COVID-19 vaccine safety and side effects in children aged 5-11 years: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a global drive for vaccination, including children. Despite the urgency, understanding the safety and side effects remains crucial. Our study aimed to evaluate the safety of the Pfizer- BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine in children by determining the proportion of vaccinated children who experienced side effects and identifying factors associated with postvaccination side effects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among children who received the COVID-19 vaccine between 3 February and 8 May 2022. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire filled out by the parent or legal guardian.

RESULTS

The mean age of the study participants was 9 years old and 43.1% were males. Out of the 195 participants in the study, 62 (31.8%) reported side effects after vaccination. The most frequently reported side effects were pain at the injection site (29.7%, n=58), fever (15.9%, n=31), localised inflammation (10.8%, n=21) and arthralgia/myalgia (9.2%, n=18). There were no reported severe adverse events such as anaphylaxis or myocarditis. Most side effects occurred within the first two days post-vaccination. There was a higher proportion of side effects among children with underlying co-morbidities. No significant differences were observed based on age, weight, ethnicity and the presence of allergies, or the use of premedication.

CONCLUSION

The BNT162b2 vaccine was generally welltolerated in children, with most side effects being mild and self-limiting. These findings support the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine and would guide healthcare professionals, parents and policy-makers in making informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccination, especially among high-risk groups.

Adverse events following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination among healthcare workers: A single-centre experience in Malaysia

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis that has resulted in a massive disease burden worldwide. Mass vaccination plays an important role in controlling the spread and severity of COVID-19 infections worldwide.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hospital Tuanku Ja'afar Seremban between 1 March 2021 and 4 May 2021 to describe the adverse events (AE) following BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccination. Healthcare personnel who received at least one dose of the vaccine were invited to complete an online questionnaire.

RESULTS

Of 2282 analysed samples, AE were experienced in up to 64.5% (n=1472) of the study participants. Most AE were encountered after the second dose (56.5%, n=832). Pain at the injection site (41.5%, n=944), fever (35.1%, n=798) and lethargy (34.8%, n=792) were the most commonly reported AE. Severe AEFI were reported in a minority (2.9%, n=68). There were no documented anaphylaxis, vaccine-induced thrombosis, or myocarditis. The proportion of female recipients and recipients with a history of allergy were higher in the AE group compared to the non-AE group.

CONCLUSION

Our study reinforces the safety of the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in the local population. The main adverse events were mild, although they occurred in most patients.

PTEN inhibition leads to the development of resistance to novel isoquinoline derivative TNBG-5602 in human liver cancer cells

TNBG-5602, a new synthesized derivative of tetrazanbigen, is a potential chemotherapeutic agent against cancer. However, its underlying mechanism is complex and still unknown. In this investigation, the anticancer effects of TNBG-5602 were determined in vitro and in vivo. Small RNA retroviral library plasmids that overexpress 19-bp fragments were used to generate TNBG-5602-resistant cells. After validation, the overexpressed 19-bp fragments were sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the drug-resistant cells. Furthermore, the relationship of TNBG-5602, phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on Chromosome 10 (PTEN), and the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway was explored. The results showed that TNBG-5602 can effectively inhibit cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Drug-resistant cells were screened using the small RNA library. Compared with naïve cells, drug-resistant cells were more resistant to TNBG-5602 in vitro and in vivo. NGS results revealed that the second highest overexpressed 19-bp fragment perfectly matched the PTEN gene, so the expression of PTEN in various cells and tissues was verified. Further research showed that exogenous overexpression of PTEN strengthened the anticancer effects of TNBG-5602 on p-Akt expression, whereas silencing of PTEN weakened these effects in naïve cells. Taken together, by using this library, we confirmed that PTEN is the target gene to the anticancer effects of TNBG-5602 via the PI3K/Akt pathway.

Aloe-emodin derived azoles as a new structural type of potential antibacterial agents: design, synthesis, and evaluation of the action on membrane, DNA, and MRSA DNA isomerase

As serious global drug resistance motivated the exploration of new structural drugs, we developed a type of novel structural aloe-emodin azoles as potential antibacterial agents in this work. Some target aloe-emodin azoles displayed effective activity against the tested strains, especially tetrazolyl aloe-emodin 4b showed a low MIC value of 2 μg mL-1 towards MRSA, being more efficient than the reference drug norfloxacin (MIC = 8 μg mL-1). Also, the active molecule 4b exhibited low cytotoxicity against LO2 cells with no distinct tendency to induce the concerned resistance towards MRSA. The tetrazolyl derivative 4b was preliminarily investigated for the possible mechanism; it was revealed that tetrazolyl derivative 4b could both disrupt the integrity of MRSA membrane and form 4b-DNA supramolecular complex by intercalating into DNA. Moreover, tetrazolyl aloe-emodin 4b could bind with MRSA DNA isomerase at multiple sites through hydrogen bonds in molecular simulation.

New Progress in Azole Compounds as Antimicrobial Agents

The increasing incidence of microbial resistance and newly emerging pathogens have become a serious challenge for public health. More and more efforts have been directed to the development of new antimicrobial agents with distinct mechanisms from the well-known classes of clinical drugs. The extensive clinical utilization of azole-based medicinal drugs has evoked numerous attentions, and their researches and developments have been a quite rapid developing and active highlight topic with an infinite space. Consideration of our researches on azole compounds and other literature in recent three years, this review scientifically reviewed the new progress of azole derivatives as antibacterial, antifungal, antitubercular and antiviral agents, including mono-nitrogen azoles (oxazoles, thiazoles and carbazoles), bis-nitrogen azoles (imidazoles, pyrazoles and benzimidazoles) and tri-nitrogen azoles (triazoles and benzotriazoles) as well as tetrazole derivatives. It was hoped that this review would be helpful for the design and development of highly efficient azole derivatives with high bioactivity and low toxicity.

Recent researches in metal supramolecular complexes as anticancer agents

The research and development of metal supramolecular complexes as anticancer supramolecular drugs, which are aggregates mainly formed by one or more inorganic metal compounds with one or more either inorganic or organic molecules in general via coordination bonds, has been a quite rapidly developing, increasingly active and newly rising highlight interdisciplinary field. Numerous efforts have been directed toward metal supramolecular complexes as potential anticancer agents and the unprecedented progress has been made. This has opened up a wholly new and infinite space to create novel metal-based bioactive supermolecules. More importantly, metal-based complex supermolecules as potential anticancer agents with wide potential applications have become highlight topics in recent years, and are becoming increasingly useful and important in preventing and treating cancer diseases. In view of the rapid progress in metal complex anticancer supermolecules with rich variation of structural types, this work systematically reviewed the recent research and development of the whole range of metal-based supramolecular complexes as anticancer agents mainly in 2009. The perspectives of the foreseeable future and potential application of metal supramolecular complexes in cancer therapy were also presented. It is hoped that this review will serve as a stimulant for new thoughts in the quest for rational designs of more active and less toxic metal supramolecular complex anticancer drugs.

Recent Researches in Metal Supramolecular Complexes as Anticancer Agents

The research and development of metal supramolecular complexes as anticancer supramolecular drugs, which are aggregates mainly formed by one or more inorganic metal compounds with one or more either inorganic or organic molecules in general via coordination bonds, has been a quite rapidly developing, increasingly active and newly rising highlight interdisciplinary field. Numerous efforts have been directed toward metal supramolecular complexes as potential anticancer agents and the unprecedented progress has been made. This has opened up a wholly new and infinite space to create novel metal-based bioactive supermolecules. More importantly, metal-based complex supermolecules as potential anticancer agents with wide potential applications have become highlight topics in recent years, and are becoming increasingly useful and important in preventing and treating cancer diseases. In view of the rapid progress in metal complex anticancer supermolecules with rich variation of structural types, this work systematically reviewed the recent research and development of the whole range of metal-based supramolecular complexes as anticancer agents mainly in 2009. The perspectives of the foreseeable future and potential application of metal supramolecular complexes in cancer therapy were also presented. It is hoped that this review will serve as a stimulant for new thoughts in the quest for rational designs of more active and less toxic metal supramolecular complex anticancer drugs.

Synthesis, antibacterial and antifungal activities of some carbazole derivatives

A series of N-substituted carbazole derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities against Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus proteus, Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus by two fold serial dilution technique. Some of the synthesized compounds displayed comparable or even better antibacterial and antifungal activities than reference drugs fluconazole, chloramphenicol and norfloxacin against tested strains.

Review on supermolecules as chemical drugs

Supramolecular medicinal chemistry field has been a quite rapidly developing, increasingly active and newly rising interdiscipline which is the new expansion of supramolecular chemistry in pharmaceutical sciences, and is gradually becoming a relatively independent scientific area. Supramolecular drugs could be defined as medicinal supermolecules formed by two or more molecules through non-covalent bonds. So far a lot of supermolecules as chemical drugs have been widely used in clinics. Supermolecules as chemical drugs, i.e. supramolecular chemical drugs or supramolecular drugs, which might have the excellences of lower cost, shorter period, higher potential as clinical drugs for their successful research and development, may possess higher bioavailability, better biocompatibility and drug-targeting, fewer multidrug-resistances, lower toxicity, less adverse effect, and better curative effects as well as safety, and therefore exhibit wide potential application. These overwhelming advantages have drawn enormous special attention. This paper gives the definition of supramolecular drugs, proposes the concept of supramolecular chemical drugs, and systematically reviews the recent advances in the research and development of supermolecules, including organic and inorganic complex ones as chemical drugs in the area of antitumor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimalarial, antibacterial, antifungal, antivirus, anti-epileptic, cardiovascular agents and magnetic resonance imaging agents and so on. The perspectives of the foreseeable future and potential application of supramolecules as chemical drugs are also presented.