BACKGROUND: Rotavirus vaccine has been funded for infants under the Australian National Immunisation Program since 2007, with Rotarix vaccine used in New South Wales, Australia, from that time. In 2017, New South Wales experienced a large outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis. We examined epidemiology, genotypic profiles, and vaccine effectiveness (VE) among cases. METHODS: Laboratory-confirmed cases of rotavirus notified in New South Wales between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2017 were analyzed. VE was estimated in children via a case-control analysis. Specimens from a sample of hospitalized case patients were genotyped and analyzed. RESULTS: In 2017, 2319 rotavirus cases were reported, representing a 3.1-fold increase on the 2016 notification rate. The highest rate was among children aged ,2 years. For notified cases in 2017, 2-dose VE estimates were 88.4%, 83.7%, and 78.7% in those aged 6 to 11 months, 1 to 3 years, and 4 to 9 years, respectively. VE was significantly reduced from 89.5% within 1 year of vaccination to 77.0% at 5 to 10 years postvaccination. Equinelike G3P[8] (48%) and G8P[8] (23%) were identified as the most common genotypes in case patients aged $6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Rotarix is highly effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed rotavirus in Australia, especially in infants aged 6 to 11 months. Reduced VE in older age groups and over time suggests waning protection, possibly related to the absence of subclinical immune boosting from continuously circulating virus. G8 genotypes have not been common in Australia, and their emergence, along with equinelike G3P[8], may be related to vaccineinduced selective pressure; however, further strain-specific VE studies are needed. WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: There are limited monovalent rotavirus vaccine effectiveness estimates in developed countries, including Australia, that include an extended follow-up period and accompanying genotypic analysis. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: High 1-and 2-dose monovalent rotavirus vaccine effectiveness was observed in New South Wales, Australia, but was not adequate to prevent an outbreak due to emerging strains. Assessing genotypic variation is important to understand the complexities of rotavirus epidemiology.
BackgroundNaturally acquired immunity can reduce parasitaemia and potentially influence anti-malarial treatment outcomes; however, evidence for this in the current literature provides conflicted results. The available evidence was synthesized to determine and quantify the association between host immunity and anti-malarial treatment failure.MethodsFour databases were searched to identify studies investigating malaria antibody levels in patients receiving anti-malarial treatment for symptomatic malaria with treatment failure recorded according to the World Health Organization classification. Odds ratios or hazard ratios were extracted or calculated to quantify the association between malarial antibody levels and treatment failure, and findings from different studies were visualized using forest plots.ResultsEight studies, including patients with falciparum malaria treated with mono- and combination therapy of artemisinin derivatives, sulfadoxine, pyrimethamine and chloroquine, were identified. Reported and calculated effect estimates varied greatly between studies, even those assessing the same antigens and treatments. An association between blood-stage IgG responses and treatment efficacy was observed. The greatest magnitudes of effect were observed for artemisinin [OR/HR (95% CI) range 0.02 (0.00, 0.45)–1.08 (0.57, 2.06)] and chloroquine [0.24 (0.04, 1.37)–0.32 (0.05, 1.96)] treatments, and larger magnitudes of effect were observed for variant surface antigen responses [0.02 (0.00, 0.45)–1.92 (0.94, 3.91)] when compared with merozoite specific responses [0.24 (0.04, 1.37)–2.83 (1.13, 7.09)].ConclusionsNaturally acquired malarial immunity is associated with reduced anti-malarial treatment failure in malaria endemic populations. Anti-malarial IgG effects treatment outcome differently for different anti-malarial drugs and antigen targets, and had the greatest impact during treatment with the current first-line treatments, the artemisinins. This has implications for the assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of anti-malarials, particularly in the context of emerging artemisinin resistance.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-017-1815-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Introduction Significant recent changes in Australian pertussis immunisation policy include the progressive introduction of funded pertussis immunisation programs for pregnant women, from late 2014 to mid-2015 at jurisdictional level and then under the National Immunisation Program from July 2018, and reintroduction of the 18-month booster dose in 2016. This study analyses pertussis notification, hospitalisation, and mortality data from 2013 to 2018 in the context of trends since 1995. Methods This study used data from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, the National Hospital Morbidity Database, and the Australian Coordinating Registry, for descriptive analysis of pertussis notifications, hospitalisations and deaths in Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) status from 2013 to 2018, examining trends between 1995 and 2012 at both the national and jurisdictional level. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were utilised to compare pertussis incidence in infants aged < 2 months and 6–11 months for each year from the 2015–2018 (post-maternal-vaccination) period against the 2010–2013 (pre-maternal-vaccination) period. Results and Discussion Annual national all-age incidence of pertussis notifications between 2013 and 2018 was 63.6 per 100,000 population, 40% less than between 2006 and 2012. Between 2016 and 2018, infants aged < 2 months had the lowest notification rates of age groups < 5 years old, with the highest notification rates in pre-adolescents aged 9–11 years. Compared with the baseline period (2010–2013), the IRR for infants aged < 2 months decreased in each year during the post-maternal-vaccination period from 0.4 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.3–0.5) in 2015 to 0.1 (95% CI: 0.1–0.2) in 2018. For infants aged 6–11 months, the IRR was 0.9 (95% CI: 0.8–1.0) in 2015, 1.1 (95% CI: 1.0–1.2) in 2016 and declined to 0.7 (95% CI: 0.6–0.8) in 2017 and 2018. Notification and hospitalisation rates in Indigenous children were 3–8 times as high as rates in non-Indigenous children across all age groups < 5 years old. Conclusion Pertussis remains the second most frequently notified vaccine preventable disease in Australia, after influenza, but dramatic decreases in incidence have been observed in infants too young to receive any doses of pertussis-containing vaccine.
Introduction Invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease is rare in Australia following vaccine introduction in 1993. Two deaths in vaccinated children in 2017, and the Hib booster dose moving from age 12 months to 18 months in 2018, prompted this review. Methods Hib Case Surveillance Scheme 2000–2017 data were used to calculate incidence, incidence rate ratios (IRR) and vaccine failure (VF) trends. We used denominators from the Australian Immunisation Register to calculate incidence in immunised and unimmunised children. Results and Discussion All-age national invasive Hib disease incidence halved from 0.13 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 0.06 in 2017. Of 345 cases notified in 2000–2017, 153 were born post-2000, with 51 (33%) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous), and compared with non-Indigenous children IRR was 8.34 (95% CI: 5.83–11.79), with no evidence of decrease. Overall case fatality rate was 12.4% (19/153); 6 cases had underlying medical conditions. The overall incidence of invasive Hib disease was over 8 times higher (16.6 per 100,000) in children with no recorded doses than in children with ≥1 vaccine dose (1.9 per 100,000). VF criteria were met in 65/145 (45%) cases aged >8 weeks, of whom 7 (11%) were immunocompromised and 6 (9%) died, with no evidence of VF increase over time. Conclusion Overall, invasive Hib disease incidence declined by 55% from 2000 to 2017, but marked disparity persists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Following moving the fourth dose from 12 to 18 months in 2018, monitoring of 3-dose VFs will be important, especially in Indigenous children.
Objective: There is limited published information about deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Fiji, the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region and low- and middle-income countries. This report descriptively analyses deaths directly associated with COVID-19 in Fiji by age group, sex, ethnicity, geographical location, vaccination status and place of death for the first 7 months of the 2021 community outbreak. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of deaths directly associated with COVID-19 that occurred from 15 April to 14 November 2021 in Fiji. Death rates per 100 000 population were calculated by utilizing divisional population estimates obtained from medical zone nurses in 2021. Results: A total of 1298 deaths relating to COVID-19 were reported, with 696 directly associated with COVID-19 and therefore included in the analysis. Of these, 71.1% (495) were reported from the Central Division, 54.6% (380) occurred among males, 75.6% (526) occurred among people of indigenous (iTaukei) ethnicity and 79.5% (553) occurred among people who were unvaccinated. Four deaths were classified as maternal deaths. The highest percentage of deaths occurred in those aged >=70 years (44.3%, 308), and the majority of deaths (56.6%, 394) occurred at home. Discussion: At-risk populations for COVID-19 mortality in Fiji include males, iTaukei peoples, and older (>=70 years) and unvaccinated individuals. A high proportion of deaths occurred either at home or during the first 2 days of hospital admission, potentially indicating both a reluctance to seek medical care and a health-care system that was stressed during the peak of the outbreak.
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