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\n \n \n \nPosted 19/03/2021. Tobias Brummaier reports that collaborative research efforts with SMRU and SIDRA have demonstrated that vaginal microbial composition and local vaginal immune environment are associated with preterm birth in Asian women from a low-resource setting, possibly providing an avenue towards an early predictive tool for preterm birth
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\n \n \n \nPosted 16/03/2021. Many women in Southeast Asia are smaller than their Western counterparts. How might this affect an otherwise healthy pregnancy? A recent study from the Thai-Myanmar border by Sue J Lee, Ahmar Hashmi and colleagues suggests that maternal height should be considered when providing advice regarding weight gain during pregnancy.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 09/03/2021. X-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency is the most common human enzymopathy. Ghulam Awab and colleagues analysed their clinical study and epidemiological data from Afghanistan gathered over the last decade and showed that the G6PD Mediterranean variant provided a marked gene dose proportional protection against P. vivax malaria.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 05/03/2021. Prevention of mother to child transmission of Hepatitis B can be challenging in resource limited settings. Marieke Bierhoff and colleagues look at strategies that might be more feasible in these settings. TDF (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) after rapid diagnostic test may be a more feasible strategy to implement in resource limited settings, TDF after hepatitis B e-antigen test is a cheaper option.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 02/03/2021. Direk Limmathurotsakul and colleagues show that a Sepsis Fast Track (SFT) programme, implemented in Thailand to screen, initiate sepsis care and fast-track them when applicable to ICU upon admission, are associated with higher chances of survival. We analyzed data of a prospective observational study, having control group from both pre and post-intervention periods.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 09/02/2021. Wirichada Pan-ngum and colleagues address key knowledge gaps on human-animal-water-source interactions and leptospirosis in high-risk settings, Thailand. Water-source sharing networks and human\u2013animal contact patterns are key information potentially involved in the epidemiology of leptospirosis. Occupations related to animals/environmental water and consuming water from more than two sources increased the risk exposure to leptospirosis.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 05/01/2021. Diagnosing rickettsial infections is difficult in low-resource settings; this leads to delays in receiving appropriate treatment. Before this study the distribution of rickettsioses in Myanmar was not known. This report of a serosurvey by Philip Elders, Elizabeth Ashley and colleagues shows rickettsioses are widespread in Myanmar, with high scrub typhus prevalence in central and northern regions.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 08/12/2020. \u201cNo bacterial culture, no drug-resistant infections.\u201d Cherry Lim, Direk Limmathurotsakul and colleagues show that the impact of low blood culture utilization on the observed proportions and incidences of drug-resistant infections could be high. This is likely happening in most of LMICs. A set of recommendations are proposed.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 18/12/2020. Lorenz Von Seidlein and colleagues observed that poorest people in rural Tanzania were the oldest people and especially old people without children. This observation came as a surprise because generation, the baby boomers has accumulated wealth throughout life and ended up wealthier by the time they reached retirement. There is a need to provide more financial and housing security for older people in rural Africa. Currently for many older people in rural Africa the only security are their children.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 11/12/2020. COVID-19 has hit informal urban settlements particularly hard. The control and prevention of COVID-19 in slums starts with organizing community infrastructure, provision of basic needs and protection of people at highest risk. Slums are a source for persistent transmission. In view of the constant risk that slums present to the entire population decisive steps need to be taken to rehabilitate and improve informal settlements, Lorenz Von Seidlein and colleagues provide suggestions.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 15/12/2020. A recent study co-led by Paul Turner and colleagues at COMRU identified extremely high prevalence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacterial carriage in households from Siem Reap, Cambodia. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli were detected in stool samples from >90% of participants. The results highlight the challenges to AMR control in locations where antibiotic overuse is common.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 04/12/2020. Paul Turner and COMRU researchers, working with Cambodia\u2019s University of Health Sciences and Fondation Merieux, evaluated recently the potential of MALDI-TOF-based serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae for vaccine impact surveillance. Despite early promise, the team found that MALDI-TOF performed poorly and should not replace existing serotyping methodologies.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 01/12/2020. This paper confirms that research is important to inform evidence-based medical care in LMICs settings. Napat Khirikoekkong, Phaik Yeong Cheah and colleagues found that migrants living along the Thai-Myanmar border, who were traditionally deemed vulnerable, exercise their agency and resourcefulness when navigating through their daily challenges, and participating in important health research
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\n \n \n \nPosted 27/11/2020. The migrant-friendly residential TB program of SMRU on the Thailand-Myanmar border has achieved high treatment success rate. However, many TB patients admitted to the centers are in advanced stage of disease. Win Pa Pa Htun and colleagues show that early TB death (in the first month of treatment) is highest among pulmonary TB cases and in particular in HIV co-infected patients and in those with co-morbidity. Early detection and treatment for both TB and HIV are crucial for migrants, if the case fatality rate is to be reduced in this marginalized population.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 24/11/2020. Malaria Screener is a smartphone application developed by the National Library of Medicine, in partnership with Richard Maude and colleagues at MORU Epidemiology, aiming to improve the availability of high quality malaria diagnosis. It is cheap, fast and easy-to-use with a standard smartphone and microscope and detects malaria parasites by machine learning.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 10/11/20. Artemisinin-based combination therapies are not only effectively curing malaria, they also impact male malaria parasites in their capacity for onward transmission to the mosquito. Here, Andrea Ruecker and colleagues provide clear evidence that artemisinin resistant parasites overcome this sterilising effect to successfully infect mosquitoes under drug pressure, facilitating the spread of artemisinin resistance.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 06/11/20. Victor Chaumeau and colleagues assessed the impact of outdoor residual spraying on the biting rate of malaria mosquitoes in four villages in Kayin state, Myanmar. They reported a 10-fold decrease in mosquito biting rate immediately after the intervention and concluded that outdoor residual spraying can be used to control malaria mosquitoes in this area.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 13/10/2020. Xin Hui Chan and colleagues summarise their rapid reviews on the efficacy of personal protective equipment for preventing COVID-19 in primary and community care. They highlight how PPE is designed for use as an ensemble, is a complex intervention which should include appropriate training and support, and is the least effective of the hierarchy of controls.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 07/10/2020. The Asia-Pacific region is the epicentre of the emergence of resistance against frontline antimalarials, and also faces a high proportion of non-falciparum malaria. Sarah Auburn and colleagues review novel approaches for molecular surveillance that can help track drug resistant parasites and the spread of parasites across the region, discussed at a recent APMEN workshop in Jakarta, and how these approaches can provide important information for policy makers in malaria-endemic regions.
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\n \n \n \nPosted 25/09/2020. Prevention of mother to child transmission of hepatitis B with maternal tenofovir DF is one option to reach elimination of this infection. However, implementing this in a resource limited setting is challenging. Marieke Bierhoff and colleagues describe the most common challenges and possible solutions like transport assistance and local agreements to facilitate access.
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