Predicting the next pandemic: VACCELERATE ranking of the World Health Organization's Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO)'s Research and Development (R&D) Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics, a plan of action, highlighted several infectious diseases as crucial targets for prevention. These infections were selected based on a thorough assessment of factors such as transmissibility, infectivity, severity, and evolutionary potential. In line with this blueprint, the VACCELERATE Site Network approached infectious disease experts to rank the diseases listed in the WHO R&D Blueprint according to their perceived risk of triggering a pandemic. VACCELERATE is an EU-funded collaborative European network of clinical trial sites, established to respond to emerging pandemics and enhance vaccine development capabilities. Methods: Between February and June 2023, a survey was conducted using an online form to collect data from members of the VACCELERATE Site Network and infectious disease experts worldwide. Participants were asked to rank various pathogens based on their perceived risk of causing a pandemic, including those listed in the WHO R&D Blueprint and additional pathogens. Results: A total of 187 responses were obtained from infectious disease experts representing 57 countries, with Germany, Spain, and Italy providing the highest number of replies. Influenza viruses received the highest rankings among the pathogens, with 79 % of participants including them in their top rankings. Disease X, SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and Ebola virus were also ranked highly. Hantavirus, Lassa virus, Nipah virus, and henipavirus were among the bottom-ranked pathogens in terms of pandemic potential. Conclusion: Influenza, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and Ebola virus were found to be the most concerning pathogens with pandemic potential, characterised by transmissibility through respiratory droplets and a reported history of epidemic or pandemic outbreaks

Editorial

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New Generation Rotavirus Vaccines

WOS: 000377695500006Rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) is a vaccine-preventable disease that causes hospitalization and deaths due to severe gastroenteritis in developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 801000 children die annually due to gastroenteritis. Improvement in hygienic conditions is insufficient for preventing rotavirus gastroenteritis due to transmission via droplets and resistance to disinfectants; therefore, vaccination is the most effective method for prevention. At present, there are two licensed rotavirus vaccines, monovalent rotavirus vaccine (RV1, Rotarix, GlaxoSmithKline) and pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5, RotaTeq, Merck). The WHO offered to integrate the rotavirus vaccine to the national vaccination programs of all countries worldwide since 2009. Current licensed vaccines have since demonstrated efficacy against severe gastroenteritis and hospitalization in developed countries. In countries with low income and high disease vaccination rate is low because of difficulties in vaccine supply and high cost of the vaccine and consideration about diminished efficacy of the other oral vaccines. Therefore, several groups are led to develop around the world, new rotavirus vaccines. In this review, we provide a summary of the new licensed vaccines with ongoing clinical trials and the locally licensed vaccines

Comparison of Healthcare-related Infection Rates Based on the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System of Turkey Diagnostic Criteria Reported in 2010 and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Reported in 2014 in A Tertiary Hospital

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Clinical Features of COVID-19 in Children

Sahbudak Bal, Zumrut/0000-0001-9189-8220WOS: 000533660200002In early December, pneumonia cases of unknown origin started to appear and, on the 7th of January 2020, these cases were declared to be caused by a novel beta-coronavirus according to viral genome sequencing on the 11th of February, 2020. Coronaviruses are enveloped, single strand RNA viruses that have been known to have the ability to mutate rapidly, alter tissue tropism and adjust to different epidemiological situations. As of the end of April 2020, 122,392 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been detected in Turkey, of whom 3,258 died. From the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, children seem to be less affected than adults. Therefore, there are limited data regarding the clinical features of COVID-19 in children. the majority of children with confirmed COVID-19 had a history of household contact. the most common symptoms were fever and cough. Previous data suggest that nearly half of patients are afebrile at the onset of the disease. Hospitalization and PICU admission rates for children were lower than for adults. However, PICU admission can be necessitated in children with severe disease. Infants, particularly under the age of 12 months, were more likely to develop severe disease. in children, milder and asymptomatic cases can be challenging and can play a role in transmission. in particular, clinicians should test those children who have a history of family cluster even though they are asymptomatic or present with mild symptoms

Infections in children with left ventricular assist device

Sahbudak Bal, Zumrut/0000-0001-9189-8220; Ozbaran, Mustafa/0000-0003-0259-0799WOS: 000559903300001PubMed: 32767830Background There are limited data about pediatric left ventricular assist device (VAD) infections in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate device postimplantation infectious complications and their pathogenic profile. Methods Data were analyzed from patient charts involving 27 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy who underwent left VAD implantation at a leading tertiary care center in Turkey. Results the study included 17 boys and ten girls with a median age of 12.22 years (range 17 months to 18 years). Nineteen patients were diagnosed with idiopathic, and three were diagnosed with familial dilated cardiomyopathy. Twenty-two out of 27 subjects (%81.48) developed 80 infection episodes in total. the most common type of left VAD-specific infection was the exit site of the driveline. Infected patients with left VAD had a significantly prolonged hospitalization compared with the patients without infection (P = .014). Infection-induced pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admission was higher in patients with fungal infection(P = .023). Gram-positive staphylococci were the most commonly isolated bacterial pathogens, followed by Gram-negative bacteria. Five patients developed fungal infections. None of the fungal infection patients underwent transplantation(P = .035). Seven deaths occurred in our study group. All deaths were in the infected group. Mortality was associated with the presence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections (P = .015), an increased number of infection episodes (P = .003), and hospitalization due to infection (P = .003). Conclusion Ventricular assist device-related infections were frequent among our study patients. the predominantly isolated agents were Gram-positive bacterial pathogens. However, the emergence of relatively high rate of Gram-negative bacterial and fungal infections was associated with mortality before the transplantation. Establishing local programs for surveillance data, controlling for infection rates, and antibiotic stewardship are essential to reduce mortality of VAD patients in developing countries