Publications by authors named "Soeng Sona"

Unlabelled: The nasopharynx is an important reservoir of disease-associated and antimicrobial-resistant bacterial species. This proof-of-concept study assessed the utility of a combined culture, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and targeted metagenomic sequencing workflow for the study of the pediatric nasopharyngeal bacterial microbiota. Nasopharyngeal swabs and clinical metadata were collected from Cambodian children during a hospital outpatient visit and then biweekly for 12 weeks.

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Objectives: To explore the association of recent hospitalization and asymptomatic carriage of multidrug-resistant Enterobacterales (MDRE) and determine the prevailing strains and antibiotic resistance genes in Siem Reap, Cambodia using WGS.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, faecal samples were collected from two arms: a hospital-associated arm consisted of recently hospitalized children (2-14 years), with their family members; and a community-associated arm comprising children in the matching age group and their family members with no recent hospitalization. Forty-two families in each study arm were recruited, with 376 enrolled participants (169 adults and 207 children) and 290 stool specimens collected from participants.

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Article Synopsis
  • Infections with Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL-E) bacteria are prevalent in infants, often resulting in higher rates of ICU admissions and increased mortality.* -
  • A study conducted in Cambodia on 50 mother-neonate pairs revealed diverse ESBL-E genes and significant multidrug resistance, using whole genome sequencing to analyze paired isolates.* -
  • Identical or similar isolates in 21 mother-neonate pairs indicate possible transmission during or shortly after birth, suggesting that vertical transmission may be a major factor in ESBL-E colonization among newborns.*
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(the pneumococcus) is a leading cause of childhood mortality globally and in Cambodia. It is commensal in the human nasopharynx, occasionally resulting in invasive disease. Monitoring population genetic shifts, characterized by lineage and serotype expansions, as well as antimicrobial-resistance (AMR) patterns is crucial for assessing and predicting the impact of vaccination campaigns.

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Background: Blood cultures remain the gold standard investigation for the diagnosis of bloodstream infections. In many locations, quality-assured processing of positive blood cultures is not possible. One solution is to incubate blood cultures locally, and then transport bottles that flag positive to a central reference laboratory for organism identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

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Background: Blood cultures are one of the most important tests performed by microbiology laboratories. Many hospitals, particularly in low and middle-income countries, lack either microbiology services or staff to provide 24 h services resulting in delays to blood culture incubation. There is insufficient guidance on how to transport/store blood cultures if delays before incubation are unavoidable, particularly if ambient temperatures are high.

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Objectives: Invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis is a significant health concern globally, but our knowledge of the prevailing serogroups, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, and genetics of N. meningitidis in Southeast Asia is limited. Chloramphenicol resistance in N.

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Pyomyositis is a severe bacterial infection of skeletal muscle, commonly affecting children in tropical regions, predominantly caused by . To understand the contribution of bacterial genomic factors to pyomyositis, we conducted a genome-wide association study of cultured from 101 children with pyomyositis and 417 children with asymptomatic nasal carriage attending the Angkor Hospital for Children, Cambodia. We found a strong relationship between bacterial genetic variation and pyomyositis, with estimated heritability 63.

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To determine trends, mortality rates, and costs of antimicrobial resistance in invasive bacterial infections in hospitalized children, we analyzed data from Angkor Hospital for Children, Siem Reap, Cambodia, for 2007-2016. A total of 39,050 cultures yielded 1,341 target pathogens. Resistance rates were high; 82% each of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were multidrug resistant.

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Background: Central nervous system (CNS) infections are an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. The aetiologies of these potentially vaccine-preventable infections have not been well established in Cambodia.

Methods: We did a one year prospective study of children hospitalised with suspected CNS infection at Angkor Hospital for Children, Siem Reap.

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Background: Melioidiosis, infection by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is an important but frequently under-recognised cause of morbidity and mortality in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in the tropics. Data on the epidemiology of paediatric melioidosis in Cambodia are extremely limited.

Methods: Culture-positive melioidosis cases presenting to Angkor Hospital for Children, a non-governmental paediatric hospital located in Siem Reap, Northern Cambodia, between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013 were identified by searches of hospital and laboratory databases and logbooks.

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Background: The 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) was introduced in Cambodia in January 2015. There are limited data concerning the common serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Knowledge of the circulating pneumococcal serotypes is important to monitor epidemiological changes before and after vaccine implementation.

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Typhoid fever, caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi, is an endemic cause of febrile disease in Cambodia. The aim of this study was to better understand the epidemiology of pediatric typhoid fever in Cambodia. We accessed routine blood culture data from Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) in Siem Reap province between 2007 and 2014, and performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) on the isolated bacteria to characterize the S.

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Background: Antimicrobial-resistant Gram-negative infections are a significant cause of mortality in young infants. We aimed to determine characteristics of, and risk factors for, colonization and invasive infection caused by 3rd generation cephalosporin (3GC) or carbapenem-resistant organisms in outborn infants admitted to a neonatal unit (NU) in Cambodia.

Methods: During the first year of operation, patients admitted to the Angkor Hospital for Children NU, Siem Reap, Cambodia, underwent rectal swabbing on admission and twice weekly until discharge.

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Diagnosis of Burkholderia pseudomallei pneumonia in children is challenging. We investigated the utility of nasopharyngeal swabs taken from 194 paediatric patients on admission with radiologically proven pneumonia. Melioidosis was proven in 0.

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Vaccination of children with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) was initiated in Cambodia in 2015. To determine baseline data, we collected samples from children in 2013 and 2014. PCV13 serotypes accounted for 62.

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Article Synopsis
  • Multidrug-resistant (MDR) typhoid, caused by a specific lineage of Salmonella called H58, has spread rapidly across Asia and Africa over the past 30 years, posing a significant global health threat.
  • The research reveals that H58 is displacing antibiotic-sensitive strains and is linked to numerous transmissions, including ongoing MDR epidemics within Africa.
  • The study highlights the genetic characteristics of the H58 lineage, providing insights that can help manage MDR typhoid and similar antibiotic-resistant bacteria globally.
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Background: Blood cultures are used to confirm a diagnosis of enteric fever but reported sensitivities can be as low as 40%.

Aims: To determine the factors associated with a negative blood culture in Cambodian children with suspected enteric fever.

Methods: In a retrospective study of hospitalised Cambodian children given a discharge diagnosis of enteric fever, the following factors associated with a negative blood culture were analysed: age, blood culture volume, prior antibiotic therapy, duration of illness and disease severity.

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Azithromycin is an effective treatment for uncomplicated infections with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and serovar Paratyphi A (enteric fever), but there are no clinically validated MIC and disk zone size interpretative guidelines. We studied individual patient data from three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of antimicrobial treatment in enteric fever in Vietnam, with azithromycin used in one treatment arm, to determine the relationship between azithromycin treatment response and the azithromycin MIC of the infecting isolate. We additionally compared the azithromycin MIC and the disk susceptibility zone sizes of 1,640 S.

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Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection is prevalent across tropical regions and may cause severe disease. Early diagnosis may improve supportive care. We prospectively assessed the Standard Diagnostics (Korea) BIOLINE Dengue Duo DENV rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to NS1 antigen and anti-DENV IgM (NS1 and IgM) in children in Cambodia, with the aim of improving the diagnosis of DENV infection.

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Background: Bacterial resistance to commonly used antimicrobials is an increasing problem in Asia but information concerning the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria causing urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children is limited.

Methods: This was a 5-year retrospective study of children with suspected UTI attending a paediatric hospital in north-west Cambodia. Urines with a positive culture containing a single organism with a count of >10(5) colony-forming units (CFU)/ml were considered diagnostic of infection.

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Background: Ophthalmic infections cause significant morbidity in Cambodian children but aetiologic data are scarce. We investigated the causes of acute eye infections in 54 children presenting to the ophthalmology clinic at Angkor Hospital for Children, Siem Reap between March and October 2012.

Findings: The median age at presentation was 3.

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Objective: Antibiotic resistance is a prominent public and global health concern. We investigated antibiotic use in children by determining the proportion of unselected children with antibacterial activity in their urine attending a paediatric outpatient department in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Methods: Caregiver reports of medication history and presence of possible infection symptoms were collected in addition to urine samples.

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