Emerging carbapenem-resistant sequence type 16 causing multiple outbreaks in a tertiary hospital in southern Vietnam.

The emergence of carbapenem resistance in represents a major global public health concern. Nosocomial outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant are commonly reported to result in high morbidity and mortality due to limited treatment options. Between October 2019 and January 2020, two concurrent high-mortality nosocomial outbreaks occurred in a referral hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Intensive Antituberculosis Treatment of Tuberculous Meningitis.

The most effective antituberculosis drug treatment regimen for tuberculous meningitis is uncertain. We conducted a randomized controlled trial comparing standard treatment with a regimen intensified by rifampin 15 mg/kg and levofloxacin for the first 60 days. The intensified regimen did not improve survival or any other outcome.

Blockade of dengue virus transmission from viremic blood to Aedes aegypti mosquitoes using human monoclonal antibodies.

Background: Dengue is the most prevalent arboviral disease of humans. Virus neutralizing antibodies are likely to be critical for clinical immunity after vaccination or natural infection. A number of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have previously been characterized as able to neutralize the infectivity of dengue virus (DENV) for mammalian cells in cell-culture systems.

Assessing the efficacy and safety of magnesium sulfate for management of autonomic nervous system dysregulation in Vietnamese children with severe hand foot and mouth disease.

Background: Brainstem encephalitis is a serious complication of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in children. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysregulation and hypertension may occur, sometimes progressing to cardiopulmonary failure and death. Vietnamese national guidelines recommend use of milrinone if ANS dysregulation with Stage 2 hypertension develops.

Multilocus sequence typing of Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii from Laos in a regional and global context.

Cryptococcosis causes approximately 180 000 deaths each year in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Patients with other forms of immunosuppression are also at risk, and disease is increasingly recognized in apparently immunocompetent individuals. Cryptococcus neoformans var.

Field- and clinically derived estimates of -mediated blocking of dengue virus transmission potential in mosquitoes.

The Mel strain of can reduce the permissiveness of mosquitoes to disseminated arboviral infections. Here, we report that Mel-infected (Ho Chi Minh City background), when directly blood-fed on 141 viremic dengue patients, have lower dengue virus (DENV) transmission potential and have a longer extrinsic incubation period than their wild-type counterparts. The Mel-infected mosquitoes that are field-reared have even greater relative resistance to DENV infection when fed on patient-derived viremic blood meals.

Clinical Outcomes of Patients With Drug-Resistant Tuberculous Meningitis Treated With an Intensified Antituberculosis Regimen.

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is difficult to diagnose and treat. Mortality is high and optimal treatment is unknown. We compared clinical outcomes of drug-resistant and -susceptible TBM treated with either standard or intensified antituberculosis treatment.

Development and evaluation of a non-ribosomal random PCR and next-generation sequencing based assay for detection and sequencing of hand, foot and mouth disease pathogens.

Background: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has become a major public health problem across the Asia-Pacific region, and is commonly caused by enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) and coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6), CV-A10 and CV-A16. Generating pathogen whole-genome sequences is essential for understanding their evolutionary biology. The frequent replacements among EV serotypes and a limited numbers of available whole-genome sequences hinder the development of overlapping PCRs for whole-genome sequencing.

Burden of Hospital Acquired Infections and Antimicrobial Use in Vietnamese Adult Intensive Care Units.

Background: Vietnam is a lower middle-income country with no national surveillance system for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). We assessed the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial use in adult intensive care units (ICUs) across Vietnam.

Methods: Monthly repeated point prevalence surveys were systematically conducted to assess HAI prevalence and antimicrobial use in 15 adult ICUs across Vietnam.

Lovastatin for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Dengue: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Background: Dengue endangers billions of people in the tropical world, yet no therapeutic is currently available. In part, the severe manifestations of dengue reflect inflammatory processes affecting the vascular endothelium. In addition to lipid lowering, statins have pleiotropic effects that improve endothelial function, and epidemiological studies suggest that outcomes from a range of acute inflammatory syndromes are improved in patients already on statin therapy.

Comparative Susceptibility of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti to Dengue Virus Infection After Feeding on Blood of Viremic Humans: Implications for Public Health.

Aedes albopictus is secondary to Aedes aegypti as a vector of dengue viruses (DENVs) in settings of endemicity, but it plays an important role in areas of dengue emergence. This study compared the susceptibility of these 2 species to DENV infection by performing 232 direct blood-feeding experiments on 118 viremic patients with dengue in Vietnam. Field-derived A.

Patient-based transcriptome-wide analysis identify interferon and ubiquination pathways as potential predictors of influenza A disease severity.

Background: The influenza A virus is an RNA virus that is responsible for seasonal epidemics worldwide with up to five million cases of severe illness and 500,000 deaths annually according to the World Health Organization estimates. The factors associated with severe diseases are not well defined, but more severe disease is more often seen among persons aged >65 years, infants, pregnant women, and individuals of any age with underlying health conditions.

Methodology/principal Findings: Using gene expression microarrays, the transcriptomic profiles of influenza-infected patients with severe (N = 11), moderate (N = 40) and mild (N = 83) symptoms were compared with the febrile patients of unknown etiology (N = 73).

Host and viral features of human dengue cases shape the population of infected and infectious Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.

Dengue is the most prevalent arboviral disease of humans. The host and virus variables associated with dengue virus (DENV) transmission from symptomatic dengue cases (n = 208) to Aedes aegypti mosquitoes during 407 independent exposure events was defined. The 50% mosquito infectious dose for each of DENV-1-4 ranged from 6.

A randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial of balapiravir, a polymerase inhibitor, in adult dengue patients.

Background: Dengue is the most common arboviral infection of humans. There are currently no specific treatments for dengue. Balapiravir is a prodrug of a nucleoside analogue (called R1479) and an inhibitor of hepatitis C virus replication in vivo.