent pneumococcal non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) protein D conjugate vaccine (PHiD-CV) efficacy in a double-blind randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00466947) against various diseases, including acute otitis media (AOM). Here, we provide further analyses. In the Panamanian subset, 7,359 children were randomized (1:1) to receive PHiD-CV or control vaccine at age 2/4/6 and 15–18 months. Of these, 2,000 had nasopharyngeal swabs collected. AOM cases were captured when parents sought medical attention for children with AOM symptoms; surveillance was enhanced approximately 2 y into the study through regular telephone calls or home visits by study personnel, who advised parents to visit the clinic if their child had AOM symptoms. Mean follow-up was 31.4 months. Clinical AOM (C-AOM) cases were assessed by physicians and confirmed by otorhinolaryngologists. Middle ear fluid samples, taken from children with C-AOM after specific informed consent, and nasopharyngeal samples were cultured for pathogen identification. For 7,359 children, 2,574 suspected AOM cases were assessed by a primary healthcare physician; 649 cases were C-AOM cases as per protocol definition. From the 503 MEF samples collected, 158 resulted in a positive culture. In the intent-to-treat cohort (7,214 children), PHiD-CV showed VE against first C-AOM (24.0% [95% CI: 8.7, 36.7]) and bacterial (B-AOM) episodes (48.0% [20.3, 66.1]) in children <24 months, which declined thereafter with age. Pre-booster VE against C-AOM was 30.7% [12.9, 44.9]; post-booster, −6.7% [−36.4, 16.6]. PHiD-CV VE was 17.7% [−6.1, 36.2] against moderate and 32.7% [−20.5, 62.4] against severe C-AOM. VE against vaccine-serotype pneumococcal NPC was 31.2% [5.3, 50.3] 3 months post-booster, and 25.6% [12.7, 36.7] across all visits. NTHi colonization rates were low and no significant reduction was observed. PHiD-CV showed efficacy against C-AOM and B-AOM in children younger than 24 months, and reduced vaccine-serotype NPC.