Risk Factors for Tuberculosis (TB) Among Household Contacts of Patients With Smear-Positive TB in 8 Provinces of Vietnam: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to account for significant morbidity and mortality annually. Household contacts (HHCs) of persons with TB are a key population for targeting prevention and control interventions. We aimed to identify risk factors associated with developing TB among HHCs.

Household contact investigation for the detection of tuberculosis in Vietnam: economic evaluation of a cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Active case finding is recommended as an important strategy to control tuberculosis, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries with a high prevalence of the disease. However, the costs and cost-effectiveness of active case finding are unclear due to the absence of evidence from randomised trials. We assessed the costs and cost-effectiveness of an active case finding strategy in Vietnam, where there is a high prevalence of tuberculosis.

Recurrence of tuberculosis among patients following treatment completion in eight provinces of Vietnam: A nested case-control study.

Background: Patients completing treatment for tuberculosis (TB) in high-prevalence settings face a risk of developing recurrent disease. This has important consequences for public health, given its association with drug resistance and a poor prognosis. Previous research has implicated individual factors such as smoking, alcohol use, HIV, poor treatment adherence, and drug resistant disease as risk factors for recurrence.

Dry powder inhalable formulations for anti-tubercular therapy.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an intracellular infectious disease caused by the airborne bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Despite considerable research efforts, the treatment of TB continues to be a great challenge in part due to the requirement of prolonged therapy with multiple high-dose drugs and associated side effects. The delivery of pharmacological agents directly to the respiratory system, following the natural route of infection, represents a logical therapeutic approach for treatment or vaccination against TB.

Barriers to adherence with tuberculosis contact investigation in six provinces of Vietnam: a nested case-control study.

Background: Close contacts of patients with tuberculosis (TB) have a substantial risk of developing the disease, particularly during the first year after exposure. Household contact investigation has recently been recommended as a strategy to enhance case detection in high-burden countries. However the barriers to its implementation in these settings remain poorly understood.

Allergen-specific IL-5 responses in early childhood predict asthma at age eight.

Background: The pattern of development of allergen-specific T cell cytokine responses in early childhood and their relation to later disease is poorly understood. Here we describe longitudinal changes in allergen-stimulated T cell cytokine responses and their relation to asthma and allergic disease during the first 8 years of life.

Methods: Subjects with a family history of asthma, who were enrolled antenatally in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (public trials registration number ACTRN12605000042640), had skin prick tests, clinical evaluation for asthma and eczema, and in vitro assessment of T cell cytokine responses to HDM extract performed at ages 18 months (n = 281), 3 years (n = 349), 5 years (n = 370) and 8 years (n = 275).

Contact investigation in households of patients with tuberculosis in Hanoi, Vietnam: a prospective cohort study.

Setting: Existing tuberculosis control strategies in Vietnam are based on symptomatic patients attending health services for investigation. This approach has not resulted in substantial reductions in the prevalence of tuberculosis disease, despite the National Tuberculosis Program achieving high treatment completion rates. Alternative approaches are being considered.