Routine Testing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea in an HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Program in Hanoi, Vietnam: Implications for Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence, anatomical distribution, and correlates of (NG) and (CT) infections within an HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) program in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational study.

Methods: Between January-December 2022, HIV PrEP program clients who were male at birth, ≥16 years old, reported ≥1 male sex partner in the prior 12 months, were enrolled.

Mycoplasma genitalium Infections Among Participants in an HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Program in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Background: Mycoplasma genitalium causes a sexually transmitted infection and is also emerging as an important antimicrobial resistant pathogen. Data on M. genitalium infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) in low-resource settings are sparse.

Fast and Sensitive Real-Time PCR Detection of Major Antiviral-Drug Resistance Mutations in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients by Use of a Predesigned Panel of Locked-Nucleic-Acid TaqMan Probes.

We developed a novel real-time PCR assay that simultaneously evaluates 11 major nucleos(t)ide antiviral (NA) drug resistance mutations (mt) in chronic hepatitis B patients (CHB), including L180M, M204I/V, and V207M (lamivudine [LMV] resistance), N/H238A/T (adefovir [ADF] resistance), which are circulating in Vietnam; and T184G/L, S202I, and M250V (entecavir [ETV] resistance) and A194T (tenofovir resistance), which have been recently reported in several studies across the globe. We detected drug-resistant mt in hepatitis B virus (HBV) samples using our predesigned panel of allele-specific locked-nucleic acid (LNA) probes. Our assay had a high sensitivity of 5% in a low-HBV DNA population of ≥5 × 10 IU/ml and was validated in a cohort of 130 treatment-naive children and 98 NA-experienced adults with CHB.

Respiratory microbes detected in hospitalized adults with acute respiratory infections: associations between influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus and intensive care unit admission or fatal outcome in Vietnam (2015-2017).

Background: Acute respiratory tract infection (ARI) is a leading cause of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality worldwide. Respiratory microbes that were simultaneously detected in the respiratory tracts of hospitalized adult ARI patients were investigated. Associations between influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus (H1N1pdm) detection and intensive care unit (ICU) admission or fatal outcome were determined.

COLD-PCR Method for Early Detection of Antiviral Drug-Resistance Mutations in Treatment-Naive Children with Chronic Hepatitis B.

We investigated Nucleos(t)ide-analogue (NA)-resistance mutations (mt) in 142 treatment-naive children with Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB), using a sensitive co-amplification at lower denaturation temperature (COLD)-PCR with Sanger DNA sequencing. An NA resistance-associated mt in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase (RT) was found in 66.2% of the patients, with nonclassical mt contributing the most (64.