Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among infants aged younger than 1 year, adults aged 65 years or older, and immunocompromised persons. ...Limited data exist on RSV infection in pregnancy and further research is needed. Strides are being made to develop vaccines, including vaccines for maternal immunization, as well as monoclonal antibodies for disease prevention.
The "percentage of births attended by a skilled birth attendant" (SBA) is an indicator that has been adopted by several global monitoring frameworks, including the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) ...agenda for regular monitoring as part of target 3.1 for reducing maternal mortality by 2030. However, accurate and consistent measurement is challenged by contextual differences between and within countries on the definition of SBA, including the education, training, competencies, and functions they are qualified to perform. This scoping review identifies and maps the health personnel considered SBA in low-to-middle-income-countries (LMIC).
A search was conducted inclusive to the years 2000 to 2015 in PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, POPLINE and the World Health Organization Global Index Medicus. Original primary source research conducted in LMIC that evaluated the skilled health personnel providing interventions during labour and childbirth were considered for inclusion. All studies reported disaggregated data of SBA cadres and were disaggregated by country.
The search of electronic databases identified a total of 23,743 articles. Overall, 70 articles were included in the narrative synthesis. A total of 102 unique cadres names were identified from 36 LMIC countries. Of the cadres included, 16% represented doctors, 16% were nurses, and 15% were midwives. We found substantial heterogeneity between and within countries on the reported definition of SBA and the education, training, skills and competencies that they were able to perform.
The uncertainty and diversity of reported qualifications and competency of SBA within and between countries requires attention in order to better ascertain strategic priorities for future health system planning, including training and education. These results can inform recommendations around improved coverage measurement and monitoring of SBA moving forward, allowing for more accurate, consistent, and timely data able to guide decisions and action around planning and implementation of maternal and newborn health programmes.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background. Congenital syphilis (CS) is associated with significant perinatal morbidity and mortality. The study objectives were to compare risk factors among women with syphilis infection whose ...pregnancies did and did not result in CS cases and to evaluate other geographic and socioeconomic characteristics of county of residence as a measure of healthcare inequity. Methods. This study linked maternal and congenital syphilis data from the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), 2008-2015. The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) reporting guideline was followed. Demographic, behavioral, and case characteristics were compared among women with syphilis infection who did and did not have an infant with CS. Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and multivariate regression analyses were performed using STATA 14.2 (College Station, TX). Results. Of 505 women with syphilis infection, 23% had an infant with CS, while 77% did not. After adjusting for race/ethnicity, factors associated with CS outcome were age greater than 35 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-14.89), hospital/emergency department diagnosis of syphilis (aOR 3.43; 95% CI 1.54-7.62), and high-risk behaviors such as exchanging sex for money or drugs (aOR 3.25; 95% CI 1.18-8.98). There were no associations between characteristics of county of residence and CS outcome. Conclusions. This study highlights risk factors that may be associated with CS incidence and the adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with CS. Further work is needed to study improved data collection systems, contributing factors related to CS as well as prevention measures in the United States.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Purpose This study examined psychological and sociodemographic predictors of self-reported sleep characteristics including sleep duration, quality, and perceived adequacy of sleep among ...Hispanic and non-Hispanic women of low socioeconomic status. Method Cross-sectional survey data were analyzed from 2,670 women ages 18 to 55 (74% Hispanic, 18% non-Hispanic White, 8% non-Hispanic Black) participating in a cancer prevention study in southeast Texas. Results Women reported sleeping 7.1 hours per night on average; however, nearly 45% were short (≤6; 35.3%) or long (≥9; 9.5%) sleepers. Sleep quality was rated less than “good” for 43.7% of the total sample, and 22.5% reported adequate sleep “none” or “a little” of the time. Multivariable analyses identified different demographic and psychological predictors for the sleep characteristics; decreased sleep adequacy was associated with parity, depressive symptoms, stress, and anxiety ( R2 = 0.11); short sleep duration with age, education, and depressive symptoms ( R2 = 0.07); and poor sleep quality with ethnicity, marital and employment status, public housing accommodation, smoking status, income, acculturation, social desirability, depressive symptoms, stress, and anxiety ( R2 = 0.18). Separate analyses of the Hispanic subsample born in the United States versus elsewhere revealed differences in all sleep characteristics. In multivariable analyses, similar predictors of sleep quality and duration emerged, but only depressive symptoms, anxiety, and age were associated with sleep adequacy. Conclusion Women of lower socioeconomic groups and Hispanic ethnicity may suffer poor quality sleep. A complex and distinct array of factors are associated with sleep quality, duration, and adequacy. The relationship between sleep and health and the growing U.S. Hispanic population highlight the importance of this and future research.
Amniotic fluid is clinically accessible via amniocentesis and its protein composition may correspond to birth timing. Early changes in the amniotic fluid proteome could therefore be associated with ...the subsequent development of spontaneous preterm delivery.
The main objective of this study was to perform unbiased proteomics analysis of the association between mid-trimester amniotic fluid proteome and spontaneous preterm delivery and gestational duration, respectively. A secondary objective was to validate and replicate the findings by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a second independent cohort.
Women undergoing a mid-trimester genetic amniocentesis at Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra between September 2008 and September 2011 were enrolled in this study, designed in three analytical stages; 1) an unbiased proteomic discovery phase using LC-MS analysis of 22 women with subsequent spontaneous preterm delivery (cases) and 37 women who delivered at term (controls), 2) a validation phase of proteins of interest identified in stage 1, and 3) a replication phase of the proteins that passed validation using a second independent cohort consisting of 20 cases and 40 matched controls.
Nine proteins were nominally significantly associated with both spontaneous preterm delivery and gestational duration, after adjustment for gestational age at sampling, but none of the proteins were significant after correction for multiple testing. Several of these proteins have previously been described as being associated with spontaneous PTD etiology and six of them were thus validated using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Two of the proteins passed validation; Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, but the results could not be replicated in a second cohort.
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin and Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 are potential biomarkers of spontaneous preterm delivery and gestational duration but the findings could not be replicated. The negative findings are supported by the fact that none of the nine proteins from the exploratory phase were significant after correction for multiple testing.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background:
Antenatal care provides unique opportunities to assess severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 seroprevalence and antibody response duration after natural infection detected ...during pregnancy; transplacental antibody transfer may inform peripartum and neonatal protection. We estimated seroprevalence and durability of antibodies from natural infection (anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G) among pregnant people, and evaluated transplacental transfer efficiency.
Objective and design:
We conducted a cross-sectional study to measure severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 seroprevalence, and a prospective cohort study to longitudinally measure anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G responses and transplacental transfer of maternally derived anti-nucleocapsid antibodies.
Methods:
We screened pregnant people for the seroprevalence study between 9 December 2020 and 19 June 2021 for anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G in Seattle, Washington. We enrolled anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G positive people from the seroprevalence study or identified through medical records with positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction or antigen positive results in a prospective cohort between 9 December 2020 and 9 August 2022.
Results:
In the cross-sectional study (N = 1284), 5% (N = 65) tested severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G positive, including 39 (60%) without prior positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction results and 42 (65%) without symptoms. In the prospective cohort study (N = 107 total; N = 65 from the seroprevalence study), 86 (N = 80%) had anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G positive results during pregnancy. Among 63 participants with delivery samples and prior anti-nucleocapsid positive results, 29 (46%) were anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G negative by delivery. Of 34 remaining anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G positive at delivery with paired cord blood, 19 (56%) had efficient transplacental anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G antibody transfer. Median time from first anti-nucleocapsid immunoglobulin G positive to below positive antibody threshold was 19 weeks and did not differ by prior positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction status.
Conclusions:
Maternally derived severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibodies to natural infection may wane before delivery. Vaccines are recommended for pregnant persons to reduce severe illness and confer protection to infants.
Preterm birth (PTB) remains the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. Despite 50 years of research, therapeutic options are limited and many lack clear efficacy. Tocolytic agents are drugs ...that briefly delay PTB, typically to allow antenatal corticosteroid administration for accelerating fetal lung maturity or to transfer patients to high-level care facilities. Globally, there is an unmet need for better tocolytic agents, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Although most tocolytics, such as betamimetics and indomethacin, suppress downstream mediators of the parturition pathway, newer therapeutics are being designed to selectively target inflammatory checkpoints with the goal of providing broader and more effective tocolysis. However, the relatively small market for new PTB therapeutics and formidable regulatory hurdles have led to minimal pharmaceutical interest and a stagnant drug pipeline. In this review, we present the current landscape of PTB therapeutics, assessing the history of drug development, mechanisms of action, adverse effects, and the updated literature on drug efficacy. We also review the regulatory hurdles and other obstacles impairing novel tocolytic development. Ultimately, we present possible steps to expedite drug development and meet the growing need for effective preterm birth therapeutics.
As perinatally HIV-infected (PHIV) women reach reproductive age, there is an increasing number who become pregnant. This is a retrospective cohort study of HIV-infected women who delivered from June ...2007 to July 2012 at our institution. Maternal demographics, HIV characteristics, and obstetric and neonatal outcomes were compared. 20 PHIV and 80 SHIV pregnancies were reviewed. The groups had similar CD4+ counts, prevalence of AIDS, and use of antiretrovirals (ARV) at initiation of obstetrical care. PHIV women were significantly more likely to be younger, have a detectable viral load (35% versus 74%, P<0.01), and have HIV-genotype resistance (40% versus 12%, P<0.01) than the SHIV women. The median gestational age at delivery (38 weeks) and rates of obstetrical and neonatal complications were similar between the groups. While the overall rate of cesarean delivery (CD) was similar, the rates for CD due to HIV were higher in the PHIV group (64% versus 22%, P<0.01). There was one case (5.3%) of mother-to-child transmission in the PHIV group versus two cases (2.6%) in the SHIV group. In our population, PHIV pregnant women have a higher rate of HIV-genotype resistance and higher rate of detectable viral load leading to a higher rate of CD secondary to HIV.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary Immunizing the pregnant woman to protect both the mother and her infant from infection has been utilized increasingly over the last decade. New outbreaks of pandemic influenza and the ...resurgence of pertussis have resulted in policy changes and shifts in health authority recommendations for a number of vaccines aimed to protect both pregnant women and their infants in the first months of life. The ability of maternal immunoglobulin IgG antibodies to be transported readily across the healthy intact placenta depends on many different factors including gestational age in the pregnancy, nature and timing of the immunization and presence of maternal HIV or malaria infections. In this paper, the history of maternal immunization is described, and specifically the studies that prompted the recommendations for tetanus, influenza, pertussis, and, when needed, meningococcus vaccines in pregnant women are reviewed. Ongoing research may result in new maternal vaccines against other pathogens including respiratory syncytial virus and group B streptococcus. Both scientific and regulatory considerations remain challenging in licensure of vaccines specifically for maternal immunization.
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