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Science Blog. Professor Guy Thwaites, Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam, explains the discovery of yet another use for one of the most ubiquitous and ancient of drugs – aspirin.
Reduction of stillbirth rate in refugee and migrant populations living on the Thailand Myanmar border: A retrospective study 1986–2023
Posted 22/05/2026. From 1986-2023 SMRU documented a 3-fold reduction in stillbirth among marginalized refugee and migrant women demonstrating progress in a challenging context. Efforts were directed towards maintaining access to basic, quality driven, ANC and birthing services. Stillbirth rates remained higher than the host population, indicating persistent disparities. By Rose McGready
Willingness to accept paediatric blood sample collection for clinical research purposes in Nepal: a qualitative study
Posted 27/05/2026. Why do parents agree or refuse to let researchers collect blood samples from their children? This qualitative study from Nepal uncovers the complex pathways underpinning trust, fear, cultural beliefs, communication, and community relationships shape paediatric research participation, offering insights for ethical global health research and meaningful community engagement. By Ashata Dahal
Antibiotic and healthcare exposure impact on dynamics of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacterales colonisation in Cambodian children: a six-month cohort study
Posted 26/05/2026. The COMRU-META longitudinal cohort study in Cambodia showed a high prevalence of 3rd-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) E. coli and K. pneumoniae colonisation in young children. Healthcare and antibiotic exposure increased acquisition and persistence of 3GC-R K. pneumoniae over time, with no effect on 3GC-R E. coli colonisation dynamics. By Cristina Ardura
Population pharmacokinetics of DNDI-6148 in healthy adults
Posted 13/05/2026. Towards new treatments for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. DNDI-6148 is a promising oral drug candidate for leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. In a first-in-human trial, single oral doses up to 380 mg were well tolerated in healthy adults. Frauke Assmus and colleagues developed a population pharmacokinetic model, demonstrating dose-dependent non-linear behaviour and supporting dose selection for future patient trials.
Methods for estimating the burden of acute tropical infectious diseases: A scoping review
Posted 12/05/2026. This scoping review synthesised methods used to estimate the burden of acute tropical infectious diseases, particularly neglected tropical diseases. Reviewing 60 studies, Qian and colleagues identified major advances in machine learning and geospatial modelling, while highlighting persistent challenges including underreporting, data sparsity, and methodological uncertainty that limit evidence-based public health decision-making.
Predicting referral need for febrile children in low-resource community settings in South and Southeast Asia
Posted 08/05/2026. A new multi-country study implemented across South and Southeast Asia, led by MORU and MSF, shows that triage tools combining simple clinical assessments with pulse oximetry or a targeted blood test outperform current globally recognised danger signs in identifying febrile children at highest risk, while substantially reducing unnecessary hospital referrals. By Arjun Chandna
A sustainable house design to improve child health in rural Africa: a cluster-randomized controlled trial
Posted 28/04/2026. Children in Tanzania that lived in novel design houses were less likely to get malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections than were those living in conventional homes during a 3-year trial. The two-storey ‘Star Home’ puts bedrooms on the upper floor, where mosquitoes abundance is lower, and the latrine outside to help reduce the spread of diarrhoeal diseases. The design is a proof of concept to demonstrate that research can inform architecture that improves health outcomes. By Lorenz Von Seidlein
A repetitive nucleotide insertion in the rplV gene is associated with in vitro resistance to azithromycin in Rickettsia typhi
Posted 07/05/2026. Weerawat Phuklia and colleagues showed that reduced susceptibility to azithromycin in Rickettsia typhi can be induced under laboratory drug pressure. A small genetic change in a ribosomal protein likely affects how the drug binds. The change was reversible without antibiotic pressure, helping improve laboratory methods for studying antibiotic susceptibility in this bacterium.
Effect of external cephalic version in a resource-limited setting on the Thailand-Myanmar border: a retrospective cohort with propensity score analysis
Posted 06/05/2026. Pregnant women with breech presentation are offered external cephalic version (ECV) to avoid breech birth. Nay Win Tun, Sue Lee and colleagues found no difference in presentation at birth between women who were offered ECV or not. However, successful ECV was associated with significantly better outcomes, highlighting the importance of improving practitioner skill and ECV success rates to maximise clinical benefit.
Plasmodium vivax malaria relapse risk depends on transmission intensity: evidence from a longitudinal study in Northwest Thailand
Posted 05/05/2026. A prospective longitudinal cohort study in Thailand (2010-2014) showed declining incidence (0.19 to 0.09 per person-year) of Plasmodium vivax infections after primaquine radical cure. Primaquine efficacy at 4 months was 75% less than predicted in a previously published taylor-made probability model. This suggests higher doses of 8-aminoquinolines may not be needed in pre-elimination settings. By Cindy Chu
Sustaining community-based malaria services through stakeholder engagement: lessons from co-creation in northeastern Thailand
Posted 22/04/2026. This public engagement project explored how active participation by malaria post workers and community members can maintain malaria awareness and elimination advocacy in low-transmission settings. Through iterative stakeholder engagement in northeastern Thailand bordering Laos and Cambodia, Monnaphat Jongdeepaisal and colleagues co-created locally owned health education tools integrating malaria with local health priorities to support a stronger and sustainable community-based health care in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
Mapping the global prevalence and socioecological drivers of child sexual abuse: a systematic review and synthesis
Posted 14/04/2026. Child sexual abuse affects millions of children worldwide yet remains largely underreported. Salum Mshamu and colleagues highlight its global prevalence and key risk factors across individual, family and societal levels. Prompted by field experiences, they explore how child sexual abuse may surface in global health research, helping researchers better recognize and respond during fieldwork.
A mixed-methods evaluation of outreach service provision by the “Strengthening Migrant Access to Reproductive Health in Thailand” Initiative, 2020–2024
Posted 13/04/2026. Beginning in 2020, SMRU set out on something bold. It completely restructured maternal health services to incorporate outreach delivery—meeting migrant women where they are. Through COVID and a coup in Myanmar, this program delivered and offset the structural barriers migrant women face in accessing care. By Rose McGready
Community perceptions and acceptance of ivermectin for malaria control on Sumba Island, Indonesia
Posted 01/04/2026. This qualitative study led by OUCRU and MORU researchers and local partners, explores community perceptions and acceptance of using ivermectin-treated livestock for malaria control in Sumba, Indonesia. It finds generally positive attitudes, shaped by perceived benefits, trust and local relevance, while highlighting the importance of respectful research interactions and community engagement. By Mary Chambers
Impact of switching from manual to automated aerobic blood culture on bacteremia diagnosis in Lao PDR
Posted 25/03/2026. At a Lao primary-to-tertiary hospital, automated blood culture processing did not increase growth yield but shortened time to pathogen detection versus manual methods. However, adopting a single bottle reduced blood volume submitted across ages. Monitoring and clinician feedback on volumes may improve practice, though adding extra bottles would double costs. By Risara Jaksuwan
Cohort Profile: the SMRU Refugee and Migrant Pregnancy Study in Western Thailand and Eastern Myanmar
Posted 17/03/2026. The “Shoklo Malaria Research Unit Refugee and Migrant Pregnancy Cohort” established 40 years ago describes outcomes of refugee and migrant pregnancies at the Thailand-Myanmar border. With 94,645 registrations, the evidence has had local and international impact, improving maternal-newborn health practices, and changing the WHO guidelines on malaria treatment during pregnancy. By Rose McGready
Antimicrobial resistance in bacterial meningitis caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, or Haemophilus influenzae (2010–24): a systematic review and meta-analysis
Posted 10/02/2026. Gilbert Lazarus and Raph Hamers analysed antimicrobial resistance in bacterial meningitis, synthesising global data on Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae from 88 studies across 37 countries. Resistance to first-line antibiotics is common and rising in LMICs, threatening effective treatment and progress toward defeating meningitis by 2030. Strengthening syndrome-specific surveillance is critical to keeping treatment guidelines effective.
“The most stress comes from witnessing the abuse of children” — challenges faced by research assistants in community-based research in Mtwara, Tanzania
Posted 12/03/2026. While conducting fieldwork for a housing study in rural Tanzania, research assistants (RAs) identified several cases of child sexual abuse. This qualitative study explores how RAs encounter situations that can trigger moral distress, particularly when witnessing participant suffering, including cases of child sexual abuse. The nature and extent of these challenges, how RAs navigated moral distress, and potential solutions are discussed in this article. By Salum Mshamu, Bipin Adhikari & colleagues.
Aetiology of acute respiratory infection in Vientiane, Lao PDR, from a case–control study
Posted 10/03/2026. A case–control study in Laos investigated causes and risk factors of hospitalised acute respiratory infections in children under five. Respiratory syncytial virus and H. influenzae were major contributors. Exclusive breastfeeding and pneumococcal vaccination reduced risk, while low birth weight and household smoking increased risk, highlighting priorities for targeted prevention strategies. By Audrey Dubot-Pérès
Reimagining primary health care: a historical and contemporary scoping review of community-based primary health care models and innovations
Posted 13/02/2026. Can community-based primary health care survive rapid demographic change, rising chronic diseases, and digital disruption? Drawing on global evidence from 1975–2025, Bipin Adhikari and colleagues show how community health workers transformed access and equity, and why CBPHC must now evolve into an integrated, people-centered, and digitally enabled model to achieve universal health coverage.