Indian J Med Res
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Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by various species of the Leishmania parasite, manifesting in visceral (VL), cutaneous (CL), and mucocutaneous (MCL) forms. To combat this debilitating disease, various vaccines candidates including proteins, DNA, vectors, adjuvants, and recombinant whole parasites have been developed and tested experimentally and preclinically against several Leishmania species. Some vaccines have already entered human clinical trials. ⋯ This review examines all efforts to develop recombinant vaccines against the parasite, analyzing successes including commercially available canine vaccines and the overall challenges faced in the quest to eradicate the disease. Additionally, recent advances in vaccine delivery systems, such as viral vectors and non-pathogenic bacteria, offer promising avenues to enhance immunogenicity and improve the targeted delivery of antigens, potentially leading to more effective and long-lasting immune responses. By understanding past and current efforts, future strategies can be refined to create more effective vaccines and ultimately control or eradicate this parasitic disease.
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Background & objectives India contributes maximum to world's cervical cancer burden. Prevention through vaccination is one of the pillars of the global strategy adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the elimination of cervical cancer. Uptake of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which is about to be introduced in Universal Immunization Programme can be predicted by assessing its acceptance. ⋯ On application of repeated measure ANOVA, perceived benefits of vaccination (P<0.001) and perceived susceptibility to disease (P<0.001) improved significantly across the three time points, whereas perceived severity (P=0.051) and perceived barriers (P=0.367) did not. Interpretation & conclusions Health education intervention was effective at improving vaccine acceptance. Awareness programmes before the rollout of HPV vaccination and continuous re-enforcement would improve parents' perceived benefits and thereby potentially increase vaccine coverage.
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Background & objectives Immunization is an efficient and cost-effective way of lowering the infectious disease related morbidity and mortality in the community. The current study reviewed the trend of immunization, gaps in doses of vaccine given at the same time and gaps between the doses of same vaccine from National Family Health Survey (NFHS 1-5) rounds. Methods The current study extracted data from all five NFHS rounds conducted from 1992-93 to 2019-21. ⋯ The vaccination coverage has increased in both urban and rural population, but the rise was higher in rural (45.9%) areas than urban (24.8%). An increase in percentage of fully vaccinated children by 41.2 per cent and decrease in percentage of non-vaccinated children by 26.4 per cent was observed from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5. Interpretation & conclusions Our analysis clearly suggests that immunization coverage has improved over a period of time but the variability in vaccine coverage across States and gap in vaccine doses needs attention of the policy makers to cover this for achieving our national immunization goals.