Day 1 :
- Covid- 19 Vaccine Research
Session Introduction
Zrinka Puharić
University of Applied Sciences Bjelovar, Croatia
Title: Parents and vaccination
Biography:
Zrinka Puharic is Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine on University of Zagreb, doctor, a specialist in school and university medicine. Graduated from the University of Osijek- specialist- nutritionist. She has master of science degree- the topic is health education in primary and secondary schools. Doctoral dissertation - the topic is adolescent dieting disorders. She worked in the Public Health Institute on Preventive Medicine. She is currently a Dean of the University of applied sciences, a senior lecturer in Public Health and Epidemiology Author / co-author of several textbooks and scientific and professional papers.
Abstract:
Introduction: to exame vaccination, side effect of vaccine and parents attitudes
Sample and methods:1050 parents of 6 years old children; anonimous questionnaire.
Results: 97.9% of all parents vaccinated their child by the Croatian law only 2.1% did not (did not get the official invitation, being in foreign countries, forgot it, being ill). Extra vaccine that child had are against meningoencephalitis, flu, small pox. 99.3% parents did not know the name of the any vaccine; 99% never wanted help from doctor after vaccination-there is no side effects; 1% mentioned pain, temperature and rash after vaccination. 86.9% of parents think that vaccination is good preventive measure against diseases;71,7% support official vaccine calendar in Croatia, most of these parents are from the city and highly educated.
Conclusion: In Croatia, the vaccine for some diseases is obligatory for all population and regulated by the low. The antivaxers are strog in Croatia, but we still have over 90% vaccinated children. Especially these days we are becoming aware of the dangers of infectious diseases, so health professionals must continue to strengthen prevention and educations.
Biography:
Dr. Bean graduated from BINM in 2012. She has experience working largely with families, young ones and mamas-to-be. She brings her wisdom as a mother of two to help women achieve a healthy pregnancy and smooth labor. She has worked overseas In Singapore for two years, which improved her skills in chronic illness as she saw various patients in SE Asia, India and Australia who were unable to find the care they needed.
Abstract:
The concern and questions around vaccines is growing substantially around the globe. With this comes a lot of fear and concern about diseases, vaccines, choices, traveling abroad and simply not being fully informed before making a decision around vaccinations. As one of very few ND’s in British Columbia to have obtained the Immunization Certification, I would like to present on some key areas around vaccinations that we as practitioners should know and what we can provide for our patients when they have questions. This should not be a topic of fear or anger but a topic that is honest, forthcoming and transparent.
Practitioners should know what resources to offer their patients who have questions around vaccines along with knowing where they can go for current and reputable information. From simply knowing how to locate a vaccine insert, utilizing annual surveillance reports from the CDC, understanding how adjuvants work and the risks they play (aluminum) and lastly understanding infant physiology as it pertains to vaccination (immunology).
Emanuel M Doroteu
Universidade de BrasÃlia, Brazil
Title: Effect of a single or two doses of an anti-GnRH vaccine on testicle morpho-functional characteristics in Nelore bulls
Biography:
Emanuel M. Doroteu has completed his PhD at the age of 35 years from Universidade de Brasília and Master Science at the same university. He was professor at the university FACISA and now he is field veterinarian in northest of Brazil and works with bovine reproduction and immunology animal system. He has published some papers in reputed journals.
Abstract:
Anti-gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) vaccines may reduce undesirable aggressive behavior of males, while avoiding surgical castration side-effects. The objective of this study was to compare testicle morpho-functional characteristics and carcass traits in bulls undergoing a single or two immunizations against GnRH Nelore (n=35) bulls with an average age of 24 months were allocated into three experimental groups: G1(n=12), a single 400 µg dose of anti-GnRH vaccine on day 0; G2 (n=11), a first 400 µg dose of anti-GnRH vaccine on day 0 followed by a second (boost) dose 30 days later; Control group (CG; n=12), 1 mL saline 0.9% at day 0. Every 30 days, from day 0 until slaughter at day 90, the bulls were weighed and underwent testicular biometry, semen collection and analysis, and blood sample collection for testosterone measurement. Immediately after slaughter, the testicles were individually identified, removed, and transport at 15°C to the Laboratory for histopathological analysis. There was a decrease in testicular height (P=0.0476), width (P=0.0021), and in scrotal circumference (P=0.0001), after either a single (G1) or two (G2) active immunizations against GnRH. Both G1 and G2 had lower testosterone concentrations than CG from day 60 on (P<0.01), but in G2 it was also lower than in G1 on day 90 (P=0.0006). All sperm parameters were affected by active immunization against GnRH (P<0.05), and in G2 averages were lower (P<0.05) than in G1 from day 60 on. No sign of seminiferous tubules degeneration was found in any sample from the CG, contrasting with 75.0% and 100.0% of the samples from G1 and G2, respectively. In summary, immunocastration affected testicle morpho-functional characteristics in bulls in a time- and dose-dependent way.
Biography:
Epidemiologist and Independent Public Health Researcher with a specific interest in Healthcare Systems, Healthcare Delivery, and Remote Epidemiology. Former diplomat in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel with Aviation and Medical background. My research interests are Health Services and Clinical Epidemiology, Aviation, Air Transport Epidemiology, Healthcare Applications for Global Transport Networks, Electronic Epidemiological and Healthcare Management systems, and Emergency Medicine and Nursing.
Abstract:
Anti-Vaccination and vaccine hesitation is not novel phenomenon. Still, in the modern and more connected world, the magnitude of the issue is sky-rocketing and presents a clear danger to public health. The current research summarizes factors contributing to the phenomenon based on the recent literature and proposes a possible behavioral intervention framework based on the ecological model of health behavior. The characteristics of the current vaccine hesitation phenomenon suggest that the vast majority of individuals with anti-vaccination traits exhibit behavior patterns consistent with the ecological model of health behavior. Structured intervention at all levels defined by the model may contribute to reducing the phenomenon among hesitating individuals and declining the influence power of anti-vaccination "gurus."
Abdo A Elfiky
Cairo University, Egypt
Title: Fighting against COVID-19: A computational biophysics approach
Biography:
I'm working in the Biophysics Department, Faculty of Sciences, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt as a Lecturer then Associate Professor starting from the year 2013. My interest in Molecular Biophysics pushes me to work in Structural Bioinformatics and Drug Design to find potent inhibitors against viral and pathogenic fungal proteins utilizing in silico techniques. During the past 6 years, I focused my research on polymerase protein due to its vital role in the life cycle of the pathogenic organisms. I studied also other proteins like protease, estrogen receptors and kinases. Currently, I'm working on fungal CotH kinase family proteins crucial for Mucormycosis virulence and the unfolded protein response master chaperone protein, GRP78.
Abstract:
Previously it was reported that cell-surface Glucose Regulated Protein 78 (CS-GRP78), also termed heat shock protein A5 (HSPA5), could be a possible route for SARS-CoV-2 internalization. The binding site on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which can recognize CS-GRP78, was predicted in a previous study. The spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 bear many conserved motifs to the previously determined human coronavirus strains such as HKU1, 229E, NL63, OC43, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV. 2 However, we would like to emphasize that using a simple bioinformatics approach can suggest a possible role of the GRP78 in cross immunization against COVID-19. Additionally, different antiviral drugs have the potential to be SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors, thus can be used against COVID-19. These drugs are tested in silico at the beginning of the pandemic, and currently, some are approved against COVID-19.
Tarek Zieneldien
University of South Florida, USA
Title: Efficacious peptide-based plus adjuvant vaccine against SARS-CoV-2
Biography:
Tarek Zieneldien has a background in biomedical sciences and infection control. He is very passionate about microbiology and vaccine development, and has furthered his knowledge in these fields by working for Dr. Chuanhai Cao at the University of South Florida. This has allowed him to study the role of the immune system in the development of various diseases, as well as experimenting to find cures to diseases through the modulation of the immune system.
Abstract:
Currently, there are no effective drugs that can halt the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, but vaccines have historically helped us eliminate smallpox and successfully control numerous viral diseases. The spike protein (S) of SARS-CoV-2 binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme type II (ACE2) through the receptor binding domain (RDB), which contributes to viral attachment, fusion, and entry. Thus, targeting the S protein will inhibit viral entry, therefore stopping infection. We have selected dominant and specific B cell epitopes of S protein using the antigenicity predicting and homology analysis approaches as vaccine candidates. These peptides were mixed with different adjuvants (QS21 or Al(OH)3) and administered to BALB/c and C55/B6 mice by Sub-Q. Our peptide-based vaccine can induce a high and persistent antibody response against the administered peptides and S protein. Overall, the Al(OH)3 adjuvant generates a longer immune response than QS21, with the Al(OH)3 increasing CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T cells and decreasing B cell response compared to QS21. The QS21 adjuvant increases B cell and decreases T cell response compared to the Al(OH)3 adjuvant. When compared to convalescence samples, the antibody response of peptide plus adjuvant vaccine generated similar patterns tested by the epitope mapping assay. The antisera from the peptide vaccine also showed neutralization activity, which was tested using the pseudoviral particle assay. We also identified that some of the selected peptides show the potential for diagnostic ability as full proteins. The data revealed that this peptide mixture with the traditional Al(OH)3 adjuvant can produce a durable B cell and potent T cell response. The advantage of peptide-based vaccines is their ability to prevent autoimmune responses, while allowing the introduction of new peptides to manage mutations. The results showed no adverse effects associated with the vaccine, making it suitable for current and future SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Hector Magno
Independent Computer Scientist, Orange County, USA
Title: Measuring the Benefits of Mass Vaccination Programs in the United States
Biography:
Hector Magno is a researcher, data analyst, and software developer. He attended UC Berkeley as a Regent and Chancellor’s Scholar and earned a degree in Computer Science. He also attended UC Berkeley as a National Science Foundation fellow, earned a graduate degree in Computer Science, and received the National Science Foundation Award in Mathematics
Abstract:
Measuring the Benefits of Mass Vaccination Programs in the United States: Since the late 1940s, mass vaccination programs in the USA have contributed to the significantly reduced morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases. To assist the evaluation of the benefits of mass vaccination programs, the number of individuals who would have suffered death or permanent disability in the USA in 2014, had mass vaccination never been implemented, was estimated for measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis B, varicella, and human papillomavirus (HPV). The estimates accounted for mortality and morbidity trends observed for these infections prior to mass vaccination and the impact of advances in standard of living and health care. The estimates also considered populations with and without known factors leading to an elevated risk of permanent injury from infection. Mass vaccination prevented an estimated 20 million infections and 12,000 deaths and permanent disabilities in 2014, including 10,800 deaths and permanent disabilities in persons at elevated risk. Though 9000 of the estimated prevented deaths were from liver cirrhosis and cancer, mass vaccination programs have not, at this point, shown empirical impacts on the prevalence of those conditions. Future studies can refine these estimates, assess the impact of adjusting estimation assumptions, and consider additional risk factors that lead to heightened risk of permanent harm from infection.