High pneumonia lifetime-ever incidence in Beijing children compared with locations in other countries, and implications for national PCV and Hib vaccination

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>To compare the proportion of Beijing children who have ever had pneumonia (<i>%Pneumonia</i>) to those in other locations, and to estimate by how much national vaccine coverage with Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) and Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) could reduce Beijing <i>%Pneumonia</i>.</p><p>Methods</p><p><i>%Pneumonia</i> was obtained for each age group from 1 to 8 years inclusive from 5,876 responses to a cross-sectional questionnaire. Literature searches were conducted for world-wide reports of <i>%Pneumonia</i>. Previous vaccine trials conducted worldwide were used to estimate the pneumococcal (<i>S</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i>) and Hib (<i>H</i>. <i>influenzae)</i> burdens and <i>%Pneumonia</i> as well as the potential for PCV and Hib vaccines to reduce Beijing children’s <i>%Pneumonia</i>.</p><p>Findings</p><p>The majority of pneumonia cases occurred by the age of three. The cumulative <i>%Pneumonia</i> for 3–8 year-old Beijing children, 26.9%, was only slightly higher than the 25.4% for the discrete 3 year-old age group, similar to trends for Tianjin (China) and Texas (USA). Beijing’s <i>%Pneumonia</i> is disproportionally high relative to its Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, and markedly higher than <i>%Pneumonia</i> in the US and other high GNI per capita countries. Chinese diagnostic guidelines recommend chest X-ray confirmation while most other countries discourage it in favor of clinical diagnosis. Literature review shows that chest X-ray confirmation returns far fewer pneumonia diagnoses than clinical diagnosis. Accordingly, Beijing’s <i>%Pneumonia</i> is likely higher than indicated by raw numbers. Vaccine trials suggest that national PCV and Hib vaccination could reduce Beijing’s <i>%Pneumonia</i> from 26.9% to 19.7% and 24.9% respectively.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>National PCV and Hib vaccination programs would substantially reduce Beijing children’s pneumonia incidence.</p></div

<i>%Pneumonia</i> as related to relative GNI per capita, the ratio of a country’s GNI to the World Bank high income GNI for the children’s birth years.

<p><i>%Pneumonia</i> as related to relative GNI per capita, the ratio of a country’s GNI to the World Bank high income GNI for the children’s birth years.</p

Ratio of clinical to chest X-ray diagnoses in various samples of children.

<p>Ratio of clinical to chest X-ray diagnoses in various samples of children.</p

Impact of PCV and Hib vaccination on a birth cohort of 122,747, the number of babies born in Beijing in 2012 [1], assuming <i>%Pneumonia</i> to be 26.9% at age 3.

<p>We used the Lucero value for <i>VE</i>_PCV, 27% (15%, 36%) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0171438#pone.0171438.ref063" target="_blank">63</a>] and the Theodoratou value for <i>VE</i>_Hib, 18% (-2%, 33%) [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0171438#pone.0171438.ref013" target="_blank">13</a>]. Potential pneumonia reductions are given for both wholly unvaccinated and vaccinated populations as we have estimated for Beijing.</p

Lifetime-ever pneumonia (<i>%Pneumonia</i>) as related to relative GNI per capita.

<p>Relative GNI per capita is the ratio of a country’s GNI to the World Bank High GNI Index for the children’s birth years.</p

Lifetime-ever pneumonia (<i>%Pneumonia</i>) for each discrete age group from 1 to 8 years old in Beijing, Tianjin (China) and Texas (USA).

<p>Data for this figure is shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0171438#pone.0171438.s003" target="_blank">S2 Table</a>. The open circles for Beijing indicate small sample sizes.</p

Lifetime-ever pneumonia (<i>%Pneumonia</i>) reported for children ≥ 3 years old.

<p>Lifetime-ever pneumonia (<i>%Pneumonia</i>) reported for children ≥ 3 years old.</p

Facile Water-Assisted Synthesis of Cupric Oxide Nanourchins and Their Application as Nonenzymatic Glucose Biosensor

We have demonstrated an interesting approach for the one-pot synthesis of cupric oxide (CuO) nanourchins with sub-100 nm through a sequential dissolution–precipitation process in a water/ethanol system. The first stage produces a precursory crystal [Cu₇Cl₄(OH)₁₀H₂O] that is transformed into monoclinic CuO nanourchins during the following stage. Water is a required reactant for the morphology-controlled growth of different CuO nanostructures. When evaluated for their nonenzymatic glucose-sensing properties, these CuO nanourchins manifest higher sensitivity. Significantly, this water-dependent precursor transformation method may be widely used to effectively control the growth of other metal oxide nanostructures

Adjusted odds ratios of pet keeping for asthma and allergies among children^a.

<p>Adjusted odds ratios of pet keeping for asthma and allergies among children<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0197274#t003fn001" target="_blank">^a</a>.</p

Demographic information, health outcomes and exposure to pets of the investigated population, n (%).

<p>Demographic information, health outcomes and exposure to pets of the investigated population, n (%).</p