Bardají A, Steinhoff M, Macete E, Aguado T, Menéndez C. The burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in pregnancy in low-resource settings. Lancet Glob Health. 2016 Mar;4(3):e152-3.
This study describes the importance of immunization in pregnancy to protect both the mother and infant. It points out that pregnant women are generally left out of vaccine research, and the lack of data reduces their access to effective prevention. There is a need for rigorous evaluations to generate maternal disease burden data, which will allow implementation of policies. Collaboration between lower, middle, and high income countries to gather the data and collaborate on evaluation of interventions is crucial.
Hughes MM, Katz J, Englund JA, Khatry SK, Shrestha L, LeClerq SC, Steinhoff M, Tielsch JM. Infant vaccination timing: Beyond traditional coverage metrics for maximizing impact of vaccine  programs, an example from southern Nepal. Vaccine. 2016 Feb 10;34(7)933-41.
Vaccine coverage surveys usually provide information regarding the percent of children immunized. This was a population-based cohort study that followed Nepalese infants prospectively every week from birth to 6 months to assess timing of immunization. It showed that the date of immunization is often substantially delayed, meaning that infants are not protected in early infancy. We suggest that standard vaccine coverage data should report both the percentage immunized, as well as the age of receipt of vaccine.
Seto TL, Tabangin ME, Langdon G, Mangeot C, Dawodu A, Steinhoff M, Narendran V. Racial disparities in cord blood vitamin D levels and its association with small-for-gestational-age infants. J Perinatol. 2016 Aug;36(8):623-8.
Vitamin D is increasingly recognized for its role in pregnancy and deficiency may associate with maternal and neonatal complications such as small-for-gestational-age. Identification of racial disparity in neonatal vitamin D deficiency and its association with small-for-gestational age can lead to targeted prenatal vitamin D supplementation to reduce neonatal vitamin D deficiency and improve perinatal outcome.
Ebenezer K, Dawodu A, Steinhoff M. Serum vitamin D status and outcome among critically ill children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit in South India: Authors’ Reply. Indian J Pediatr. 2016 Aug;83(8):912-3.
Researchers associate vitamin D deficiency with illness severity and longer hospital stay in critically ill hospitalized children. This study among critically ill children admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in South India, demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency on admission is associated with higher severity of illness score, need for cardiovascular and ventilator support, and suggests that evaluation of effect of vitamin D supplementation among critically ill children warrant study.