Performance of host-response biomarkers to risk-stratify children with pneumonia in Bhutan.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of post-neonatal death amongst children under five years of age; however, there is no simple triage tool to identify children at risk of progressing to severe and fatal disease. Such a tool could assist for early referral and prioritization of care to improve outcomes and enhance allocation of scarce resources. We compared the performance of inflammatory and endothelial activation markers in addition to clinical signs or scoring scales to risk-stratify children hospitalized with pneumonia at the national referral hospital of Bhutan with the goal of predicting clinical outcome.

Association of Clinical Signs, Host Biomarkers and Etiology With Radiological Pneumonia in Bhutanese Children.

Diagnosing pneumonia and identifying those requiring antibiotherapy remain challenging. Chest radiographs (CXR) are often used as the reference standard. We aimed to describe clinical characteristics, host-response biomarkers and etiology, and assess their relationship to CXR findings in children with pneumonia in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Pneumococcal nasopharyngeal carriage among Bhutanese children hospitalized with clinical pneumonia: serotypes and viral co-infection.

Background: Pneumococcal nasopharyngeal colonization (PNC) generally precedes pneumococcal disease. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of PNC and to identify the pneumococcal serotypes circulating among Bhutanese children under five years of age admitted with clinical pneumonia, before the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in the country. We also aimed to contribute to the understanding of the interplay between PNC and viral co-infection among this population.

Clinical and Bacteriological Profile of Neonatal Sepsis: A Prospective Hospital-Based Study.

Background: Neonatal sepsis remains one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in developing countries. With a dearth of data on neonatal sepsis in our country, this study was conducted to determine the incidence of clinical neonatal sepsis and evaluate the clinical, bacteriological, and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of organisms. .

Pneumonia in children admitted to the national referral hospital in Bhutan: A prospective cohort study.

Objectives: The study aim was to describe the etiological profile and clinical characteristics of pneumonia among children hospitalized in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Methods: This prospective study enrolled children aged 2-59 months admitted to the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital with World Health Organization (WHO)-defined clinical pneumonia. Demographic and clinico-radiological data were collected through questionnaires, physical examination, and chest radiography.

Antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoea and treatment outcomes of gonococcal urethritis suspected patients in two large hospitals in Bhutan, 2015.

Introduction: Gonorrhea is a major sexually transmitted infection (STI) globally with increasing trends. Despite limited data, gonorrhea remains an important public health problem in Bhutan.

Methods: A descriptive study was carried out in two Bhutanese hospitals; Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital and Phuentsholing General Hospital in 2015.

Scrub typhus in Bhutan: a synthesis of data from 2009 to 2014.

Scrub typhus is an acute, febrile illness, caused by the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, that affects millions annually in the endemic Asia-Pacific region. In untreated cases, the case-fatality rates range from 6% to 35%. In Bhutan, there was a probable outbreak in Gedu in 2009, which resulted in heightened awareness of the disease.