Safety profile of the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine: Pooled analysis of two large randomised phase 3 trials

Background

The ZOE-50 (NCT01165177) and ZOE-70 (NCT01165229) phase 3 clinical trials showed that the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) was ≥90% efficacious in preventing herpes zoster in adults. Here we present a comprehensive overview of the safety data from these studies.

Acceptability and Feasibility of a 13-Week Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial Testing the Effects of Incremental Doses of Beetroot Juice in Overweight and Obese Older Adults

Nitrate-rich food can increase nitric oxide production and improve vascular and brain functions. This study examines the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) testing the effects of prolonged consumption of different doses of dietary nitrate (NO₃⁻) in the form of beetroot juice (BJ) in overweight and obese older participants. A single-blind, four-arm parallel pilot RCT was conducted in 62 overweight and obese (30.4 ± 4 kg/m²) older participants (mean ± standard deviation (SD), 66 ± 4 years). Participants were randomized to: (1) high-NO₃⁻ (HN: 2 × 70 mL BJ/day) (2) medium-NO₃⁻ (MN: 70 mL BJ/day), (3) low-NO₃⁻ (LN: 70 mL BJ on alternate days) or (4) Placebo (PL: 70 mL of NO₃⁻-depleted BJ on alternate days), for 13 weeks. Compliance was checked by a daily log of consumed BJ, NO₃⁻ intake, and by measuring NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻ concentrations in plasma, saliva, and urine samples. Fifty participants completed the study. Self-reported compliance to the interventions was >90%. There were significant positive linear relationships between NO₃⁻ dose and the increase in plasma and urinary NO₃⁻ concentration (R² = 0.71, p < 0.001 and R² = 0.46 p < 0.001, respectively), but relationships between NO₃⁻ dose and changes in salivary NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻ were non-linear (R² = 0.35, p = 0.002 and R² = 0.23, p = 0.007, respectively). The results confirm the feasibility of prolonged BJ supplementation in older overweight and obese adults.     

Ambient air pollution and emergency department visits among children and adults in Casablanca,Morocco

This study presents the relationships between ambient air pollutants and morbidity and emergency department visits among children and adults performed in Great Casablanca, the most populated and economic region in Morocco. This research was analyzed using conditional Poisson model for the period 2011–2013. In the period of study, the daily average concentrations of SO₂, NO₂, O₃ and PM₁₀ in Casablanca were 209.4 µg/m³, 61 µg/m³, 113.2 µg/m³ and 75.1 µg/m³, respectively. In children less than 5 years old, risk of asthma could be increased until 12% per 10 µg/m³ increase in NO₂, PM10, SO₂ and O₃. In children over 5 years and adults, an increase of 10 µg/m³ air pollutant can cause an increase until 3% and 4% in respiratory consultations and acute respiratory infection, respectively. Similarly, impact on emergency department visits due to respiratory and cardiac illness was established. Our results suggest a not negligible impact on morbidity of outdoor air pollution by NO₂, SO₂, O₃, and PM₁₀.     

Invasive cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma incidence in US health care workers

Little data on cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) epidemiology within the United States are currently available. Prior studies have focused on populations outside of the United States or been limited to regions within the US. In this study, prospective data were collected via biennial questionnaires from a total of 261,609 participants, which included women in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS, 1976–2008) and Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II, 1989–2009), and men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS, 1986–2008). History of physician-diagnosed invasive SCC was confirmed by pathology record review. Over the entire follow-up period for each cohort, there were 1,265 invasive SCC cases per 100,000 persons in the NHS cohort, 389 cases per 100,000 persons in NHS II, and 2,154 cases per 100,000 persons in HPFS. An 18-year follow-up of participants in these cohorts revealed increasing invasive SCC incidence rates over time, with rates for men being consistently higher than those for women. In women, a larger proportion of invasive SCC lesions occurred on the lower extremities as compared to men (21 % in NHS vs. 6 % in HPFS, p < 0.0001; 14 % in NHS II vs. 6 % in HPFS, p < 0.0001), while in men, a larger proportion occurred on the head/neck (43 % in NHS vs. 60 % in HPFS, p < 0.0001; 48 % in NHS II vs. 60 % in HPFS, p < 0.0001). In summary, invasive SCC incidence rates among US men have been greater than those for women with distinct sites of common occurrence between men and women.