Evaluation of a Rapid Point-of-Care Multiplex Immunochromatographic Assay for the Diagnosis of Enteric Fever.

There is a critical need for an improved rapid diagnostic for enteric fever. We have previously demonstrated that serum IgA responses targeting serovar Typhi hemolysin E (HlyE) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) are able to discriminate patients with acute typhoid from healthy controls in areas where enteric fever is endemic (healthy endemic controls) and from patients with other bacterial infections. We now have data demonstrating that IgA antibody responses against these antigens also work well for identifying patients with acute Paratyphi A infection.

Angiotensin-II receptor type Ia does not contribute to cardiac atrophy following high-thoracic spinal cord injury in mice.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? What is the role of the renin-angiotensin system with angiotensin II acting via its receptor AT1a in spinal cord injury-induced cardiac atrophy? What is the main finding and its importance? Knockout of AT1a did not protect mice that had undergone thoracic level 4 transection from cardiac atrophy. There were no histopathological signs but there was reduced load-dependent left ventricular function (lower stroke volume and cardiac output) with preserved ejection fraction.

Abstract: Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to cardiac atrophy often accompanied by functional deficits.

Case Report: Serovar Paratyphi B Infection in a Febrile Ill Child during Enhanced Passive Surveillance in an Urban Slum in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Paratyphoid fever is one of the major causes of morbidity of febrile illnesses in endemic regions. We report a case of high-grade fever in an infant who was positive for serovar Paratyphi B (. Paratyphi B) both in blood and stool cultures.

Pregnancy affected by SARS-CoV-2 infection: a flash report from Michigan.

The world is currently affected by the invasion of a human to human highly transmissible novel corona virus classified as SARS-CoV-2. It causes a severe acute lower respiratory tract syndrome named corona virus disease (CoVid-19). The virus is detected primarily by RT-PCR.

Willingness to pay for oral cholera vaccines in urban Bangladesh.

Introduction: Cholera is a highly infectious disease and remains a serious public health burden in Bangladesh. The objective of the study was to measure the private demand for oral cholera vaccines (OCV) in Bangladesh and to investigate the key determinants of this demand, reflected in the household's willingness to pay (WTP) for oral cholera vaccine.

Methods: A contingent valuation method was employed in an urban setting of Bangladesh during December 2015 to January 2016.

Angiotensin-(1-7) Receptor Mas Deficiency Does Not Exacerbate Cardiac Atrophy Following High-Level Spinal Cord Injury in Mice.

Experimental spinal cord injury (SCI) causes a morphological and functional deterioration of the heart, in which the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) might play a role. The recently discovered non-canonical axis of RAS with angiotensin-(1-7) and its receptor Mas, which is associated with cardioprotection could be essential to prevent damage to the heart following SCI. We investigated the cardiac consequences of SCI and the role of Mas in female wild-type (WT, = 22) and mice deficient of Mas ( , = 25) which underwent spinal cord transection at thoracic level T4 (T4-Tx) or sham-operation by echocardiography (0, 7, 21, and 28 days post-SCI), histology and gene expression analysis at 1 or 2 months post-SCI.

Nationwide Hospital-Based Seroprevalence of Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E Virus in Bangladesh.

Background: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) are transmitted by the fecal-oral route and are responsible for epidemic and sporadic outbreaks of acute hepatitis in low-income countries like Bangladesh.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the seroprevalence of acute hepatitis due to HAV and HEV infection in Bangladesh.

Methods: The nationwide food-borne illness surveillance started in 2014 at 10 different hospitals which covered seven divisions of Bangladesh.

Immunogenicity of a killed bivalent whole cell oral cholera vaccine in forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

After the large influx of Rohingya nationals (termed Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National; FDMN) from Rakhine State of Myanmar to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, it was apparent that outbreaks of cholera was very likely in this setting where people were living under adverse water and sanitation conditions. Large campaigns of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) were carried out as a preemptive measure to control cholera epidemics. The aim of the study was to evaluate the immune responses of healthy adults and children after administration of two doses of OCV at 14 days interval in FDMN population and compare with the response observed in Bangladeshi's vaccinated earlier.

Maternal Secretor Status Affects Oral Rotavirus Vaccine Response in Breastfed Infants in Bangladesh.

Secretor status controls mucosal histo-blood group antigen expression and is associated with susceptibility to rotavirus (RV) diarrhea, with nonsecretors less susceptible to symptomatic infection. The role of breast milk secretor status on oral live-attenuated RV vaccine response in breastfed infants has not been explored. In a monovalent G1P[8] RV vaccine (Rotarix) trial in Bangladesh, RV-specific plasma immunoglobulin A antibody seroconversion rates were higher among infants of maternal nonsecretors (39%) than infants of maternal secretors (23%; P = .

Can cholera 'hotspots' be converted to cholera 'coldspots' in cholera endemic countries? The Matlab, Bangladesh experience.

Background: Cholera remains a major public health threat in low- and middle-income countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently launched a global initiative to end preventable cholera by 2030. Key to the success of this initiative will be the elimination of cholera transmission in cholera 'hotspots' with regularly recurrent disease; this can be achieved via improved surveillance to define hotspot populations, through the use of oral cholera vaccines, and through the implementation of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

Population structure and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Salmonella Typhi isolates in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh from 2004 to 2016.

Background: Multi-drug resistant typhoid fever remains an enormous public health threat in low and middle-income countries. However, we still lack a detailed understanding of the epidemiology and genomics of S. Typhi in many regions.

Can we 'WaSH' infectious diseases out of slums?

The world is becoming increasingly urban and most of this growth is taking place in urban slums of the developing world. The current (2019) global population stands at 7.7 billion, with approximately one billion (13%) living in urban slums.

HEV study protocol : design of a cluster-randomised, blinded trial to assess the safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness of the hepatitis E vaccine HEV 239 (Hecolin) in women of childbearing age in rural Bangladesh.

Introduction: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute viral hepatitis in the developing world and is a public health problem, in particular among pregnant women, where it may lead to severe or fatal complications. A recombinant HEV vaccine, 239 (Hecolin; Xiamen Innovax Biotech, Xiamen, China), is licensed in China, but WHO calls for further studies to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of this vaccine in vulnerable populations, and to evaluate protection in pregnancy. We are therefore conducting a phase IV trial to assess the effectiveness, safety and immunogenicity of the HEV 239 vaccine when given in women of childbearing age in rural Bangladesh, where HEV infection is endemic.

Nationwide carrier detection and molecular characterization of β-thalassemia and hemoglobin E variants in Bangladeshi population.

Background: ß-thalassemia is one of the most common inherited blood disorders in the world and a major deterrent to the public health of Bangladesh. The management of thalassemia patients requires lifelong frequent blood transfusion and the available treatment options are unsatisfactory. A national policy on thalassemia prevention is mandatory in Bangladesh.

Epidemiology of Cholera in Bangladesh: Findings From Nationwide Hospital-based Surveillance, 2014-2018.

Background: Despite advances in prevention, detection, and treatment, cholera remains a major public health problem in Bangladesh and little is known about cholera outside of limited historical sentinel surveillance sites. In Bangladesh, a comprehensive national cholera control plan is essential, although national data are needed to better understand the magnitude and geographic distribution of cholera.

Methods: We conducted systematic hospital-based cholera surveillance among diarrhea patients in 22 sites throughout Bangladesh from 2014 to 2018.

Augmented immune responses to a booster dose of oral cholera vaccine in Bangladeshi children less than 5 years of age: Revaccination after an interval of over three years of primary vaccination with a single dose of vaccine.

We have earlier reported that a single dose of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) is protective in adults and children ≥5 years of age and sustained for 2 years. We enrolled participants (n = 240) from this study, between March-September 2017, over 3 years after receiving a primary single dose. Immune responses were measured in placebo group (Primary Immunization group: PI) and compared with those who received a single dose (Booster Immunization group: BI).

Safety and immunogenicity of the oral, inactivated, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine ETVAX in Bangladeshi children and infants: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 1/2 trial.

Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli causes diarrhoea, leading to substantial mortality and morbidity in children, but no specific vaccine exists. This trial tested an oral, inactivated, enterotoxigenic E coli vaccine (ETVAX), which has been previously shown to be safe and highly immuongenic in Swedish and Bangladeshi adults. We tested the safety and immunogenicity of ETVAX, consisting of four E coli strains overexpressing the most prevalent colonisation factors (CFA/I, CS3, CS5, and CS6) and a toxoid (LCTBA) administered with or without a double-mutant heat-labile enterotoxin (dmLT) as an adjuvant, in Bangladeshi children.

Conservation and global distribution of non-canonical antigens in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.

Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) cause significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in children of resource-limited regions, warranting development of effective vaccine strategies. Genetic diversity of the ETEC pathovar has impeded development of broadly protective vaccines centered on the classical canonical antigens, the colonization factors and heat-labile toxin. Two non-canonical ETEC antigens, the EtpA adhesin, and the EatA mucinase are immunogenic in humans and protective in animal models.

Re-evaluating herd protection by Vi typhoid vaccine in a cluster randomized trial.

Background: In a cluster randomized trial (CRT) of a Vi polysaccharide vaccine against typhoid in the slums of Kolkata we found evidence of vaccine herd protection. However, transmission of typhoid into clusters from the outside likely occurred in this densely populated setting, which could have diminished our estimates of vaccine herd protection.

Methods: Eighty clusters (40 in each arm) were randomised to receive a single dose of either Vi or inactivated hepatitis A vaccine.

High-Dose Neonatal Vitamin A Supplementation Transiently Decreases Thymic Function in Early Infancy.

Background: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) impairs T-cell-mediated immunity. In regions where VAD is prevalent, vitamin A supplementation (VAS) reduces child mortality, perhaps by improving immune function.

Objective: Our objective was to determine if neonatal VAS would improve thymic function in Bangladeshi infants, and to determine if such effects differed by sex or nutritional status (i.

The frequency of circulating integrin α4β7 cells correlates with protection against Helicobacter pylori infection in immunized mice.

Background: Chronic Helicobacter pylori infection is the cause of peptic ulcers in a subpopulation of individuals and a risk factor for the development of gastric cancer. A vaccine against H pylori infection can prevent the acquisition of the infection and protect against reinfections. Clinical trials to date evaluating the efficacy of H pylori vaccines in human challenge models have shown moderate to poor protection with difficulties in predicting efficacy.

Post-vaccination campaign coverage evaluation of oral cholera vaccine, oral polio vaccine and measles-rubella vaccine among Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Bangladesh.

: The new influx of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) into Bangladesh started in August 2017 through different entry points of Bangladesh. Considering the imminent threat of infectious diseases outbreaks, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) decided to vaccinate children against three deadly diseases (measles, rubella and poliomyelitis) and oral cholera vaccine (OCV) for all except <1 year children. After completion of the campaigns, post-vaccination campaign evaluation was carried out to assess the coverage of OCV, OPV and MR vaccines during campaigns.

Posttranslational Regulation of IL-23 Production Distinguishes the Innate Immune Responses to Live Toxigenic versus Heat-Inactivated Vibrio cholerae.

infection provides long-lasting protective immunity, while oral, inactivated cholera vaccines (OCV) result in more-limited protection. To identify characteristics of the innate immune response that may distinguish natural infection from OCV, we stimulated differentiated, macrophage-like THP-1 cells with live versus heat-inactivated with and without endogenous or exogenous cholera holotoxin (CT). Interleukin 23A gene () expression was higher in cells exposed to live than in cells exposed to inactivated organisms (mean change, 38-fold; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 4.