Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health

Two tropical plant species, Lasianthus pilosus and Lasianthus stipularis are used in traditional medicine but there have been no published studies of the extracts of these plants against bacteria. In this study, we aimed to determine the antimicrobial activities of the above two plants against two gram-positive and seven gram-negative bacterial strains to determine the potential of these two plant species for possible antimicrobial drug development. The antibacterial activities of the lipophilic extracts of these plants were evaluated by disk diffusion and broth microdilution methods...

Bacterial antimicrobial resistance is a major health problem worldwide. Plants consumed by non-human primates are potentially safe for humans. In this study, we examined the potential antibacterial properties of plants consumed by non-human primates in Indonesia. We studied the antibacterial properties of the leaf extracts of 34 primate-consumed plants against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis in vitro. The plants were collected from the Pangandaran Conservation Area, West Java Province, Indonesia. The leaves were dried and then powdered by crushing and the potential active ingredients were extracted with 95% ethanol at room temperature for 24 hours...

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) is an E. coli group, which causes diseases in systems outside human intestinal tract. ExPEC isolates were recovered from fresh chicken (25%) and pork (10%) meats, but not beef and shrimp, from markets in southern Thailand. Among the 14 ExPEC strains isolated, all carried iutA and fimH, coding for aerobactin and type 1 fimbriae, respectively. Two ExPEC strains from chicken meat possessed kpsMTK1 coding for K1 capsular antigen, responsible for neonatal meningitis...

Salmonella spp are an uncommon cause of lung abscess. A 59 year old man presented to our hospital with a 1 month history of cough and low grade fever progressing to high grade fever for 1 week. He had a past medical history significant for diabetes mellitus type 2 and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis for which he was receiving prednisolone, initially at 60 mg daily tapering to 20 mg daily. On presentation he was febrile and had decreased breath sounds and dullness to percussion over the right lower lung field...

Legionella pneumophila is the major causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease. The distribution of L. pneumophila in environmental water systems of public facilities in Busan, South Korea was previously reported; however, the distribution of virulence genes in environmental and clinical isolates in Busan is unknown. Here, we investigated using PCR the distribution of three virulence loci (dot/icm, lvh, and rtxA) in isolates from Busan. A high prevalence of environmental (127/254) and clinical (3/4) isolates were observed for the simultaneous presence of all three genes, while environmental harboring dot/icm + rtxA, dot/icm + lvh, rtxA + lvh, and only one gene were 21%, 11%, 9% and <1-4%, respectively, The remaining clinical isolate carried dot/icm + rtxA...

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a causative agent of melioidosis. Clinical signs of melioidosis vary from acute septicemia to chronic inflammation or subclinical infection. This study investigated the role of B. pseudomallei biofilm in chronic inflammation in lungs of infected C57BL/6 mice. Low doses of B. pseudomallei H777 and its biofilm defective M10 mutant were fed intra-gastrically to C57BL/6 mice and inflammatory responses were investigated by histopathological techniques. Two hundred colony forming units (CFUs) of B...

The aims of this study were to determine seroprevalence of rubella antibodies among Turkish and foreign women living in Turkey and to estimate percent women susceptible to rubella infection. This retrospective study was conducted among 970 women (816 Turks) attending gynecology and obstetrics outpatient clinics. Serum samples were tested for anti-rubella IgG and IgM by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Eighty-eight percent of the subjects were positive only for anti-rubella IgG indicating immunity to rubella infection, none for only anti-rubella IgM and 1...

Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a common opportunistic infection in HIV-infected patients and the clinical outcome can be severe. This study aimed to determine the survival rate and prognostic factors among HIV-infected patients with CM in the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Understanding of these facts may help clinicians to manage CM patients efficiently and patients with poor prognostic factors could be closely monitored. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among new cases of HIV-associated CM who were treated at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, during 2002-2013...

Monoclonal antibody (MAb) is a key element in the development of rapid test kits for many infectious diseases. Our group previously developed two antigen-binding fragment (Fab) MAbs, H5Fab-6 and H5Fab-9, specific to hemagglutinin (H5 HA) of influenza A virus H5N1, but these Fabs do not have a constant fragment (Fc) portion with which to bind with gold particles in a strip test. In order to overcome this impediment, we joined a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) with an Fc region to produce a scFv-Fc MAb, which was expressed in mammalian HEK293T cells...

Live-bird markets have been implicated in transmission of avian influenza viruses, most recently of influenza A (H7N9) in China. Low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) viruses, such as H7N9, cause asymptomatic infections in poultry, and active surveillance is required to detect infection and to prevent transmission to humans. Although limited numbers of live birds for consumption are sold in Bangkok live bird markets (LBM), transmission of H7N9 in nearby China has prompted a program of active surveillance for avian influenza in Bangkok LBM to determine LPAI viruses...

Acacia pennata subsp insuavis, or Cha-om in Thai, is a common vegetable found in Thailand. It has been used as a medicinal herb for a long time. From the literature, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anti-helminthic activities were reported. In this study, we investigated two new actions of this plant: larvicide and pupicide. The crude ethanolic and fractionated extracts of A. pennata shoot tips were tested against aquatic stages of the dengue virus vector, Aedes aegypti mosquito. The 1st-4th instar larvae and pupae of Ae...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) of the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis are used as biocontrol agents for insect pests. Survey of indigenous EPNs provides not only the diversity aspects but also the contribution in pest management in local areas. The objective of this study was to survey EPNs in upper northern Thailand. Nine hundred seventy soil samples were obtained from 194 sites in upper northern region of Thailand; of these 60 (6.2%) had EPNs in 2 genera: Steinernema (32 isolates) and Heterorhabditis (28 isolates)...

Taenia solium, T. saginata, and T. asiatica are cestode pathogens causing taeniasis in humans. Houseflies can transfer Taenia eggs to food. However, houseflies are thought to carry only small numbers of Taenia eggs, sometimes fewer than 10. Although several PCR-based methods have been developed to detect Taenia DNA, these require more than 10 eggs for adequate detection. We developed a multiplex PCR method with high specificity for the discrimination among the eggs of the three Taenia species, T. solium, T...

Papua is one of five provinces with high malaria incidence in Indonesia. In 2009, the Indonesian Ministry of Health issued decree No 293 on malaria elimination. Socioeconomic, culture and psychological conditions, and perception of malaria are determining factors in seeking treatment. Health seeking behavior also are influenced by enabling factors, such as income and health insurance; and by health providers, such as availability of health care facilities, tariffs and living locationss. Self-care is one form of community participation in knowledge, prevention and early detection of malaria, and in seeking treatment and compliance to malaria treatment, especially among inhabitants in malaria endemic areas...

This study aimed to evaluate the association between dental students’ personality traits and stress levels in relation to dental education programs among senior dental students in University Malaya (UM) in Malaysia and National University of Singapore (NUS). A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted on UM and NUS senior dental students. The questionnaire comprised items on demographic background, the Big Five Inventory Personality Traits (BFIPT) test and a modified Dental Environment Stress (DES) scale...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Self-medication is the use of medicines for therapeutic intent without a clinician’s advice or prescription. The National Socioeconomic Survey for Indonesia in 2009 found the percentage of the Indonesians engaging in self-medication is increasing. The objectives of this study were to assess consumers’ expectations regarding service quality provide by pharmacist in self-medication practices and determine the factors associated with self-medication in Bandung, Indonesia. We conduct a cross-sectional survey at eight randomly selected community pharmacies during July-November 2012 and purposely sampled 1,200 costumers purchasing medication at those sites...

The purpose of this study was to explore the level of suicidal ideation and its personal, peer- and family-related factors among rural Vietnamese adolescents. A self-administered survey was conducted with 171 students from two middle schools in two communes of Quang-Tri Province in Vietnam. Suicidal ideation and risk factors were measured using the Vietnamese version of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). The data were analyzed by chi-square test and logistic regression analysis...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of burnout and occupational participation limitation among dental students in a dental school in Turkey. Four hundred fifty-eight dental students (females=153; males=305) were included in the study. The age range varied from 17-to-38 years. Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Version (MBI-SV) and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) were used to gather data. Descriptive analyses, t-test, and Kruskall-Wallis test for independent groups were used for data analyses...

Cardiovascular complications are the most common cause of death among thalassemia patients in Thailand. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of cardiac iron overload, cardiovascular complications and the associated risk factors. The information obtained will serve as a guidance for surveillance, prevention and early treatment of the complications. We conducted a cross sectional study of Thai patients with thalassemia attending Chiang Mai University Hospital, Thailand. Cardiac T2* magnetic resonance imaging (CMR T2*) was used to evaluate the myocardial iron deposition and echocardiography was used to evaluate the cardiac function and to identify pulmonary hypertension...