Narissara Techavachara, Tammatat Veeramanomai, Watcharapong Piyaphanee
et al.
Abstract Background Food tourism is one of the major attractions in Thailand. Food safety plays an important role in ensuring the confidence and health of both travelers and locals. The regulations, real-world surveillance data, and foodborne outbreak reports in Thailand have not been previously compiled and summarized. This study aimed to describe food safety rules and regulations in Thailand and present real-world data encompassing five years, 2019–2024. Methods Data are obtained on food safety surveillance conducted by the Food Sanitation Division under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) for 2019–2023, and outbreak reports in Bangkok from the Institute for Urban Disease Control (IUDC) for 2019–2024. Descriptive analyses are performed and compared to available studies on travelers’ diarrhea in visitors to Thailand. Results During 2019–2023, 98% of food samples in Bangkok passed biological testing. Among contaminated samples, the most common pathogen found was E. coli (12.40% – 15.79%). When analyzing samples from street food vendors alone, 10/44 samples and 6/31 samples were found to be contaminated in 2022 and 2023, respectively. E. coli was identified in 9/10 contaminated samples in 2022 and 4/6 in 2023. Foods most likely to be contaminated were Thai desserts and raw seafood. During the same period, 22 diarrhea outbreaks were reported by the IUDC. Conclusions As a popular destination for culinary tourism, travelers’ diarrhea remains one of the most common conditions discussed during pre-travel consultations for Thailand. This review demonstrates Thailand’s governmental efforts in enforcing food safety regulations and surveillance. The findings help inform travel medicine practitioners worldwide about travelers’ diarrhea in Thailand.
Quercus species, also known as oak, represent an important genus of the Fagaceae family. It is widely distributed in temperate forests of the northern hemisphere and tropical climatic areas. Many of its members have been used in traditional medicine to treat and prevent various human disorders such as asthma, hemorrhoid, diarrhea, gastric ulcers, and wound healing. The multiple biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, anticancer, gastroprotective, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities have been ascribed to the presence of bioactive compounds such as triterpenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids. This paper aimed to provide available information on the medicinal uses, phytochemicals, and pharmacology of species from Quercus. However, further investigation is needed to fully clarify the mode of action of its bioactive compounds and to evaluate in vivo chronic toxicity, before exploring their potential use as a supplement in functional foods and natural pharmaceutics.
a Korean Medicine Clinical Trial Center, Korean Medicine Hospital, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea b School of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway c NAFKAM, National Research Center in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway d KM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
This second Special Issue in a series of Special Issues in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease looks at recent global research on the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic [...].
Senna alata is a medicinal herb of Leguminosae family. It is distributed in the tropical and humid regions. The plant is traditionally used in the treatment of typhoid, diabetes, malaria, asthma, ringworms, tinea infections, scabies, blotch, herpes, and eczema. The review is aimed at unveiling the ethnobotanical description and pharmacological activities of S. alata. Different parts of the plant are reported in folk medicine as therapeutic substances for remediation of diverse diseases and infections. The extracts and isolated compounds displayed pronounced pharmacological activities. Display of antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, dermatophytic, anticancer, hepatoprotective, antilipogenic, anticonvulsant, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antimalarial, anthelmintic, and antiviral activities could be due to the array of secondary metabolites such as tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, anthraquinone, saponins, phenolics, cannabinoid alkaloids, 1,8-cineole, caryophyllene, limonene, α-selinene, β-caryophyllene, germacrene D, cinnamic acid, pyrazol-5-ol, methaqualone, isoquinoline, quinones, reducing sugars, steroids, and volatile oils present in different parts of the plant. The review divulges the ethnobotanical and pharmacological activities of the plant and also justifies the ethnomedical claims. The significant medicinal value of this plant necessitates a scientific adventure into the bioactive metabolites which constitute various extracts.
1Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2ISARIC Global Support Centre, Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 3Department of Pediatrics, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, 18057, Germany; 4Department of Pediatrics, Paracelsus Medical University, Nuremberg, 90471, Germany; 5College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 6Department of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman, 11622, Jordan
Bruno Oliveira de Figueiredo Brito, Z. Attia, L. N. Martins
et al.
Background Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in Chagas disease (ChD) is relatively common and its treatment using low-cost drugs can improve symptoms and reduce mortality. Recently, an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled ECG algorithm showed excellent accuracy to detect LVSD in a general population, but its accuracy in ChD has not been tested. Objective To analyze the ability of AI to recognize LVSD in patients with ChD, defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction determined by the Echocardiogram ≤ 40%. Methodology/principal findings This is a cross-sectional study of ECG obtained from a large cohort of patients with ChD named São Paulo-Minas Gerais Tropical Medicine Research Center (SaMi-Trop) Study. The digital ECGs of the participants were submitted to the analysis of the trained machine to detect LVSD. The diagnostic performance of the AI-enabled ECG to detect LVSD was tested using an echocardiogram as the gold standard to detect LVSD, defined as an ejection fraction <40%. The model was enriched with NT-proBNP plasma levels, male sex, and QRS ≥ 120ms. Among the 1,304 participants of this study, 67% were women, median age of 60; there were 93 (7.1%) individuals with LVSD. Most patients had major ECG abnormalities (59.5%). The AI algorithm identified LVSD among ChD patients with an odds ratio of 63.3 (95% CI 32.3–128.9), a sensitivity of 73%, a specificity of 83%, an overall accuracy of 83%, and a negative predictive value of 97%; the AUC was 0.839. The model adjusted for the male sex and QRS ≥ 120ms improved the AUC to 0.859. The model adjusted for the male sex and elevated NT-proBNP had a higher accuracy of 0.89 and an AUC of 0.874. Conclusion The AI analysis of the ECG of Chagas disease patients can be transformed into a powerful tool for the recognition of LVSD.
Dengue is considered non-endemic to mainland China. However, travellers frequently import the virus from overseas and local mosquito species can then spread the disease in the population. As a consequence, mainland China still experiences large dengue outbreaks. Temperature plays a key role in these outbreaks: it affects the development and survival of the vector and the replication rate of the virus. To better understand its implication in the transmission risk of dengue, we developed a delay differential equation model that explicitly simulates temperature-dependent development periods and tested it with collected field data for the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus. The model predicts mosquito occurrence locations with a high accuracy (Cohen's κ of 0.78) and realistically replicates mosquito population dynamics. Analysing the infection dynamics during the 2014 dengue outbreak that occurred in Guangzhou showed that the outbreak could have lasted for another four weeks if mosquito control interventions had not been undertaken. Finally, we analyse the dengue transmission risk in mainland China. We find that southern China, including Guangzhou, can have more than seven months of dengue transmission per year while even Beijing, in the temperate north, can have dengue transmission during hot summer months. The results demonstrate the importance of using detailed vector and infection ecology, especially when vector-borne disease transmission risk is modelled over a broad range of climatic zones.
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine, Public aspects of medicine
1 Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, 2 Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America, 3 Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, 4 Department of Clinical Research, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, 5 Uniting to Combat NTDs, London, United Kingdom, 6 Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 7 Regional Advisory Unit for Imported and Tropical Diseases, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ullevaal, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, 8 Discipline of Public Health Medicine, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
1 Global Health Division, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, United States of America, 2 College of Public Health, University of Philippines, Manila, Philippines, 3 bioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France, 4 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, 5 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Gent University, Merelbeke, Belgium, 6 Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands, 7 Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, 8 Jimma University Institute of Health, Jimma, Ethiopia, 9 Techion Group Ltd, Dunedin, New Zealand, 10 Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, 11 Centre for Global Health Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya, 12 Janssen Diagnostics, Beerse, Belgium, 13 Departments of Global Health, Medicine (Infectious Disease), Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Washington, United States of America, 14 Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
Lidia Yamamoto, Emilly Henrique dos Santos, Lacyane Santos Pinto
et al.
ABSTRACT This narrative review summarizes the main aspects underlying the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, its epidemiology, pathophysiology, pointing to differences of SARS-CoV-2 main receptors ACE2, in terms of expression and the amount of soluble ACE2 in the circulation of children, men and women, and also in those with risk factors such as the smokers and pregnant women or presenting with comorbidities (diabetes, obesity, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, renal and CNS pre-existing diseases). Clinical manifestations in adults and children were also described, emphasizing the particularities already seen in children, regarding signs, symptoms, viral excretion time and the involvement of all organs and systems. The COVID-19 in the pediatric population was divided into two sections: one dedicated to previously healthy children and adolescents with COVID-19, and the other to those who live with comorbidities and acquired COVID-19. A few paragraphs were reserved to the recently described severe multisystemic inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 (MIS-C) that shares certain characteristics with Kawasaki disease. Some studies on the infection in pregnant and postpartum women, as well as neonates were shown. This review has also covered the laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, passing through the imaging diagnosis made by the chest tomography revealing ground glass patching opacities, and results of non-specific exams such as the total blood with lymphopenia, the coagulation tests with increased prothrombin times, as well as marked increments of the D-dimer, troponin and proinflammatory cytokines. In the section devoted to the specific laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, the most used RT-PCR protocols were described and some studies on the serological diagnosis with IgA, IgM and IgG detection were detailed, including the use of rapid immunochromatographic assays and discussing the ideal period after the onset of symptoms to perform each type of test. In the end, the management of pediatric patients with COVID-19 based mainly on supportive measures has been briefly commented.
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine, Infectious and parasitic diseases
Giselle Jucá de Lima, Alexsandra Maria Lima Scavuzzi, Elizabeth Maria Bispo Beltrão
et al.
Abstract INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the genetic environment of bla KPC-2 in Klebsiella pnemoniae multi-drug resistant clinical isolates. METHODS: Four carbapenemase gene isolates resistant to carbapenems, collected from infected patients from two hospitals in Brazil, were investigated using polymerase chain reaction and plasmid DNA sequencing. RESULTS: The bla KPC-2 gene was located between ISKpn6 and a resolvase tnpR in the non-Tn4401 element (NTEKPC-IId). It was detected on a plasmid belonging to the IncQ1 group. CONCLUSIONS To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of the bla KPC-2 gene in the NTEKPC-IId element carried by plasmid IncQ1 from infections in Brazil.
Leonardo F. Jurado, Andrés Gómez-Aldana, Mónica Tapias
et al.
Introducción. Los trastornos linfoproliferativos después de un trasplante se caracterizan por la proliferación descontrolada de linfocitos como consecuencia del tratamiento inmunosupresor posterior a este.
Objetivo. Caracterizar clínica y patológicamente los casos de trastornos linfoproliferativos después de trasplante (Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders, PTLD) en una cohorte de pacientes adultos con trasplante de hígado atendidos a lo largo de 15 años en el Hospital Universitario Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá.
Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un estudio observacional retrospectivo a partir de la revisión de las bases de datos de la Unidad de Trasplante Hepático y del Departamento de Patología del Hospital en busca de los casos de PTLD diagnosticados durante el periodo de estudio. Se recolectó la información epidemiológica, clínica y patológica, y se adelantaron los análisis estadísticos.
Resultados. Durante el periodo de estudio, hubo 572 pacientes con trasplante de hígado, la incidencia de trastornos linfoproliferativos fue de 2,44 %, el 79 % en hombres, y la edad promedio en el momento del diagnóstico fue de 62,5 años. El 71 % de los casos se presentó durante los primeros 12 meses después del trasplante y el mismo porcentaje fue seropositivo para el virus de Epstein-Barr (EBV). El fenotipo patológico más frecuente fue el monomorfo y la mayoría de los tumores se detectaron en el hilio hepático. La supervivencia al año fue del 50 %.
Conclusiones. Llamó la atención el alto porcentaje de casos de presentación temprana, así como la gran frecuencia de seropositividad para el EBV tanto en los donantes como en los receptores. Deben adelantarse estudios más detallados para una mejor comprensión de esta enfermedad en el país. Este es el primer análisis clínico y patológico de PTLD en pacientes con trasplante de hígado adelantado en Colombia hasta la fecha.
1 Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, 2 Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, 3 Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America, 4 Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America, 5 James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America, 6 Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America, 7 Center for Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
Enegide Chinedu, Peter A Akah, Dabum L Jacob
et al.
Objective: To evaluate the antimalarial activity of the ethylacetate and butanol fractions of Combretum nigricans (C. nigricans) leaf extract in mice.
Methods: C. nigricans solvent (butanol and ethylacetate) fractions were screened for their phytochemical constituents using standard procedures illustrated by Harborne and Evans. The Peters’ 4-day suppressive test against early malaria infection, Rane’s curative test against established malaria and prophylactic test for residual activity were employed for evaluating the antimalarial potential in mice.
Results: The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins, and flavonoids in both fractions at different intensity. Both fractions exhibited significant antimalarial activity in all test models (P<0.05). The ethylacetate fraction of C. nigricans had better chemosuppressive and curative effects compared to the butanol fraction, which however, elicited a better chemoprophylactic effect. The chemosuppressive effect of C. nigricans ethylacetate fraction (200-800 mg/kg) was 77.6%, 69.1% and 86.1%; curative effect was 62.3%, 71.3% and 72.4%; while the chemoprophylactic activity was 32.1%, 48.6% and 61.2% respectively. C. nigricans butanol fraction (200-800 mg/kg) had 40.3%, 54.1% and 69.1% chemosuppression; 26.2%, 36.9% and 34.5% curative effect; and 48.4%, 70.0% and 87.4% chemoprophylaxis.
Conclusions: Both solvent fractions of C. nigricans possess antimalarial activity, and may be useful at different stages of malaria therapy.
As part of a project endorsed by the Arctic Council’s Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG), a survey was conducted to describe the current status of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in the Arctic region. The English language internet-based survey was open from April to September, 2016 and drew 142 respondents from seven Arctic nations. Respondents provided information on access to WASH services, notification requirements for water-related infectious diseases, and examples of environmental- or climate-change related events that impact the provision of WASH services. Many remote Arctic and sub-Arctic residents lack WASH services, and these disparities are often not reflected in national summary data. Environmental changes impacting WASH services were reported by respondents in every Arctic nation. Participants at an international conference co-sponsored by SDWG reviewed these results and provided suggestions for next steps to improve health of Arctic residents through improved access to water and sanitation services. Suggestions included ongoing reporting on WASH service availability in underserved populations to measure progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal #6; evaluations of the health and economic consequences of disparities in WASH services; and Arctic-specific forums to share innovations in WASH technology, improved management and operations, and adaptation strategies for environmental or climate change.