Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Heidenhain Variant Of Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: First Reported Case From East Africa, Dilraj Sokhi, Fazal Yakub, Karishma Sharma, Sheila Was, Peter Mativo

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is a rare prion disease that causes rapidly progressive fatal neurodegeneration. The rarer Heidenhain variant of sCJD presents with visual symptoms and is rarely reported in the literature from sub-Saharan Africa. We report the case of a 57-year-old male with a three-week history of losing direction when driving home and visual hallucinations described as seeing rainbows. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed unilateral parieto-occipital sulcal hyperintensities with restriction on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and electroencephalography (EEG) showed right para-central slowing leading to an initial diagnosis of non-convulsive status epilepticus. He was treated with anti-epileptic medication …

Quality Assurance Audit In Adult Cardiac Anaesthesia, Syed Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Hamid, Faisal Junejo

Department of Anaesthesia

Objective: To assess different anaesthesia-related quality indicators during adult cardiac surgery.
Methods: The prospective clinical audit was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from October 2016 to March 2017, and comprised all adult patients scheduled for cardiac surgery. Different anaesthesia-related quality indicators were observed during the pre-induction phase, before the cardiopulmonary bypass, during the procedure, and post-surgery till the transfer from the operating room to the cardiac intensive care unit. Data was analysed using SPSS 19.
Results: Of the 264 patients, 217(82.2%) had complete record; 160(73.7%) males and 57(26.3%) females. The overall mean age was 56.56±12.46 years. In …

Digital News Media Coverage On Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In Kenya: Scoping The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Clara Broekaert, Ceri-Lune Renneboog, Ferdinand Okwaro, Abdu Mohiddin, Marleen Temmerman

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Kenya is frequently covered in digital news media. As a powerful influencer of public opinion, news media coverage can have a significant societal impact. This scoping review identifies the extent, nature, and themes of all available digital news media coverage on SGBV in Kenya from June 2019 to July 2020. It analyzes changes in coverage since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: The methodological framework for scoping reviews developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) guided the scoping review. The selected articles were analyzed using NVivo.

Results: Analysis of the 340 …

Rising Trend Of Women In Gastroenterology: A Paradigm Shift, Lubna Kamani, Jeanin E Van Hooft

Section of Gastroenterology

No abstract provided.

High Prevalence Of Multidrug-Resistant Clostridioides Difficile Following Extensive Use Of Antimicrobials In Hospitalized Patients In Kenya, Winnie C. Mutai, Marianne W. Mureithi, Omu Anzala, Gunturu Revathi, Brian Kullin, Magdaline Burugu, Cecilia Kyany’A, Erick Odoyo, Peter Otieno, Lillian Musila

Pathology, East Africa

Introduction: Clostridioides difficile is a neglected pathogen in many African countries as it is generally not regarded as one of the major contributors toward the diarrheal disease burden in the continent. However, several studies have suggested that C. difficile infection (CDI) may be underreported in many African settings. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CDI in hospitalized patients, evaluate antimicrobial exposure, and detect toxin and antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolated C. difficile strains.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 333 hospitalized patients with hospital-onset diarrhoea were selected. The stool samples were collected and cultured on …

Lung Ultrasound Patterns In Paediatric Pneumonia In Mozambique And Pakistan, Amy Sarah Ginsburg, Pio Vitorino, Zunera Qasim, Jennifer L. Lenahan, Jun Hwang Jun Hwang, Alessandro Lamorte, Marta Valente, Benazir Baloch, Muhammad Imran Nisar, Fyezah Jehan

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Objective: Improved pneumonia diagnostics are needed, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a promising point-of-care imaging technology for diagnosing pneumonia. The objective was to explore LUS patterns associated with paediatric pneumonia.
Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study among children aged 2 to 23 months with World Health Organization Integrated Management of Childhood Illness chest-indrawing pneumonia and among children without fast breathing, chest indrawing or fever (no pneumonia cohort) at two district hospitals in Mozambique and Pakistan. We assessed LUS and chest radiograph (CXR) examinations, and viral and bacterial nasopharyngeal carriage, and performed a secondary analysis of LUS …

Knowledge And Practices: Risk Perceptions Of Covid-19 And Satisfaction With Preventive Measures At Workplace Among Maternity Care Providers In Pakistan, Rubina Izhar, Samia Husain, Muhammad Ahmad Tahir, Sonia Husain

Medical College Documents

Introduction: While all healthcare services across the globe deferred non-urgent surgeries, labor wards provided maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic continuously. This study assesses the knowledge and practices of obstetricians and midwives about personal protective equipment (PPE); their risk perception of COVID-19 and satisfaction with the preventive measures adopted at their workplace.
Methods: A questionnaire designed according to the World Health Organization’s advice on rational use of personal protective equipment for COVID-19 was administered to 452 Pakistani maternity care providers between 1 July and 30 July 2020.
Results: Most (85%) had adequate knowledge and 78.8% had good practices regarding PPE …

Accuracy Of Procalcitonin Levels For Diagnosis Of Culture-Positive Sepsis In Critically Ill Trauma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis, Aisha Bakhtiar, Syed Jawad Haider Kazmi, Muhammad Sohaib Asghar, Muhammad Nadeem Khurshaidi, Salman Mazhar, Noman A. Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Farah Yasmin, Rabail Yaseen, Maira Hassan

Section of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Background: Abdominal trauma and intra-abdominal sepsis are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Microcirculation in the gut is disrupted in hemorrhagic and septic shock leading to tissue hypoxia, and the damaged gut acts as a reservoir rich in inflammatory mediators and provides a continual source of inflammation to the systemic circulation leading to sepsis. Sepsis is defined as the presence (probable or documented) of infection together with a systemic inflammatory response to infection. Blood culture is commonly considered to be the preferred approach for diagnosing sepsis, although it is time-consuming, that is, reports are normally available only after 12-48 hours. …

Meropenem-Induced Pancytopenia In A Preterm Neonate: A Case Report, Kashif Hussain, Muhammad Sohail Salat, Naureen Mohammad, Ambreen Mughal, Sidra Idrees, Javaid Iqbal, Gul Ambreen

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: A post-marketing surveillance study has reported an association between meropenem use and the incidence of hematologic abnormalities, including leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, hemolysis, and neutropenia, but the precise incidence in neonates is unknown. Here, we report meropenem-induced pancytopenia in a preterm neonate.
Case presentation: A preterm newborn Pakistani received intravenous meropenem 40 mg/kg every 8 hours to treat Klebsiella pneumoniae in blood cultures and suspected meningitis. The baby developed severe thrombocytopenia, with a platelet count of 22 × 10³ cells/mm³, low hemoglobin level of 9.7 g/dl, and low absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of 816 cells/mm³ on days …

Mucosal Genomics Implicate Lymphocyte Activation And Lipid Metabolism In Refractory Environmental Enteric Dysfunction, Najeeha Talat Iqbal, Najeeb Rahman, Kamran Sadiq, Zubair Ahmad, Romana Idress, Junaid Iqbal, Sheraz Ahmed, Aneeta Hotwani, Fayyaz Umrani, Sana Syed, Syed Asad Ali

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background & aims: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) limits the Sustainable Development Goals of improved childhood growth and survival. We applied mucosal genomics to advance our understanding of EED.
Methods: The Study of Environmental Enteropathy and Malnutrition (SEEM) followed 416 children from birth to 24 months in a rural district in Pakistan. Biomarkers were measured at 9 months and tested for association with growth at 24 months. The duodenal methylome and transcriptome was determined in 52 undernourished SEEM participants and 42 North American controls and celiac disease patients.
Results: After accounting for growth at study entry, circulating IGF-1 and ferritin predicted …

Fludarabine-Based Salvage Therapy For Refractory/Relapsed Acute Leukemias: A Single Center Experience, Abdul Muqtadir Abbasi, Mohammad Usman Shaikh, Natasha Bahadur Ali, Mohammad Nadir Haider

Section of Haematology/Oncology

No abstract provided.

Development Of The Asia Pacific Consortium On Osteoporosis (Apco) Framework: Clinical Standards Of Care For The Screening, Diagnosis, And Management Of Osteoporosis In The Asia-Pacific Region, M Chandran, P J. Mitchell, T Amphansap, S K. Bhadada, M Chadha, D-C Chan, Y-S Chung, P Ebeling, N Gilchrist, Aysha Habib Khan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Guidelines for doctors managing osteoporosis in the Asia-Pacific region vary widely. We compared 18 guidelines for similarities and differences in five key areas. We then used a structured consensus process to develop clinical standards of care for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis and for improving the quality of care.
Purpose: Minimum clinical standards for assessment and management of osteoporosis are needed in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region to inform clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and to improve osteoporosis care. We present the framework of these clinical standards and describe its development.
Methods: We conducted a structured comparative analysis of existing CPGs …

Silent Epidemic Of Childhood Bronchiectasis In Pakistan: An Infectious Disease Physician's Perspective, Fatima Mir

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 And Teleneurology In Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging The Current Exigency, Philip Adebayo, Olusegun John Oluwole, Funmilola Tolulope Taiwo

Faculty of Health Sciences, East Africa

tion residing in rural areas that have poor access to medical experts. Despite having a ridiculously huge, underserved population, very few African countries currently have any form of sustained and organized telemedicine practice, and even fewer have dedicated tele-neurology services. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be one of the most significant disruptors of vital sectors of human endeavor in modern times. In the healthcare sector, there is an increasing advocacy to deliver non-urgent care via telemedicine. This paper examined the current state of tele-neurology practice and infrastructural preparedness in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is over 70% mobile phone …

Characteristics Of Salmonella Recovered From Stools Of Children Enrolled In The Global Enteric Multicenter Study, Irene N. Kasumba, Caisey V. Pulford, Blanca M. Perez-Sepulveda, Sunil Sen, Nurulla Sayed, Jasnehta Permala-Booth, Sofie Livio Sofie Livio, Darren Heavens Darren Heavens, Ross Low Ross Low, Shahida Qureshi, Anita K. M. Zaidi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: The Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) determined the etiologic agents of moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) in children under 5 years old in Africa and Asia. Here, we describe the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars in GEMS and examine the phylogenetics of Salmonella Typhimurium ST313 isolates.
Methods: Salmonella isolated from children with MSD or diarrhea-free controls were identified by classical clinical microbiology and serotyped using antisera and/or whole genome sequence data. We evaluated antimicrobial susceptibility using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Salmonella Typhimurium sequence types were determined using multi-locus sequence typing and whole genome sequencing was performed …

Ten Things To Know About Ten Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, Harold E. Bays, Pam R. Taub, Elizabeth Epstein, Erin D. Michos, Richard A. Ferraro, Alison Bailey, Heval M. Kelli, Keith C. Ferdinand, Melvin R. Echols, Salim S. Virani

Office of the Provost

Given rapid advancements in medical science, it is often challenging for the busy clinician to remain up-to-date on the fundamental and multifaceted aspects of preventive cardiology and maintain awareness of the latest guidelines applicable to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The "American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) Top Ten CVD Risk Factors 2021 Update" is a summary document (updated yearly) regarding CVD risk factors. This "ASPC Top Ten CVD Risk Factors 2021 Update" summary document reflects the perspective of the section authors regarding ten things to know about ten sentinel CVD risk factors. It also includes quick access to sentinel …

X-Linked Hypophosphatemic Osteomalacia With Phex Mutation Presenting Late In Pakistan, Nawazish Zehra, Lena Jafri, Salman Kirmani, Aysha Habib Khan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Abstract.introduction.and.importance: Autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets is the most common form of rare rickets, commonly manifests in children but sometimes the condition remains undiagnosed due to lack of knowledge &/or awareness of treating physicians or surgeons.
Case presentation: We describe a case of 43 years old female with multiple fragility fractures since childhood, corrected surgically but never investigated. She had stunted growth, bowing deformities and loss of teeth.
Clinical discussion: A detailed history and examination along with metabolic and genetic work up mounted the diagnosis of X linked hypophosphatemic osteomalacia. The pathophysiology involves the mutation or the loss of the …

Calcaneal Ultrasound And Its Relation To Dietary And Lifestyle Factors, Anthropometry, And Vitamin D Deficiency In Young Medical Students, Lena Jafri, Hafsa Majid, Sibtain Ahmed, Ghazala Naureen, Aysha Habib Khan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Bone quality and peak bone mass are greatly affected by lifestyle factors. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationships between anthropometry, dietary and caloric intake, body composition measurements, physical activity, and vitamin D status with quantitative ultrasound-based bone parameters among medical students.
Methods: Both male and female medical college students were included in this study. A detailed questionnaire was administered, collecting clinical, dietary, physical activity information, physical examination details, including body mass index (BMI). Body composition (total body fat, total body water, muscle mass, mean visceral fat mass, basal metabolic rate, bone mass using a bioelectrical …

Preprocedural Pool Testing Strategy For Dentistry During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Fahad Umer, Aysha Arif

Section of Dental-Oral Maxillofacial Surgery

Introduction: Aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) put the dental health care professionals (DHCPs) at a greater risk for acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In late June 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised elective dental procedures provision to asymptomatic patients while mandating strict infection control protocol and suggested the use of preprocedural testing as an adjunct. A cost-effective method for mass preprocedural testing is pool testing, which has specificity and sensitivity similar to polymerase chain reaction. This article aims to assess the outcomes and utility of incorporating preprocedural testing protocol for SARS-CoV-2 in dental clinics before …

Subcutaneous Emphysema And Pneumomediastinum In Patients With Covid-19 Disease; Case Series From A Tertiary Care Hospital In Pakistan, Sher Sethi, Amber Sabeen Ahmed, Sadaf Hanif, Masooma Aqeel, Ali Bin Sarwar Zubairi

Section of Internal Medicine

Since December 2019, the clinical symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its complications are evolving. As the number of COVID patients requiring positive pressure ventilation is increasing, so is the incidence of subcutaneous emphysema (SE). We report 10 patients of COVID-19, with SE and pneumomediastinum. The mean age of the patients was 59 ± 8 years (range, 23-75). Majority of them were men (80%), and common symptoms were dyspnoea (100%), fever (80%) and cough (80%). None of them had any underlying lung disorder. All patients had acute respiratory distress syndrome on admission, with a median PaO2/FiO2 ratio of 122.5. …

A Pathogenic Ufsp2 Variant In An Autosomal Recessive Form Of Pediatric Neurodevelopmental Anomalies And Epilepsy, Min Ni, Bushra Afroze, Chao Xing, Chunxiao Pan, Yanqiu Shao, Ling Cai, Brandi L. Cantarel, Jimin Pei, Nick V. Grishin, Stacy Hewson

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Purpose: Neurodevelopmental disabilities are common and genetically heterogeneous. We identified a homozygous variant in the gene encoding UFM1-specific peptidase 2 (UFSP2), which participates in the UFMylation pathway of protein modification. UFSP2 variants are implicated in autosomal dominant skeletal dysplasias, but not neurodevelopmental disorders. Homozygosity for the variant occurred in eight children from four South Asian families with neurodevelopmental delay and epilepsy. We describe the clinical consequences of this variant and its effect on UFMylation.
Methods: Exome sequencing was used to detect potentially pathogenic variants and identify shared regions of homozygosity. Immunoblotting assessed protein expression and post-translational modifications in patient-derived fibroblasts. …

Hajdu Cheney Syndrome Due To Notch2 Defect - First Case Report From Pakistan And Review Of Literature, Sibtain Ahmed, Aahan Arif, Saadia Abbas, Muhammad Osama Khan, Salman Kirmani, Aysha Habib Khan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Introduction and importance: Hajdu Cheney Syndrome (HCS) is a rare skeletal disease characterized by severe, progressive focal bone loss with osteoporosis, variable craniofacial, vertebral anomalies and distinctive facial features. It is inherited as an autosomal dominant disease although sporadic cases have been described in literature. Identifying these cases in clinical practice is important for proper diagnosis and management.
Case presentation: We report a case of a 36-year-old male patient presented at metabolic bone disease clinic at the Aga Khan University Hospital with history of multiple fragility fractures and juvenile osteoporosis since childhood. DNA sequence analysis of the NOTCH2 coding sequence …

Disparities In Cardiovascular Research Output And Disease Outcomes Among High-, Middle- And Low-Income Countries - An Analysis Of Global Cardiovascular Publications Over The Last Decade (2008-2017), Nada Qaisar Qureshi, Syed Hamza Mufarrih, Gerald S. Bloomfield, Wajeeha Tariq, Aysha Almas, Ali H. Mokdad, Muhammad Imran Nisar, Sameen Siddiqi, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Zainab Samad

Department of Medicine

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Health research is crucial to managing disease burden. Previous work has highlighted marked discrepancies in research output and disease burden between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and lower-middle-income countries (LI-LMICs) and there is little data to understand whether this gap has bridged in recent years. We conducted a global, country level bibliometric analysis of CVD publications with respect to trends in disease burden and county development indicators.
Methods: A search filter with a precision and recall of 0.92 and 0.91 respectively was developed to extract cardiovascular publications …

Using Mobile Phones To Improve Young People Sexual And Reproductive Health In Low And Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review To Identify Barriers, Facilitators, And Range Of Mhealth Solutions, Anam Shahil Feroz, Naureen Akber Ali, Adeel Khoja, Armish Asad, Sarah Saleem

Community Health Sciences

Background: Globally, reproductive health programs have used mHealth to provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education and services to young people, through diverse communication channels. However, few attempts have been made to systematically review the mHealth programs targeted to improve young people SRH in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). This review aims to identify a range of different mHealth solutions that can be used for improving young people SRH in LMICs and highlight facilitators and barriers for adopting mHealth interventions designed to target SRH of young people.
Methods: Databases including PubMed, CINAHL Plus, Science Direct, Cochrane Central, and grey literature were searched …

Risk Factors Of Breast Cancer Among Patients In A Tertiary Care Hospitals In Afghanistan: A Case Control Study, Zekrullah Baset, Jamshid Abdul Ghafar, Yasmin Parpio, Ahmed Maseh Haidary

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common causes of women's death, worldwide. Data on risk factors associated with female breast cancer in the Afghan population is very limited. The aim of our study was to identifying risk factor associated with female breast cancer in Afghanistan.
Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted with inclusion of 201 cases and 201 controls. Patient information was collected by interviewing the patient through a structured questionnaire. Histopathological information was collected from the hospital integrated laboratory management system. The data was analyzed by using logistic regression with univariate and multivariable analyses to determine the …

A Multidisciplinary Approach To Triage Patients With Breast Disease During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Experience From A Tertiary Care Center In The Developing World, Abida K. Sattar, Hania Shahzad, Adnan Abdul Jabbar, Azmina Tajdin Valimohammad, Sadaf Khan, Yasmin Vellani, Romana Idrees, Nasir Ali, Imrana Masroor, Humera Saeed, Gulzar S. Lakhani, Nadia Ayoub, Atif Waqar, Muhammad Zia-Ul Islam, Salman Kirmani, Asad Latif, Ather Enam

Section of General Surgery

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a need to prioritize care because of limitation of resources. Owing to the heterogeneity and high prevalence of breast cancers, the need to prioritize care in this vulnerable population is essential. While various medical societies have published recommendations to manage breast disease during the COVID-19 pandemic, most are focused on the Western world and do not necessarily address the challenges of a resource-limited setting.
Aim: In this article, we describe our institutional approach for prioritizing care for patients presenting with breast disease.
Methods and results: The breast disease management guidelines were developed and approved …

Epidemiological Characteristics, Ventilator Management, And Clinical Outcome In Patients Receiving Invasive Ventilation In Intensive Care Units From 10 Asian Middle-Income Countries (Provent-Imic): An International, Multicenter, Prospective Study, Luigi Pisani, Anna Geke Algera, Ary Serpa Neto, Areef Ahsan, Abigail Beane, Kaweesak Chittawatanarat, Abul Faiz, Rashan Haniffa, Seyed Mohammadreza Hashemian, Madiha Hashmi

Department of Anaesthesia

Epidemiology, ventilator management, and outcome in patients receiving invasive ventilation in intensive care units (ICUs) in middle-income countries are largely unknown. PRactice of VENTilation in Middle-income Countries is an international multicenter 4-week observational study of invasively ventilated adult patients in 54 ICUs from 10 Asian countries conducted in 2017/18. Study outcomes included major ventilator settings (including tidal volume [V T] and positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP]); the proportion of patients at risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), according to the lung injury prediction score (LIPS), or with ARDS; the incidence of pulmonary complications; and ICU mortality. In 1,315 patients included, …

Office Blood Pressure Measurement: A Comprehensive Review, Saulat Siddique, Aamir Hameed Khan, Hunaina Shahab, Yu-Qing Zhang, Jam Chin Tay, Peera Buranakitjaroen, Yuda Turana, Narsingh Verma, Chen-Huan Chen, Hao-Min Cheng

Section of Cardiology

The conventional auscultatory methods for measuring blood pressure have been used to screen, diagnose, and manage hypertension since long. However, these have been found to be prone to errors especially the white coat phenomena which cause falsely high blood pressure readings. The Mercury sphygmomanometer and the Aneroid variety are no longer recommended by WHO for varying reasons. The Oscillometric devices are now recommended with preference for the Automated Office Blood Pressure measurement device which was found to have readings nearest to the Awake Ambulatory Blood Pressure readings. The downside for this device is the cost barrier. The alternative is to …

Distribution Of Variations In Anatomy Of The Circle Of Willis: Results Of A Cadaveric Study Of The Malawian Population And Review Of Literature, Charles Nyasa, Anthony Mwakikunga, Lackson Temb, Charles Dzamalala, Amadi O. Ihunwo

Brain and Mind Institute

Introduction

the circle of Willis is an anatomical structure of clinical importance particularly in the evaluation of neurovascular diseases. Individuals show considerable variations in the anatomical configuration of the circle of Willis. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the distribution of morphological variations of the circle of Willis in Malawians and compare with other ethnic groups.

Methods

brains were collected from twenty-four recently deceased black Malawians during autopsy at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, a referral teaching hospital in Blantyre, Malawi and fixed in 10% buffered formalin. Digital images of the interpeduncular region (exposing the circle of Willis) were taken …

Direct And Indirect Effect Of 10 Valent Pneumococcal Vaccine On Nasopharyngeal Carriage In Children Under 2 Years Of Age In Matiari, Pakistan, Muhammad Imran Nisar, Sheraz Ahmed, Fyezah Jehan, Shahira Shahid, Sadia Shakoor, Furqan Kabir, Aneeta Hotwani, Sahrish Munir, Sajid Muhammad, Farah Khalid, Syed Asad Ali, Anita K. M. Zaidi, Najeeha Talat Iqbal

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Pakistan introduced Ten-valent pneumococcal-conjugate-vaccine PCV10 in 2012 as a 3 + 0 schedule without catch-up.
Methods: Children <2 years old in Matiari, Sindh provided nasopharyngeal swabs between 2014 and 2018, which were cultured for pneumococcus and serotyped through multiplex PCR at the Aga Khan University Hospital. Carriage rates over time for Vaccine-Type (VT) and Non-VT (NVT) serotypes were used to estimate direct, indirect, total and overall effects of vaccination. Regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with VT carriage.
Results: Pneumococcus was detected in 2370/3140 (75%). VT carriage decreased overall, 16.1-9.6% (p-trend <0.001); vaccinated (all 3 doses of PCV10 received) 11.3-8.1% (p-trend 0.031) and unvaccinated (no PCV10 dose received) 17.4-10.3% (p-trend 0.003) with a decline in serotypes 6B, 9V/9A and 19F. Immunization increased from 41.0% to 68.4% (p-trend 0.001). Direct effect of vaccine was 32.8% (95% CI 14.7-47.0%) and indirect effect 44.6%(95% CI 40.6-48.6%). Factors associated with decreased VT colonization were education 1-5 years (aOR 0.7, 95%CI 0.6-1.0), history of difficulty breathing (aOR 0.7, 95%CI 0.5-1.0), exposure to smoke (aOR 0.8, 95% CI 0.6-1.0), child fully immunized (aOR 0.7, 95%CI 0.5-1.0) and enrolled in 3rd (aOR 0.6, 95%CI 0.4-0.8) and 4th (aOR 0.6, 95%CI 0.5-0.9) year of the study whereas history of runny nose (aOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-1.9) was positively associated.
Conclusions: Decrease in VT pneumococcal carriage in vaccinated and unvaccinated children indicates herd immunity. Sustained increase in vaccine coverage and close long-term surveillance is warranted.