Impact of the antipneumococcal conjugate vaccine on the occurrence of infectious respiratory diseases and hospitalization rates in children

INTRODUCTION: In 2010, to reduce the occurrence of serious pneumococcal disease, the Ministry of Health in Brazil incorporated the 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine in the immunization schedule of children younger than two years of age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of vaccination on the incidence of infectious respiratory diseases in infants before and after the introduction of the 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved primary care and hospital networks from a city in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, between 2009 and 2012. RESULTS: A 40% reduction in the prevalence of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) was observed after introducing the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Male children were 28% more likely to develop the disease. The prevalence ratio ([PR] = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.52 to 2.53, p < 0.05) suggested that not being vaccinated was associated with the occurrence of pneumonia. The prevalence of CAP was 70% lower (PR 0.30, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.37, p<0.05) in children vaccinated as recommended compared to children with delayed vaccination, suggesting that the updated vaccine schedule improves protection. CONCLUSIONS: Immunization with the 10-valent pneumococcal vaccine appeared to reduce the number of pneumonia cases in children during the study period. Prospective studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of the vaccine against the occurrence of pneumococcal pneumonia.

Organic-inorganic nanostructured multilayers for calcium phosphate biomineralization

The weak fixation of biomaterials within the bone structure is one of the major reasons of implants failures. Calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings are used in bone tissue engineering to improve implant osseointegration by enhancing cellular adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, leading to a tight and stable junction between implant and host bone. It has also been observed that materials compatible with bone tissue either have a CaP coating or develop such a calcified surface upon implantation. Thus, the development of bioactive coatings becomes essential for further improvement of integration with the surrounding tissue. However, most of current applied CaP coatings methods (e.g. physical vapor deposition), cannot be applied to complex shapes and porous implants, provide poor structural control over the coating and prevent incorporation of bioactive organic compounds (e.g. antibiotics, growth factors) because of the used harsh processing conditions. Layer-by-layer (LbL) is a versatile technology that permits the building-up of multilayered polyelectrolyte films in mild conditions based on the alternate adsorption of cationic and anionic elements that can integrate bioactive compounds. As it is recognized in natureâ s biomineralization process the presence of an organic template to induce mineral deposition, this work investigate a ion based biomimetic method where all the process is based on LbL methodology made of weak natural-origin polyelectrolytes. A nanostructured multilayer component, with 5 or 10 bilayers, was produced initially using chitosan and chondroitin sulphate polyelectrolyte biopolymers, which possess similarities with the extracellular matrix and good biocompatibility. The multilayers are then rinsed with a sequential passing of solutions containing Ca2+ and PO43- ions. The formation of CaP over the polyelectrolyte multilayers was confirmed by QCM-D, SEM and EDX. The outcomes show that 10 polyelectrolyte bilayer condition behaved as a  better site for initiating the formation of CaP as the precipitation occur at earlier stages than in 5 polyelectrolyte bilayers one. This denotes that higher number of bilayers could hold the CaP crystals more efficiently. This work achieved uniform coatings that can be applied to any surface with access to the liquid media in a low-temperature method, which potentiates the manufacture of effective bioactive biomaterials with great potential in orthopedic applications.