Welcome to Biomedicine & Prevention

Biomedicine & Prevention is a peer-reviewed, open access journal that publishes original research articles as well as review articles in several areas of the life sciences. The journal’s Editorial Board covers several subject areas mainly focusing on prevention and health promotion. Prevention is covered not as an exclusive health competence discipline but in a holistic way, including environmental sciences, engineering, physics, legal implications and legislation.

The impact of malaria on child growth: anthropometric outcomes in a pediatric HIV-exposed cohort in Malawi

Introduction Prevention of HIV mother-to-child transmission is a multidimensional challenge for Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly in the case of Malawi. The DREAM program (Community of Sant’Egidio) provides cART Option B+ to HIV-infected mothers since 2012, with breastfeeding promotion until 12 months of age and dietary supplementation with local foods in order to support the growth and health of children. Materials and Methods A cohort of 1586 HIV-exposed uninfected Malawian children (age 0-18 months) were followed from January 2012 to December 2013. Breastfeeding was exclusive for the first 6 months, then complementary feeding was initiated with breastfeeding up to 12 months. Children were monitored for growth, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, malaria and other health problems. Weight-for-age, length-for-age, weight-for-length z-scores (WAZ, LAZ, WLZ) were calculated with ANTHRO-WHO software. Statistical analysis was computed using the SPSS software (v.20). Results In regards to the assessment of child growth, mean values of WAZ (1 m: -0.68 ±1.2; 3 m.: -0.65 ±1.21; 6 m: -0.76 ±1.22; 12 m: -0.94 ±1.12; 18 m: -1.03 ±1.02), LAZ (1 m: -1.30 ±1.33; 3 m: -1.4 ±1.32; 6 m: -1.34 ±1.18; 12 m: -1.5 ±1.12; 18 m: -1.7 ±1.08), and WLZ (1 m: 0.59 ±1.32; 3 m: 0.75 ±1.36; 6 m: 0.21 ±1.26; 12 m: -0.25 ±1.11; 18 m: -0.3 ±1.02), were comparable to previous results reported for similar cohorts. A progressive decline in values for anthropometric measurements was noted over time, with a negative peak at 18 months of age, shortly after the interruption of breastfeeding. A binary logistic regression was performed in order to better understand the impact of illness on growth faltering. Compared to the other infections (diarrhea, fever, general respiratory infections), malaria was the only significant predictor of general malnutrition at 18 months of age (chronic malnutrition/LAZ<-2 HR:1.3, p=0.05; underweight/WAZ<-2 HR: 1.4, p=0.04; acute malnutrition/WLZ<-2 HR:2.1, p=0.005). The association between malaria and poor nutritional status became even stronger when considering indicators of severe malnutrition (LAZ<-3 HR: 1.5, p=0.02; WAZ<-3 HR:2.4, p=0.005), with the highest association found between malaria and WLZ <-3 (HR: 5.7, p=0.007). Children who had malaria were at greater risk of being severely malnourished at 18 months of age, especially when considering indicators of acute malnutrition (wasting OR: 5.5, CI 1.2-24.9; underweight OR: 2.8, CI 1.3-5.9). Conclusions Maternal breastfeeding remained a robust protective factor associated with improved growth and health in HIV-exposed uninfected children. Among pediatric infections malaria stands out as a significant deterrent to adequate nutritional development in HIV-exposed African children. Our findings underlie the negative temporal association between malaria and nutritional status, while highlighting the vicious cycle of malnutrition and malaria.

Zika virus: the fear travels by mosquitoes - Social and psychological impact of the outbreak

The recent remarkable outbreaks of Zika virus (ZIKV) presently ongoing in South America and in Pacific Islands, the ease of transmission thanks to the large spread of the vector, the impressive psychological impact that this is having on the population due to the putative correlation with microcephaly made the current outbreak a health crisis of global proportions.

The continuing struggle against lung cancer epidemic. Focusing on early stage diagnosis, minimally invasive treatment strategies and effective prevention.

A summarized riview of epidemiologic data and the most recent advances on diagnosis and minimally invasive treatment methods of early stage on lung cancer are presented with emphasis on improved measures to be adopted to decrease cigarette smoking

Prevention in Transfusion Medicine

Blood transfusion is a life-saving therapeutic option but is also associated with significant risks or hazard. For this reason it is necessary to stress the importance of prevention of reaction of ABO major-incompatibility, adverse transfusion reactions and transmission of infective diseases by blood components. Recently many developed countries have promoted safe transfusion practices through hemovigilance programs by reporting of transfusion reactions. These programs aim to detect and analyze untoward effects of blood transfusion in order to correct the causes and prevent their recurrence.

Tuberculosis 2020

Tuberculosis (TB) still causes an out-sized burden of morbidity and mortality, remaining one of the human infections with the highest prevalence worldwide. This is calling for efficient measures of prevention and control, in particular for an efficient preventive vaccine and the rapid identification of subjects with active-TB capable to transmit the bacillus. However, the attempts to study new vaccines have been only partially successful or even completely unsuccessful. Similarly, current diagnostic tests are affected by a large number of limitations due to reduced or suboptimal sensitivity, time to results, or instrumental needs and costs. To identify novel vaccine targets and develop efficient diagnostic tools, research has to focus on the understanding the mutual interaction of the MTB and host studying the different infectioun stages. This approach can bring both to novel vaccine targets and biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring vaccine effectiveness.

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