Intervirology

Luo, Hui; Zhou, Qian; Feng, Jinqi; Wu, Yi; Chen, Huangliang; Mao, Meihan; Qi, Rui

2024 Intervirology

doi: 10.1159/000538233pmid: 38452738

AbstractBackground: Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are extensively used as vectors for vaccines development and cancer therapy. People who already have antibodies against HAdVs, on the other hand, would have an impact on the preventative or therapeutic effect. This review focuses primarily on the prevalence of pre-existing antibodies against HAdVs in distinct geographical populations. Summary: After screening, 64 studies from 31 countries between 1962 and 2021 were selected, totaling 39,427 samples. The total prevalence of preexisting antibodies to HAdVs varied by country or location, ranging from 2.00 to 95.70%. Southeast Asia had the highest prevalence (54.57%) while Europe had the lowest (18.17%). The prevalence in practically all developing nations was higher than in developed nations. Adults have a greater frequency than children and newborns in most nations. The primary HAdV antibody types varied by country. Adults in China, the USA, the United Kingdom, and Belgium had the lowest prevalence of preexisting antibodies against HAdV55, HAdV37, HAdV8, and HAdV36, respectively. Children in the USA, China, the United Kingdom, and Japan had the lowest rates of HAdV48, HAdV11, HAdV8, and HAdV40. The frequency of antibodies differed significantly between military and civilian groups. Key Messages: Preexisting antibodies against various types of HAdVs differed greatly throughout worldwide populations. Future development of HAdV-vector vaccines and medicines should focus on preexisting antibodies in target groups rather than a “one-size-fits-all” strategy. It might be advantageous in selecting HAdV vectors for studying the prevalence of preexisting antibodies against HAdVs in different locations and people throughout the world.

Santimano, Antonio J.; Al-Zoubi, Raed M.; Al-Qudimat, Ahmad R.; Al Darwish, Mohamed B.; Ojha, Laxmi Kumari; Rejeb, Mohamed Amine; Hamad, Yasser; Elrashid, Malaz A.; Ruxshan, Noorah M.; El Omri, Abdelfatteh; Bawadi, Hiba; Al-Asmakh, Maha A.; Yassin, Aksam; Aboumarzouk, Omar M.; Zarour, Ahmad; Al-Ansari, Abdulla A.

2024 Intervirology

doi: 10.1159/000538135pmid: 38432215

AbstractBackground: The world has witnessed one of the largest pandemics, dubbed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of December 2020, the USA alone reported 98,948 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection during pregnancy, with 109 related maternal deaths. Current evidence suggests that unvaccinated pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2 are at a higher risk of experiencing complications related to COVID-19 compared to nonpregnant women. This review aimed to provide healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers with a comprehensive overview of the available information regarding the efficacy of vaccines in pregnant women. Summary: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines. The search through the database for articles published between December 2019 and October 2021 was performed. A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE databases for research publications published between December 2019 and October 2021. We focused on original research, case reports, case series, and vaccination side effect by authoritative health institutions. Phrases used for the Medical Subject Heading [MeSH] search included (“COVID-19” [MeSH]) or (“Vaccine” [MeSH]) and (“mRNA” [MeSH]) and (“Pregnant” [MeSH]). Eleven studies were selected and included, with a total of 46,264 pregnancies that were vaccinated with mRNA-containing lipid nanoparticle vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna during pregnancy. There were no randomized trials, and all studies were observational (prospective, retrospective, and cross-sectional). The mean maternal age was 32.2 years, and 98.7% of pregnant women received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination. The local and systemic adverse effects of the vaccination in pregnant women were analyzed and reported. The local adverse effects of the vaccination (at least 1 dose) such as local pain, swelling, and redness were reported in 32%, 5%, and 1%, respectively. The systemic adverse effects such as fatigue, headaches, new onset or worsening of muscle pain, chills, fever, and joint pains were also reported in 25%, 19%, 18%, 12%, 11%, and 8%, respectively. The average birthweight was 3,452 g. Among these pregnancies, 0.03% were stillbirth and 3.68% preterm (<37 weeks) births. Key Messages: The systemic side effect profile after administering the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to pregnant women was similar to that in nonpregnant women. Maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality were lowered with the administration of either one or both the doses of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

Marembo, Takudzwa; Fitzpatrick, Megan Burke; Dube Mandishora, Racheal S.

2024 Intervirology

doi: 10.1159/000531347pmid: 38574482

AbstractBackground: Vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) is the primary preventative strategy that has been shown to reduce the burden of HPV-related diseases. Zimbabwe introduced the bivalent vaccine (HPV 16/18) in the vaccination program targeting prepubescent girls in 2018. This review is an analysis of the distribution of HPV genotypes from various studies conducted in Zimbabwe to ascertain the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine and make recommendations for future HPV vaccine choices. Summary: Zimbabwean studies have mostly reported on cervical HPV in the urban areas. The most frequent HPV genotypes from cervical sites were 16, 18, 33, 35, 45, 56, and 58. These were identified from samples with normal cytology, pre-cancer, and invasive cervical cancer. The few studies that have been done in rural areas reported HPV 35 as the most frequent cervicovaginal genotype. From the anal region of individuals reporting for routine screening, HPV 16, 18, 35 52, and 58 were the most frequent. A study on genital warts identified HPV 6, 11, 16, 40, 51, and 54. In a study on children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP), HPV 6 and 11 were the most common and HPV 35 was also identified in these children. There are no available published data on HPV distribution in head and neck cancers in Zimbabwe. Key Messages: Given that 83% of cervical cancers in Zimbabwe are caused by HPV 16/18, the bivalent vaccine could cover a significant proportion of HPV-related cervical cancer. The current limitation of the bivalent vaccine is its failure to prevent benign lesions such as genital warts and RRP or all cervical cancer cases in Zimbabwe. For the prevention of most HPV-related conditions, the nonavalent vaccine would be the most appropriate option for the Zimbabwean population. Currently, there is no vaccine that includes HPV 35, yet this genotype was frequently identified in HPV-related diseases. Vaccine developers may need to consider HPV 35 when manufacturing the next-generation HPV vaccines. Furthermore, boys should also be included in HPV vaccination programs to improve herd immunity, as well as prevent RRP- and HPV-related head and neck cancers.

Chavoshpour-Mamaghani, Sara; Shoja, Zabihollah; Jalilvand, Somayeh

2024 Intervirology

doi: 10.1159/000538734pmid: 38621370

AbstractIntroduction: It is suggested that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play an important role in cervical cancer development. Most studies found a higher rate of EBV in cervical cancer samples in comparison to premalignant and normal groups. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of EBV in cervical samples. Methods: In total, 364 samples from 179 healthy subjects, 124 women with premalignant lesions, and 61 patients with cervical cancer were investigated using nested-PCR. Results: The mean age ± SE was 54.1 ± 13.4 in women with cervical cancer, 36.1 ± 9.4 among women with premalignant lesions, and 36.6 ± 11.5 in healthy individuals. In total, 290 out of 364 samples were human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and the following HPV genotypes were detected among them: HPV 16/18 was found in 43.1%, 23.9%, and 65.5% of normal, premalignant, and malignant samples, respectively, and other high-risk types were detected in 56.9% of normal, 76.1% of premalignant, and 34.5% of malignant samples. The prevalence of EBV was found to be 9.8%, 2.4%, and 2.8% in cervical cancer, premalignant lesions, and normal specimens, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.028). The overall frequency of coinfection between EBV and HPV was shown to be 3.6%. The coinfection was more prevalent among HPV 16/18-infected samples than other high-risk HPVs (6.6 vs. 2.9%) although the difference was not reached a statistically significant difference (p = 0.23). Conclusion: Our findings indicated that EBV could play an important role as a cofactor in the progression of cervical cancer. However, future studies with larger sample sizes and the expression analysis of EBV transcripts or proteins are mandatory.