Safety and Immunogenicity of a Quadrivalent Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine (MenACYW-DT): A Multicenter, Open-label, Non-randomized, Phase III Clinical Trial.

Objective: To assess the safety and immunogenicity of a quadrivalent meningococcal (groups A,C,Y,W) polysaccharide diphtheria toxoid conjugate vaccine (MenACYW-DT) in India. Design: Open-label, descriptive, non-randomized study. Setting: Three medical college hospitals, one each in New Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, India. Participants: 300 healthy, vaccine-naïve participants (100 children aged 2-11 years, 100 adolescents aged 12-17 years, and 100 adults aged 18-55 years). Intervention: One dose (0.5 mL) of MenACYW-DT administered intramuscularly. Main outcome measures: Serum bactericidal antibody titers against A, C, Y, and W were measured before and after MenACWY-DT vaccination. Safety data were also collected Results: Thirty days post-vaccination, geometric mean titers rose across all serogroups. Most participants had protective titers ≥8 (1/dil) across the four serogroups. The percentage (95% CI) achieving ≥8 (1/dil) in the Adolescent Group was typical – A: 96.9% (91.2%; 99.4%); C: 96.9% (91.2%; 99.4%); Y:100% (96.3%; 100%); W:100% (96.3%; 100%). In general, solicited reactions were mild and short-lived. Unsolicited events were uncommon and unrelated to vaccination. Conclusions: MenACYW-DT was well tolerated and elicited a robust and protective immune response 30 days post-vaccination against meningococcal serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135 in the Indian study participants aged 2-55 years.

A community survey of dog bites, anti-rabies treatment, rabies and dog population management in Bangalore city.

This survey was conducted by using a 30 cluster random sampling technique to comprehensively study the nature and magnitude of rabies and its related problems in human and dog population. The city has an estimated dog population of 3.25 lakhs of which 2 lakhs (61.5%) are stray dogs and 1.25 lakhs (38.5%) are pet dogs. The dog:man ratio was about 1:12 and the pet:stray dog ratio of 1:2. The awareness about Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme was low (34%) and only 20% had faith in it. The annual incidence of dog bites was 1.9% persons. It was more in males (64%) and mostly from stray dogs (64%). About 86% of them received anti-rabies vaccination and none received life saving Anti-Rabies Serum (ARS). The annual incidence of human rabies was 15 and dog rabies 58 resulting in a ratio of 1:4 approximately as a rabies contagion index. The implementation of ABC programme was weak (10.4% coverage) and is recommended for acceleration and improvement. Similarly modern anti-rabies immunization, including anti-rabic serum, shall replace the outdated sample (sheep brain) vaccine.