The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Sep 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyA Phase II, Randomized, Safety and Immunogenicity Trial of a Re-Derived, Live-Attenuated Dengue Virus Vaccine in Healthy Children and Adults Living in Puerto Rico.
This was a double-blind, randomized, controlled, phase II clinical trial, two dose study of re-derived, live-attenuated, tetravalent dengue virus (TDEN) vaccine (two formulations) or placebo in subjects 1-50 years of age. Among the 636 subjects enrolled, 331 (52%) were primed, that is, baseline seropositive to at least one dengue virus (DENV) type. Baseline seropositivity prevalence increased with age (10% [< 2 years], 26% [2-4 years], 60% [5-20 years], and 93% [21-50 years]). ⋯ Among unprimed subjects, immunogenicity (geometric mean antibody titers [GMT] and seropositivity rates) for each DENV increased substantially in both TDEN vaccine groups with at least 74.6% seropositive for four DENV types. The TDEN vaccine candidate showed an acceptable safety and immunogenicity profile in children and adults ranging from 1 to 50 years of age, regardless of priming status. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00468858.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Sep 2015
Impact of Global Health Research Training on Career Trajectories: The Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Program.
From 2004 to 2012, the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars/Fellows Program (FICRS-F) provided 1-year research training opportunities for U. S. and international doctoral "Scholars" and postdoctoral "Fellows" at low- and middle-income country (LMIC) centers. We collected data prospectively and then surveyed a representative sample of 100 alumni (94% response), assessing Program impacts on their careers and collaborations. ⋯ LMIC alumni reported a significantly higher focus on global health and research than did U. S. alumni. Alumni reported that their mentored research training had a substantial impact on their career trajectories.
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Sep 2015
Ebola Virus Disease: Rapid Diagnosis and Timely Case Reporting are Critical to the Early Response for Outbreak Control.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a life-threatening zoonosis caused by infection with the Ebola virus. Since the first reported EVD outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, several small outbreaks have been reported in central Africa with about 2,400 cases occurring between 1976 and 2013. The 2013-2015 EVD outbreak in west Africa is the first documented outbreak in this region and the largest ever with over 27,000 cases and more than 11,000 deaths. ⋯ Because vaccines and drugs are not yet licensed for EVD, outbreak control is dependent on the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g., infection control practices, isolation of EVD cases, contact tracing with follow-up and quarantine, sanitary burial, health education). However, delays in diagnosing and reporting EVD cases in less accessible rural areas continue to hamper control efforts. New advances in rapid diagnostics for identifying presumptive EVD cases and in mobile-based technologies for communicating critical health-related information should facilitate deployment of an early response to prevent the amplification of sporadic EVD cases into large-scale outbreaks.