New biomarkers for liver involvement by dengue infection in adult Vietnamese patients: a case-control study.

Liver injury with marked elevation of aspartate aminotransferase enzyme (AST) is commonly observed in dengue infection. To understand the pathogenesis of this liver damage, we compared the plasma levels of hepatic specific, centrilobular predominant enzymes (glutamate dehydrogenase, GLDH; glutathione S transferase-α, αGST), periportal enriched 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD), periportal predominant arginase-1 (ARG-1), and other non-specific biomarkers (paraoxonase-1, PON-1) in patients with different outcomes of dengue infection. This hospital-based study enrolled 87 adult dengue patients, stratified into three groups based on plasma AST levels (< 80, 80-400, > 400 U/L) in a 1:1:1 ratio (n = 40, n = 40, n = 40, respectively.

A novel diagnostic model for tuberculous meningitis using Bayesian latent class analysis.

Background: Diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is hampered by the lack of a gold standard. Current microbiological tests lack sensitivity and clinical diagnostic approaches are subjective. We therefore built a diagnostic model that can be used before microbiological test results are known.

Acceptance and User Experiences of a Wearable Device for the Management of Hospitalized Patients in COVID-19-Designated Wards in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Action Learning Project.

Background: Wearable devices have been used extensively both inside and outside of the hospital setting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in some contexts, there was an increased need to remotely monitor pulse and saturated oxygen for patients due to the lack of staff and bedside monitors.

Objective: A prototype of a remote monitoring system using wearable pulse oximeter devices was implemented at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from August to December 2021.

Rise in alanine aminotransferase after HCV treatment is a highly sensitive screen for treatment failure.

Nucleic acid testing to confirm sustained virological response (SVR) after HCV therapy is technical, often expensive, and frequently unavailable where disease prevalence is highest. Alternative surrogate biomarkers merit evaluation. In a short-treatment trial in Vietnam (SEARCH-1; n = 52) we analysed how changes in alanine transaminase (ΔALT) and aspartate transaminase (ΔAST), from end of treatment (EOT) to EOT + 12 weeks, related to SVR, defined as HCV RNA < lower limit of quantification 12 weeks after EOT.

Climate change and health in Southeast Asia - defining research priorities and the role of the Wellcome Trust Africa Asia Programmes.

This article summarises a recent virtual meeting organised by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam on the topic of climate change and health, bringing local partners, faculty and external collaborators together from across the Wellcome and Oxford networks. Attendees included invited local and global climate scientists, clinicians, modelers, epidemiologists and community engagement practitioners, with a view to setting priorities, identifying synergies and fostering collaborations to help define the regional climate and health research agenda. In this summary paper, we outline the major themes and topics that were identified and what will be needed to take forward this research for the next decade.

The compensatory reserve index predicts recurrent shock in patients with severe dengue.

Background: Dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is one of the major clinical phenotypes of severe dengue. It is defined by significant plasma leak, leading to intravascular volume depletion and eventually cardiovascular collapse. The compensatory reserve Index (CRI) is a new physiological parameter, derived from feature analysis of the pulse arterial waveform that tracks real-time changes in central volume.

Effectiveness of Continuous Endotracheal Cuff Pressure Control for the Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Respiratory Infections: An Open-Label Randomized, Controlled Trial.

Background: An endotracheal tube cuff pressure between 20 and 30 cmH2O is recommended to prevent ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI). We aimed to evaluate whether continuous cuff pressure control (CPC) was associated with reduced VARI incidence compared with intermittent CPC.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter open-label randomized controlled trial in intensive care unit (ICU) patients within 24 hours of intubation in Vietnam.

High Cure Rates for Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 6 in Advanced Liver Fibrosis With 12 Weeks Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir: The Vietnam SEARCH Study.

Background: Genotype 6 is the most genetically diverse lineage of hepatitis C virus, and it predominates in Vietnam. It can be treated with sofosbuvir with daclatasvir (SOF/DCV), the least expensive treatment combination globally. In regional guidelines, longer treatment durations of SOF/DCV (24 weeks) are recommended for cirrhotic individuals, compared with other pangenotypic regimens (12 weeks), based on sparse data.

Occult Infection Unveiled by the Novel Mp1p Antigen Detection Assay.

causes fatal invasive mycosis in Southeast Asia. Diagnosis by culture has limited sensitivity and can result in treatment delay. We describe the use of a novel Mp1p enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to identify blood culture-negative talaromycosis, subsequently confirmed by bone marrow cultures.

C-reactive protein as a potential biomarker for disease progression in dengue: a multi-country observational study.

Background: Dengue infection can cause a wide spectrum of clinical outcomes. The severe clinical manifestations occur sufficiently late in the disease course, during day 4-6 of illness, to allow a window of opportunity for risk stratification. Markers of inflammation may be useful biomarkers.

Expert voices and equal partnerships: establishing Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs) in Vietnam.

The number of controlled human infection models (CHIMs) conducted worldwide has increased considerably in recent years, although few have been conducted in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where infectious diseases have the greatest burden. Recently Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) started developing CHIM research proposals motivated by the need to develop a clearer and more grounded understanding of the issues surrounding the conduct of CHIMs in LMICs. To explore initial perceptions and barriers to conducting CHIMs in Vietnam, OUCRU researchers conducted a set of key stakeholder interviews early in 2018 and held a CHIM workshop in HCMC in March 2018.

Intrathecal Immunoglobulin for treatment of adult patients with tetanus: A randomized controlled 2x2 factorial trial.

Despite long-standing availability of an effective vaccine, tetanus remains a significant problem in many countries. Outcome depends on access to mechanical ventilation and intensive care facilities and in settings where these are limited, mortality remains high. Administration of tetanus antitoxin by the intramuscular route is recommended treatment for tetanus, but as the tetanus toxin acts within the central nervous system, it has been suggested that intrathecal administration of antitoxin may be beneficial.

Clinical and aetiological study of hand, foot and mouth disease in southern Vietnam, 2013-2015: Inpatients and outpatients.

Background: Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has been associated with large outbreaks among young children in the Asia-Pacific Region since 1997, including cases of severe illness and death. Severe illness is often associated with enterovirus A71 (EV-A71). Vietnam experienced a large sustained outbreak of 200000 hospitalized cases and over 200 deaths in 2011-12, the large majority occurring in southern Vietnam.

Retrospective analysis assessing the spatial and temporal distribution of paediatric acute respiratory tract infections in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in young children in low/middle-income countries. Using routine hospital data, we aimed to examine the spatial distribution, temporal trends and climatic risk factors of paediatric ARIs in Vietnam.

Methods: Data from hospitalised paediatric (<16 years) patients with ARIs residing in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) between 2005 and 2010 were retrieved from the two main Children's Hospitals and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in HCMC.

Molecular epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes of Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from patients in three hospitals in southern Vietnam.

Multidrug resistance in the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii limits therapeutic options and impacts on clinical care. Resistance against carbapenems, a group of last-resort antimicrobials for treating multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii infections, is associated with the expression (and over-expression) of carbapenemases encoded by the blaOXA genes.

Epidemiology and virology of acute respiratory infections during the first year of life: a birth cohort study in Vietnam.

Background: Understanding viral etiology and age-specific incidence of acute respiratory infections in infants can help identify risk groups and inform vaccine delivery, but community-based data is lacking from tropical settings.

Methods: One thousand four hundred and seventy-eight infants in urban Ho Chi Minh City and 981 infants in a semi-rural district in southern Vietnam were enrolled at birth and followed to 1 year of age. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) episodes were identified through clinic-based illness surveillance, hospital admissions and self-reports.

Dengue therapeutics, chemoprophylaxis, and allied tools: state of the art and future directions.

Dengue is the most common arboviral disease of humans. There is an unmet need for a therapeutic intervention that reduces the duration and severity of dengue symptoms and diminishes the likelihood of severe complications. To this end, there are active discovery efforts in industry and academia to develop interventions, with a focus on small molecule inhibitors of dengue virus replication that are suitable for therapy or chemoprophylaxis.

Dengue human infection models supporting drug development.

Dengue is a arboviral infection that represents a major global health burden. There is an unmet need for effective dengue therapeutics to reduce symptoms, duration of illness and incidence of severe complications. Here, we consider the merits of a dengue human infection model (DHIM) for drug development.

A birth cohort study of viral infections in Vietnamese infants and children: study design, methods and characteristics of the cohort.

Background: In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, more than one-third of admissions to the two paediatric hospitals are attributable to four infectious syndromes: dengue, diarrhoeal disease, acute respiratory infection, and hand, foot and mouth disease. We have established a large prospective birth cohort study to investigate individual, environmental, virological, and immunological determinants of infection and disease in infants. Specific research questions are focused on the role of maternal antibody in protection against infection in infancy, and the adaptive immune response to vaccination and natural infection.

An oral preparation of Lactobacillus acidophilus for the treatment of uncomplicated acute watery diarrhoea in Vietnamese children: study protocol for a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Diarrhoeal disease is a major global health problem, particularly affecting children under the age of 5 years. Besides oral rehydration solution, probiotics are also commonly prescribed to children with acute watery diarrhoea in some settings. Results from randomised clinical trials (RCTs) in which investigators studied the effect of probiotics on diarrhoeal symptoms have largely shown a positive effect; yet, the overall quality of the data is limited.

A sensitive real-time PCR for detection and subgrouping of human respiratory syncytial virus.

Improved diagnostic tools for rapid detection, quantitation, and subgrouping of human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are needed to aid the development and evaluation of novel intervention strategies. A quantitative real-time RT-PCR using specific locked nucleic acid (LNA) probes was developed to identify RSV and to distinguish RSV subgroups A and B (RSV LNA assay). RSV subgroup diversity and the relationship between viral load and disease severity in confirmed RSV infections were also explored.

Temporal fluctuation of multidrug resistant salmonella typhi haplotypes in the mekong river delta region of Vietnam.

Background: typhoid fever remains a public health problem in Vietnam, with a significant burden in the Mekong River delta region. Typhoid fever is caused by the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), which is frequently multidrug resistant with reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolone-based drugs, the first choice for the treatment of typhoid fever.

High prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants in commensal members of the Enterobacteriaceae in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic members of the Enterobacteriaceae are a well-defined global problem. We hypothesized that one of the main reservoirs of dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes in Vietnam is non-pathogenic intestinal flora, and sought to isolate antimicrobial-resistant organisms from hospitalized patients and non-hospitalized healthy individuals in Ho Chi Minh City. The results identified substantial faecal carriage of gentamicin-, ceftazidime- and nalidixic acid-resistant members of the Enterobacteriaceae in both hospitalized patients and non-hospitalized healthy individuals.