The role of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) in strengthening health system governance: Lessons from three middle-income countries—Argentina,Jordan, and South Africa (2017–2018)

IntroductionToward the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2020 goal, almost 90% of countries have established a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). However, little is known about NITAG's contributions to governance.MethodsIn 2017–2018, a two-step, qualitative retrospective study was conducted. Jordan (JO), Argentina (AR), and South Africa (SA) were selected owing to government-financed NITAGs from middle-income countries (MICs), geographic diversity, and a vaccine introduction with NITAG support. Country case studies were developed, collecting data through desk review and face-to-face key informant interviews (KIIs) from Ministry of Health (MoH) and NITAG. Case studies were analyzed together, to assess governance applying the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies framework focusing on transparency, accountability, participation, integrity, and policy capacity (TAPIC).ResultsDocument review and 53 KII (22 AR, 20 SA, 11 JO) showed NITAGs played a pivotal role as advisors promoting a culture of evidence-informed policies. NITAGs strengthened governance, although practices varied among countries. Meetings were conducted behind-closed-doors, participation restricted to members, only in one country agendas, and recommendations were public (AR). To increase participation, policy capacity, and transparency, countries considered adding experts in communications, advocacy, and economics. AR and SA contemplated including community members. NITAGs functioned autonomously from the government, with no established internal or external monitoring or supervision. NITAG meeting minutes allowed the review of integrity, adherence to terms of reference, standard operating procedures, and conflict of interest (CoI). For the most part, NITAGs abided by their mandates. Significant issues were related to the level of MoH support and oversight of CoI declaration and documentation.ConclusionsSystematically implementing governance approaches could improve processes, better tailor policies, and implementation. The long-term survival and resilience of NITAGs in these countries showed they play a significant role in strengthening governance. Lessons learned could be useful to those promoting country-driven evidence-informed decision-making.     

Troubled-Cell Indicator Based on Mean Value Property for Hybrid WENO Schemes

In this paper, we introduce a new type of troubled-cell indicator to improve hybrid weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) schemes for solving the hyperbolic conservation laws. The hybrid WENO schemes selectively adopt the high-order linear upwind scheme or the WENO scheme to avoid the local characteristic decompositions and calculations of the nonlinear weights in smooth regions. Therefore, they can reduce computational cost while maintaining non-oscillatory properties in non-smooth regions. Reliable troubled-cell indicators are essential for efficient hybrid WENO methods. Most of troubled-cell indicators require proper parameters to detect discontinuities precisely, but it is very difficult to determine the parameters automatically. We develop a new troubled-cell indicator derived from the mean value theorem that does not require any variable parameters. Additionally, we investigate the characteristics of indicator variable; one of the conserved properties or the entropy is considered as indicator variable. Detailed numerical tests for 1D and 2D Euler equations are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed indicator. The results with the proposed troubled-cell indicator are in good agreement with pure WENO schemes. Also the new indicator has advantages in the computational cost compared with the other indicators.     

Unconditional Positivity-Preserving and Energy Stable Schemes for a Reduced Poisson-Nernst-Planck System

The Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) system is a widely accepted model for simulation of ionic channels. In this paper, we design, analyze, and numerically validate a second order unconditional positivity-preserving scheme for solving a reduced PNP system, which can well approximate the three dimensional ion channel problem. Positivity of numerical solutions is proven to hold true independent of the size of time steps and the choice of the Poisson solver. The scheme is easy to implement without resorting to any iteration method. Several numerical examples further confirm the positivity-preserving property, and demonstrate the accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed scheme, as well as the fast approach to steady states.     

Dos terapias conocidas podrían ser efectivas como adyuvantes en el paciente crítico infectado por COVID-19

Pneumonia caused by coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, has been spread around the world already becoming a pandemic. Unfortunately, there is not yet a specific vaccine or effective antiviral drug for treating COVID-19. Many of these patients deteriorate rapidly and require intubation and are mechanically ventilated, which is causing the collapse of the health system in many countries due to lack of ventilators and intensive care beds.In this document we review two simple adjuvant therapies to administer, without side effects, and low cost that could be useful for the treatment of acute severe coronavirus infection associated with acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). Vitamin C, a potent antioxidant, has emerged as a relevant therapy due to its potential benefits when administered intravenous. The potential effect of vitamin C in reducing inflammation in the lungs could play a key role in lung injury caused by coronavirus infection. Another potential effective therapy is ozone: it has been extensively studied and used for many years and its effectiveness has been demonstrated so far in multiples studies. Nevertheless, our goal is not to make an exhaustive review of these therapies but spread the beneficial effects themselves.Obviously clinical trials are necessaries, but due to the potential benefit of these two therapies we highly recommended to add to the therapeutic arsenal.     

Simeprevir added to peginterferon and ribavirin lessens time with fatigue,depressive symptoms and functional limitations in patients with chronic hepatitis C compared with peginterferon and ribavirin: results from 1161 patients in the QUEST‐1, QUEST‐2 and PROMISE studies

The value of adding simeprevir (SMV) vs placebo (PBO) to peginterferon and ribavirin (PR) for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection was examined using patient‐reported outcomes (PROs); further, concordance of PROs with virology endpoints and adverse events (AEs) was explored. Patients (n = 768 SMV/PR, n = 393 PBO/PR) rated fatigue (FSS), depressive symptoms (CES‐D) and functional impairment (WPAI: Hepatitis C Productivity, Daily Activity and Absenteeism) at baseline and throughout treatment in three randomised, double‐blind trials comparing the addition of SMV or PBO during initial 12 weeks of PR. PR was administered for 48 weeks (PBO group) and 24/48 weeks (SMV group) using a response‐guided therapy (RGT) approach. Mean PRO scores (except Absenteeism) worsened from baseline to Week 4 to the same extent in both groups but reverted after Week 24 for SMV/PR and only after Week 48 for PBO/PR. Accordingly, there was a significantly lower area under the curve (baseline–Week 60, AUC₆₀) and fewer weeks with clinically important worsening of scores in the SMV/PR group at any time point. Incidences of patients with fatigue and anaemia AEs were similar in both groups, but FSS scores showed that clinically important increases in fatigue lasted a mean of 6.9 weeks longer with PBO/PR (P < 0.001). PRO score subgroup analysis indicated better outcomes for patients who met the criteria for RGT or achieved sustained virological response 12 weeks post‐treatment (SVR12); differences in mean PRO scores associated with fibrosis level were only observed with PBO/PR. Greater efficacy of SMV/PR enabled reduced treatment duration and reduced time with PR‐related AEs without adding to AE severity.     

血清胱抑素C和尿微量白蛋白联合检测在人类免疫缺陷病毒感染者肾功能损伤检测中的应用价值

目的评估血肌酐和尿常规的常规检测基础上联合血清胱抑素C和尿微量白蛋白检测在人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）感染者肾功能损伤检测中的应用价值。 方法以2019年2～5月于首都医科大学附属北京地坛医院感染一科住院的169例HIV感染者为研究对象，完善其尿常规、尿微量白蛋白、血肌酐、血清胱抑素C检测；分析尿蛋白及尿微量白蛋白的阳性检出率及其差异，血肌酐升高及血清胱抑素C升高的比例及其差异。计算应用替诺福韦酯（TDF）及合并丙型肝炎、高血压、糖尿病、肿瘤的肾功能损伤的相对危险度。 结果169例HIV感染者中尿常规示尿蛋白阳性者5例（3.0%），尿微量白蛋白升高者17例（10.1%），两者阳性检出率差异具有统计学意义（χ² = 5.9、P = 0.007）。血肌酐升高者10例（5.9%），血清胱抑素C升高者20例（11.8%），两者阳性检出率差异具有统计学意义（χ² = 3.0、P = 0.042）。在尿常规和血肌酐检测的基础上联合检测尿微量白蛋白和血清胱抑素C的总体阳性检出率为49例（30.0%）。CD4⁺ T淋巴细胞计数< 200个/μl与≥ 200个/μl组患者血清胱抑素C水平分别为0.94（0.83，1.05）mg/L、0.85（0.77，0.95）mg/L，差异具有统计学意义（Z =-3.02、P = 0.003）。应用TDF及合并丙型肝炎、高血压、糖尿病、肿瘤的肾功能损伤的相对危险度分别为1.1、1.5、1.9、2.2和1.4。 结论HIV感染者中，单纯以尿常规为依据评估有无蛋白尿，以血肌酐水平为依据评估肾小球滤过功能会低估肾功能损伤的患病率。在常规检测血肌酐和尿常规的基础上联合检测血清胱抑素C和尿微量白蛋白在提高HIV感染者肾功能损伤检出率方面具有重要的应用价值。低CD4⁺ T淋巴细胞计数、应用TDF及合并丙型肝炎、高血压、糖尿病、肿瘤均为肾功能损伤的危险因素。