Publications by authors named "Thapa J"

Background: Glanders and melioidosis are contagious zoonotic diseases caused by Burkholderia mallei and B. pseudomallei, respectively. Bacterial isolation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been used to detect these bacteria in animals suspected of infection; however, both methods require skilled experimental techniques and expensive equipment.

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Background: Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) is a rare inherited disorder of metabolism, which manifests early in life in classical forms. Recurrent illness and exertion aggravate neurotoxicity. This case highlights MSUD diagnosed in association with COVID-19 complications from Nepal.

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Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 patients are at a higher risk for fungal infections, prompting a study to identify fungal pathogens in both COVID positive and negative patients, as well as assess their antifungal resistance and biofilm formation abilities.
  • The study found a 6.70% prevalence of fungal pathogens in COVID-positive cases and 22.77% in negative cases, with Candida albicans being the most common pathogen identified.
  • Results indicated that most Candida species were susceptible to miconazole but resistant to ketoconazole, highlighting the need for increased awareness and antifungal susceptibility testing in clinical settings.
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Background: The inappropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals contributes to the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This study evaluated the prevalence of antibiotic use and adherence to the World Health Organization (WHO) Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) classification of antibiotics across 16 hospitals in Zambia.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study employing the WHO Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) methodology and WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics was conducted among inpatients across 16 hospitals in December 2023, Zambia.

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Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs are critical in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In Zambia, there is little information regarding the capacity of hospitals to establish and implement AMS programs. The objective of this study was to conduct a baseline assessment of WHO core elements for an AMS program implementation in eight hospitals in Zambia.

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Unlabelled: Quinolone-resistant have been increasing worldwide. Quinolones exert their antibacterial activity by inhibiting DNA gyrase, but most of the isolates acquire quinolone resistance via an amino acid substitution in the A subunit of DNA gyrase. WQ-3810 is a quinolone antibiotic that has been reported to have high potency even to DNA gyrase with amino acid substitutions in several bacterial species; however, there was no information on .

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To understand why Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) (L2/434/Bu) favors hypoxia, we examined the dynamics of infected cells using a glycolysis-related PCR array and metabolomic analysis, along with the perturbation of nucleotide synthesis. Our findings revealed that, compared to normoxia, hypoxia with infection significantly and selectively upregulates the expression of genes related to glycolysis, glycogen degradation, and the pentose phosphate pathway. Furthermore, hypoxia induced a significant decrease in metabolite levels, particularly methionine-related metabolites, independent of infection, indicating efficient metabolism under hypoxia.

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Tuberculosis (TB) is an emerging threat to the survival of elephants in Nepal. We investigated the lung tissue samples from nine elephants that died from 2019 to 2022 in Nepal using culture, conventional PCR, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and then performed genotyping of five PCR-positive isolates to understand the possible transmission dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Results showed that two-thirds (6/9) of elephants were confirmed to be infected from Mtb by LAMP, 5/9 by PCR, and 4/9 by culture.

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Aims: This research focused on assessing the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants and antimicrobial susceptibility in Salmonella strains isolated from Thai canal water.

Methods And Results: From 2016 to 2020, 333 water samples were collected from six canals across Bangkok, Thailand. Salmonella spp.

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Globally, there have been increasing reports of antimicrobial resistance in nontyphoidal (NTS), which can develop into severe and potentially life-threatening diarrhea. This study focuses on the synergistic effects of DNA gyrase mutations and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes, specifically , on fluoroquinolone (FQ) resistance in Typhimurium. By utilizing recombinant mutants, GyrA and GyrA, and QnrB19's, we discovered a significant increase in fluoroquinolones resistance when QnrB19 is present.

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Background: A well-established antimicrobial resistance (AMR) laboratory-based surveillance (LBS) is of utmost importance in a country like Zambia which bears a significant proportion of the world's communicable disease burden. This study assessed the capacity of laboratories in selected hospitals to conduct AMR surveillance in Zambia.

Methods: This cross-sectional exploratory study was conducted among eight purposively selected hospitals in Zambia between August 2023 and December 2023.

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Introduction: Campylobacteriosis stands as one of the most frequent bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide necessitating antibiotic treatment in severe cases and the rise of quinolones-resistant Campylobacter jejuni poses a significant challenge. The predominant mechanism of quinolones-resistance in this bacterium involves point mutations in the gyrA, resulting in amino acid substitution from threonine to isoleucine at 86th position, representing more than 90% of mutant DNA gyrase, and aspartic acid to asparagine at 90th position. WQ-3334, a novel quinolone, has demonstrated strong inhibitory activity against various bacteria.

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Article Synopsis
  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health concern, particularly in urban environments like Bangkok, Thailand, where canals provide essential water sources.
  • A study characterized 30 genomes of pathogenic bacteria from canal water, identifying 35 AMR genes and various mutations, highlighting that 75.9% of strains were multidrug-resistant with virulence factors linked to salmonellosis.
  • The research suggests that specific strains of bacteria may be moving between canal waters and food sources, underscoring the need for better environmental monitoring and integrated AMR surveillance as part of a One Health strategy.
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Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains an important infectious disease and different genotypes have been reported. This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of TB in the lower northern region of Thailand, where genotyping data are limited.

Methods: A total of 159 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates from this region were genotyped by spoligotyping and the major spoligotypes were further subdivided by the mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) method.

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Background: Young adult cancer survivors face medical financial hardships that may lead to delaying or forgoing medical care. This study describes the medical financial difficulties young adult cancer survivors in the United States experience in the post-Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act period.

Method: We identified 1009 cancer survivors aged 18 to 39 years from the National Health Interview Survey (2015-2022) and matched 963 (95%) cancer survivors to 2733 control individuals using nearest-neighbor matching.

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Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant (LA-MRSA) has been widespread globally in pigs and humans for decades. Nasal colonization of LA-MRSA is regarded as an occupational hazard to people who are regularly involved in livestock production. Our previous study suggested pig-to-human transmission caused by LA-MRSA clonal complex (CC) 398, using traditional molecular typing methods.

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  • The study looks at how feeling stigmatized (or judged) and having depression affects the quality of life for people in Nepal who have leprosy and lymphatic filariasis (LF).
  • Researchers interviewed 102 people, measuring their levels of stigma, depression, and overall quality of life (QOL).
  • The results showed that higher stigma and depression were linked to lower quality of life, suggesting that more support is needed for people dealing with these health issues.
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Background The human experience involves the inevitable end of life, whether sudden or expected. Ensuring a dignified end-of-life encounter necessitates understanding influential factors. Cardiomyopathy, a group of heart muscle diseases, has varying mortality implications, including heart failure and arrhythmias.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A case is presented of a 1-year-old girl diagnosed with type III sacral agenesis and other complications, despite her mother having a normal prenatal scan.
  • * While some individuals with milder forms can lead normal lives and aren't usually impacted cognitively, many face significant health challenges that require a team of specialists for supportive care; preventive measures focus on genetic counseling and screening for at-risk mothers.
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Background There is an increasing life expectancy and a surging elderly population in the last few decades, leading to a higher incidence of fractures in the elderly. The health care of the elderly in Nepal is below par and there are no studies done to evaluate the spectrum of fractures in the elderly. Objective To evaluate the demographical and epidemiological aspects of fractures in the elderly (≥ 65 years) presenting to a tertiary care hospital in Nepal in a 15 years' timeline.

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Quinolone-resistant nontyphoidal is a pressing public health concern, demanding the exploration of novel treatments. In this study, we focused on two innovative synthetic fluoroquinolones, WQ-3034 and WQ-3154. Our findings revealed that these new compounds demonstrate potent inhibitory effects, even against mutant strains that cause resistance to existing quinolones.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers discovered two new fluoroquinolone compounds, WQ-3810 and WQ-3334, which show high inhibitory activity against both wild-type and mutant DNA gyrases of Salmonella Typhimurium.
  • * The chemical structure of these compounds, particularly specific substitutions, significantly enhances their antimicrobial activity, making them promising candidates for treating fluoroquinolone-resistant infections.
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We describe the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of Mycobacterium bovis, isolated from cattle in Malawi. Deletion analysis, spoligotyping, and MIRU-VNTR typing were used to genotype the isolates. Combined with a larger dataset from neighboring countries, the overall M.

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The emergence of pre-extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (pre-XDR-TB) is a threat to TB control programs in developing countries such as Zambia. Studies in Zambia have applied molecular techniques to understand drug-resistance-associated mutations, circulating lineages and transmission patterns of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) . However, none has reported genotypes and mutations associated with pre-XDR TB.

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