Etiology and epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia in adults requiring hospital admission: A prospective study in rural Central Philippines.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among adults worldwide. However, the distribution of the etiology of CAP varies from one country to another, with limited data from rural areas.

Methods: A prospective hospital-based study on adult CAP was conducted in Leyte, Central Philippines from May 2010 to May 2012.

Molecular epidemiology of Bordetella pertussis in the Philippines in 2012-2014.

Objectives: The present study was designed to determine the genotypes of circulating Bordetella pertussis in the Philippines by direct molecular typing of clinical specimens.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPSs) were collected from 50 children hospitalized with pertussis in three hospitals during 2012-2014. Multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) was performed on the DNA extracts from NPSs.

Isolation and characterization of influenza C viruses in the Philippines and Japan.

From November 2009 to December 2013 in the Philippines, 15 influenza C viruses were isolated, using MDCK cells, from specimens obtained from children with severe pneumonia and influenza-like illness (ILI). This is the first report of influenza C virus isolation in the Philippines. In addition, from January 2008 to December 2013, 7 influenza C viruses were isolated from specimens that were obtained from children with acute respiratory illness (ARI) in Sendai city, Japan.

Impact of human adenovirus serotype 7 in hospitalized children with severe fatal pneumonia in the Philippines.

Human adenovirus (HAdV) serotype 7 is an important etiological agent of severe childhood pneumonia. The aim of this study was to define the role of HAdV7 and to describe its clinical and molecular epidemiological characteristics in the Philippines in 2011. HAdVs were detected by viral culture, and a partial region of hexon gene was sequenced.

Molecular evolution of enterovirus 68 detected in the Philippines.

Background: Detection of Enterovirus 68 (EV68) has recently been increased. However, underlying evolutionary mechanism of this increasing trend is not fully understood.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 5,240 patients with acute respiratory infections in the Philippines from June 2009 to December 2011.

Genetic characterization of human respiratory syncytial virus detected in hospitalized children in the Philippines from 2008 to 2012.

Background: Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants and young children. However, molecular characteristic of HRSV is still unknown in the Philippines.

Objective: To describe the molecular epidemiology of circulating HRSV detected in the Philippines.

Respiratory viruses from hospitalized children with severe pneumonia in the Philippines.

Background: Pneumonia remains a leading cause of child death in developing countries. The viruses in severe pneumonia remain poorly defined.

Methods: The study was conducted at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City, Philippines from May 2008 to May 2009.

Detection of human rhinovirus C viral genome in blood among children with severe respiratory infections in the Philippines.

Human rhinovirus (HRV) C was recently identified as the third species of HRV using a molecular technique. Infections caused by previously identified HRVs (A and B) are thought to be limited to the respiratory tract; however, pathogenesis of HRVC is still largely unknown. A total of 816 nasopharyngeal swabs from hospitalized children with severe respiratory infections in the Philippines (May 2008-May 2009) were tested for HRV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and 243 samples (29.

Molecular characteristics of extended-spectrum β-lactamases in clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae from the Philippines.

β-Lactamases, including extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC β-lactamases, are major resistance mechanisms of Enterobacteriaceae. Emergence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants in ESBL-producing isolates poses a global threat. The molecular characterisitcs of ESBL and PMQR determinants in the Philippines are not well characterized.

Enterovirus 68 among children with severe acute respiratory infection, the Philippines.

Enterovirus 68 (EV68) is a rare enterovirus associated with respiratory illness that, unlike other enteroviruses, has been identified only from respiratory specimens. We identified EV68 from respiratory specimens of children hospitalized with a diagnosis of severe pneumonia in Leyte, Republic of the Philippines. Twenty-one samples showed high similarity with EV68 by sequencing of 5' nontranslated region; 17 of these samples were confirmed as EV68 by sequencing of viral protein 1 capsid coding region.

Pneumonia among young infants in rural Southeast Asia (Bohol Island, Philippines).

Objective: To develop a clinical algorithm that can be used to identify pneumonia deaths in young infants in developing countries and estimate the disease burden in this population.

Patients And Methods: Infants younger than 60 days hospitalized with signs of severe pneumonia who underwent clinical, microbiologic and radiological evaluation were the subjects. Stepwise logistic regression and subtractive iterative process were used to derive the algorithm.

Efficacy of an 11-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against radiologically confirmed pneumonia among children less than 2 years of age in the Philippines: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Pneumococcus is a leading cause of childhood pneumonia worldwide. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have demonstrated efficacy against childhood invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and pneumonia in the United States and Africa. No information is available from Asia on the impact of PCV on childhood pneumonia.

Serious community-acquired paediatric infections in rural Asia (Bohol Island, Philippines): bacterial meningitis in children less than 5 years of age.

This paper describes the clinical profile and aetiology of bacterial meningitis in infants and children less than 5 y old admitted to a rural general hospital in the Philippines. A total of 989 infants and children 0-59 months old with suspected meningitis using a standardized guideline based on clinical signs and symptoms were prospectively enrolled from April 1994 to May 2000. Blood and CSF were drawn on admission for culture, antigen testing and cell count.

Central nervous system infection is an important cause of death in underfives hospitalised with World Health Organization (WHO) defined severe and very severe pneumonia.

Over 6 years, 1667 children aged 2-59 months admitted for pneumonia [1287 severe and 380 very severe] were studied. The case fatality rate (CFR) in children with severe pneumonia was 2.1% and 14.