Nevin Manimala

Epidemiol Serv Saude. 2025 Jan 10;33(spe2):e20231224. doi: 10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231224.especial2.en. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To analyze vaccination coverage and factors associated with incomplete vaccination in inland municipalities of Northeastern Brazil.

METHODS: This was a household survey using cluster sampling conducted in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia state, Caruaru, Pernambuco state, Sobral, Ceará state and Imperatriz, Maranhão state between 2020 and 2022. Vaccination coverage by valid doses and vaccine hesitancy were analyzed, with the odds ratio (OR) estimated and adjusted using logistic regression.

RESULTS: Among 1,847 children, complete vaccination coverage was 49.2% (95%CI 43.9;54.5). Factors associated with incomplete vaccination included: higher income (OR 1.53; 95%CI 1.02;2.31), residence in Sobral (OR 4.35; 95%CI 3.04; 6.21) and >1 child (OR 1.20; 95%CI 1.11;1.32). Parental decision not to vaccinate and difficulties in traveling to vaccination centers contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

CONCLUSION: Low vaccination coverage and incomplete vaccination were associated with social issues in the socioeconomic strata analyzed.

PMID:39813543 | DOI:10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231224.especial2.en

Epidemiol Serv Saude. 2025 Jan 10;33(spe2):e20231219. doi: 10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231219.especial2.en. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To analyse vaccination coverage and factors associated with incomplete polio vaccination in a cohort of children born in 2017-2018, in state capitals and interior region municipalities of Northeast Brazil.

METHODS: Household survey of children aged ≤24 months conducted between 2020 and 2022. Vaccination coverage and dropout rates were estimated, as well as factors associated with incomplete vaccination, analyzed by calculating odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI).

RESULTS: : Among 12,137 children, vaccination coverage (4 doses) was 80.9% (95%CI 78.4;83.1); 8.4% were not vaccinated. Not having a vaccination card (OR=18.06; 95%CI 10.01;32.61) and use of private services (OR=1.46; 95%CI 1.23;1.74) were associated with incomplete vaccination. Higher dropout rates were found for the booster dose, especially in the highest stratum.

CONCLUSION: Low vaccination coverage, poor dose follow-up and high dropout rates were found for polio vaccines in the areas studied.

PMID:39813542 | DOI:10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231219.especial2.en

Epidemiol Serv Saude. 2025 Jan 10;33(spe2):e20231218. doi: 10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231218.especial2.en. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To estimate measles-mumps-rubella vaccination coverage, delay and loss to follow-up in children up to 24 months old living in Brazilian cities.

METHODS: Surveys and questionnaires with a retrospective cohort of live births in 2017-2018, analyzing vaccination coverage and sociodemographic data of children and families, based on vaccination card records and interviews.

RESULTS: Valid coverage of first dose was 90.0% (95%CI 88.9;91.0) and 81.1% for the second dose (95%CI 79.8;82.4). Delay for both doses was 23.2% (95%CI 21.9;24.5) and loss to follow-up was 10.8% (95%CI 9.9;11.8). Socioeconomic stratum A had the lowest vaccination coverage and the higher the child’s birth order, the lower the vaccination coverage for the second dose. Children whose mothers had 13 to 15 years of education had higher vaccination coverage.

CONCLUSION: Coverage did not meet the recommended target. Differentiated strategies to resolve difficulties in access, misinformation, and vaccination hesitancy will help improve vaccination coverage.

PMID:39813541 | DOI:10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231218.especial2.en

Epidemiol Serv Saude. 2025 Jan 10;33(spe2):e20231195. doi: 10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231195.especial2.en. eCollection 2025.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To estimate prevalence of the full vaccination schedule for children 12 to 24 months old and to analyze associated factors.

METHODS: Survey with cluster sampling carried out in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, between December 16, 2020, and January 4, 2021. Children born in Vitória in 2017 and 2018 were included. We estimated the prevalence of vaccination schedules. Poisson regression was used to verify association with full vaccination coverage.

RESULTS: We included 788 children. Full vaccination coverage was found to be 57% taking a 95% confidence interval (95%CI 50.98;62.98). Prevalence of full vaccination coverage was lowest when private services were used for immunization (prevalence ratio [PR] 0.67; 95%CI 0.51;0.86) and when mothers had ≥ 4 children (PR 0.55; 95%CI 0.32;0.94).

CONCLUSION: We found low vaccination coverage and a drop in booster doses. Use of private services for immunization and number of children were associated with incomplete vaccination coverage.

PMID:39813540 | DOI:10.1590/S2237-96222024v33e20231195.especial2.en

JMIR Form Res. 2025 Jan 15;9:e58460. doi: 10.2196/58460.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity prevalence remains high, especially in racial and ethnic minority populations with low incomes. This epidemic is attributed to various dietary behaviors, including increased consumption of energy-dense foods and sugary beverages and decreased intake of fruits and vegetables. Interactive, technology-based approaches are emerging as promising tools to support health behavior changes.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of Intervention INC (Interactive Nutrition Comics for Urban, Minority Preadolescents), a 6-chapter web-based interactive nutrition comic tool. Its preliminary effectiveness on diet-related psychosocial variables and behaviors was also explored.

METHODS: A total of 89 Black or African American and Hispanic preadolescents with a mean age of 10.4 (SD 1.0) years from New York City participated in a pilot 2-group randomized study, comprising a 6-week intervention and a 3-month follow-up (T4) period. Of the 89 participants, 61% were female, 62% were Black, 42% were Hispanic, 53% were overweight or obese, and 34% had an annual household income of <US $20,000. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (45/89, 50% received the web-based comic tool), or the comparison group (44/89, 50% received web-based nutrition newsletters). Primary measures included feasibility and usability at intervention midpoint (T2) and intervention end (T3). Semistructured interviews were conducted at the same time to assess acceptability and satisfaction. Secondary measures, collected at baseline (T1), T2, T3, and at T4, included attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to fruit, vegetable, water, sugar, and junk food intake. Descriptive analyses were conducted for use and usability data. Interviews were systematically analyzed to facilitate identification of patterns and themes. Secondary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Within- and between-group effect sizes were reported.

RESULTS: In total, 72% (33/45) and 60% (27/44) of the experimental and comparison groups, respectively, accessed their tool weekly. The mean total usability score was high and moderately high for the experimental and comparison groups, respectively (mean 4.01, SD 0.37 and mean 3.81, SD 0.51; P=.048), based on a 5-point Likert scale). Children in both groups found the tool acceptable, and few reported difficulties logging in or accessing content. Between-group effect sizes for beliefs and attitudes related to dietary intake, while favoring the experimental group at T3, were in the small range. These improvements in both groups were largely diminished by T4. However, between-group effect sizes for behaviors related to fruit, vegetable, and water intake, favoring the experimental group, were medium to large and were maintained at T4.

CONCLUSIONS: This pilot feasibility study suggests that an interactive comic tool may be an appealing and useful format to promote positive dietary behaviors in racial and ethnic minority preadolescents. However, further research, including a full-scale randomized controlled trial, is warranted to determine the effectiveness of Intervention INC.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03165474; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03165474.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/10682.

PMID:39813083 | DOI:10.2196/58460

Int Endod J. 2025 Jan 15. doi: 10.1111/iej.14197. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the compliance of dentists in Croatia and the Czech Republic with endodontic recommendations and identify the subjective and objective factors influencing their adherence to them.

METHODOLOGY: A total of 1386 dentists from Croatia and the Czech Republic participated in an online survey through a self-administered, author-designed questionnaire. After excluding those who did not perform root canal treatments (RCT), 1376 responses (394 from Croatia and 982 from the Czech Republic) were statistically analysed.

RESULTS: The median age of respondents was 40 years, with a higher proportion of females in both countries. Croatian dentists treated fewer patients weekly but performed more RCTs and placed more composite fillings than their Czech counterparts. Czech dentists more frequently employed magnification devices, rubber dam (RD), pre-endodontic build-ups, nickel-titanium (NiTi) instruments, irrigant activation, bioceramic sealers, indirect post-endodontic restoration of lateral teeth, and single-visit treatments. These practices were also more common among endodontists than general dental practitioners and other specialists in both countries. Croatian dentists adhered more consistently to the recommended irrigation protocol. In the Czech group, adherence to recommended procedures, such as magnification, RD usage, and irrigation protocol correlated with younger age, smaller weekly number of patients, and preference for treating patients in the supine position. No such correlations were observed among the Croatian dentists.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite notable improvements in recent years, dentists still do not fully comply with the recommended RCT working procedures in Croatia and the Czech Republic.

PMID:39813082 | DOI:10.1111/iej.14197

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2025 Jan 15:1-14. doi: 10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00351. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To advance our understanding of disease-specific articulatory impairment patterns in speakers with dysarthria, this study investigated the articulatory performance of the tongue and jaw in speakers with differing neurological diseases (Parkinson’s disease [PD], amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease).

METHOD: Fifty-seven speakers with dysarthria and 30 controls produced the sentence “Buy Kaia a kite” five times. A three-dimensional electromagnetic articulography was used to record the articulatory movements of the posterior tongue and jaw. Sentence-length kinematic measures (e.g., duration, tongue range of motion [ROM], jaw ROM, tongue speed, jaw speed) were extracted.

RESULTS: Results revealed significant group effects for the duration, jaw ROM, and tongue speed but not for tongue ROM. Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed more significant between-groups differences for duration and jaw ROM than for tongue speed. Statistically significant findings between clinical groups were predominantly driven by the difference between speakers with PD and speakers of other clinical groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Reduced jaw ROM and trends toward reduced tongue ROM confirm hypokinesia as a distinguishing motor feature of speakers with PD. However, deviancies in speed or movement duration did not emerge as a distinguishing motor feature for any of the four studied clinical groups. Nevertheless, movement duration, but not movement speed, may be useful to index dysarthria severity.

PMID:39813072 | DOI:10.1044/2024_JSLHR-24-00351

J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025 Jan 15:dgaf023. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaf023. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a painful inflammatory disorder of the thyroid gland, which – after a phase of thyrotoxicosis – leads to transient, or less frequently permanent hypothyroidism. Apart from a strong association with specific HLA alleles, the causes are uncertain. Viral disease has been hypothesised as a trigger, with Enteroviruses, namely Echoviruses and Coxsackieviruses, showing a seasonal distribution that coincides with the incidence of SAT. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, strict hygiene measures led to a sharp decline in infections and thus offered the opportunity to test this hypothesis.

METHODS: We analysed national registry data of hospitalised patients from Germany during the years 2015 to 2022 (Federal statistical Office (Destatis), Wiesbaden, Germany) and surveillance data on infectious diseases from the same years (clinical-virology.net and RKI). Statistical analysis includes modelling of seasonality by month, polynomial autoregression and Granger causality to assess dependency of future SAT frequencies from past ones, and association of virus incidence to SAT frequency, respectively.

RESULTS: Our study confirms previously described epidemiological findings with higher incidence in females and a seasonal peak in late summer coinciding with the seasonality of enteroviruses until 2019. In 2020, the pattern remained unchanged, except for the marked reduction of enteroviruses and other pathogens (except SARS-CoV-2) due to hygienic measures. Moreover, the SAT seasonality in the years 2021 and 2022 was apparently unaltered through the COVID-19 pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides strong evidence that despite their seasonal pattern, Echoviruses and Coxsackieviruses are not the cause of SAT. Moreover, no other analysed virus (including Influenza A and B, Parainfluenza, Rhinovirus, Human Coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2) showed any association.

PMID:39812071 | DOI:10.1210/clinem/dgaf023

Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2025 Jan 13. doi: 10.2174/0113862073355878241117153320. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: TSPOAP1 antisense RNA 1 (TSPOAP1-AS1) is a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that has received widespread attention in oncology research in recent years. Its role and mechanism in some cancers have gradually been revealed. However, it is not clear what role TSPOAP1-AS1 plays in cervical cancer (CESC).

OBJECTIVE: In this study, bioinformatic analysis and experimental validation were carried out to investigate the relationship between TSPOAP1-AS1 and CESC.

METHODS: The relationships between clinical characteristics in patients with CESC, TSPOAP1-AS1 expression, prognostic factors, regulation network, and immune infiltration of TSPOAP1-AS1 were evaluated using statistics and The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR was used to test TSPOAP1-AS1, miR-17-5p, and AGFG2 expression in CESC cell lines.

RESULTS: CESC patients exhibited markedly reduced expression of TSPOAP1-AS1. There was a significant correlation between low expression of TSPOAP1-AS1 in CESC patients and the clinical stage (p < 0.05), weight (p < 0.05), and BMI (p < 0.05). Lower expression of TSPOAP1-AS1 in patients with CESC was associated with poorer overall survival (OS) (p = 0.014) and disease-specific survival (DSS) (p = 0.030). There was also an independent correlation between high expression of TSPOAP1- AS1 (p = 0.036) and DSS in patients with CESC. TSPOAP1-AS1 was involved in the ribosome, oxidative phosphorylation, antigen processing and presentation, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), the chemokine signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and primary immunodeficiencies. The infiltration of immune cells and the expression of TSPOAP1-AS1 were found to be correlated. A ceRNA network of TSPOAP1-AS1/miR-17-5p/AGFG2 was constructed in CESC. In CESC, a ceRNA network involving TSPOAP1-AS1/miR-17-5p/AGFG2 was successfully established. When comparing CESC cell lines with HcerEpic, the expression of TSPOAP1-AS1 and AGFG2 decreased significantly, and the expression of miR-17-5p increased significantly.

CONCLUSION: In CESC patients, low expression of TSPOAP1-AS1 was associated with poor survival and immune infiltration. It may be effective to use TSPOAP1-AS1 as a biomarker of prognosis and therapeutic target in CESC.

PMID:39812059 | DOI:10.2174/0113862073355878241117153320

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2025 Jan 13. doi: 10.2174/0118715303367767241231113110. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the role of the microrchidia (MORC) family, a group of chromatin remodeling proteins, as the therapeutic and prognostic markers for colorectal cancer (CRC).

BACKGROUND: MORC protein family genes are a highly conserved nucleoprotein superfamily whose members share a common domain but have distinct biological functions. Previous studies have analyzed the roles of MORCs as epigenetic regulators and chromatin remodulators; however, the involvement of MORCs in the development and pathogenesis of CRC was less examined.

OBJECTIVE: The current work examined the role of the MORCs as the therapeutic and prognostic markers for CRC.

METHODS: The expressions and prognostic significance of MORC family genes in CRC were explored. The role of these genes in tumor immunity was comprehensively analyzed in terms of their functions in immune cell infiltration, tumor microenvironment (TME), and their interaction with immune regulatory genes such as immunosuppressive genes, immune checkpoints and immunostimulatory genes. The relations between MORC family genes, tumor mutation burden (TMB), DNA, mismatch repair (MMR), RNA methylation, microsatellite instability (MSI), and drug sensitivity were investigated using the R statistical software. The expressions of MORC4 in 150 CRC tissues and 60 paracancer tissues were detected by immunohistochemical method. CRC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were measured by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), scratch assay, and transwell cell invasion assay.

RESULTS: The expressions of MORC2 and MORC4 were significantly upregulated, whereas those of MORC1 and MORC3 were noticeably downregulated in CRC in comparison to their expressions in normal colorectal mucosal tissues. Patients with high-expressed MORC2 showed a more unfavorable prognosis than those with a low MORC2 level. Functional annotation analysis identified 100 MORC family genes with the most significant negative or positive correlations to diabetic cardiomyopathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, oxidative phosphorylation, Huntington’s disease, thermogenesis, Parkinson’s disease, olfactory transduction, Alzheimer’s disease, prion disease. MORC3 expression was positively correlated with Stromal score, Immune score and ESTIMATE score, while MORC2 expression was negatively related to the three scores in CRC, these correlations were not statistically significant. Additionally, the MORC family genes were significantly positively correlated with tumor-infiltrating immune cells such as T helper cells and exhibited close relations to some immunosuppressive genes such as CXCR4 and PVR, immunostimulatory genes such as TGFBR1, KDR, and CD160 as well as some immune checkpoint genes. It was found that the expressions of some members of MORC family genes were positively correlated with DNA methylation, MSI, TMB, MMRs, and drug sensitivity in CRC and that the mRNA and protein levels of MORC4 were remarkably upregulated in CRC tissues than in adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05). In the MORC4 knockdown group, DLD-1 cell proliferation was more inhibited than in the negative control (NC) and siRNA groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, the migratory capacity of DLD-1 cells and the number of cells crossing the basement membrane in the MORC4 knockdown group were reduced compared to the NC and siRNA groups (all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: The expressions of MORC family genes were significantly different in CRC samples, which was related to the immune cell infiltration and prognosis of CRC. Thus, the MORC family genes were considered as markers for indicating the clinical immunotherapy and prognostic outcome of CRC.

PMID:39812044 | DOI:10.2174/0118715303367767241231113110