Antenatal care is associated with adherence to iron supplementation among pregnant women in selected low-middle-income-countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America & the Caribbean regions: Insights from Demographic and Health Surveys.

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting 800 million women and children globally. Anaemia is associated with perinatal mortality, child morbidity and mortality, mental development, immune competence, susceptibility to lead poisoning and performance at work. The objective of this article is to identify whether antenatal care-seeking was associated with the uptake of iron supplementation among pregnant women, adjusting for a range of covariates.

Associations of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices toward Anemia with Anemia Prevalence and Height-for-Age Z-Score among Indonesian Adolescent Girls.

Background: Crucial gaps persist in knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of adolescent girls that affect anemia and linear growth failure.

Objective: To understand the role of KAP as a risk factor of anemia and linear growth problem in adolescent girls.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 335 adolescent girls selected by clustered random sampling.

Associations of meal patterning, dietary quality and diversity with anemia and overweight-obesity among Indonesian school-going adolescent girls in West Java.

Background: Poor diet is a risk factor for anemia, overweight, and obesity among adolescent girls. However, comprehensive assessment on dietary quality and habits in this population is limited. We assessed the association of meal patterning, dietary quality, and dietary diversity with both anemia and overweight-obesity.

Knowledge and perception of tuberculosis and the risk to become treatment default among newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients treated in primary health care, East Nusa Tenggara: a retrospective study.

Background: Despite the high efficacy of tuberculosis (TB) drug regiments, one of the barriers in the TB control program is the non-compliance to treatment. Morbidity, mortality, and risk to become resistant to drugs are emerging among defaulters. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the factors, especially knowledge and perceptions of TB and association with treatment default among patients treated in primary care settings, East Nusa Tenggara.

Effectiveness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine in an Indonesian population with D543N NRAMP1 polymorphism.

Introduction: Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination remains a routine immunization in primary care in tuberculosis (TB)-endemic areas, though several studies found that its efficacy was inconclusive. Natural resistance-asociated machrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1) polymorphism has been shown to result in higher susceptibility to TB. Information on genetic susceptibility in populations will be useful in planning the application of the BCG vaccine.

Zinc and vitamin A supplementation fails to reduce sputum conversion time in severely malnourished pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Indonesia.

Background: A previous study showed that combination of zinc and vitamin A reduced sputum conversion time in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients.

Objective: We studied the efficacy of which single micronutrient contributed more to the sputum conversion time.

Methods: In a double-blind randomized community trial, newly sputum smear positive pulmonary TB patients were assigned randomly to receive zinc, vitamin A, zinc + vitamin A or placebo on top of TB treatment.

Vitamin A deficiency and other factors associated with severe tuberculosis in Timor and Rote Islands, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

Background: Plasma zinc and vitamin A concentrations have been reported to be low in tuberculosis (TB) patients in some studies, although it is not clear whether this constitutes a risk for a more severe clinical presentation among TB patients. The acute phase reaction may also deplete zinc and vitamin A in the plasma. Therefore, we further studied these associations.

Malnutrition and socio-demographic factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis in Timor and Rote Islands, Indonesia.

Objective: To identify nutritional and socio-demographic factors for the development of tuberculosis (TB) in Timor and Rote Island, Indonesia, so that intervention programmes can be developed to address these factors.

Methods: In a case-control study, we enrolled new sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB patients as cases, and neighbours matched for sex and age as controls. Data obtained included history of TB, socio-demographic factors and nutritional status.

Effect of daily or weekly multiple-micronutrient and iron foodlike tablets on body iron stores of Indonesian infants aged 6-12 mo: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: There is still uncertainty about the best procedure to alleviate iron deficiency. Additionally more reliable methods are needed to assess the effect of iron intervention.

Objective: We examined the efficacy of daily iron (10 mg), daily and weekly multiple-micronutrient supplementation (10 and 20 mg Fe, respectively) in improving body iron stores of Indonesian infants.

Cytokines related to nutritional status in patients with untreated pulmonary tuberculosis in Indonesia.

Although several studies have dealt with the patterns of cytokine production in tuberculosis, little is known about the association between nutrient deficiencies and cytokines in tuberculosis. The objective of this study was to assess the concentration of cytokines related to nutritional status during tuberculosis. In 41 untreated tuberculosis patients and matched healthy controls in an urban hospital in Indonesia, we measured: height and weight, parameters of iron, vitamin A and zinc; and cytokines concentrations in the circulation and production in whole blood cultures.

Efficacy of daily and weekly multiple micronutrient food-like tablets for the correction of iodine deficiency in Indonesian males aged 6-12 mo.

Background: Infants are highly vulnerable to iodine deficiency, and little data exist on the effect of multiple micronutrient supplementation on their iodine status.

Objective: We aimed to compare the efficacy of daily and weekly multiple micronutrient food-like tablets (foodLETs) on increasing iodine status among infants.

Design: In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 133 Indonesian males aged 6-12 mo were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: a daily multiple-micronutrient foodLET providing the Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI)(DMM), a weekly multiple-micronutrient foodLET providing twice the RNI (WMM), a daily 10-mg Fe foodLET (DI), or placebo.

Multiple micronutrient supplements improve micronutrient status and anemia but not growth and morbidity of Indonesian infants: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are highly prevalent in Indonesia, but the interventions are still focused on single micronutrients. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of multiple micronutrient supplements for improving micronutrient status, anemia, growth, and morbidity of Indonesian infants. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 284 infants aged 6-12 mo were randomly allocated to 4 treatment groups for 23 wk; 260 (92%) infants completed the study.

Efficacy of a foodlet-based multiple micronutrient supplement for preventing growth faltering, anemia, and micronutrient deficiency of infants: the four country IRIS trial pooled data analysis.

Diets of infants across the world are commonly deficient in multiple micronutrients during the period of growth faltering and dietary transition from milk to solid foods. A randomized placebo controlled trial was carried out in Indonesia, Peru, South Africa, and Vietnam, using a common protocol to investigate whether improving status for multiple micronutrients prevented growth faltering and anemia during infancy. The results of the pooled data analysis of the 4 countries for growth, anemia, and micronutrient status are reported.

IRIS. I: a FOODlet-based multiple-micronutrient intervention in 6- to 12-month-old infants at high risk of micronutrient malnutrition in four contrasting populations: description of a multicenter field trial.

Infants in developing countries are at risk of concurrent micronutrient deficiencies, because the same causative factors may lead to deficiencies of different micronutrients. Inadequate dietary intake is considered one of the major causes of micronutrient deficiencies, especially among poor and underprivileged children in developing countries. Operational strategies and distribution systems are often duplicated when supplementation programs for single micronutrients are implemented at the same time.

Social aspects of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Indonesia.

Tuberculosis (TB) patients have not only medical but also social problems related to their illness, which may influence their motivation for the completion of treatment. This study investigated the social aspects of patients with TB in an urban area of Jakarta, Indonesia. Most TB patients had poor nutritional status and lived in crowded environments.

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of vitamin A and zinc supplementation in persons with tuberculosis in Indonesia: effects on clinical response and nutritional status.

Background: The results of cross-sectional studies indicate that micronutrient deficiencies are common in patients with tuberculosis. No published data exist on the effect of vitamin A and zinc supplementation on antituberculosis treatment.

Objective: Our goal was to investigate whether vitamin A and zinc supplementation increases the efficacy of antituberculosis treatment with respect to clinical response and nutritional status.

Decreased plasma leptin concentrations in tuberculosis patients are associated with wasting and inflammation.

Tuberculosis patients often suffer from severe weight loss, which is considered to be immunosuppressive and a major determinant of severity and outcome of disease. Because leptin is involved in weight regulation and cellular immunity, its possible role in tuberculosis-associated wasting was investigated. In an urban clinic in Indonesia, plasma leptin concentrations, indicators of adipocyte mass, appetite, C-reactive protein (CRP), tuberculin reactivity, and cytokine response were measured in tuberculosis patients and healthy controls.

Poor micronutrient status of active pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Indonesia.

Malnutrition is observed frequently in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), but their nutritional status, especially of micronutrients, is still poorly documented. The objective of this study was to investigate the nutritional status of patients with active TB compared with that of healthy controls in Jakarta, Indonesia. In a case-control study, 41 out-patients aged 15-55 y with untreated active pulmonary TB were compared with 41 healthy controls selected from neighbors of the patients and matched for age and sex.

Increased production of interleukin 4 by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from patients with tuberculosis is related to the presence of pulmonary cavities.

In tuberculosis, cellular immunity is considered to be responsible for the eradication of infection but also for damage of host tissues. In animal models, the balance between Th1-type cytokines, especially interferon (IFN)-gamma, and Th2-type cytokines, primarily interleukin (IL)-4, seems crucial for these effects. Reports on Th1-type and Th2-type cytokines in human tuberculosis are conflicting, and little is known about their role in tissue damage.

Anthelminthic treatment raises plasma iron levels but does not decrease the acute-phase response in Jakarta school children.

The study was conducted to investigate the impact of intestinal helminthiasis and treatment on iron status and acute phase response (APR) among urban Indonesian primary school children, aged 8-11 years old. The prevalence of helminthiasis among these children was; Ascaris lumbricoides, 81.6%; Trichuris trichiura, 88.