Journal of Community Health
Volume 41, Issue 2, April 2016
http://link.springer.com/journal/10900/41/2/page/1

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Original Paper
Effects of Community Health Nurse-Led Intervention on Childhood Routine Immunization Completion in Primary Health Care Centers in Ibadan, Nigeria
V. B. Brown, O. A. Oluwatosin, J. O. Akinyemi, A. A. Adeyemo
Abstract
Immunization coverage of vulnerable children is often sub-optimal in many low- and middle-income countries. The use of a reminder/recall (R/R) system has been one of the strategies shown to be effective in improving immunization rates. In the resent study, we evaluated the effect of R/R and Primary Health Care Immunization Providers’ Training (PHCIPT) intervention on routine immunization completion among 595 infants in Ibadan, Nigeria. The design was a group randomized controlled trial with Local Government Area (LGA) being the unit of randomization. Four randomly selected LGAs were randomized to receive a cellphone R/R only (A), a PHCIPT only (B); combined R/R and PHCIPT (C) intervention or serve as a control group (D). Children aged 0–12 weeks were consecutively recruited into each group and followed up for 12 months. The primary outcome measure was routine immunization completion at 12 months of age. At the study endpoint, immunization completion rates were: group A, 98.6 %; group B, 70 %; group C, 97.3 %; and group D, 57.3 %. Compared to the control group, the cellphone R/R group was 72 % (RR 1.72, 95 % CI 1.50–1.98) and the combined RR/PHCIPT group 70 % (RR 1.70, 95 % CI 1.47–1.95) more likely to complete immunization. In contrast, immunization completion in the PHCIPT group was marginally different from the control group (RR 1.22, 95 % CI 1.03–1.45). These findings remained robust to adjustment for potential predictors of immunization completion as covariates. In conclusion, cellphone reminder/recall was effective in improving immunization completion in this Nigerian setting. Its use is recommended for large scale implementation.

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Original Paper
A Cluster-Randomized Trial to Evaluate a Mother–Daughter Dyadic Educational Intervention for Increasing HPV Vaccination Coverage in American Indian Girls
Rachel L. Winer, Angela A. Gonzales, Carolyn J. Noonan…
Abstract
We evaluated whether delivering educational presentations on human papillomavirus (HPV) to American Indian mothers affected HPV vaccination rates in their adolescent daughters. In March–April 2012, we recruited Hopi mothers or female guardians with daughters aged 9–12 years for a cluster-randomized intervention study on the Hopi Reservation. Participants attended mother-daughter dinners featuring educational presentations for mothers on either HPV (intervention) or juvenile diabetes (control) and completed baseline surveys. Eleven months later, we surveyed mothers on their daughters’ HPV vaccine uptake. We also reviewed aggregated immunization reports from the Indian Health Service to assess community-level HPV vaccination coverage from 2007 to 2013. Ninety-seven mother-daughter dyads participated; nine mothers reported that their daughters completed the three-dose HPV vaccination series before recruitment. Among the remaining mothers, 63 % completed the follow-up survey. Adjusting for household income, the proportion of daughters completing vaccination within 11 months post-intervention was similar in the intervention and control groups (32 vs. 28 %, adjusted RR = 1.2, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.6–2.3). Among unvaccinated daughters, those whose mothers received HPV education were more likely to initiate vaccination (50 vs. 27 %, adjusted RR = 2.6, 95 % CI 1.4–4.9) and complete three doses (adjusted RR = 4.0, 95 % CI 1.2–13.1) than girls whose mothers received diabetes education. Community-level data showed that 80 % of girls aged 13–17 years and 20 % of girls aged 11–12 completed the vaccination series by 2013. HPV vaccine uptake in Hopi girls aged 13–17 years is significantly higher than the U.S. national average. Brief educational presentations on HPV delivered to American Indian mothers might increase HPV vaccination rates in daughters aged 9–12 years.

Journal of Development Economics
Volume 119, Pages 1-138 (March 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03043878/119

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Regular Articles
Labor market opportunities and women’s decision making power within households
Original Research Article
Pages 34-47
Kaveh Majlesi
Abstract
Despite the perceived importance of labor market opportunities in shaping married women’s outside option, and their bargaining power within households as a result, this link has received very little empirical attention. Using longitudinal data on who makes the decision on a wide range of issues within Mexican households and data from the administrative records of the Mexican Social Security Institute, this paper identifies the effects of relative changes in labor market opportunities for men and women on both working and non-working women’s decision making power. I find that increases in labor market opportunities improve women’s decision-making power as well as children’s health. Using differential labor demand shocks across Mexican industries caused by China’s admission to the WTO gives similar results.

Journal of Human Trafficking
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2016
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uhmt20/current
Introduction to the Special Issue
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Human Rights Violators in Comparative Perspective
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136166
Austin Choi-Fitzpatricka*
pages 1-14
Published online: 03 Mar 2016
ABSTRACT
A large and growing wave of scholarship has focused attention on a variety of contemporary forms of slavery. Early attention went to victims of sexual exploitation, though this is starting to slowly change with a growing body of work on labor exploitation. Previous studies focused exclusively on international trafficking and on the Global South whereas newer studies emphasize domestic trafficking and exploitation in the Global North. This article, and the special issue it introduces, suggests that it is high time scholars and advocates broaden their scope to more clearly focus on perpetrators and on the emancipation process. Perpetrators are too often thought of as “criminals of the worst sort,” a cultural shorthand that reduces understanding and thereby hampers both theory and practice of emancipation. For its part, emancipation is too often thought of as either “freedom” or the binary opposite of slavery. Here too, reality is more complex and fraught. In this article, I argue that a human rights approach to slaveholders and emancipation would improve greatly on the status quo.

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Articles
Eliminating Corporate Exploitation: Examining Accountability Regimes as Means to Eradicate Forced Labor from Supply Chains
Ashley Feasley
Columbus School of Law, Catholic University, Washington, DC, USA and Director of Advocacy, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, USApages 15-31
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1137194
ABSTRACT
The existence of forced labor in a company’s supply chain represents the newest frontier of the global effort to eliminate forced labor. Corporations, beneficiaries of profits from products made with forced labor, represent the most nimble and most modern perpetrators of trafficking and exploitation. The negative publicity and consumer backlash that companies are facing for having forced labor in their supply chains reflects the new paradigm confronting corporate perpetrators with respect to international human rights. This article discusses four established regimes of accountability and reviews each regime’s efficacy in ensuring that corporations operate transparent, forced labor-free supply chains. The respective regimes: international regulation, market-based, civil liability, and domestic regulation, have achieved varying levels of success in recent years in an effort to make businesses accountable for ensuring forced labor-free supply chains. Analysis of accountability regimes and the successes and obstacles each regime has encountered in eliminating forced labor from corporate supply chains forcing companies to address forced labor maps progress that has occurred and also provides evaluation of what each accountability regime can provide to ensure businesses eliminate forced labor from their supply chains.

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Female Perpetrators in Internal Child Trafficking in China: An Empirical Study
Anqi Shen
School of Social Sciences, Business and Law, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
pages 63-77
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136537
ABSTRACT
Through an empirical study, this article explores the overall profile of female traffickers of children in China and their role and performance in the trafficking processes. Its contribution to the human-trafficking literature lies in its focus on female perpetrators in particular. The article provides an overview of the international literature on female traffickers as well as contemporary knowledge about internal child trafficking in China. Empirical data from incarcerated traffickers suggest that portraying female traffickers as active players of criminal networks obscures the structural problems affecting female child traffickers. The short-term result is that the problems of female offenders are ignored, and the long-term impact is policy making that is disconnected from the lived experiences of an important population. From a gender perspective, this study suggests that female child traffickers are offenders as well as victims of social and gender inequalities in China’s reform era. This study also proposes that internal child trafficking in China should be brought in the international and Anglo-American debates surrounding human trafficking.

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Preliminary Data on a Sample of Perpetrators of Domestic Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation: Suggestions for Research and Practice
Katherine Gotch
Integrated Clinical & Correctional Services, Portland, Oregon, USA
pages 99-109
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2016.1136539
ABSTRACT
Trafficking for sexual exploitation is one aspect of human trafficking and, in recent years, there has been an increased awareness of and focus on domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation within the United States; however, very little is known about the psychological characteristics or criminogenic (i.e., causing or likely to cause criminal behavior) risk/need factors of the perpetrators who profit from domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation. In an attempt to expand the scope of known data on perpetrators of domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation, descriptive statistical analyses looking at factors hypothesized to be related to the psychological characteristics, criminogenic risk/need factors, and potential treatment interventions were conducted on a sample of 28 adult male offenders with an arrest, charge, and/or conviction of street-level domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation behavior in their history. The results provide preliminary data regarding the developmental/environmental factors, psychological characteristics, and criminogenic risk/need factors of this offender population, as well as support the hypothesis that perpetrators of domestic trafficking for sexual exploitation behavior appear to be a unique offender population requiring specialized management and therapeutic interventions. Suggestions and implications for practice and research are also provided.

Journal of International Development
March 2016 Volume 28, Issue 2 Pages 159–308
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.v28.2/issuetoc

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Research Articles
Understanding the Effects of Faith: A Comparison of Religious and Secular HIV Prevention NGOS in Kenya (pages 161–176)
Megan Hershey
Article first published online: 17 FEB 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3075
Abstract
Religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are active in development efforts, yet the role faith plays in these organizations—and its effects on programs—remains unclear. Drawing on evidence from a study of Kenyan NGOs, I find that faith rarely emerges in the programs of Christian religious NGOs. I argue that both secular and religious NGOs are constrained by donor restrictions and a need for legitimacy that simultaneously remove religious elements from religious NGOs and promote minimal religious practices within secular organizations. The second half of the article discusses the nuanced ways in which faith does manifest within the organizational characteristics and practices of NGOs

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The Effect of Remittances on Domestic Capital Formation in Select African Countries: A Comparative Empirical Analysis (pages 243–265)
Zelealem Yiheyis and Kasahun Woldemariam
Article first published online: 5 NOV 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3194
Abstract
Remittances are expected to affect domestic investment, among others, through induced rise in savings and easing of financial constraints. However, the empirical evidence on the relationship between the two variables is rather thin, especially in the context of Africa. This study investigates the short-run and long-run effects of remittances on domestic investment in four African countries using the bounds testing approach to cointegration analysis. The findings of the study indicate that whether remittances spur domestic capital formation varies by country and the time horizon considered, highlighting, among others, the importance of identifying the factors that tend to condition their relationship.

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Review Articles
The Impact of Remittances on Children’s Human Capital Accumulation: Evidence from Morocco (pages 266–280)
Jamal Bouoiyour and Amal Miftah
Article first published online: 11 SEP 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3147
Abstract
Using a nationally representative household data set from Morocco, the present study seeks to estimate the effects of migrants’ remittances on household investments in children’s human capital. Three findings emerge. First, children in remittance-receiving households are more likely to attend school and less likely to drop out compared with those in non-remittance-receiving households. Second, children’s participation in labour market decreases in the presence of international remittances. Third, remittances are associated with significantly lower level of no schooling for girls. These findings support the growing view that remittances can help increase the educational opportunities, especially for female children.

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Rethinking Microfinance for Developed Countries (pages 281–302)
Matteo Pedrini, Valentina Bramanti, Marco Minciullo and Laura Maria Ferri
Article first published online: 15 FEB 2016 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3205
Abstract
Despite the growth of the sector, microfinance’s academic research in developed countries is still very limited. The paper builds on earlier works, which discuss four technical problems related to the diffusion of microfinance in developing countries. In re-framing their approach to apply it to developed countries, we propose a set of recommendations in order to foster the growth of the microfinance sector: (1) the use of financial institutions to supply microfinance products; (2) the development of an alternative credit scoring in banks; (3) the adoption of a regulatory framework for microfinance; and (4) the use of networks as social collaterals.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Mar 2016 Volume 16 Number 3 p265-384 e11-e33
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

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Editorial
Zika virus in the dock
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)00085-2
Summary
In October, 2015, the Ministry of Health in Brazil reported an unexplained increase in cases of microcephaly, a congenital malformation normally associated with incomplete brain development, in newborn babies (4783 cases vs 150 in the previous year). The reported cases have caused widespread fear among pregnant women all over South and Central America, to the point that some nations such as Ecuador have recommended that their citizens postpone pregnancy to 2018, to give time to investigate the causes of the increase of microcephaly cases.

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Safety and immunogenicity of a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored Ebola vaccine in healthy adults: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding, phase 1/2a study
Olga De Santis, Régine Audran, Emilie Pothin, Loane Warpelin-Decrausaz, Laure Vallotton, Grégoire Wuerzner, Camille Cochet, Daniel Estoppey, Viviane Steiner-Monard, Sophie Lonchampt, Anne-Christine Thierry, Carole Mayor, Robert T Bailer, Olivier Tshiani Mbaya, Yan Zhou, Aurélie Ploquin, Nancy J Sullivan, Barney S Graham, François Roman, Iris De Ryck, W Ripley Ballou, Marie Paule Kieny, Vasee Moorthy, François Spertini, Blaise Genton
Summary
Background
The ongoing Ebola outbreak led to accelerated efforts to test vaccine candidates. On the basis of a request by WHO, we aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the monovalent, recombinant, chimpanzee adenovirus type-3 vector-based Ebola Zaire vaccine (ChAd3-EBO-Z).
Methods
We did this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-finding, phase 1/2a trial at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland. Participants (aged 18–65 years) were randomly assigned (2:2:1), via two computer-generated randomisation lists for individuals potentially deployed in endemic areas and those not deployed, to receive a single intramuscular dose of high-dose vaccine (5 × 1010 viral particles), low-dose vaccine (2·5 × 1010 viral particles), or placebo. Deployed participants were allocated to only the vaccine groups. Group allocation was concealed from non-deployed participants, investigators, and outcome assessors. The safety evaluation was not masked for potentially deployed participants, who were therefore not included in the safety analysis for comparison between the vaccine doses and placebo, but were pooled with the non-deployed group to compare immunogenicity. The main objectives were safety and immunogenicity of ChAd3-EBO-Z. We did analysis by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02289027.
Findings
Between Oct 24, 2014, and June 22, 2015, we randomly assigned 120 participants, of whom 18 (15%) were potentially deployed and 102 (85%) were non-deployed, to receive high-dose vaccine (n=49), low-dose vaccine (n=51), or placebo (n=20). Participants were followed up for 6 months. No vaccine-related serious adverse events were reported. We recorded local adverse events in 30 (75%) of 40 participants in the high-dose group, 33 (79%) of 42 participants in the low-dose group, and five (25%) of 20 participants in the placebo group. Fatigue or malaise was the most common systemic adverse event, reported in 25 (62%) participants in the high-dose group, 25 (60%) participants in the low-dose group, and five (25%) participants in the placebo group, followed by headache, reported in 23 (57%), 25 (60%), and three (15%) participants, respectively. Fever occurred 24 h after injection in 12 (30%) participants in the high-dose group and 11 (26%) participants in the low-dose group versus one (5%) participant in the placebo group. Geometric mean concentrations of IgG antibodies against Ebola glycoprotein peaked on day 28 at 51 μg/mL (95% CI 41·1–63·3) in the high-dose group, 44·9 μg/mL (25·8–56·3) in the low-dose group, and 5·2 μg/mL (3·5–7·6) in the placebo group, with respective response rates of 96% (95% CI 85·7–99·5), 96% (86·5–99·5), and 5% (0·1–24·9). Geometric mean concentrations decreased by day 180 to 25·5 μg/mL (95% CI 20·6–31·5) in the high-dose group, 22·1 μg/mL (19·3–28·6) in the low-dose group, and 3·2 μg/mL (2·4–4·9) in the placebo group. 28 (57%) participants given high-dose vaccine and 31 (61%) participants given low-dose vaccine developed glycoprotein-specific CD4 cell responses, and 33 (67%) and 35 (69%), respectively, developed CD8 responses.
Interpretation
ChAd3-EBO-Z was safe and well tolerated, although mild to moderate systemic adverse events were common. A single dose was immunogenic in almost all vaccine recipients. Antibody responses were still significantly present at 6 months. There was no significant difference between doses for safety and immunogenicity outcomes. This acceptable safety profile provides a reliable basis to proceed with phase 2 and phase 3 efficacy trials in Africa.
Funding
Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), through the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme.

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Immunogenicity and safety of a novel monovalent high-dose inactivated poliovirus type 2 vaccine in infants: a comparative, observer-blind, randomised, controlled trial
Xavier Sáez-Llorens, Ralf Clemens, Geert Leroux-Roels, José Jimeno, Sue Ann Costa Clemens, William C Weldon, M Steven Oberste, Natanael Molina, Ananda S Bandyopadhyay
Summary
Background
Following the proposed worldwide switch from trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine (tOPV) to bivalent types 1 and 3 OPV (bOPV) in 2016, inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) will be the only source of protection against poliovirus type 2. With most countries opting for one dose of IPV in routine immunisation schedules during this transition because of cost and manufacturing constraints, optimisation of protection against all poliovirus types will be a priority of the global eradication programme. We assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a novel monovalent high-dose inactivated poliovirus type 2 vaccine (mIPV2HD) in infants.
Methods
This observer-blind, comparative, randomised controlled trial was done in a single centre in Panama. We enrolled healthy infants who had not received any previous vaccination against poliovirus. Infants were randomly assigned (1:1) by computer-generated randomisation sequence to receive a single dose of either mIPV2HD or standard trivalent IPV given concurrently with a third dose of bOPV at 14 weeks of age. At 18 weeks, all infants were challenged with one dose of monovalent type 2 OPV (mOPV2). Primary endpoints were seroconversion and median antibody titres to type 2 poliovirus 4 weeks after vaccination with mIPV2HD or IPV; and safety (as determined by the proportion and nature of serious adverse events and important medical events for 8 weeks after vaccination). The primary immunogenicity analyses included all participants for whom a post-vaccination blood sample was available. All randomised participants were included in the safety analyses. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02111135.
Findings
Between April 14 and May 9, 2014, 233 children were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive mIPV2HD (117 infants) or IPV (116 infants). 4 weeks after vaccination with mIPV2HD or IPV, seroconversion to poliovirus type 2 was recorded in 107 (93·0%, 95% CI 86·8–96·9) of 115 infants in the mIPV2HD group compared with 86 (74·8%, 65·8–82·4) of 115 infants in the IPV group (difference between groups 18·3%, 95% CI 5·0–31·1; p<0·0001), and median antibody titres against poliovirus type 2 were 181 (95% CI 72·0–362·0) in the mIPV2HD group and 36 (18·0–113·8) in the IPV group (difference between groups 98·8, 95% CI 60·7–136·9; p<0·0001). Serious adverse events were reported for six (5%) of 117 infants in the mIPV2HD group and seven (6%) of 116 infants in the IPV group during the 8-week period after vaccination; none were related to vaccination. No important medical events were reported.
Interpretation
Our findings lend support to the use of mIPV2HD as an option for stockpiling for outbreak response or primary protection in selected areas at risk for emergence of poliovirus type 2 during the next phase of the polio eradication plan.
Funding
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Lancet
Mar 05, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10022 p917-1026 e22
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Health—an explicit human right
The Lancet
Summary
“The past year severely tested the international system’s capacity to respond to crises and mass forced displacements of people, and found it woefully inadequate.” So begins Amnesty International’s annual report for 2015, The state of the world’s human rights, published last week. Set against the backdrop of unprecedented and worldwide migration, recurring themes include access to health services, the effects of conflict on health, women and children’s health, sexual rights, and the denial of health care in prisons.

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Comment
Zika virus and microcephaly in Brazil: a scientific agenda
Mauricio L Barreto, Manoel Barral-Netto, Rodrigo Stabeli, Naomar Almeida-Filho, Pedro F C Vasconcelos, Mauro Teixeira, Paulo Buss, Paulo E Gadelha
Summary
Since 1981, the Brazilian population has had dengue fever epidemics and all control efforts have been unsuccessful.1 In 2014, chikungunya fever was reported for the first time in the country.2 In 2015, the occurrence of Zika virus was also reported,3 along with an increase of microcephaly and brain damage in newborn babies.4,5 The mosquito Aedes aegypti is the most conventional vector of these three viral infections and is widely disseminated in a great part of urban Brazil. Brazilian public health authorities declared a National Public Health Emergency on Nov 11, 2015, and intensified the vector control campaign to tackle the epidemic.

Lancet Global Health
Mar 2016 Volume 4 Number 3 e137-e214
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/issue/current

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Articles
Effect of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination without a booster dose on invasive H influenzae type b disease, nasopharyngeal carriage, and population immunity in Kilifi, Kenya: a 15-year regional surveillance study
Laura L Hammitt, Rosie J Crane, Angela Karani, Alex Mutuku, Susan C Morpeth, Polly Burbidge, David Goldblatt, Tatu Kamau, Shahnaaz Sharif, Neema Mturi, J Anthony G Scott
Summary
Background
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine, delivered as a three-dose series without a booster, was introduced into the childhood vaccination programme in Kenya in 2001. The duration of protection and need for a booster dose are unknown. We aimed to assess vaccine effectiveness, the impact of the vaccine on nasopharyngeal carriage, and population immunity after introduction of conjugate Hib vaccine in infancy without a booster dose in Kenya.
Methods
This study took place in the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS), an area of Kenya that has been monitored for vital events and migration every 4 months since 2000. We analysed sterile site cultures for H influenzae type b from children (aged ≤12 years) admitted to the Kilifi County Hospital (KCH) from Jan 1, 2000, through to Dec 31, 2014. We determined the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage by undertaking cross-sectional surveys in random samples of KHDSS residents (of all ages) once every year from 2009 to 2012, and measured Hib antibody concentrations in five cross-sectional samples of children (aged ≤12 years) within the KHDSS (in 1998, 2000, 2004–05, 2007, and 2009). We calculated incidence rate ratios between the prevaccine era (2000–01) and the routine-use era (2004–14) and defined vaccine effectiveness as 1 minus the incidence rate ratio, expressed as a percentage.
Findings
40 482 children younger than 13 years resident in KHDSS were admitted to KCH between 2000 and 2014, 38 206 (94%) of whom had their blood cultured. The incidence of invasive H influenzae type b disease in children younger than 5 years declined from 62·6 (95% CI 46·0–83·3) per 100 000 in 2000–01 to 4·5 (2·5–7·5) per 100 000 in 2004–14, giving a vaccine effectiveness of 93% (95% CI 87–96). In the final 5 years of observation (2010–14), only one case of invasive H influenzae type b disease was detected in a child younger than 5 years. Nasopharyngeal H influenzae type b carriage was detected in one (0·2%) of 623 children younger than 5 years between 2009 and 2012. In the 2009 serosurvey, 92 (79%; 95% CI 70–86) of 117 children aged 4–35 months had long-term protective antibody concentrations.
Interpretation
In this region of Kenya, use of a three-dose primary series of Hib vaccine without a booster dose has resulted in a significant and sustained reduction in invasive H influenzae type b disease. The prevalence of nasopharyngeal carriage is low and the profile of Hib antibodies suggests that protection wanes only after the age at greatest risk of disease. Although continued surveillance is important to determine whether effective control persists, these findings suggest that a booster dose is not currently required in Kenya.
Funding
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Wellcome Trust, European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases, and National Institute for Health Research.

PLoS Currents: Outbreaks
http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Research Article
Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of Ebola Virus Disease among Secondary School Students in Ondo State, Nigeria, October, 2014
March 4, 2016 ·
Introduction: The first case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Nigeria was imported on 20th July 2014, by an air traveller. On 8th August, 2014, WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). This study aimed at assessing the knowledge, perception and attitude of secondary school students towards EVD and adopting disease preventive behaviour.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study of 440 students from a mixed secondary school in Owo, Ondo State was done. Data was collected in October 2014 when Nigeria was yet to be declared EVD free. Simple random sampling was used to select the school while Systematic random sampling was used in the selection of participants. A semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square test were done, level of statistical significant was 5%.
Results: Mean age of respondents was 13.7±1.9 years. Females were 48.2%. Most of the respondents had heard of Ebola Virus Disease (95.4%). Female respondents (51.3%), those who were 15 years and above (51.1%) and in the senior class (54.1%), and had good general knowledge of EVD and across all domains. Being in the senior secondary class and seeking for health care in the hospital were positively associated with good general knowledge (p-value: 0.029, and <0.001 respectively). Three commonest modes of spread of EVD mentioned were contact between infected animals and men (74.8%), touching body fluids of a person who is sick of EVD (57.0%), and contact (55.2%). The top three signs of EVD mentioned were abnormal bleeding from any part of the body (56.10%), vomiting (47.0%) and fever (42.3%).
Conclusion: Our results revealed suboptimal EVD-related knowledge, attitude and practice among the students. Promotion of health messages and training of students on prevention of EVD to effectively control past and future outbreaks of EVD in Nigeria was immediately initiated in schools in Ondo State.

ttp://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)
Transformative Innovations in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health over the Next 20 Years
Cyril M. Engmann, Sadaf Khan, Cheryl A. Moyer, Patricia S. Coffey, Zulfiqar A. Bhutta
Collection Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001969
Summary Points
:: Accelerating progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) over the past 30 years has resulted in significant decreases in mortality, as well as shifts in causes of death. For example, deaths from diarrhea among children under age 5 have significantly declined. This increased survival means an increasing fraction of under-5 deaths occur in the first 4 weeks of life, the neonatal period.
:: Transformative changes, including advances such as the development of immunizations, wide uptake of contraception, and the availability of medications such as oxytocin, have contributed to an improved morbidity and mortality curve. Such advances are set against a broader backdrop of increasing national wealth, stronger health systems, aligned political agendas, and advocacy systems.
:: Global mechanisms and strategies such as the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health, Global Alliance for the Vaccine Initiative (GAVI), the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, Family Planning 2020, and the Every Newborn Action Plan, among others, are serving to drive the global agenda forward, although stubborn gaps remain.
:: In this paper, we discuss promising innovations that in our opinion have significant promise in moving the RMNCH agenda forward. While some of these are technologies, others are efforts aimed at improving commodities, increasing demand for services, and promoting equity in access.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Zika Virus: Medical Countermeasure Development Challenges
Robert W. Malone, Jane Homan, Michael V. Callahan, Jill Glasspool-Malone, Lambodhar Damodaran, Adriano De Bernardi Schneider, Rebecca Zimler, James Talton, Ronald R. Cobb, Ivan Ruzic, Julie Smith-Gagen, Daniel Janies, James Wilson, Zika Response Working Group
Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004530
Abstract
Introduction
Reports of high rates of primary microcephaly and Guillain–Barré syndrome associated with Zika virus infection in French Polynesia and Brazil have raised concerns that the virus circulating in these regions is a rapidly developing neuropathic, teratogenic, emerging infectious public health threat. There are no licensed medical countermeasures (vaccines, therapies or preventive drugs) available for Zika virus infection and disease. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) predicts that Zika virus will continue to spread and eventually reach all countries and territories in the Americas with endemic Aedes mosquitoes. This paper reviews the status of the Zika virus outbreak, including medical countermeasure options, with a focus on how the epidemiology, insect vectors, neuropathology, virology and immunology inform options and strategies available for medical countermeasure development and deployment.
Methods
Multiple information sources were employed to support the review. These included publically available literature, patents, official communications, English and Lusophone lay press. Online surveys were distributed to physicians in the US, Mexico and Argentina and responses analyzed. Computational epitope analysis as well as infectious disease outbreak modeling and forecasting were implemented. Field observations in Brazil were compiled and interviews conducted with public health officials.

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Eliminating the Neglected Tropical Diseases: Translational Science and New Technologies
Peter J. Hotez, Bernard Pecoul, Suman Rijal, Catharina Boehme, Serap Aksoy, Mwelecele Malecela, Roberto Tapia-Conyer, John C. Reeder
Review | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0003895
Abstract
Today, the World Health Organization recognizes 17 major parasitic and related infections as the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Despite recent gains in the understanding of the nature and prevalence of NTDs, as well as successes in recent scaled-up preventive chemotherapy strategies and other health interventions, the NTDs continue to rank among the world’s greatest global health problems. For virtually all of the NTDs (including those slated for elimination under the auspices of a 2012 London Declaration for NTDs and a 2013 World Health Assembly resolution [WHA 66.12]), additional control mechanisms and tools are needed, including new NTD drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and vector control agents and strategies. Elimination will not be possible without these new tools. Here we summarize some of the key challenges in translational science to develop and introduce these new technologies in order to ensure success in global NTD elimination efforts.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 5 March 2016]

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The Success of a Universal Hepatitis B Immunization Program as Part of Thailand’s EPI after 22 Years’ Implementation
Nawarat Posuwan, Nasamon Wanlapakorn, Pattaratida Sa-nguanmoo, Rujipat Wasitthankasem, Preeyaporn Vichaiwattana, Sirapa Klinfueng, Viboonsak Vuthitanachot, Siriporn Sae-lao, Monthana Foonoi, Apinya Fakthongyoo, Jamorn Makaroon, Klaita Srisingh, Duangporn Asawarachun, Somchai Owatanapanich, Norra Wutthiratkowit, Kraisorn Tohtubtiang, Pornsak Yoocharoen, Sompong Vongpunsawad, Yong Poovorawan
Research Article | published 03 Mar 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0150499

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Immunization Coverage Surveys and Linked Biomarker Serosurveys in Three Regions in Ethiopia
Mark A. Travassos, Berhane Beyene, Zenaw Adam, James D. Campbell, Nigisti Mulholland, Seydou S. Diarra, Tassew Kassa, Lisa Oot, Jenny Sequeira, Mardi Reymann, William C. Blackwelder, Yukun Wu, Inna Ruslanova, Jaya Goswami, Samba O. Sow, Marcela F. Pasetti, Robert Steinglass, Amha Kebede, Myron M. Levine
Research Article | published 02 Mar 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0149970
Abstract
Objective
Demographic and health surveys, immunization coverage surveys and administrative data often divergently estimate vaccination coverage, which hinders pinpointing districts where immunization services require strengthening. We assayed vaccination coverage in three regions in Ethiopia by coverage surveys and linked serosurveys.
Methods
Households with children aged 12–23 (N = 300) or 6–8 months (N = 100) in each of three districts (woredas) were randomly selected for immunization coverage surveys (inspection of vaccination cards and immunization clinic records and maternal recall) and linked serosurveys. IgG-ELISA serologic biomarkers included tetanus antitoxin ≥ 0.15 IU/ml in toddlers (receipt of tetanus toxoid) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) anti-capsular titers ≥ 1.0 mcg/ml in infants (timely receipt of Hib vaccine).
Findings
Coverage surveys enrolled 1,181 children across three woredas; 1,023 (87%) also enrolled in linked serosurveys. Administrative data over-estimated coverage compared to surveys, while maternal recall was unreliable. Serologic biomarkers documented a hierarchy among the districts. Biomarker measurement in infants provided insight on timeliness of vaccination not deducible from toddler results.
Conclusion
Neither administrative projections, vaccination card or EPI register inspections, nor parental recall, substitute for objective serological biomarker measurement. Including infants in serosurveys informs on vaccination timeliness.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Biological Sciences – Ecology:
Global change and terrestrial plant community dynamics
Janet Franklina,1, Josep M. Serra-Diaza,b, Alexandra D. Syphardc, and Helen M. Regand
Author Affiliations
Significance
Global terrestrial vegetation plays a critical role in biogeochemical cycles and provides important ecosystem services. Vegetation has been altered by anthropogenic global change drivers including land-use change, altered disturbance regimes, invasive species, and climate change, for decades to centuries, or in some cases millennia. Vegetation responses to land use and disturbance can be more immediate than to climate change and can be long lasting. The effect of global warming on water balance may have a stronger influence than the direct effects of temperature on vegetation. Models deployed at multiple ecological scales, populations, communities, and landscapes will be required to forecast vegetation responses and feedbacks to accelerated global change.

Abstract
Anthropogenic drivers of global change include rising atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses and resulting changes in the climate, as well as nitrogen deposition, biotic invasions, altered disturbance regimes, and land-use change. Predicting the effects of global change on terrestrial plant communities is crucial because of the ecosystem services vegetation provides, from climate regulation to forest products. In this paper, we present a framework for detecting vegetation changes and attributing them to global change drivers that incorporates multiple lines of evidence from spatially extensive monitoring networks, distributed experiments, remotely sensed data, and historical records. Based on a literature review, we summarize observed changes and then describe modeling tools that can forecast the impacts of multiple drivers on plant communities in an era of rapid change. Observed responses to changes in temperature, water, nutrients, land use, and disturbance show strong sensitivity of ecosystem productivity and plant population dynamics to water balance and long-lasting effects of disturbance on plant community dynamics. Persistent effects of land-use change and human-altered fire regimes on vegetation can overshadow or interact with climate change impacts. Models forecasting plant community responses to global change incorporate shifting ecological niches, population dynamics, species interactions, spatially explicit disturbance, ecosystem processes, and plant functional responses. Monitoring, experiments, and models evaluating multiple change drivers are needed to detect and predict vegetation changes in response to 21st century global change.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 5 March 2016)

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Social Sciences – Sustainability Science:
Impacts of nonstate, market-driven governance on Chilean forests
Robert Heilmayra,1 and Eric F. Lambinb,c,d,1
Author Affiliations
Significance
Global trade in commodities has become an important driver of environmental degradation. In response, there has been a proliferation of nonstate, market-driven governance seeking to reduce environmental degradation through interventions in the supply chain. We provide some of the first quasiexperimental evidence to show that private, market-driven policies can slow deforestation. We compare the impacts of two certification schemes and a deforestation moratorium in Chile using a factorial quasiexperimental design. Our results indicate that governance regimes with greater collaboration between environmental and industry stakeholders achieved better environmental outcomes. In contrast to many public conservation policies, we find that private governance systems can effectively target high-deforestation properties.

Abstract
Global markets for agricultural products, timber, and minerals are critically important drivers of deforestation. The supply chains driving land use change may also provide opportunities to halt deforestation. Market campaigns, moratoria, and certification schemes have been promoted as powerful tools to achieve conservation goals. Despite their promise, there have been few opportunities to rigorously quantify the ability of these nonstate, market-driven (NSMD) governance regimes to deliver conservation outcomes. This study analyzes the impacts of three NSMD governance systems that sought to end the conversion of natural forests to plantations in Chile at the start of the 21st century. Using a multilevel, panel dataset of land use changes in Chile, we identify the impact of participation within each of the governance regimes by implementing a series of matched difference-in-differences analyses. Taking advantage of the mosaic of different NSMD regimes adopted in Chile, we explore the relative effectiveness of different policies. NSMD governance regimes reduced deforestation on participating properties by 2–23%. The NSMD governance regimes we studied included collaborative and confrontational strategies between environmental and industry stakeholders. We find that the more collaborative governance systems studied achieved better environmental performance than more confrontational approaches. Whereas many government conservation programs have targeted regions with little likelihood of conversion, we demonstrate that NSMD governance has the potential to alter behavior on high-deforestation properties.

Public Health Ethics
Volume 9 Issue 1 April 2016
http://phe.oxfordjournals.org/content/current

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Ethical Criteria for Human Challenge Studies in Infectious Diseases
Ben Bambery, Michael Selgelid, Charles Weijer, Julian Savulescu, and Andrew J. Pollard
Public Health Ethics (2016) 9 (1): 92-103 doi:10.1093/phe/phv026
Abstract
Purposeful infection of healthy volunteers with a microbial pathogen seems at odds with acceptable ethical standards, but is an important contemporary research avenue used to study infectious diseases and their treatments. Generally termed ‘controlled human infection studies’, this research is particularly useful for fast tracking the development of candidate vaccines and may provide unique insight into disease pathogenesis otherwise unavailable. However, scarce bioethical literature is currently available to assist researchers and research ethics committees in negotiating the distinct issues raised by research involving purposefully infecting healthy volunteers. In this article, we present two separate challenge studies and highlight the ethical issues of human challenge studies as seen through a well-constructed framework. Beyond the same stringent ethical standards seen in other areas of medical research, we conclude that human challenge studies should also include: (i) independent expert reviews, including systematic reviews; (ii) a publicly available rationale for the research; (iii) implementation of measures to protect the public from spread of infection beyond the research setting; and (iv) a new system for compensation for harm. We hope these additions may encourage safer and more ethical research practice and help to safeguard public confidence in this vital research alternative in years to come.

Qualitative Health Research
March 2016; 26 (4)
http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/current
Special Issue: Autoethnography

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Commentary
Autoethnography in Health Research: Growing Pains?
Heewon Chang
1Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Autoethnography is gaining acceptance as a legitimate research method in health science research. The growing volume of published autoethnographies is indicative of this trend. After discussing the methodological tenents of this qualitative research method and its compatibility with health-related research, the author illustrates this trend with examples of published autoethnogrpahic books, theses, and journal articles. While celebrating the potential of autoethnography as a suitable health research method, the author critiques dominatly descriptive and evocative illness self-narratives that may evoke emontionally compelling responses from readers but offer insufficient sociocultural insights about the illness phenomenon. To identify a “desirable” autoethnography that provides not only a “thick description” of personal experiences but also a sociocultural interpretation of such experiences, the author recommends both creators and consumers of autoethnography to ask five evaluative questions: (1) Does the autoethnography use authentic and trustworthy data?; (2) Does the autoethnography follow a reliable research process and show the process clearly?; (3) Does the autoethnography follow ethical steps to protect the rights of self and others presented and implicated in the autoethnography?; (4) Does the autoethnography analyze and interpret the sociocultural meaning of the author’s personal experiences?; and (5) Does the autoethnography attempt to make a scholarly contribution with its conclusion and engagement of the existing literature?

Science
04 March 2016 Vol 351, Issue 6277
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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Policy Forum
Liberating field science samples and data
By Marcia McNutt, Kerstin Lehnert, Brooks Hanson, Brian A. Nosek, Aaron M. Ellison, John Leslie King
Science04 Mar 2016 : 1024-1026
Summary
Transparency and reproducibility enhance the integrity of research results for scientific and public uses and empower novel research applications. Access to data, samples, methods, and reagents used to conduct research and analysis, as well as to the code used to analyze and process data and samples, is a fundamental requirement for transparency and reproducibility. The field sciences (e.g., geology, ecology, and archaeology), where each study is temporally (and often spatially) unique, provide exemplars for the importance of preserving data and samples for further analysis. Yet field sciences, if they even address such access, commonly do so by simply noting “data and samples available upon request.” They lag behind some laboratory sciences in making data and samples available to the broader research community. It is time for this to change. We discuss cultural, financial, and technical barriers to change and ways in which funders, publishers, scientific societies, and others are responding.

Vaccine
Volume 34, Issue 12, Pages 1423-1488 (14 March 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0264410X/34/12

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Supplemental measles vaccine antibody response among HIV-infected and -uninfected children in Malawi after 1- and 2-dose primary measles vaccination schedules
Original Research Article
Pages 1459-1464
Ashley L. Fowlkes, Desiree Witte, Judy Beeler, Susette A. Audet, Robin Broadhead, William J. Bellini, Felicity Cutts, Rita F. Helfand
Abstract
Background
The long-term antibody response to measles vaccine (MV) administered at age 6 months with or without subsequent doses is not well documented.
Methods
Measles serum antibody responses were evaluated after a supplemental dose of measles vaccine (sMV) administered at a median age of 20 months among Malawian children who had previously received 2 doses of measles vaccine (MV) at ages 6 and 9 months (HIV-infected and random sample of HIV-uninfected) or 1 dose at age 9 months (random sample of HIV-uninfected). We compared measles antibody seropositivity between groups by enzyme linked immunoassay and seroprotection by plaque reduction neutralization geometric mean concentrations.
Results
Of 1756 children enrolled, 887 (50.5%) received a sMV dose following MV at 9 months of age and had specimens available after sMV receipt, including 401 HIV-uninfected children who received one MV dose at 9 months, 464 HIV-uninfected and 22 HIV-infected children who received two doses of MV at ages 6 and 9 months. Among HIV-uninfected children, protective levels of antibody were found post sMV in 90–99% through ages 24–36 months and were not affected by MV schedule. Geometric mean concentration levels of measles antibody were significantly increased post-sMV among those HIV-uninfected children previously non-responsive to vaccination. Among HIV-infected children, the proportion seroprotected increased initially but by 9 months post-sMV was no higher than pre-sMV.
Conclusions
Our findings support early 2-dose MV to provide measles immunity for young infants without risk of interference with antibody responses to subsequent MV doses administered as part of SIAs.

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies
An International Interdisciplinary Journal for Research, Policy and Care
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2016
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rvch20/current

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Original Articles
Challenges faced by caregivers of vulnerable children in Cross River State and Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
pages 24-32
DOI:10.1080/17450128.2016.1151094
Published online: 03 Mar 2016
Catherine Gana, Edward Oladele, Mariya Saleh, Osagbemi Makanjuola, Diana Gimba, Doreen Magaji, Temitayo Odusote, Hadiza Khamofu & Kwasi Torpey
ABSTRACT
This study describes the characteristics of caregivers, examines the relationships between caregivers and their children and analyzes the experiences and challenges of caring for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) faced by caregivers in the community. Using a combination of questionnaire, informant interviews and focus group discussions, data were collected from 150 female and male caregivers in Cross Rivers State and the Federal Capital Territory selected through convenient sampling. Careful analysis of the data revealed that majority of the caregivers were women, mostly widows caring for about 3–6 children. They were largely married with primary or no formal education. Most of them were engaged in petty trading and farming. Their incomes were generally low, less than 10,000 naira (approximately 52 dollars) per annum. Challenges of caring for children were listed to include; lack of access to education, nutrition, inadequate clothing and shelter and lack of psychosocial support in that order. Family supports to these caregivers have either dwindled considerably or non-existent. In the words of these caregivers, our relatives have their own problems in this era of economic crisis to bother about the problems of other people. A few of the organized supports came from non-governmental organizations and faith-based organizations in the form of handouts to meet needs of food and school supplies. These do not address the root cause of caregivers’ problems of lack of skills and income generation for sustainable care. The study recommends empowering caregivers as a sustainable approach to the problem of vulnerable children in the community.

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies
An International Interdisciplinary Journal for Research, Policy and Care
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2016
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rvch20/current

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Original Articles
Borderline personality disorder typical symptoms among Brazilian adolescents in a foster care institution
pages 13-23
DOI:10.1080/17450128.2016.1151093
Published online: 03 Mar 2016
Julia L. Schäfer, Vinícius G. Dornelles & Rogério L. Horta
ABSTRACT
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms usually emerge during adolescence. Because it is a highly dysfunctional disorder, this study aimed to identify the presence of BPD typical symptoms in Brazilian adolescents in a foster care institution. This research was conducted with 44 adolescents ranging from 12 to 17 years old from a foster care institution in south of Brazil. The adolescents answered the instrument Borderline Symptoms List-23 to assess BPD symptomatology, and the psychologist of the institution answered a questionnaire about the adolescents regarding sex, age, education, the process of entering the institution and mental health history. The sample was divided in two groups: one composed of adolescents with problematic levels of symptoms, showing an intense presentation of BPD symptoms, and the other made of adolescents with non-problematic levels of symptoms, showing a slight presentation of BPD symptoms. Comparisons between sex and the instrument total scores showed that girls had significant higher means than boys (p < 0.05). Through regression analysis, the adolescents presenting problematic levels of symptoms were those who entered the foster care institution at 12 years old or older (p < 0.05), and were in high school (p < 0.05). The results of this study indicate the presence of different levels of BPD symptoms in Brazilian adolescents in the foster care institution suggesting the importance of the development of interventions aiming mental health promotion.

World Heritage Review
n°78 – February 2016
http://whc.unesco.org/en/review/78/

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World Heritage and gender equality
It is increasingly recognized that culture has an essential role to play as a driver of sustainable development, contributing to the eradication of poverty and enhancing social inclusion. Culture helps to define people’s identities and determines the way they shape their future. Gender equality, which is a UNESCO priority, refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women and gender dynamics within families, societies and cultures.