METHODS: Using the keyword 'melioidosis' in the ProMED search engine, all of the information from the reports and collected data was reviewed using a structured form, including the year, country, gender, occupation, number of infected individuals, and number of fatal cases.
RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-four entries reported between January 1995 and October 2014 were identified. A total of 4630 cases were reported, with death reported in 505 cases, suggesting a misleadingly low overall case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%. Of 20 cases for which the gender was reported, 12 (60%) were male. Most of the cases were reported from Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia, with sporadic reports from other countries.
CONCLUSIONS: Internet-based reporting systems such as ProMED are useful to gather information and synthesize knowledge on emerging infections. Although certain areas need to be improved, ProMED provided good information about melioidosis.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review looking for reports about cardiovascular compromise during chikungunya disease. Cardiac compromise is not so common in isolated episodes; but countries where chikungunya virus is an epidemic should be well informed about this condition. We used 6 bibliographical databases as resources: Medline/Pubmed, Embase, ScienceDirect, ClinicalKey, Ovid and SciELO. Dengue reports on cardiovascular compromise were included as well, to compare both arbovirus' organic compromises. Articles that delved mainly into the rheumatic articular and cutaneous complications were not considered, as they were not in line with the purpose of this study. The type of articles included were reviews, meta-analyses, case-controls, cohort studies, case reports and case series. This systematic review does not reach or performed a meta-analysis.
RESULTS: Originally based on 737 articles, our reviewed selected 40 articles with 54.2% at least mentioning CHIKV cardiovascular compromise within the systemic compromise. Cardiovascular manifestations can be considered common and have been reported in France, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Colombia, Venezuela and USA, including mainly, but no limited to: hypotension, shock and circulatory collapse, Raynaud phenomenon, arrhythmias, murmurs, myocarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, congestive insufficiency, heart failure and altered function profile (Troponins, CPK).
CONCLUSIONS: Physicians should be encouraged to keep divulgating reports on the cardiovascular involvement of chikungunya virus disease, to raise awareness and ultimately encourage suitable diagnosis and intervention worldwide. More research about cardiovascular involvement and manifestations of systemic Chikungunya virus infection is urgently needed.
METHODS: The candidate vaccines' pharmaceutical parameters (e.g. platforms, number needed to vaccinate and intervals, adjuvanted status, excipients and preservatives added, efficacy and effectiveness, vaccine adverse events, and boosters), and clinical aspects must be analysed for the mix-and-match approach. Results prime-boost trials showed safety, effectiveness, higher systemic reactogenicity, well tolerability with improved immunogenicity, and flexibility profiles for future vaccinations, especially during acute and global shortages, compared to the homologous counterparts.
CONCLUSION: Still, large controlled trials are warranted to address challenging variants of concerns including Omicron and other, and to generalize the effectiveness of the approach in regular as well as emergency use during vaccine scarcity.
AREAS COVERED: Using the publicly available IVAC VIEW-hub platform, we reviewed 52 studies on vaccine effectiveness (VE) after booster vaccinations. VE were reported for SARS-CoV-2 symptomatic infection, severe disease and death and stratified by vaccine schedule and age. In addition, a non-systematic literature review of safety was performed to identify single or multi-country studies investigating adverse event rates for at least two of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines.
EXPERT OPINION: Booster shots of the current COVID-19 vaccines provide consistently high protection against Omicron-related severe disease and death. Additionally, this protection appears to be conserved for at least 3 months, with a small but significant waning after that. The positive risk-benefit ratio of these vaccines is well established, giving us confidence to administer additional doses as required. Future vaccination strategies will likely include a combination of schedules based on risk profile, as overly frequent boosting may be neither beneficial nor sustainable for the general population.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 6 to June 25, 2022, among 17 Arab countries. The self-administered questionnaire consists of 53 questions assessing the knowledge about the monkeypox virus.
RESULTS: In total, 5874 medical students and clinical doctors from 17 Arab countries participated in this study. Only 13.8% (n = 812) of respondents have ever received information about mpox during their studies in medicine. The mean knowledge score was 13.84, and the median score was 15 (range 1-34). More than half (51.3%, n = 3012) have heard about mpox before. A low proportion of the participants had a good level of knowledge on mpox. Only 11.7% of respondents had correctly identified the natural host and the incubation period of mpox. More than half (58.9%) were aware of the signs and symptoms of mpox. Few respondents (28%) believed that mpox and smallpox have similar signs and symptoms. Specialist doctors had higher knowledge of mpox (AOR = 2.96, 95% CI = 2.24-3.92, p