Case-control study of ectopic pregnancies in Myanmar: infectious etiological factors.

We studied the role of infections in ectopic pregnancy and the different methods of detecting Chlamydia trachomatis infection using serology, cervical and tubal PCR assays, by using a hospital-based, case-control study conducted between November 2007 and September 2009. The sample size was 339 with 113 cases and 226 controls. The cases were women admitted for the management of ectopic pregnancy while the controls were women admitted for spontaneous miscarriage.

Studies on diarrheagenic Escherichia coli isolated from children with diarrhea in Myanmar.

Escherichia coli isolates from 217 children in Myanmar with diarrhea were investigated for the presence of virulence genes related to diarrhea by colony hybridization and PCR. The genes examined were lt, stI, stII, stx1, stx2, eae, bfp, pCVD (which is the representative gene of plasmid of pCVD of EAEC), and ial (which is invasion-associated locus of the invasion plasmid found in EIEC). Isolates from 47 of 217 children (21.

Serological response to chemoprophylaxis in extended contacts in leprosy--a randomized controlled trial.

Chemoprophylaxis was carried out on high risk group of extended contacts of new leprosy cases in Nyaungdon Township, Ayeyarwaddy Division, Myanmar and serological response was followed up for two years. In September 2003, blood samples were collected from 829 contacts after getting informed consent and sera were tested for immunoglobulin M antibodies using NTP-BSA ELISA test. These 300 seropositives were randomized to treated and non-treated groups.

Contamination of currency notes with enteric bacterial pathogens.

To determine the degree of faecal contamination of currency notes, samples of the notes that were in circulation in a local market in Rangoon were collected and examined bacteriologically to count the number of the total bacteria and faecal coliforms (TC, FC) using standard methods. TC and FC ranged from 0 to 2.9 X 10(7)/sq cm of currency notes and the isolation rates of pathogens increased during the hot wet season.

Carriage of enteric bacterial pathogens by house flies in Yangon, Myanmar.

The carriage of enteric bacterial pathogens by house flies, caught from different places of human habitation and at different seasons, was quantitatively determined in the town of Tamwe, Yangon, Myanmar. A total of 186 fly-pools, each containing 10 live flies, were caught in entomological cages by random sampling regarding season, month, frequency and place of collection. A 10% suspension of each homogenised fly-pool in sterile normal saline was prepared on the day of collection and was cultured to isolate pathogens using standard microbiological methods.