Border and imported bancroftian filariases: baseline seroprevalence in sentinel populations exposed to infections with Wuchereria bancrofti and concomitant HIV at the start of diethylcarbamazine mass treatment in Thailand.

Border bancroftian filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti nocturnally subperiodic mainly exists in Karens residing alongside the Thailand-Myanmar border. Imported bancroftian filariasis caused by W. bancrofti nocturnally periodic mainly exists in cross-border Myanmar migrants.

Community-acquired pneumonia in southeast Asia: the microbial differences between ambulatory and hospitalized patients.

Study Objectives: To determine microbial agents causing community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Southeast Asia.

Design: A prospective study.

Setting: Three general hospitals in Thailand.

Evaluation of a new fourth-generation microwell enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of HIV-1 subtype B and E antibodies.

The recent fourth-generation enzyme-immunoassays have been used to increase the sensitivity for detecting HIV-1 antibodies and reduce the window period of HIV infection. The HIV antigens utilized in those assays were prepared from HIV-1 clade B which is different from HIV-1 subtypes circulating in Thailand. We evaluated 323 HIV-1 seropositives either B or E subtype to determine whether they were detected with the new combined anti-HIV and the p24 Ag assay.

HIV-2 infection in Thailand.

Neither the seroprevalence of HIV-2 nor the sensitivity of enzyme immunoassays for the detection of antibodies to this retrovirus have been defined in Thailand. We, therefore, Investigated these enigmas using banked sera previously screened for HIV-1 by a test that did not distinguish between HIV-1 and HIV-2. All 1,013 HIV-seroreactive specimens were positive to HIV-1 on retesting, and 740 (73%) were reactive to both HIV-1 and HIV-2.

Chlamydia pneumoniae in community-acquired pneumonia.

Chlamydia pneumoniae has been established recently as an important human respiratory pathogen. The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of C. pneumoniae in community-acquired pneumonia.