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Among high tuberculosis (TB) and HIV burden countries in Asia, tuberculosis preventive therapy (TPT) in people living with HIV (PLWH) has been underutilized despite its proven benefits independent of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Therefore, we determined the incidence of active TB and mortality among 9179 adult PLWH who attended and received ART from 15 tertiary care hospitals across Thailand.A retrospective study was conducted in 2018 using follow-up data from 1999 to 2018. The primary endpoint was incident TB disease after ART initiation. Factors associated with TB incidence were analysed using competing risk regression. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate mortality after ART initiation.During a median of 5.1 years of ART (IQR 2.2-9.5 years), 442 (4.8%) PLWH developed TB (TB/HIV), giving an overall incidence of 750 (95% CI 683-823) per 100,000 persons-year of follow up (PYFU). In multivariate analysis, lower CD4 at ART initiation (≤100 cells/mmIn this high TB burden country, TB incidence was remarkably high during the first few years after ART initiation and thereafter decreased significantly. Rapid ART initiation and appropriate TPT can be potential key interventions to tackle the TB epidemic and reduce mortality among PLWH in TB/HIV high burden settings.

Background: Short-term peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infection rates have not been systematically studied in Asian countries, and data on peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections incidence by number of short-term peripheral venous catheter days are not available. Methods: Prospective, surveillance study on peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections conducted from 1 September 2013 to 31 May 2019 in 262 intensive care units, members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium, from 78 hospitals in 32 cities of 8 countries in the South-East Asia Region: China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. For this research, we applied definition and criteria of the CDC NHSN, methodology of the INICC, and software named INICC Surveillance Online System. Results: We followed 83,295 intensive care unit patients for 369,371 bed-days and 376,492 peripheral venous catheter-days. We identified 999 peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections, amounting to a rate of 2.65/1000 peripheral venous catheter-days. Mortality in patients with peripheral venous catheter but without peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections was 4.53% and 12.21% in patients with peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections. The mean length of stay in patients with peripheral venous catheter but without peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections was 4.40 days and 7.11 days in patients with peripheral venous catheter and peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections. The microorganism profile showed 67.1% were Gram-negative bacteria: Escherichia coli (22.9%), Klebsiella spp (10.7%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.3%), Enterobacter spp. (4.5%), and others (23.7%). The predominant Gram-positive bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus (11.4%). Conclusions: Infection prevention programs must be implemented to reduce the incidence of peripheral venous catheter–associated bloodstream infections.

Background Although pertussis has been considered a disease of childhood, it is also recognized as an important respiratory tract infection in adolescents and adults. However, in countries with routine vaccination against pertussis with high coverage, pertussis is not usually taken into consideration for the etiology of prolonged cough in adults. Previous studies in a variety of populations in developed countries have documented that pertussis is quite common, ranging from 2.9 to 32 % of adolescents and adults with prolonged cough. The anticipation and early recognition of this change in the epidemiology is important because the affected adolescents and adults act as reservoirs of the disease and source of infection to the vulnerable population of infants, for whom the disease can be life threatening. We conducted a prospective study to determine the prevalence of pertussis in Thai adults with prolonged cough. Methods Seventy-six adult patients with a cough lasting for more than 2 weeks (range, 14–180 days) were included in the present study. The data regarding medical history and physical examination were carefully analyzed. Nasopharyngeal swabs from all patients were obtained for the detection of deoxyribonucleic acid of Bordetella pertussis by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Paired serum samples were collected and tested for IgG antibody against pertussis toxin by using an ELISA method. Results Of 76 adult patients, 14 patients (18.4 %) with the mean age of 59 (range, 28–85) years and the mean duration of cough of 34 (range, 14–120) days had laboratory evidence of acute pertussis infection. One patient was diagnosed by the PCR method, while the rest had serological diagnosis. Whooping cough is a significantly associated symptom of patients with chronic cough who had laboratory evidence of pertussis. (p

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is caused by dengue virus infection. The classical manifestations consist of fever, thrombocytopenia, and hemoconcentration. However, its unusual complications may be fatal, such as prolong shock, massive bleeding, volume overload, and unusual manifestations, for example, severe rhabdomyolysis. Here we report a case of 17-year old Thai man who was referred to our hospital because of 7-day fever with thrombocytopenia, hemoconcentration and right pleural effusion. The serology tests confirmed to be dengue infection. He developed various complications: severe hepatitis, coagulopathy, and heavy proteinuria; encephalopathy that needed a respiratory ventilator. On day 12 of fever, he had myalgia and passed dark urine. Serum creatinine and serum creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) were found abnormally high. He was diagnosed as severe rhabdomyolysis with acute kidney injury, and immediate hemodialysis was performed. He did not respond to treatment and expired within three hours. Although the mechanism of severe rhabdomyolysis in dengue fever is not clearly known, it may theoretically be proposed such as direct muscle cell injury leading to myositis by dengue virus, myotoxic cytokines which are produced in response to viral infection, dehydration or hypophosphatemia.

BACKGROUND:HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) is the major cause of treatment failure after scaling up of antiretroviral therapy (ART). HIVDR testing prior to ART initiation is not routinely performed in resource-limited settings. We aimed to assess the prevalence of primary HIVDR by short reverse transcriptase (RT) genotypic resistance assay and evaluate of the impact of the mutations on the treatment outcomes. METHODS:A prospective cohort study was conducted in treatment-naïve HIV-infected patients. Fourteen major mutations of codon 99-191 on the RT gene were selected (K103N, V106A/M, V108I, Q151M, Y181C/I, M184V/I, Y188C/L/H, and G190S/A) at a cost of testing of 35 USD. The association between the presence of primary HIVDR and undetectable HIV RNA (

Twenty-five patients with eosinophil counts1,000/mm3 of unknown etiology were treated with albendazole 400 mg twice daily for 7 days were compared with 25 eosinophilic control patients who were not treated. The average eosinophil count in the treated group was 2,079/mm3 (range 1,002-7,629/mm3) and in the control group was 2,047/mm3 (range 1,002-6,468/mm3). One month later the eosinophil counts of both groups were re-evaluated. Effective treatment was defined as an eosinophil count1,000/mm3. In the treatment group, 80% had a reduction in the eosinophil count to1,000/mm3 while only 12% of the control had a reduction to this level. No side effects were observed in either group. In conclusion, albendazole was found to be highly-effective in the management of patients with eosinophilia without obvious causes.