Tuberculosis treatment with mobile-phone medication reminders in northern Thailand.

Thailand's implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment, Short course (DOTS) strategy to increase tuberculosis (TB) control program efficacy has not achieved the World Health Organization (WHO) TB key targets. We defined two TB control models in the study. Patients in Model 1 were treated with a conventional DOTS strategy and in Model 2, patients were treated the same as Model method 1 but were given a phone call reminder to take their medication.

HIV prevalence, sexual and behavioral correlates among Shan, Hill tribe, and Thai male sex workers in Northern Thailand.

This paper reports demographic characteristics, HIV prevalence, and correlates among male sex workers (MSW) in Chiangmai, Thailand. A behavioral assessment survey was included as part of the Thailand Ministry of Public Health HIV sentinel surveillance conducted during June 2003. A sample of 181 MSW from 14 sex establishments around Chiangmai who self-identified as sex workers were interviewed.

Lifetime correlates associated with amphetamine use among northern Thai men attending STD and HIV anonymous test sites.

Aims: To investigate the demographic, sexual, and other substance use risk correlates of amphetamine use among men in northern Thailand prior to the current epidemic of amphetamine use in the Kingdom.

Design: Cross-sectional quantitative behavioral questionnaires.

Setting: Thai Ministry of Health STD and HIV Anonymous Test Sites in the upper northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Lamphun.

The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 among male sex workers in northern Thailand.

Male commercial sex workers (CSWs) in northern Thailand are at high risk for HIV-1 infection and may be exposed to multiple subtypes of HIV-1 through sexual contact with men and women from Thailand, other Asian nations, and the West. We studied 103 male Thai nationals working in gay bars and clubs in Chiang Mai city who participated in the 1994 sentinel surveillance of the Thai Ministry of Public Health using HIV serologic testing, DNA polymerase chain reaction methods, molecular cloning, differential colony hybridization, nucleotide sequencing, and a third hypervariable region (V3) peptide enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay to differentiate subjects infected with HIV-1 subtypes B, E, both, or neither. The majority (58%) reported heterosexual orientation, and 35 (34%) were married.

Feasibility of northern Thai factory workers as participants in HIV vaccine trials.

To determine the feasibility of establishing a cohort of HIV-1 seronegative factory workers for potential HIV vaccine trials, and other HIV preventive interventions, we enroled and followed 499 male and female industrial workers in Lamphun Province, northern Thailand. A baseline demographic and HIV seroprevalence survey was conducted by a mobile team at worker's housing units in Lamphun Province in 1994. Follow-up HIV and syphilis incidence rates were measured 6 months later.