Publications by authors named "Duong Bich Thuy"

Patients with severe COVID-19 disease require monitoring with pulse oximetry as a minimal requirement. In many low- and middle- income countries, this has been challenging due to lack of staff and equipment. Wearable pulse oximeters potentially offer an attractive means to address this need, due to their low cost, battery operability and capacity for remote monitoring.

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Tetanus is a disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is an objective clinical marker with potential value in tetanus. This study aimed to investigate the use of wearable devices to collect HRV data and the relationship between HRV and tetanus severity.

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Background: Interpreting point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) images from intensive care unit (ICU) patients can be challenging, especially in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) where there is limited training available. Despite recent advances in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate many ultrasound imaging analysis tasks, no AI-enabled LUS solutions have been proven to be clinically useful in ICUs, and specifically in LMICs. Therefore, we developed an AI solution that assists LUS practitioners and assessed its usefulness in  a low resource ICU.

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Severe tetanus is characterized by muscle spasm and cardiovascular system disturbance. The pathophysiology of muscle spasm is relatively well understood and involves inhibition of central inhibitory synapses by tetanus toxin. That of cardiovascular disturbance is less clear, but is believed to relate to disinhibition of the autonomic nervous system.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the effectiveness of intrathecal (spinal) versus intramuscular (muscle) antitoxin treatments in adults with generalized tetanus, addressing concerns about toxin penetration in the central nervous system (CNS).
  • Conducted as a factorial trial, 272 patients were randomly assigned to receive either human or equine antitoxin injections and then either an intrathecal antitoxin or a sham procedure to compare outcomes.
  • The results showed that 43% of patients receiving intrathecal antitoxin required mechanical ventilation, versus 50% of those in the sham group, indicating no significant difference, while similar rates were observed between human and equine intramuscular treatments.
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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine acceptance is essential in controlling the virus. Vaccine knowledge influences vaccine acceptance and understanding this is vital in planning immunization strategies.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the public COVID-19 vaccine knowledge levels and predictors of low knowledge levels in Vietnam.

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine acceptance is influenced by the trusted recommenders. This survey examined the public references, concerns, and trust in seven groups of recommenders regarding COVID-19 vaccine in Vietnam.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1,579 participants between April 16 and July 16, 2021.

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Tetanus remains common in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) yet the evidence base guiding management of this disease is extremely limited, particularly with respect to contemporary management options. Sharing knowledge about practice may facilitate improvement in outcomes elsewhere. : We describe clinical interventions and outcomes of 180 adult patients ≥16 years-old with tetanus enrolled in prospective observational studies at a specialist infectious diseases hospital in Southern Vietnam.

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Background: Vietnam is among the few countries that were successful in the fight against the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, subsequent domestic outbreaks of COVID-19 continue to occur. To sharp the community education program to guarantee the final success in the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam and comparable countries, we examined the levels of COVID-19 knowledge and associated predictors among university students in Vietnam.

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Little is known about antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) intestinal carriage among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vietnam. All HCWs at a tertiary intensive care units were asked to undertake weekly rectal swabs. Among 40 participants, 65% (26/40) carried extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)/AmpC β-lactamase-producing .

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Objective: Effective handwashing practices help prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study examined the knowledge, frequency, and characteristics of handwashing practices among Vietnamese university students.

Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on all students enrolling at Phenikaa University in Vietnam.

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Tetanus arises from wound contamination with Clostridium tetani, but approximately one fifth of patients have no discernable entry wound. Clostridium tetani is culturable from animal feces, suggesting the gastrointestinal tract could be an endogenous reservoir or direct-entry portal, but human data are lacking. In this study of 101 Vietnamese adults with tetanus and 29 hospitalized control subjects, admission stool samples were cultured for C.

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Background: Tetanus remains common in many low- and middle-income countries, but as critical care services improve, mortality from tetanus is improving. Nevertheless, patients develop severe syndromes associated with autonomic nervous system disturbance (ANSD) and the requirement for mechanical ventilation (MV). Understanding factors associated with worse outcome in such settings is important to direct interventions.

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Although Vietnam has been successful in the fight against the first wave of COVID-19, domestic outbreaks have continued to occur. Given university students constitute a significant proportion of the population in Vietnam, to improve the prevention and control of COVID-19 in Vietnam and comparable countries, we examined their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards face mask use which is an important preventive measure and the association between the levels of COVID-19 knowledge and KAP towards face mask use. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on all students studying at Phenikaa University, Hanoi, using a self-developed questionnaire consisted of 42 questions regarding KAP towards face mask use as well as reuse of cloth mask, and COVID-19 knowledge.

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Pre-existing colonization with or has been found to increase the risk of infection in intensive care patients. We previously conducted a longitudinal study to characterize colonization of these two organisms in patients admitted to intensive care in a hospital in southern Vietnam. Here, using genomic and phylogenetic analyses, we aimed to assess the contribution these colonizing organisms made to infections.

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Data concerning intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired bacterial colonization and infections are scarce from low and middle-income countries (LMICs). ICU patients in these settings are at high risk of becoming colonized and infected with antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs). We conducted a prospective observational study at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Vietnam from November 2014 to January 2016 to assess the ICU-acquired colonization and infections, focusing on the five major pathogens in our setting: Staphylococcus aureus (S.

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Tetanus remains a significant burden in many low- and middle-income countries. The tetanus toxin acts within the central nervous system and intrathecal antitoxin administration may be beneficial, but there are safety concerns, especially in resource-limited settings. We performed a pilot study to assess the safety and feasibility of intrathecal human tetanus immunoglobulin in five adults with tetanus before the conduct of a large randomized controlled trial.

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Importance: The quick Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score has not been well-evaluated in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objective: To assess the association of qSOFA with excess hospital death among patients with suspected infection in LMICs and to compare qSOFA with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria.

Design, Settings, And Participants: Retrospective secondary analysis of 8 cohort studies and 1 randomized clinical trial from 2003 to 2017.

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Background: Ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI) is a significant problem in resource-restricted intensive care units (ICUs), but differences in casemix and etiology means VARI in resource-restricted ICUs may be different from that found in resource-rich units. Data from these settings are vital to plan preventative interventions and assess their cost-effectiveness, but few are available.

Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study in four Vietnamese ICUs to assess the incidence and impact of VARI.

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There is a paucity of data regarding initial bacterial colonization on admission to Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Patients admitted to ICUs in LMICs are at high-risk of subsequent infection with antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs). We conducted a prospective, observational study at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from November 2014 to January 2016 to assess the colonization and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp.

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Article Synopsis
  • In Vietnam, data on tetanus cases is lacking, prompting an analysis of 786 cases over 18 years to evaluate the impact of vaccination programs like the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) and the Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) initiative.
  • The median age of tetanus patients increased significantly from 33 years in 1994 to 46 years in 2012, showing that most cases were older adults who were born before the EPI was implemented.
  • Testing showed that while 73.3% of women covered by MNT had anti-tetanus antibodies, only 24.4% of men had them, highlighting a continued vulnerability to tetanus among
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