Vaccines最新文献

Background/Objectives: This study aims to evaluate COVID-19 parental vaccine hesitancy (CPVH) and refusal among parents of children between 5 and 11 years and to identify potential factors influencing them. A secondary aim was to assess knowledge, concerns, and beliefs associated with COVID-19 and immunization. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of children between 5 and 11 years using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, concerns, and beliefs regarding COVID-19 and immunization in children; CPVH according to Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines short scale; COVID-19 vaccination status and intention; and sources of information about COVID-19 vaccination were investigated. Results: Among 506 participating parents, only 12.7% correctly answered all six knowledge items. High CPVH was found in 60.1% of respondents and was more prevalent among younger parents and those with lower knowledge levels. Compared to having received no information on COVID-19 vaccination, high CPVH was positively associated with having received information from informal sources and trusting them and negatively associated with information from formal ones. More than half (58.3%) had vaccinated their child, and 38.5% had no intention to vaccinate their child against COVID-19. High CPVH, lower knowledge levels, and a need for further information were significant predictors of vaccine refusal. Conversely, refusal was negatively associated with parental COVID-19 vaccination status, and with having received information from formal and from both formal and informal sources compared to not having received information. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for establishing and investing in platforms to promote vaccine awareness and dispelling misinformation among parents.

Background/objectives: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women, primarily driven by persistent infections with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), particularly HPV-16. Vaccines based on plasmid DNA encoding the viral oncogenes E6 and E7 represent a promising immunotherapeutic strategy, but their efficacy remains limited due to poor cellular uptake. Cell-penetrating peptides such as RALA improve intracellular delivery, and functionalization with octa-arginine peptide conjugated to mannose (R8M) further enhances targeting of antigen-presenting cells (APCs). This study aimed to obtain the minicircle DNA (mcDNA) encoding mutant HPV-16 E6 and/or E7 antigens, and optimize its complexation with mannosylated RALA-based nanoparticles to improve vector delivery and consequently antigen presentation.

Methods: Nanoparticles were formulated at different concentrations of RALA, with and without R8M functionalization. Their characterization included hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity index, zeta potential, complexation efficiency (CE), stability, morphology, and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. In vitro assays in JAWS II dendritic cells (DCs) assessed biocompatibility, transfection efficiency and target gene expression.

Results: Optimal conditions were obtained at 72.5 µg/mL of RALA, producing nanoparticles smaller than 150 nm with high CE (>97%) and uniform size distribution. Functionalization with R8M at 58 µg/mL preserved these characteristics when complexed with all mcDNA vectors. The formulations were biocompatible and effectively transfected DCs. Mannosylated formulations enhanced antigenic expression compared to non-mannosylated counterparts, evidencing a mannose-receptor-mediated uptake, while increasing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Conclusions: Nanoparticles based on the RALA peptide and functionalized with R8M significantly improved mcDNA transfection and gene expression in APCs. These findings support further investigation of this system as a targeted DNA vector delivery platform against HPV-16.

Objective: To explore the problems with non-National Immunization Program vaccinations in Hubei Province and to provide the basis for follow-up vaccination and management. Methods: Vaccination data on non-NIP/NIP vaccine doses were extracted from the Hubei Provincial Immunization Planning Information Management System. Descriptive epidemiological analyses were conducted to examine dose administration, vaccine-type composition, regional distribution, and substitution patterns. The trend χ² test was used to assess temporal significance. Multistage regression analysis was performed using Joinpoint software. Results: From 2011 to 2024, a total of 91,009,259 doses (annual average: 6,500,661) with 35 types of non-NIP vaccines were administered in Hubei Province, China. The top five vaccines by doses administered were influenza vaccine, rabies vaccine, Hemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine, varicella attenuated live vaccine, and enterovirus 71 inactivated vaccine. Before 2024 (2011-2023), vaccine utilization showed a long-term upward trend: per 10,000, population usage rose from 657.07 (2011) to a peak of 2393.21 (2023) (Increase: 264.22%, χ² = 138.62, p < 0.05) (AAPC = 10.92%, p < 0.05) and non-NIP's share of total vaccines increased from 25.52% (2011) to 65.95% (2023), (Increase: 154.33%, χ² = 89.47, p < 0.05) (AAPC = 8.74%, p < 0.05). A notable reversal occurred in 2024. Non-NIP doses dropped from 13,971,544 (2023) to 10,238,861 (2024) with population usage falling from 2393.21 (2023) to 1755.03 (2024) (decrease: 26.66%) per 10,000, with the top three declines being in inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) (decrease: 49.53%), influenza vaccine (decrease: 44.21%), and oral rotavirus attenuated live vaccine (decrease: 43.50%). The total number of substitutive non-National Immunization Program (non-NIP) vaccine doses administered reached 16,618,755, with an overall substitution rate of 10.10%. This rate showed a steady upward trend from 5.57% in 2011 to 24.74% in 2023 (trend χ² = 15.11, p < 0.05), yet it increased to 28.03% in 2024. Conclusions: Non-NIP vaccines and NIP-substitute use grew steadily for over a decade, then contracted sharply in 2024. Decision-makers should investigate the sudden dip, differentiate discretionary from replacement demand, and reallocate funds to sustain equity and prevent further erosion of coverage.

Objectives: Varicella is a highly contagious viral disease affecting children. The SV-1 cell line-based varicella attenuated live vaccine (SV-1VarV) is the first vaccine produced using the human diploid SV-1 cell substrate. This study evaluated the real-world safety of SV-1VarV among school-aged children in Jiangsu Province, China. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using data from the Jiangsu Provincial Immunization Program Information System and the Chinese National Adverse Event Following Immunization Information System (CNAEFIS). Children aged 7-12 years who received SV-1VarV between July 2024 and March 2025 were included. The incidence, clinical characteristics, and demographic patterns of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) were analyzed. Reporting rates were calculated per 100,000 doses. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests, Cochran-Armitage trend tests, and Poisson regression analyses (α = 0.05). Results: A total of 366 AEFI cases were reported following 1,096,117 administered doses (33.4/100,000 doses), of which 364 were adverse reactions (33.2/100,000). General reactions accounted for 97.8% (mainly fever and local reactions), and abnormal reactions accounted for 2.2% (0.73/100,000). No serious adverse events or vaccine quality-related events occurred. Adverse reaction reporting rates declined with increasing age (p < 0.001) and were higher in males than females (36.7 vs. 29.2/100,000; p = 0.001). Poisson regression indicated that older age was independently associated with a lower risk of adverse reaction reporting, whereas sex and dose number were not significantly associated. Conclusions: SV-1VarV demonstrated a favorable safety profile during large-scale use in children aged 7-12 years. Most reactions were mild, self-limiting, and consistent with expected post-vaccination responses. These findings provide robust real-world evidence supporting the continued and expanded use of SV-1VarV in school-aged children to optimize varicella immunization strategies.

Background: Older adults face increased risks of influenza infection and related complications due to declining immunity and reduced vaccine responsiveness. Despite widespread vaccination, only 30-40% mount immune response due to immunosenescence. However, no biomarkers exist to identify potential non-responders, limiting the ability to target vaccine strategies, like high-dose or adjuvanted formulations, to those unlikely to benefit from standard options. Methods: We analysed publicly available baseline bulk RNA sequencing data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of individuals aged ≥65 years to determine baseline transcriptomic signatures predictive of influenza vaccine response. Using two independent cohorts (discovery and validation), we classified individuals as triple responders (TRs) or triple non-responders (TNRs) based on hemagglutination inhibition assay titers at Day 0 and Day 28 for three components: A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B/Yamagata. Results: We identified 1152 differentially expressed genes between TRs and TNRs at baseline. TRs exhibited enrichment of genes involved in B cell activation and protein synthesis, while TNRs showed enrichment of genes associated with innate immune responses and platelet activation. A response score derived from gene expression achieved high predictive accuracy in the discovery cohort (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.98). However, performance declined in the validation cohort (AUC = 0.69), and did not outperform clinical predictors, such as baseline titers, sex and vaccine dose. Conclusions: While baseline transcriptomic profiles may reveal mechanistic insights into vaccine responsiveness in the elderly, they offer limited predictive utility. Future work should prioritise higher-resolution or combined cell-specific approaches, such as single-cell RNA-sequencing or flow cytometry.

Background/Objectives: Lawsonia intracellularis (L. intracellularis) is an important intestinal pathogen that causes porcine proliferative enteropathy (PPE) in swine production worldwide. Currently, only a few commercially available vaccines are available for PPE prevention. Methods: In this study, an attenuated L. intracellularis variant of JS-G90 was obtained through subculturing of L. intracellularis JS isolates in McCoy cells for 90 generations, and its immune response was evaluated in pigs. Results: The results demonstrated that pigs who underwent intragastric administration of JS-G90 had lower fecal bacterial shedding and no histopathological lesions, indicating that it was safe in pigs. Therefore, JS-G90 was selected to develop the attenuated PPE vaccine. The immune response of JS-G90 in pigs was further evaluated based on fecal bacterial shedding, histopathological lesions, and humoral and cell-mediated immune responses following challenge with pathogenic L. intracellularis. The results revealed that JS-G90 significantly decreased the copies of L. intracellularis in rectal swabs containing feces and ileum infection (p < 0.001), reduced histopathological lesions in the ileum, and elicited non-specific humoral (IgG and sIgA) and cell-mediated immune responses (p < 0.001) compared with the challenge control and mock groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, the attenuated vaccine JS-G90 is safe and induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in pigs against pathogenic L. intracellularis infection. It may serve as an effective strategy for preventing and controlling PPE.

Background: Promoting seasonal influenza vaccination among parents may help increase the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination among both parents and children. This study aims to investigate determinants of behavioral intention to receive a seasonal influenza vaccination among parents of children aged 0-15 years to protect themselves.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among parents of children aged 0 to 15 years with administrative health records in Shenzhen, China, between September and October 2024. Participants were recruited through multistage random sampling. First, 10 community health centers were randomly selected in Shenzhen. Within each selected center, 200 parents were randomly selected. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted.

Results: Among 1504 parents, 47.6% intended to receive a seasonal influenza vaccination in the next year. After adjusting for significant background characteristics, parents' intention to receive a seasonal influenza vaccination was associated with a higher intention to vaccinate their children against seasonal influenza (AOR: 20.39). At the individual level, eight items measuring illness representations of seasonal influenza were associated with higher odds of intending to receive such a vaccine (AOR: 1.15-1.25), including identity (identifying symptoms), timeline, negative consequences, personal and treatment control, concern, negative emotions, and coherence. At the interpersonal level, parents who had higher levels of general and family-oriented altruism (AOR: 1.10-2.47), better family harmony (AOR: 1.07), higher exposure to information related to seasonal influenza on social media (AOR: 1.24-1.38), and thoughtful consideration of information veracity (AOR: 1.33) were more likely to report an intention.

Conclusions: There are strong needs to promote seasonal influenza vaccination among parents in China.

Background/Objectives: New vaccine platforms that rapidly yield low-cost, easily manufactured vaccines are highly desired, yet current approaches lack key features. We developed the Killed Whole-Cell/Genome-Reduced Bacteria (KWC/GRB) platform, which uses a genome-reduced Gram-negative chassis to enhance antigen exposure and modularity via an autotransporter (AT) system. Integrated within a Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) framework, KWC/GRB enables rapid iteration of engineered antigens and immunomodulatory elements. Here, we applied this platform to the HIV-1 fusion peptide (FP) and tested multiple antigen engineering strategies to enhance its immunogenicity. Methods: For a new vaccine, we synthesized DNA encoding the antigen together with selected immunomodulators and cloned the constructs into a plasmid. The plasmids were transformed into genome-reduced bacteria (GRB), which were grown, induced for antigen expression, and then inactivated to produce the vaccines. We tested multiple strategies to enhance antigen immunogenicity, including multimeric HIV-1 fusion peptide (FP) designs separated by different linkers and constructs incorporating immunomodulators such as TLR agonists, mucosal-immunity-promoting peptides, and a non-cognate T-cell agonist. Vaccines were selected based on structure prediction and confirmed surface expression by flow cytometry. Mice were vaccinated, and anti-FP antibody responses were measured by ELISA. Results: ELISA responses increased nearly one order of magnitude across design rounds, with the top-performing construct showing an ~8-fold improvement over the initial 1mer vaccine. Multimeric antigens separated by an α-helical linker were the most immunogenic. The non-cognate T-cell agonist increased responses context-dependently. Flow cytometry showed that increased anti-FP-mAb binding to GRB was associated with greater induction of antibody responses. Although anti-FP immune responses were greatly increased, the sera did not neutralize HIV. Conclusions: Although none of the constructs elicited detectable neutralizing activity, the combination of uniformly low AlphaFold pLDDT scores and the functional data suggests that the FP region may not adopt a stable native-like structure in this display context. Importantly, the results demonstrate that the KWC/GRB platform can generate highly immunogenic vaccines, and when applied to antigens with well-defined native tertiary structures, the approach should enable rapidly produced, high-response, very low-cost vaccines.

Background: Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at substantially increased risk for respiratory infections, which occur more frequently and with greater severity than in healthy peers. This heightened vulnerability stems from multifactorial immune impairment, including defects in innate and adaptive immunity, chronic inflammation related to abnormal hemodynamics and hypoxia, reduced thymic function, and genetic syndromes affecting both cardiac and immune development. Viral pathogens-particularly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, and SARS-CoV-2-account for most infections, although bacterial pathogens remain relevant, especially in postoperative settings. Methods: This narrative review summarizes current evidence on infection susceptibility in children with CHD, the epidemiology and clinical relevance of major respiratory pathogens, and the effectiveness of available preventive measures. Literature evaluating immunological mechanisms, infection burden, vaccine effectiveness, and passive immunization strategies was examined, along with existing national and international immunization guidelines. Results: Children with CHD consistently exhibit higher rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, mechanical ventilation, and mortality following respiratory infections. RSV, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2 infections are particularly severe in this population, while bacterial infections, though less common, contribute substantially to postoperative morbidity. Preventive options-including routine childhood vaccines, pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines, influenza vaccines, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, and RSV monoclonal antibodies-demonstrate strong protective effects. New long-acting RSV monoclonal antibodies and maternal vaccination markedly enhance prevention in early infancy. However, vaccine coverage remains insufficient due to parental hesitancy, provider uncertainty, delayed immunization, and limited CHD-specific evidence. Conclusions: Respiratory infections pose a significant and preventable health burden in children with CHD. Enhancing the use of both active and passive immunization is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. Strengthening evidence-based guidelines, improving coordination between specialists and primary care providers, integrating immunization checks into routine CHD management, and providing clear, condition-specific counseling to families can substantially improve vaccine uptake and clinical outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Vaccine hesitancy represents a threat to immunization programs and herd immunity. Our objective was to validate a Spanish-language questionnaire to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of students in the healthcare field regarding vaccination and the immunization schedule.

Methods: An online questionnaire was developed and distributed via RedCap v.13.7.1 to healthcare students undertaking clinical placements at the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela during the 2024-2025 academic year. The questionnaire assessed nine dimensions through thirty-four items. Validation was carried out in two phases: (1) translation and expert content validation, and (2) reliability testing using Cronbach's alpha and validity assessment through principal component analysis (PCA).

Results: A total of 398 students completed the questionnaire. The mean age was 23.78 ± 3.77 years. Of these, 19.60% were men (n = 80) and 77.50% were women (n = 316). Validation of the questionnaire was carried out with a random sample of 294 students. The final 30-item questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.83) and construct validity, confirmed by PCA, supporting the presence of nine dimensions that explained 60.93% of the total variance. Overall, 74.70% of students reported that scientific evidence was the main influence on their opinion about vaccines. Regarding practices, 76.10% believed that certain vaccines should be mandatory for healthcare personnel.

Conclusions: The questionnaire demonstrated reliability and validity for evaluating KAP on vaccination among future healthcare professionals. Having this instrument available will help guide future educational interventions and strengthen their role as trusted agents in immunization.