Kahn R, Hitchings M, Bellan S, Lipsitch M. Clin Trials. 2018 Jan 1:1740774517752671. doi: 10.1177/1740774517752671. [Epub ahead of print] Read article on PubMed Abstract: Background/aims Network structure and individuals’ level of exposure to a pathogen can impact results from efficacy evaluation studies of interventions against infectious diseases. Heterogeneity in infection risk can cause randomized groups to increasingly differ as a trial progresses and as more high-risk individuals become infected (described in prior work as…
Serotype-specific immune responses to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine among children are significantly correlated by individual: Analysis of randomized controlled trial data. Vaccine.
Serotype-specific immune responses to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine among children are significantly correlated by individual: Analysis of randomized controlled trial data. Lipsitch M, Li LM, Patterson S, Trammel J, Juergens C, Gruber WC, Scott DA, Dagan R. Vaccine. 2018 Jan 25;36(4):473-478. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.12.015. Epub 2017 Dec 14. Abstract: BACKGROUND: The magnitude of an individual’s serotype-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) has been associated with the vaccine’s protective efficacy against carriage of pneumococci of that serotype, though…
The cost-effectiveness of alternative vaccination strategies for polyvalent meningococcal vaccines in Burkina Faso: A transmission dynamic modeling study. PLoS Med.
Yaesoubi R, Trotter C, Colijn C, Yaesoubi M, Colombini A, Resch S, Kristiansen PA, LaForce FM, Cohen T. PLoS Med. 2018 Jan 24;15(1):e1002495. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002495. eCollection 2018 Jan. Read on PubMed BACKGROUND: The introduction of a conjugate vaccine for serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis has dramatically reduced disease in the African meningitis belt. In this context, important questions remain about the performance of different vaccine policies that target remaining serogroups. Here, we estimate the health impact and cost associated with several…
Geographically weighted temporally correlated logistic regression model. Sci Rep.
Geographically weighted temporally correlated logistic regression model. Liu Y, Lam KF, Wu JT, Lam TT. Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 23;8(1):1417. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-19772-6. Abstract: Detecting the temporally and spatially varying correlations is important to understand the biological and disease systems. Here we proposed a geographically weighted temporally correlated logistic regression (GWTCLR) model to identify such dynamic correlation of predictors on binomial outcome data, by incorporating spatial and temporal information for joint inference. The local likelihood method is adopted…
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Use of influenza antivirals in patients hospitalized in Hong Kong, 2000-2015. PLoS One.
Use of influenza antivirals in patients hospitalized in Hong Kong, 2000-2015. Cowling BJ, Chui CSL, Lim WW, Wu P, Hui CKM, Peiris JSM, Chan EW. PLoS One. 2018 Jan 19;13(1):e0190306. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190306. eCollection 2018. Abstract: OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe patterns in the usage of antivirals to treat influenza virus infection in hospitals in Hong Kong from 2000 through 2015. METHODS: We analyzed centralized electronic health records that included dispensation information and diagnosis codes. Information collected on admissions included…
Influenza vaccine effectiveness against influenza A(H3N2) hospitalizations in children in Hong Kong in a prolonged season, 2016/17.
Influenza vaccine effectiveness against influenza A(H3N2) hospitalizations in children in Hong Kong in a prolonged season, 2016/17. Chiu SS, Kwan MYW, Feng S, Wong JSC, Leung CW, Chan ELY, Chan KH, Ng TK, To WK, Cowling BJ, Peiris JSM. J Infect Dis. 2018 Jan 16. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy027. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract: BACKGROUND: Influenza A(H3N2) viruses circulated for 12 consecutive months in Hong Kong in 2016-2017, peaking in late June and July 2017. The objective of our study was to estimate…
Characterizing the dynamics underlying global spread of epidemics. Nat Commun.
Characterizing the dynamics underlying global spread of epidemics. Wang L, Wu JT. Nat Commun. 2018 Jan 15;9(1):218. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02344-z. Abstract: Over the past few decades, global metapopulation epidemic simulations built with worldwide air-transportation data have been the main tool for studying how epidemics spread from the origin to other parts of the world (e.g., for pandemic influenza, SARS, and Ebola). However, it remains unclear how disease epidemiology and the air-transportation network structure determine epidemic arrivals…
Continue reading “Characterizing the dynamics underlying global spread of epidemics. Nat Commun.”
Weak Epistasis May Drive Adaptation in Recombining Bacteria. Genetics.
Weak Epistasis May Drive Adaptation in Recombining Bacteria. Arnold BJ, Gutmann MU, Grad YH, Sheppard SK, Corander J, Lipsitch M, Hanage WP. Genetics. 2018 Jan 12. pii: genetics.300662.2017. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.300662. Abstract: The impact of epistasis on the evolution of multilocus traits depends on recombination. While sexually-reproducing eukaryotes recombine so frequently that epistasis between polymorphisms is not considered to play a large role in short-term adaptation, many bacteria also recombine, some to the degree that their populations are described as ‘panmictic’…
Continue reading “Weak Epistasis May Drive Adaptation in Recombining Bacteria. Genetics.”
Evaluation of animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission of influenza A (H7N9) virus in China, 2013-15. Sci Rep.
Evaluation of animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission of influenza A (H7N9) virus in China, 2013-15. Virlogeux V, Feng L, Tsang TK, Jiang H, Fang VJ, Qin Y, Wu P, Wang X, Zheng J, Lau EHY, Peng Z, Yang J, Cowling BJ, Yu H. Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 11;8(1):552. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-17335-9. Abstract: A novel avian-origin influenza A(H7N9) virus emerged in China in March 2013 and by 27 September 2017 a total of 1533 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported. Occurrences of animal-to-human and human-to-human transmission have been previously…
On the Relative Role of Different Age Groups During Epidemics Associated With Respiratory Syncytial Virus. J Infect Dis.
On the Relative Role of Different Age Groups During Epidemics Associated With Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Goldstein E, Nguyen HH, Liu P, Viboud C, Steiner CA, Worby CJ, Lipsitch M. J Infect Dis. 2018 Jan 4;217(2):238-244. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jix575. Abstract: BACKGROUND: While circulation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) results in high rates of hospitalization, particularly among young children and elderly individuals, little is known about the role of different age groups in propagating annual RSV…