scholarly journals Booster or additional vaccination doses in patients vaccinated against COVID-19

Author(s):  
Alejandra García-Botella ◽  
Alberto García-Lledó ◽  
Javier Gómez-Pavón ◽  
Juan González del Castillo ◽  
Teresa Hernández-Sampelayo ◽  
...  

Several health organizations, mainly in Western countries, have recently authorized the use of a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for patients previously vaccinated with mRNA vaccines, with criteria that do not always coincide. The COVID Scientific Committee of the Illustrious College of Physicians of Madrid (ICOMEM) has received and asked several questions about this situation, to which the group has tried to give answers, after deliberation and consensus. The efficacy of the vaccines administered so far is beyond doubt and they have managed to reduce, fundamentally, the severe forms of the disease. The duration of this protection is not well known, is different in different individuals and for different variants of the virus and is not easily predictable with laboratory tests. Data on the real impact of a supplementary or “booster” dose in the scientific literature are scarce for the moment and its application in large populations such as those in the state of Israel may be associated with a decrease in the risk of new and severe episodes in the short observation period available. We also lack sufficient data on the safety and potential adverse effects of these supplementary doses and we do not know the ideal time to administer them in different situations. In this state of affairs, it seems prudent to administer supplemental doses to those exposed to a higher risk, such as immunocompromised individuals and the elderly. On the other hand, we consider that this is not the time to accelerate, on the spur of the moment, a massive administration of a third dose to other population groups that are less exposed and at lower risk, without waiting for adequate scientific information, which will undoubtedly arrive gradually. We do not believe that this position is incompatible with the practical and ethical warnings made by the World Health Organization in this respect.

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Erika Guastafierro ◽  
Ilaria Rocco ◽  
Rui Quintas ◽  
Barbara Corso ◽  
Nadia Minicuci ◽  
...  

Abstract Healthy ageing is a public health problem globally. In Europe, the dependency ratio of the elderly is expected to increase by 21.6 per cent to 51.2 per cent in 2070. The World Health Organization (WHO) study on healthy ageing started in 2002 as a concept whereby all people of all ages should be able to live in a healthy, safe and socially inclusive way. The aim of this study is to present preliminary results of the project Identification of Determinants of Healthy Ageing in Italy (IDAGIT) that aimed to collect data on the active and healthy ageing of the Italian population aged over 18 using the conceptual framework of the WHO's ageing model. To link the determinants of the IDAGIT studies to those of the WHO model, we performed a confirmatory factor analysis which reported these variables as significant (in order of factor loading): smoking, cognition score, comorbidity, outdoor built environment, participation, working expertise and income. Considering comorbidity, 83.8 per cent of the sample declared not having any chronic diseases or to have only one, and regarding neurological diseases, only nine people had received a diagnosis of stroke. Regarding gender, the personal determinants and physical and social environments did not result in statistically significant differences, whereas we found statistical differences between the aged groups in all variables analysed. These results provide a first bio-psycho-social perspective on ageing in the Italian population.


CoDAS ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Zorzetto Carniel ◽  
Juliana Cristina Ferreira de Sousa ◽  
Carla Dias da Silva ◽  
Carla Aparecida de Urzedo Fortunato-Queiroz ◽  
Miguel Ângelo Hyppolito ◽  
...  

RESUMO Objetivo Avaliar, por meio de questionários padronizados, a qualidade de vida de idosos com deficiência auditiva diagnosticada que utilizam ou não a prótese auditiva (AASI) e de idosos sem queixa auditiva. Método Trata-se de um estudo transversal, com amostra não probabilística, distribuída em três grupos divididos da seguinte forma: 30 idosos com perda auditiva diagnosticada e com indicação para uso do aparelho de amplificação sonora individual (AASI), mas que ainda não faziam uso da prótese; 30 idosos com deficiência auditiva que usavam o AASI; e 30 idosos sem queixa auditiva. Os participantes completaram um questionário que investigava dados sociodemográficos e familiares, o Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version (HHIE-S) e o World Health Organization Quality of Life - versão breve (WHOQOL-Breve). Além das análises descritivas dos dados, foram realizados testes para comparação dos três grupos, aplicando-se a análise de variância (ANOVA) e o teste post hoc de Bonferroni. Resultados Os três grupos se diferenciaram significativamente em todos os domínios de qualidade de vida. O grupo de idosos com perda auditiva diagnosticada e com indicação para uso do AASI apresentou menores escores que o grupo de idosos com deficiência auditiva que usavam o AASI e que o grupo de referência. O grupo com AASI apresentou os melhores resultados de qualidade de vida. Conclusão A perda auditiva afeta a qualidade de vida do idoso. O uso efetivo da prótese auditiva é benéfico a esta população, melhorando suas condições de vida e saúde.


2021 ◽  

Criminological concerns with the victimization of the elderly has developed parallel to, and independently of, the elder abuse debate. Criminologists have traditionally been concerned with the commission of acts against the older person in public as opposed to private space. A further hindrance to criminological enquiry is the practice of defining elder abuse in terms of victim needs, rather than of basic human rights. There has been no neat evolutionary process from positive treatment of the elderly, attributed to some golden age in the past to their increasing present victimization rates globally. Elder victimization is a long way from the simplistic notions of “granny battering.” There is general agreement among scholars that older people regularly suffer victimization in private space—in the household and in care institutions. They regularly experience multiple forms of abuse. One can attribute some of these experiences to major social changes as declining family support for older people diminishes and the proportion of young to old decreases. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that as the global population ages, the number of people aged sixty years and older is estimated to reach 1.2 billion worldwide by 2025. More pointedly, the longevity is also inextricably linked to the maltreatment of the global old. In particular, we have seen offenders apprehended in transgressions against the young, women, and ethnic minorities but have yet to see an active criminal justice response concerned with the experience of elder victimization. The discipline’s reluctance to recognize elder victimization is associated with it commonly being labeled as victimization by intimates, and to be understood through the lenses of psychology and psychiatry rather than through a criminal justice model. Care and individual needs of the elderly have been the traditional focus, rather than social justice, reason, and rights. Justice and rights involve choice and free will. Older people are not simply passive recipients of other people’s actions—they resist their victimization and often fight back. This article is a critical exposition of the sources available on elders abused as part of a larger account of the experience of older people worldwide. In particular, the reader is reminded that this article is limited due to publishing word constraints. Therefore, it provides a balanced, limited overview of the major literature and research available in the Western context. More pointedly, the literature cited here is intended to reflect on recent scholarship considered to have the potential of adding to the debate in criminology and elder victimization. Given that the study of elder abuse is still in its infancy in the discipline of criminology, this article is therefore necessarily interdisciplinary.


Historically, birth was considered a natural event, respected until the sixteenth century as an exclusively female movement. From the moment that the delivery began to happen inside the hospital with the participation of doctors in the process of the same, the woman stopped being the most important person and active of that event. Therefore, in order to change in this scenario, the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health have been guiding and implementing behaviors that should be stimulated during childbirth, such as the presence of a companion, the supply of fluids, the use of non-invasive techniques for relief of pain and freedom of choice of birth position, among others. The study aims to verify in the literature the systematization of knowledge about the awareness of the benefits of normal delivery, pointing out the behaviors performed that favor the woman's role. This is a literature review, with descriptive and explanatory character, in the databases Scientific Electronic Library (ScIELO), Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS); And the National Library of Medicine (PUBMED, from 2008 to 2019), using the following descriptors: normal delivery, humanization, humanization in normal birth, women's role, and the result was three categories: The synthesis of the articles allowed us to understand that there are already some changes in the care of women during labor, but that there is still a lack of knowledge about the role of women in the labor market. It is concluded that in order for women to take part in labor and delivery, humanization becomes necessary, which is evidenced by the need to improve access and quality of delivery services.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e2015035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosangela Invernizzi ◽  
Federica Quaglia ◽  
Matteo Giovanni Della Porta

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematopoietic stem cell disorders characterized by dysplastic, ineffective, clonal and neoplastic hematopoiesis. MDS represent a complex hematological problem: differences in disease presentation, progression and outcome  have necessitated the use of classification systems to improve diagnosis, prognostication and treatment selection. However, since a single biological or genetic reliable diagnostic marker has not yet been discovered for MDS, quantitative and qualitative dysplastic morphological alterations of bone marrow precursors and of peripheral blood cells are still fundamental for diagnostic classification. In this paper World Health Organization (WHO) classification refinements and current minimal diagnostic criteria proposed by expert panels are highlighted and related problematic issues are discussed. The recommendations should facilitate diagnostic and prognostic evaluations in MDS and selection of patients for new effective targeted therapies. Although in the future morphology should be supplemented with new molecular techniques, the morphological approach, at least for the moment, is still the cornerstone for the diagnosis and classification of these disorders.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara M Schultz ◽  
Felipe Melo-Gonzalez ◽  
Luisa F Duarte ◽  
Nicolas MS Galvez ◽  
Gaspar A Pacheco ◽  
...  

Numerous vaccines have been generated to decrease the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. CoronaVac® is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent COVID-19 that has safety and immunogenicity profiles described in different clinical trials. We previously reported an increase in levels of neutralizing antibodies two- and four-weeks after administering two doses of CoronaVac® in a two-week interval (0-14 day) vaccination schedule, as compared to pre-immune sera in adults in the Chilean population that are participating in phase 3 clinical trial. Here we report the levels of antibodies directed against the Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein comparing their neutralizing capacities and the cellular response at five months after the second dose and four weeks after a booster (third) dose in volunteers immunized with two doses of CoronaVac®in a four-week interval (0-28 day) vaccination schedule. We observed a decrease in the levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with neutralizing capacities five months after the second dose (GMU 39.0 95% confidence interval (CI)(32.4-47.0), which increased up to 12 times at four weeks after the booster dose (GMU 499.4, 95% CI=370.6-673.0). Equivalent results were observed in adults aged 18-59 years old and individuals ≥60 years old. In the case of cellular response, we observed that activation of specific CD4+ T cells increases in time and reaches its maximum at four weeks after the booster dose in both groups. Our results support the notion that a booster dose of the SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine increases the levels of neutralizing antibodies and the specific cellular response in adults of both groups, which is likely to boost the protective capacity of these vaccines against COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 245
Author(s):  
Stephanie Elizabeth Gunawan ◽  
Anak Agung Ayu Putri Laksmidewi

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an elderly person is someone who has entered the age of 60 years and above whose percentage tends to increase along with decreasing morbidity of the elderly. Geriatric Neurology itself is the study of a group of neurological diseases in the elderly. Based on 2012 data, the proportion of elderly population in Indonesia is 7.59%. This is accompanied by an increase in the dependency ratio of the productive age population to the non-productive age population. The results of the 2013 Basic Health Research showed an increase in the prevalence of neurological disease in the elderly which was the main cause of death in 15 regencies in 2011. It is to find out the 5 most neurological diseases in the elderly, clinical characteristics and outcomes of geriatric neurology patients treated at the Central Hospital of Sanglah.Methods: It is a retrospective study using no control by looking at medical records in geriatric neurology patients aged 60 years and over who visited the Central Hospital of Sanglah in the March to May 2019 period.Results: A total of 200 patients consisted of 111 men (55.5%) and 89 women (44.5%) who were divided into 5 most geriatric neurology diseases which included 1. ischemic stroke, 2. bleeding stroke, 3. brain tumor, 4. injury head, and 5. epilepsy. The number of deaths was 16, of which 7 cases were caused by sepsis and pneumonia.Conclusions: Stroke, tumors, head injuries and epilepsy are the dominant neurological diseases found. The focus of care and supervision of elderly neurology patients is expected to be further enhanced to prevent side effects that will extend the patient’s treatment period in the hospital which will automatically increase the burden on the hospital itself.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
Mariza Elvira

According to WHO (World Health Organization) about 972 million people in the earth suffering from hypertension that occurs in the elderly over the age of 60 years. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of yoga exercises on blood pressure in the elderly who experienced hypertension in Social House Trisna Werdha Kasih Sayang Ibu Batusangkar. This research was conducted in April to May 2017 with quantitative methods. The instrument used was the observation sheet with elderly respondents who suffered from hypertension as many as 12 people that meet the criteria with Total Sampling. The statistical test used is Dependent t-test. The results of statistical tests showed a significant influence between elderly blood pressure before yoga gymnastics and after yoga exercises with p value = 0.000 (<0.05). So it can be concluded that there is a relationship of yoga exercises with blood pressure.It is expected to Trisna Werdha Kasih Sayang Ibu at Batusangkar Social House to be able to make this yoga gymnastics as one of the main program for elderly.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
D F Gluzman ◽  
L M Sklyarenko ◽  
M Zavelevich ◽  
S V Koval ◽  
T Ivanivskaya ◽  
...  

Exposure to ionizing radiation is associated with increasing risk of various types of hematological malignancies. The results of major studies on association of leukemias and radiation exposure of large populations in Japan and in Ukraine are analyzed. The patterns of different types of leukemia in 295 Chernobyl clean-up workers diagnosed according to the criteria of up-to-date World Health Organization classification within 10–25 years following Chernobyl catastrophe are summarized. In fact, a broad spectrum of radiation-related hematological malignancies has been revealed both in Life Span Study in Japan and in study of Chernobyl clean-up workers in Ukraine. The importance of the precise diagnosis of tumors of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues according to up-to-date classifications for elucidating the role of radiation as a causative factor of leukemias is emphasized. Such studies are of high importance since according to the recent findings, radiation-associated excess risks of several types of leukemias seem to persist throughout the follow-up period up to 55 years after the radiation exposure.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0254421
Author(s):  
Rodrigo B. Abreu ◽  
Greg A. Kirchenbaum ◽  
Giuseppe A. Sautto ◽  
Emily F. Clutter ◽  
Ted M. Ross

Influenza is a highly contagious viral respiratory disease that affects million of people worldwide each year. Annual vaccination is recommended by the World Health Organization with the goal of reducing influenza severity and limiting transmission through elicitation of antibodies targeting the hemagglutinin (HA) glycoprotein. The antibody response elicited by current seasonal influenza virus vaccines is predominantly strain-specific, but pre-existing influenza virus immunity can greatly impact the serological antibody response to vaccination. However, it remains unclear how B cell memory is shaped by recurrent annual vaccination over the course of multiple seasons, especially in high-risk elderly populations. Here, we systematically profiled the B cell response in young adult (18–34 year old) and elderly (65+ year old) vaccine recipients that received annual split inactivated influenza virus vaccination for 3 consecutive seasons. Specifically, the antibody serological and memory B-cell compartments were profiled for reactivity against current and historical influenza A virus strains. Moreover, multiparametric analysis and antibody landscape profiling revealed a transient increase in strain-specific antibodies in the elderly, but with an impaired recall response of pre-existing memory B-cells, plasmablast (PB) differentiation and long-lasting serological changes. This study thoroughly profiles and compares the immune response to recurrent influenza virus vaccination in young and elderly participants unveiling the pitfalls of current influenza virus vaccines in high-risk populations.


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