Cholera remains a major global public health problem that is primarily linked to insufficient access to safe water and proper sanitation. Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) has been recommended as an additional public health tool along with WASH in cholera endemic countries and in areas at risk for outbreaks. The new generation OCV is safe and offers good protection in older children and adults while limited protection in younger children less than five years of age has been observed. The combination of direct vaccine protection and vaccine herd immunity effects makes OCV highly cost-effective and, therefore, attractive for use in developing countries. Additionally, in recent studies OCV was safe in pregnant women, supporting its use in pregnant women in cholera endemic countries. However, knowledge need to be developed for current vaccines for their prolonged duration of protection and vaccines need improvements for better immune response in younger children. A single dose vaccination regimen would be more cost-effective and easier to deliver. Recent approaches have focused on designing genetically attenuated cholera strains for use in single-dose cholera vaccines. The global demand for OCV has been boosted by the WHO recommendation to use OCV and is driven largely by epidemics and outbreaks and has been increasing due to the availability of cheaper easy-to-use vaccines, feasibility of mass OCV vaccination campaigns, demonstration of protection to underserved population in precarious situations, and vaccine costs being borne by Gavi (Vaccine Alliance). For rapid access in emergency and equitable distribution of OCV in cholera-endemic low-income countries, a global OCV stockpile was established in 2013 with support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. The three WHO-prequalified vaccines are Dukoral®, Shanchol™, Euvichol® (and Euvichol® Plus presentation), the latter two being included in the stockpile.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the ten infectious diseases that cause the highest amount of human mortality and morbidity. This infection, which is caused by a single pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, kills over a million people every year. There is an emerging problem of antimicrobial resistance in TB that needs urgent treatment and management. Tuberculosis treatment is complicated by its complex drug regimen, its lengthy duration and the serious side-effects caused by the drugs required. There are a number of critical issues around drug delivery and subsequent intracellular bacterial clearance. Drugs have a short lifespan in systemic circulation, which limits their activity. Nanomedicine in TB is an emerging research area which offers the potential of effective drug delivery using nanoparticles and a reduction in drug doses and side-effects to improve patient compliance with the treatment and enhance their recovery. Here, we provide a minireview of anti-TB treatment, research progress on nanomedicine and the prospects for future applications in developing innovative therapies.

Background: Maternal influenza vaccination provides effective protection against influenza infections in pregnant women and their newborns. In India, the influenza vaccine has not yet been offered through immunization programs, owing to the lack of sufficient safety data for pregnant Indian women. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study enrolled 558 women admitted to the obstetrics ward of a civic hospital in Pune. Study-related information was obtained from the participants through hospital records and interviews using structured questionnaires. Univariate and multivariable analysis was used, and the chi-square test with adjusted odds ratio was estimated to account for vaccine exposure and the temporal nature of each outcome, respectively. Results: Women not vaccinated against influenza during pregnancy had a higher risk of delivering very LBW infants, and possible protective effects were suggested (AOR 2.29, 95% CI 1.03 to 5.58, p = 0.03). No association was observed between maternal influenza vaccination for Caesarean section (LSCS) (AOR 0.97, 95% CI, 0.78, 1.85), stillbirth (AOR 1.8, 95% CI 0.18, 24.64) and NICU admission (AOR, 0.87, 0.29 to 2.85), and congenital anomaly (AOR, 0.81, 0.10 to 3.87). Interpretation: These results show that the influenza vaccine administered during pregnancy is safe and might lower the risk of negative birth outcomes.

: This cross-sectional study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, awareness, facilitators, and barriers associated with the uptake of influenza vaccination during pregnancy in the urban area of Pune. : The study was conducted with 500 participants: 62 pregnant women and 438 postpartum women (total 524 were approached) attending Obstetrics and Gynaecology outpatient department (OPD) in a tertiary-care municipal hospital in Pune. The study-questionnaire collected data regarding socio-demographics general knowledge about influenza, attitude towards influenza vaccination, vaccine risk awareness, and its potential risk and benefits during pregnancy. The log-binomial regression models were used to examine the factors associated with influenza vaccination. : A good uptake of the vaccine (223/500, 44.6%) was found during current pregnancy of the participant; however, only 2.7% of study-participants vaccinated with influenza vaccine in their previous pregnancies. Also, there was poor awareness among all the participants regarding the safety of the seasonal influenza vaccine during pregnancy (19%, n=95/500). 11.2% (n=31/277) study-participants were found to be against the maternal influenza vaccination. Women receiving the vaccine against influenza were more likely to be previously informed of the recommendations from health-care providers about maternal influenza vaccination with odds ratio of 0.18 (95% CI, 0.04 to 0.8; p<0.00001), received the influenza vaccine in the past OR 8.27 (95% CI, 0.94 to 72.0), Z 1.09, p=0.05 and of having knowledge on influenza and its complications has more impact on influenza vaccination during pregnancy OR 14.4 (95% CI, 5.68 to 36.53), Z 5.6, p<0.0001 respectively.: This study concludes the vital causative factors for non-vaccination were provision of incomplete information or poor awareness about influenza vaccination (68.6%). There was poor knowledge among the pregnant women regarding the safety of maternal influenza vaccines. The recommendation from healthcare professionals is the major facilitators of decision-making by pregnant women for influenza vaccination during pregnancy.