Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis in the Philippines: Health Status of Patients Having Received Purified Equine F(ab')2 Fragment Rabies Immunoglobulin (Favirab)

Infection from a bite by a rabid animal is fatal unless rapid treatment (thorough cleaning of the wound, administration of rabies immunoglobulins (RIG), and a full anti-rabies vaccination course) is provided. Ideally human RIG should be used, but cheaper, more readily available purified horse RIG (pERIG) are widely used in developing countries. Follow-up of over 7,600 patients previously given pERIG at the rabies treatment reference center in Manila (Philippines) provided updated health status for 6,458 patients 39 days to 29 months after treatment. A total of 151 patients had been bitten by animals with laboratory-confirmed rabies. Two rabies deaths were reported, one in a 4-year-old girl with bites on the back, shoulder, and neck so severe that stitching was required to prevent bleeding (against recommended practice), and another in an 8-year-old boy who only received rabies vaccination on the day of initial treatment. A 7-year-old cousin of this boy, bitten by the same animal, who did receive the full vaccination course was still healthy 10 months later. Fourteen other reported deaths had causes unrelated to rabies. These data illustrate the effectiveness of pERIG as part of the recommended treatment regimen, while highlighting the importance of adhering to current recommendations

Safety and immunogenicity of Clostridium difficile toxoid vaccine in Japanese adults

This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase I/II study conducted in a Japanese cohort to assess the safety and immunogenicity of Clostridium difficile vaccine (the same formulation as that used in the ongoing global Phase III study). Healthy Japanese adults aged 40–75 years were randomized to receive either C. difficile vaccine (N = 67) or placebo (N = 34) by intramuscular injection on Days 0, 7, and 30. Serum IgG specific for toxins A and B was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and in vitro functional activity by toxin neutralizing assay (TNA). The seroconversion rate (percentage of participants with a ≥4-fold rise in antibody levels from baseline) was high for both toxin A (ELISA and TNA) and toxin B (ELISA), approaching 100% for each by Day 60. For toxin B assessed by TNA, however, the response was lower, with the seroconversion rate not rising significantly beyond the value of 42.9% seen on Day 14 (44.4% at Day 60). Although the response in the participants who were seronegative at baseline was slower than that in those who were seropositive, seroconversion was seen in nearly all (100%) subjects by Day 60, with the exception of the response to toxin B evaluated using TNA (16–18% on Days 14–60). The proportion of participants with solicited local reactions, solicited systemic reactions, and vaccine-related unsolicited reactions were 67.6%, 19.1%, and 20.6%, respectively. Most of the adverse reactions were mild to moderate in intensity, occurring within 3 days post-vaccination, and resolving by 3–6 days post-vaccination. There were no withdrawals due to adverse events and no serious adverse events. These data confirm the safety and immunogenicity of C. difficile vaccine in Japanese adults

Details of the body localization of the wounds inflicted by dFAT positive animals in one body site or at multiple sites in the body.

<p>Details of the body localization of the wounds inflicted by dFAT positive animals in one body site or at multiple sites in the body.</p

WHO recommendations for suspected rabies post-exposure treatment [2].

*<p>In Philippines, the recommended duration of the observation period is 14 days.</p

Dengue and Other Common Causes of Acute Febrile Illness in Asia: An Active Surveillance Study in Children

<div><p>Background</p><p>Common causes of acute febrile illness in tropical countries have similar symptoms, which often mimic those of dengue. Accurate clinical diagnosis can be difficult without laboratory confirmation and disease burden is generally under-reported. Accurate, population-based, laboratory-confirmed incidence data on dengue and other causes of acute fever in dengue-endemic Asian countries are needed.</p><p>Methods and principal findings</p><p>This prospective, multicenter, active fever surveillance, cohort study was conducted in selected centers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to determine the incidence density of acute febrile episodes (≥38°C for ≥2 days) in 1,500 healthy children aged 2–14 years, followed for a mean 237 days. Causes of fever were assessed by testing acute and convalescent sera from febrile participants for dengue, chikungunya, hepatitis A, influenza A, leptospirosis, rickettsia, and <i>Salmonella</i> Typhi. Overall, 289 participants had acute fever, an incidence density of 33.6 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 30.0; 37.8); 57% were IgM-positive for at least one of these diseases. The most common causes of fever by IgM ELISA were chikungunya (in 35.0% of in febrile participants) and <i>S.</i> Typhi (in 29.4%). The overall incidence density of dengue per 100 person-years was 3.4 by nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen positivity (95% CI: 2.4; 4.8) and 7.3 (95% CI: 5.7; 9.2) by serology. Dengue was diagnosed in 11.4% (95% CI: 8.0; 15.7) and 23.9% (95% CI: 19.1; 29.2) of febrile participants by NS1 positivity and serology, respectively. Of the febrile episodes not clinically diagnosed as dengue, 5.3% were dengue-positive by NS1 antigen testing and 16.0% were dengue-positive by serology.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>During the study period, the most common identified causes of pediatric acute febrile illness among the seven tested for were chikungunya, <i>S.</i> Typhi and dengue. Not all dengue cases were clinically diagnosed; laboratory confirmation is essential to refine disease burden estimates.</p></div

Baseline demographic characteristics of the study cohort.

†<p>Where a participant was enrolled the day before his/her birthday, the age was rounded to 15.0 years. N is the number of participants present at Visit 1.</p

Incidence density of dengue in febrile participants.

†<p>For each participant, only the first occurrence of a dengue-positive acute febrile episode was used to calculate incidence density.</p>‡<p>Incidence density per 100 person-years of study follow-up. Laboratory-confirmed dengue: NS1 positive; Probable dengue: IgM positive and/or fourfold rise in IgG.</p

Incidence density of non-dengue infections in febrile participants.

<p>Acute infections were determined by IgM positivity.</p>†<p>For each participant, only the first occurrence of an infection was used to calculate incidence density.</p>‡<p>Incidence density per 100 person-years of follow-up. NC: not calculated.</p

Frequency of most commonly detected non-dengue infections in febrile participants.

<p>Data are the percentage of participants who had at least one acute febrile episode during the study, for whom IgM antibodies to these pre-specified infections were detected in acute or convalescent sera.</p