Tropical Medicine and Health最新文献

Background: The present study aimed to analyze the impact of deforestation on the malaria distribution in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), with consideration of climate change.

Methods: Malaria distribution data from 2002 to 2015 were obtained from the Ministry of Health of Lao PDR and each indicator was calculated. Earth observation satellite data (forested area, land surface temperature, and precipitation) were obtained from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Structured equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to clarify the relationship between the malaria incidence and Earth observation satellite data.

Results: As a result, SEM identified two factors that were independently associated with the malaria incidence: area and proportion of forest. Specifically, malaria was found to be more prevalent in the southern region, with the malaria incidence increasing as the percentage of forested land increased (both p < 0.01). With global warming steadily progressing, forested areas are expected to play an important role in the incidence of malaria in Lao PDR. This is believed because malaria in Lao PDR is mainly forest malaria transmitted by Anopheles dirus.

Conclusion: To accelerate the elimination of malaria in Lao PDR, it is important to identify, prevent, and intervene in places with increased forest coverage (e.g., plantations) and in low-temperature areas adjacent to malaria-endemic areas, where the vegetation is similar to that in malaria-endemic areas.

Background: Dengue fever, caused by the dengue virus (DENV), is the most common viral infection transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes (mainly Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus) worldwide. Aedes aegypti is not currently established in Japan, and Ae. albopictus is the primary vector mosquito for DENV in the country, but knowledge of its viral susceptibility is limited. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the status of DENV susceptibility by comparing the infection and dissemination dynamics of Japanese Ae. albopictus to all known DENV serotypes with those of Ae. aegypti.

Methods: After propagation of each DENV serotype in Vero cells, the culture supernatants were mixed with defibrinated rabbit blood and adenosine triphosphate, and the mixture was artificially blood-sucked by two colonies of Ae. albopictus from Japan and one colony of Ae. aegypti from a dengue-endemic country (Vietnam). After 14 days of sucking, the mosquito body was divided into two parts (thorax/abdomen and head/wings/legs) and total RNA was extracted from each sample. DENV RNA was detected in these extracted RNA samples using a quantitative RT-PCR method specific for each DENV serotype, and infection and dissemination rates were analyzed.

Results: The Japanese Ae. albopictus colonies were susceptible to all DENV serotypes. Its infection and dissemination rates were significantly lower than those of Ae. aegypti. However, the number of DENV RNA copies in Ae. albopictus was almost not significantly different from that in Ae. aegypti. Furthermore, Japanese Ae. albopictus differed widely in their susceptibility to each DENV serotype.

Conclusions: In Japanese Ae. albopictus, once DENV overcame the midgut infection barrier, the efficiency of subsequent propagation and dissemination of the virus in the mosquito body was comparable to that of Ae. aegypti. Based on the results of this study and previous dengue outbreak trends, Ae. albopictus is predicted to be highly compatible with DENV-1, suggesting that this serotype poses a high risk for future epidemics in Japan.

This study aimed to examine the mental health status and related factors among Vietnamese migrants in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online cross-sectional survey between September 21 and October 21, 2021. Along with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scores, we collected data on demographics, changes in socioeconomic status due to the pandemic, language proficiency, social support, and health conditions. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify factors related to symptoms of depression and anxiety. Among 621 participants who completed the questionnaire, moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10 points) and mild-to-severe symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥ 5 points) were observed in 203 (32.7%) and 285 (45.9%) individuals, respectively. Factors related to depressive symptoms were age (95% confidence interval [CI]=0.89-0.99), pre-existing health conditions (95% [CI]=1.61-3.76), and a low subjective socioeconomic status (95% [CI]=1.64-3.71). Factors related to anxiety symptoms were being single (95% [CI]=1.01-2.93), having pre-existing health conditions (95% [CI]=1.63-3.88), subjective socioeconomic status (95% [CI]=1.87-3.97), and absence of a partner to discuss one's health with (95% [CI]=1.11-2.47). Vietnamese migrants in Japan experienced a decrease in income, worsening working conditions, and poor mental health status during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further investigations are necessary to find an effective way to increase their social support and mitigate socioeconomic adversities.

Background: Although there is a wide use of wild edible plants (WEPs) in Ethiopia, very little work has so far been done, particularly, in the Tigray Region, northern Ethiopia, to properly document the associated knowledge. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to document knowledge and analyze data related to the use of wild edible and nutraceutical plants in Raya-Azebo District of Tigray Region. The district was prioritized for the study to avoid the further loss of local knowledge and discontinuation of the associated practices because of the depletion of wild edible plants in the area mainly due to agricultural expansion and largely by private investors.

Methods: A cross-sectional ethnobotanical study was carried out in the study District to collect data through individual interviews held with purposively selected informants, observation, market surveys, and ranking exercises. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were employed to analyze and summarize the data using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.

Results: The study documented 59 WEPs, the majority of which (57.63%) were sought for their fruits. Most of the WEPs (49 species) were consumed in the autumn, locally called qewei, which includes the months of September, October, and November. Ziziphus spina-christi L. Desf., Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Del. and Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller were the most preferred WEPs. Both interviews and local market surveys revealed the marketability of Opuntia ficus-indica, Ziziphus spina-christi, Ficus vasta Forssk., Ficus sur Forssk., and Balanites aegyptiaca. Of the total WEPs, 21 were reported to have medicinal (nutraceutical) values, of which Balanites aegyptiaca and Acacia etbaica scored the highest rank order priority (ROP) values for their uses to treat anthrax and skin infections, respectively.

Conclusions: The current investigation demonstrated the wide use of WEPs in the district. In future nutritional composition analysis studies, priority should be given to the most popular WEPs, and nutraceutical plants with the highest ROP values.

Background: Follow-up assessment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) treated cases is important to monitor the long term effectiveness of treatment regimens. The main objective of this study was to identify the gaps and challenges in the follow-up of treated VL cases, to monitor treatment outcome and to assess the impact of COVID-19 on VL elimination services and activities.

Methods: Clinicians treating VL patients, district focal persons for VL, and patients treated for VL in seven high endemic districts in Nepal during 2019-2022 were interviewed to collect data on challenges in the follow-up of VL treated patients as per national strategy.

Results: Follow up status was poor in two districts with the largest number of reported cases. The majority of cases were children under 10 years of age (44.2%). Among 104 VL treated cases interviewed, 60.6% mentioned that clinicians had called them for follow-up but only 37.5% had complied. Among 112 VL treated cases followed up, 8 (7.14%) had relapse and 2 (1.8%) had PKDL. Among 66 cases who had VL during the COVID-19 lock down period, 32 (48.5%) were diagnosed within 1 week; however, 10 (15.1%) were diagnosed only after 4 weeks or more. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no active search for VL because of budget constraints and lack of diagnostic tests, and no insecticide spraying was done.

Conclusion: Relapses and PKDL are challenges for VL elimination and a matter of concern. Successful implementation of the national strategy for follow up of treated VL cases requires addressing elements related to patients (awareness, transport, communication) clinicians (compliance) and organization of service delivery (local health worker training and deployment). COVID-19 did not have much impact on VL diagnosis and treatment; however, public health programmes including active case detection and insecticide spraying for vector control were severely reduced.

Background: Maternal mortalities remain high in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Since 2012, to improve access to maternal health services for all women, the country implemented several policies and strategies including user fee removal interventions for childbirth-related care. However, it remains unclear whether inequalities in access to services have reduced in the post-2012 period compared to pre-2012. Our study compared the change in sociodemographic and economic inequalities in access to maternal health services between 2006 to 2011-12 and 2011-12 to 2017.

Methods: We used the three most recent Lao Social Indicator Survey datasets conducted in 2006, 2011-12, and 2017 for this analysis. We assessed wealth, area of residence, ethnicity, educational attainment, and women's age-related inequalities in the use of at least one antenatal care (ANC) visit with skilled personnel, institutional delivery, and at least one facility-based postnatal care (PNC) visit by mothers. The magnitude of inequalities was measured using concentration curves, concentration indices (CIX), and equiplots.

Results: The coverage of at least one ANC with skilled personnel increased the most between 2012 and 2017, by 37.1% in Hmong minority ethnic group women, 36.1% in women living in rural areas, 31.1%, and 28.4 in the poorest and poor, respectively. In the same period, institutional deliveries increased the most among women in the middle quintiles by 32.8%, the poor by 29.3%, and Hmong women by 30.2%. The most significant reduction in inequalities was related to area of residence between 2006 and 2012 while it was based on wealth quintiles in the period 2011-12 to 2017. Finally, in 2017, wealth-related inequalities in institutional delivery remained high, with a CIX of 0.193 which was the highest of all CIX values.

Conclusion: There was a significant decline in inequalities based on the area of residence in the use of maternal health services between 2006 and 2011-12 while between 2011-12 and 2017, the largest decrease was based on wealth quintiles. Policies and strategies implemented since 2011-12 might have been successful in improving access to maternal health services in Lao PDR. Meanwhile, more attention should be given to improving the uptake of facility-based PNC visits.

Background: Mobile phones are potential reservoirs for pathogens and sources of healthcare-associated infections. More microbes can be found on a mobile phone than on a man's lavatory seat, the sole of a shoe, or a door handle. When examining patients, frequent handling of mobile phones can spread bacteria. Nevertheless, evidence of bacterial contamination of mobile phones used by healthcare workers in Africa was inconclusive. Thus, this meta-analysis and systematic review was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence of bacterial contamination of mobile phones used by healthcare workers and the most frequent bacterial isolates in Africa.

Methods: We systematically retrieved relevant studies using PubMed/MEDLINE, POPLINE, HINARI, Science Direct, Cochrane Library databases, and Google Scholar from July 1, 2023 to August 08, 2023. We included observational studies that reported the prevalence of bacterial contamination of mobile phones among healthcare workers. The DerSimonian-random Laird's effect model was used to calculate effect estimates for the pooled prevalence of bacterial contamination in mobile phones and a 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: Among 4544 retrieved studies, 26 eligible articles with a total sample size of 2,887 study participants were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of mobile phone bacterial contamination among healthcare workers was 84.5% (95% CI 81.7, 87.4%; I² = 97.9%, p value < 0.001). The most dominant type of bacteria isolated in this review was coagulase-negative staphylococci (CONS) which accounted for 44.0% of the pooled contamination rate of mobile phones used by healthcare workers, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (31.3%), and Escherichia coli (10.7%).

Conclusions: In this review, the contamination of mobile phones used by HCWs with various bacterial isolates was shown to be considerable. The most prevalent bacteria isolates were coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aurous, and Escherichia coli. The prevalence of bacterial contamination in mobile phones varies by country and sub-region. Hence, healthcare planners and policymakers should establish norms to manage healthcare workers' hand hygiene and disinfection after using mobile phones.

Background: CNS manifestations represent an emerging facet of NTM infection with significant mortality. Due to protean presentation and low index of suspicion, many cases are often treated erroneously as tubercular meningitis or fungal infections.

Objectives: Literature on NTM CNS disease is scarce, with most available data on pulmonary disease. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic modalities, and predictors of outcome in CNS NTM infection.

Methods: The literature search was performed in major electronic databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus) using keywords "CNS," "Central nervous system," "brain abscess," "meningitis," "spinal," "Nontuberculous mycobacteria," "NTM". All cases of CNS NTM infection reported between January 1980 and December 2022 were included.

Results: A total of 77 studies (112 cases) were included in the final analysis. The mean age of all patients was 38 years, with most patients male (62.5%). Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was the most common aetiology, followed by M. fortuitum and M. abscessus (34.8%, 21.4% and 15.2%, respectively). The disseminated disease was found in 33% of cases. HIV (33.9%) and neurosurgical hardware (22.3%) were the common risk factors. Intracranial abscess (36.6%) and leptomeningeal enhancement (28%) were the most prevalent findings in neuroimaging. The overall case fatality rate was 37.5%. On multivariate analysis, male gender (adjusted OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.2-7.9) and HIV (adjusted OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.8-6.1) were the independent predictors of mortality). M. fortuitum infection was significantly associated with increased survival (adjusted OR 0.18, 95% CI (0.08-0.45), p value 0.012).

Conclusions: Current evidence shows the emerging role of rapid-grower NTM in CNS disease. Male gender and HIV positivity were associated with significant mortality, while M fortuitum carries favourable outcomes.

Body lice and head lice are the most common ectoparasites of humans. Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) occur worldwide in children and their caretakers, irrespective of their social status. In contrast, body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis) are confined to marginalized population groups in countries of the Global South, homeless people, and refugees. Body lice are known to transmit an array of bacterial pathogens, such as R. prowazekii, R. rickettsii, C. burneti, B. quintana, B. recurrentis, and Y. pestis. The vector capacity of head lice is still a matter of debate. The objective of the review was to scrutinize the existing evidence on the vector capacity of head lice for the transmission of bacterial pathogens. The PUBMED database was searched using a combination of the terms "pediculus humanus" OR "body lice" OR "head lice" AND "pathogen" OR "Rickettsia prowazekii" OR "Bartonella quintana" OR "Borrelia recurrentis" OR "Coxiella burneti" without a time limit. Data from epidemiological studies as well as historical observations demonstrate that body lice and head lice can carry the same array of pathogens. Since the presence of a bacterial pathogen in an arthropod is not sufficient to state that it can be transmitted to humans, and since experimental models are lacking, as yet one cannot conclude with certainty that head lice serve as vectors, although this review presents circumstantial evidence that they do. Adequately designed experimental and epidemiological studies are needed to ascertain the exact transmission potential of head lice.

Background: In 2020, scabies were integrated into the WHO roadmap for neglected tropical diseases, aimed at ending the negligence to realize the SDGs. Ethiopia has also introduced scabies as a notifiable disease in drought-prone localities since 2015. Many of the previous studies employed study designs that might be subject to bias. Moreover, there is no scientific evidence about scabies in this area. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of scabies among children aged below 15 years in rural Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 942 children in rural kebeles of Lay Gayent District from March through May 15, 2021. A two-stage sampling technique was applied. Data on sociodemographics, housing, water supply and sanitation, children's personal hygiene, and caregivers' knowledge about scabies were collected by a structured questionnaire. Data quality was maintained through pretesting, training of data collectors and supervisors, and supervision. An adjusted binary logistic regression was modelled to identify factors associated with scabies. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was run to check the model fitness.

Results: The prevalence of scabies was 21.5% (95% CI 19.0-24.3). Maternal illiteracy (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.61; 95% CI 1.07-2.43); low household wealth (AOR = 2.04; 95% CI 1.25-3.33); unimproved water source (AOR = 1.58; 95% CI 1.05-2.40); not cleaning a house daily (AOR = 2.43; 95% CI 1.63-3.62); not trimming nails (AOR = 2.21; 95% CI 1.50-3.25); cloth sharing with a scabies case (AOR = 11.77; 95% CI 6.94-19.97); and low caregiver knowledge about scabies (AOR = 2.44; 95% CI 1.64-3.63) were factors associated with scabies.

Conclusions: Scabies remains a significant public health issue among children aged below 15 years in the district. Maternal illiteracy, low household wealth, unimproved water source, not cleaning a house daily, not trimming nails, cloth sharing with a scabies case, and low caregiver knowledge about scabies were factors associated with scabies. Community-wide interventions with prime emphasis on improving maternal education and caregivers' knowledge about scabies, upgrading household wealth, ensuring a safe water supply, providing healthy housing, and ensuring adequate personal hygiene are warranted.