Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Andrew E. Moran, Reena Gupta
Summary: In 2017, WHO and Resolve to Save Lives collaborated with country governments to implement the WHO HEARTS hypertension services package in 32 low- and middle-income countries. By 2022, the program treated 12.2 million patients in 165,000 primary care facilities. Facility-based control improved significantly with the use of a digital health information system. However, population-based hypertension control rates remained relatively low.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Liao Zhang, Yuqing Song, Xutong Zheng, Ying Liu, Hong Chen
Summary: This study aimed to aggregate the experiences of healthcare workers in providing pre-exposure prophylaxis in low-and middle-income countries, identifying barriers, facilitators, and recommendations for implementation. A comprehensive search and quality appraisal of 14 articles were conducted, resulting in the synthesis of 3 key findings. The overall evidence level was rated low, highlighting the need to improve knowledge, create a supportive environment, address medication-related barriers, increase resources, and diversify service delivery models.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Vivien D. Tsu, D. Scott LaMontagne, Phionah Atuhebwe, Paul N. Bloem, Cathy Ndiaye
Summary: The paper reviews the experience of low-and middle-income countries that have introduced HPV vaccines, focusing on sustainability and scale-up challenges. Despite successes in reaching eligible girls, there are still considerable challenges to overcome, such as rumors, reaching out-of-school girls, and estimating target populations. New opportunities, such as additional vaccine manufacturers and one-dose delivery studies, could help address barriers to higher coverage and financial sustainability.
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
(2021)
Review
Biochemical Research Methods
Tingting Gong, Vanessa M. Hayes, Eva K. F. Chan
Summary: This review highlights important factors affecting somatic SV detection and compares the performance of seven commonly used SV callers. By focusing on changes in sensitivity and precision for detecting different SV types and size ranges from samples with varying variant allele frequencies and sequencing depths, the evaluation findings extend beyond the seven SV callers examined in this paper.
BRIEFINGS IN BIOINFORMATICS
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Anna Josephson, Talip Kilic, Jeffrey D. Michler
Summary: Phone survey data from Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda shows that 256 million individuals-77% of the population-live in households that have lost income during the pandemic. Attempts to cope with this loss are exacerbated by food insecurity and an inability to access medicine and staple foods. Student-teacher contact has dropped significantly among households with school-aged children.
NATURE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Leonardo de Araujo, Andrea Maurizio Cabibbe, Lusia Mhuulu, Nunurai Ruswa, Viola Dreyer, Azaria Diergaardt, Gunar Gunther, Mareli Claassens, Christiane Gerlach, Christian Utpatel, Daniela Maria Cirillo, Emmanuel Nepolo, Stefan Niemann
Summary: Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) has the potential to predict drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains (MTBC), the causative agent of tuberculosis. However, implementing this technology in low- and middle-income countries presents specific challenges. We propose a model for programmatic implementation of tNGS in settings with limited sequencing capacity/experience and describe its successful application in Namibia.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Philomena Ngugi, Ankica Babic, James Kariuki, Xenophon Santas, Violet Naanyu, Martin C. Were
Summary: This study employed a nominal group technique (NGT) process to develop high-quality indicators for evaluating actual usage of Electronic Health Record Systems (EHRs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A multidisciplinary team settled on 15 final indicators, categorized as system use, data quality, system interoperability, and reporting. Data entry statistics, systems uptime, and EHRs variable concordance indicators were rated highest.
Review
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Adovich S. Rivera, Ralph Hernandez, Regiel Mag-Usara, Karen Nicole Sy, Allan R. Ulitin, Linda C. O'Dwyer, Megan C. McHugh, Neil Jordan, Lisa R. Hirschhorn
Summary: The study found that HIV-ST is highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible in LMIC, but costs and user error rates are threats to successful implementation. Future research should focus on addressing equity through measuring penetration and potential barriers to sustainability, including distribution, cost, scale-up, and safety.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Guanghua Chi, Han Fang, Sourav Chatterjee, Joshua E. Blumenstock
Summary: This research develops microestimates of wealth and poverty distribution at a fine resolution for low- and middle-income countries. These estimates are based on machine learning algorithms applied to various data sources including satellites, mobile phone networks, and Facebook. The estimates are provided for free to facilitate targeted policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic and support sustainable development.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Tomi Akinyemiju, Kemi Ogunsina, Anjali Gupta, Iris Liu, Dejana Braithwaite, Robert A. Hiatt
Summary: Cancer burden is increasing globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. These countries lack comprehensive cancer control programs and funding, therefore primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies are needed to reduce the cancer burden.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Aileen C. Tartaninan, Nicole Mulroney, Kelly Poselenzny, Michael Akroush, Trevor Unger, Donald L. Helseth, Linda M. Sabatini, Michael Bouma, Paige M. K. Larkin
Summary: Identification of SARS-CoV-2 lineages provides valuable information for treatment efficacy, viral transmissibility, disease severity, and immune evasion. This article discusses the implementation of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to monitor SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the northern Chicagoland area during the pandemic, leading to crucial decisions regarding staffing, masking, and infection control measures. However, establishing the NGS procedure was challenging due to considerations such as staffing, workflow transition, data management, and IT security.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Yang Li, Leilei Han, Yanglan Wang, Xiaolin Wang, Lei Jia, Jingyun Li, Jingwan Han, Jin Zhao, Hanping Li, Lin Li
Summary: In the latest report from WHO on global HIV-1 drug resistance, countries are advised to strengthen pre-treatment monitoring of drug resistance in AIDS patients. This study presents a new NGS-based method for detecting HIV-1 drug resistance mutations, which showed high accuracy and efficiency.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria, Basma M. Saleh, Hassan El-Fawal, Sungsoo Chun
Summary: The study found that approximately 49% of parents in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (L & MICs) accept vaccinating their children against COVID-19. The main determinant of their decision is the belief that the vaccine is essential in fighting the pandemic, while concerns regarding efficacy, safety, and side effects contribute to vaccine hesitancy.
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Deborah M. Siegal, John W. Eikelboom, Shun Fu Lee, Sumathy Rangarajan, Jackie Bosch, Jun Zhu, Salim Yusuf
Summary: The study found that the rates of VTE are significantly higher in high-income and upper middle-income countries than in lower middle/low-income countries, especially among individuals with lower BMI, hypertension, diabetes, non-White ethnicity, and higher education levels.
CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH
(2021)
Review
Pediatrics
Danilo Buonsenso, Cristina De Rose
Summary: Pneumonia remains the leading cause of death globally in children under the age of five, with the poorest children being the most at risk. Lung ultrasound has been widely documented as a safe and easy tool for diagnosing and monitoring pneumonia and other respiratory infections. Despite its potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives, innovations are not reaching those who need them most.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS
(2022)
Article
Virology
Hezhao Ji, Paul Sandstrom, Roger Paredes, P. Richard Harrigan, Chanson J. Brumme, Santiago Avila Rios, Marc Noguera-Julian, Neil Parkin, Rami Kantor
Article
Virology
Emma R. Lee, Feng Gao, Paul Sandstrom, Hezhao Ji
Article
Virology
Hezhao Ji, Neil Parkin, Feng Gao, Thomas Denny, Cheryl Jennings, Paul Sandstrom, Rami Kantor
Article
Immunology
Henok Gebrebrhan, Cheli Kambaran, Aida Sivro, Wendy Adhiambo, Naomi Siele, Michael G. Becker, Jie Li, Sandra Choi, Ruth S. Mwatelah, N. Vincent Reyes, Maureen Akolo, Peter Njogu, Francois Cholette, John Ho, John Kim, Shelley W. Peterson, Irene Martin, Paul Sandstrom, Supriya D. Mehta, Robert R. Lorway, T. Blake Ball, Joshua Kimani, Paul J. Mclaren, Hezhao Ji, Lyle R. McKinnon
Summary: This study found associations between HIV infection, sexual behavior, and alpha diversity of rectal microbiota in Kenyan MSM, particularly in richness, rather than dominance of specific taxa like Prevotella spp. Associations were more robust for sexual behavior.
Editorial Material
Virology
Rami Kantor
Article
Virology
Katherine Li, Connor Lowey, Paul Sandstrom, Hezhao Ji
Summary: CAVES is a tool for comparing epitopes of closely related pathogens, providing fast analysis results and reducing user workload and time. It uses a two-level analysis approach and utilizes positional sequence data to improve accuracy and speed. CAVES is an open-source software that runs through a graphical user interface on Windows systems.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aloysious Ssemaganda, Huong Mai Nguyen, Faisal Nuhu, Naima Jahan, Catherine M. Card, Sandra Kiazyk, Giulia Severini, Yoav Keynan, Ruey-Chyi Su, Hezhao Ji, Bernard Abrenica, Paul J. McLaren, T. Blake Ball, Jared Bullard, Paul Van Caeseele, Derek Stein, Lyle R. McKinnon
Summary: This study investigates T cells in the nasal mucosa and blood after vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The results show an increase in tissue-resident memory CD8(+) T cells expressing CD69(+)CD103(+) in the nasal mucosa after the first and second doses, while CD69(+)CD103(+)CD8(+) T cells in the blood decrease post-vaccination. There is also an increase in nasal CD8(+)CD69(+)CD103(-) T cells, particularly following the second dose. Additionally, CD4(+) cells co-expressing CCR6 and CD161 are increased in abundance following both doses. Stimulation of nasal CD8(+) T cells with SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides elevates expression of CD107a and cytokines.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Chantal Munyuza, Hezhao Ji, Emma R. Lee
Summary: This article discusses how probe capture enrichment can increase the likelihood of sequencing HIV and HCV samples with low viral loads and/or compromised quality.
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Rayeil J. Chua, Rupert Capina, Hezhao Ji
Summary: Effective management of HIV drug resistance is crucial for achieving the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic. Point-of-care tests provide a convenient and fast solution for decentralized resistance monitoring, especially in low-to-middle-income countries where HIV treatment access is expanding globally and enhanced monitoring is urgently needed.
Review
Microbiology
Hezhao Ji, Paul Sandstrom
Summary: This article provides a focused overview of the performance, strengths, and weaknesses of various analytes used in HIVDRT, which may inform the optimal analytes selection in different application contexts.
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Hezhao Ji
Article
Virology
Mark Howison, Fizza S. Gillani, Vlad Novitsky, Jon A. Steingrimsson, John Fulton, Thomas Bertrand, Katharine Howe, Anna Civitarese, Lila Bhattarai, Meghan MacAskill, Guillermo Ronquillo, Joel Hague, Casey W. Dunn, Utpala Bandy, Joseph W. Hogan, Rami Kantor
Summary: This article presents a comprehensive methodology for addressing the challenges of integrating and analyzing molecular HIV cluster data to guide public health responses. With the integration of heterogeneous data sources and the development of an open-source bioinformatics pipeline, this methodology overcomes data management, computational, and analytical challenges.
Article
Virology
Vlad Novitsky, Winstone Nyandiko, Rachel Vreeman, Allison K. DeLong, Mark Howison, Akarsh Manne, Josephine Aluoch, Ashley Chory, Festus Sang, Celestine Ashimosi, Eslyne Jepkemboi, Millicent Orido, Joseph W. Hogan, Rami Kantor
Summary: Drug resistance is still a global challenge for children and adolescents living with HIV. Next generation sequencing can provide information about resistance evolution and potentially improve care for ART-experienced CALWH in resource-limited settings. A study conducted in Kenya found that resistance evolution was detected in 93% of participants, and minority resistance variants also evolved under drug selection pressure. The study suggests that NGS can help us better understand the dynamics of drug resistance evolution and improve care.