COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Confidence in the Philippines and Malaysia: A Cross-sectional Study of Sociodemographic Factors and Information-Seeking

With the emergence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, large-scale vaccination coverage is crucial to the national and global pandemic response, especially in populous Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia. Little is known, however, about predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccine confidence among unvaccinated individuals in these regions. An internet-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 2021 to September 2021. Data from a total of 2558 participants from the Philippines (N = 1002) and Malaysia (N = 1556) were analysed. Results showed that Filipino (vs. Malaysian) participants indicated higher prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (56.6 vs. 22.9%, p = 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in ratings of vaccine confidence between Filipino (45.9%) and Malaysian (49.2%) participants (p = 0.105). Predictors associated with greater vaccine hesitancy included females (p = 0.029) and rural dwellers (p = 0.015) among Filipino participants, whereas females (p = 0.004), 25-34 year olds (p = 0.027), Christians (p < 0.001), and social media use (p < 0.001) were associated with hesitancy among Malaysian participants. Predictors associated with lower confidence included females (p = 0.026) and information seeking (p < 0.001) among Filipino participants, whereas predictors associated with lower confidence among Malaysian participants included residing in a rural community (p = 0.004), Christians (p < 0.001), online information seeking (p < 0.001), and determining relevance of online information (p = 0.013). Efforts to improve uptake of COVID-19 vaccination must be centred upon targeting specific communities using local authorities and for the masses through social media. Efforts should focus on determining effective interventions to decrease vaccination hesitancy and increase the uptake of COVID-19 vaccination, particularly in light of the Dengvaxia crisis in the Philippines.

Convalescent Plasma and Improved Survival in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies and COVID-19

Convalescent plasma may benefit immunocompromised individuals with COVID-19, including those with hematologic malignancy. We evaluated the association of convalescent plasma treatment with 30-day mortality in hospitalized adults with hematologic malignancy and COVID-19 from a multi-institutional cohort. 143 treated patients were compared to 823 untreated controls. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, convalescent plasma treatment was associated with improved 30-day mortality (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.37-0.97). This association remained significant after propensity-score matching (hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29-0.92). These findings suggest a potential survival benefit in the administration of convalescent plasma to patients with hematologic malignancy and COVID-19.

Related factors and interaction on HIV/HCV co-infection of patients access to methadone maintenance treatment / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of HIV/HCV co-infection and explore the influence factors and their interaction on HIV/HCV co-infection of patient's access to methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Methods: A face to face interviews were conducted among 750 patients at two MMT clinics in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The questionnaires information included demographic characteristics, HIV and HCV infection status, history of drug abuse, urine test for morphine, high risk sex behaviors, needle sharing, dropped out etc. Methods of χ(2) test one-way, multivariate logistic regression and interactions were used to analyze the related factors of HIV/HCV co-infection. Results: The study subjects included 750 participants, 18.31% (127/691) of patients were co-infected with HIV and HCV. The HIV/HCV co-infection rate in patients who shared needles with others or dropped out of treatment was 35.84% (81/226) and 19.88% (64/322) respectively, which were higher than those who have never shared needles or dropped out (9.89%, 46/465 and 17.07%, 63/369). Logistic regression analysis results showed that after adjusted for confounding factors, patients who shared needles (OR=4.50, 95%CI: 2.72-7.43) and dropped out of treatment (OR=1.71, 95%CI: 1.04-2.80) were more likely to be infected with HIV/HCV. Interaction analysis showed that sharing needles and dropping out of treatment exist additive effect on co-infection of HIV and HCV (RERI=4.21, AP=0.44, SI=1.95). Conclusions: Needle sharing and dropping out of treatment are associated with HIV/HCV co-infection. Health education, psychological counseling and other measures should be taken to reduce needle sharing and dropping out of MMT.

Can oligonucleoside methylphosphonates form a stable triplet with a double DNA helix?

Molecular dynamics simulations of oligonucleoside methylphosphonates (MP) and naturally occurring oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) as the third strand to double-stranded (ds) DNA targets predict that the third strand with MP backbone is more favorable to triple helix formation than the native phosphodiester ODN third strand. In contrast to experimental data, the calculated DNA conformations in both fully solvated triple helical system are found to be in hybrid A and B conformations. The calculations predict that a third strand with MP backbone is readily accommodated in the major groove of the ds DNA target, and adopts a different conformation from a helical triplet formed with native ODN as the third strand through the Hoogsteen base pairing scheme.