Northeastern Thailand

Hypertension, related to serious consequences unless diagnosed and treated, is a global concern, also affecting migrant workers. Due to the high prevalence of hypertension among migrant workers in Thailand, the influences of health literacy and other factors on blood pressure were needed to explore among Myanmar migrant workers in Northeastern Thailand. Hence, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of high blood pressure (HBP), its association with health literacy and other factors among Myanmar migrant workers in Northeastern Thailand...

Cyprinid fishes are commonly acted as second intermediate hosts of Opisthorchis viverrini and Haplorchis spp. This research investigated the prevalence and intensity of both parasites in cyprinid species. This process is regularly used as a guideline for disease surveillance and as a preventive measure in the Upper Northeastern region of Thailand. Fish samples were collected from both lentic and lotic water sources between November 2020 and October 2021, and classified them by their species. Acid pepsin-HCL solution was used to digest the individual samples and create a build-up of precipitate in order to view metacercariae using a stereomicroscope...

The widespread application of rare earth elements (REEs) in contemporary industries and agriculture, has caused emerging contaminant accumulation in aquatic environments. However, there is a limited scope of risk assessments, particularly in relation to human health associated with REEs. This study investigated the provenance, and contamination levels of REEs, further evaluating their environmental and human health risks in river sediments from an agricultural basin. The concentrations of REEs ranged from 30...

BACKGROUND: Pesticide poisoning is a major public health problem in Thailand and is the result of intensive inappropriate and unsafe use of pesticides. This analytical cross-sectional study aimed to determine the factors affecting safe pesticide-use behaviors among farm plant agriculturists in northeastern Thailand. METHODS: The study sample included 427 farm plant agriculturists in Loei Province, northeastern Thailand. Individuals were randomly selected by a multistage random sampling technique...

BACKGROUND: As the anatomical variations of the foot, enlarged peroneal tubercle (EPT) and accessory anterolateral talar facet (AALTF) have attracted the attention of foot surgeons in recent years. However, EPT and AALTF have not been examined for a relationship with calcaneus spur (CS) as a common osteophyte. METHODS: The subjects were 369 individuals who died in northeastern Thailand and were preserved as skeletal specimens. The authors examined for the presence of left and right EPT, AALTF, and calcaneus spur (CS)...

AIM: With a growing elderly population, the demand for caregivers is increasing in Khon Kaen, Thailand, with approximately 17 000 elderly residents. This growing number of older people and a shortage of caregivers could overload the healthcare system. METHODS: The present study involved 129 healthcare volunteers (caregivers for questionnaires study) and the collection of health data from 290 elderly residents from northeastern Thailand. After training, the volunteers assessed its usefulness through questionnaires...

Infection with Strongyloides stercoralis is often asymptomatic but can be life-threatening in immunocompromised patients, which can be prevented by ivermectin (IVM) treatment. The efficacy of IVM has been reported to have lessened over time in some regions as a consequence of prolonged use and mass treatment campaigns. Ivermectin has been used in Thailand for more than a decade; therefore, we investigated the efficacy of a single dose (200 μg/kg) of IVM against in asymptomatic strongyloidiasis in northeastern Thailand...

Northeastern Thailand comprises one-third of the country and is home to various populations, with Lao Isan constituting the majority, while others are considered minority groups. Previous studies on forensic short tandem repeats (STRs) in Thailand predominantly focused on autosomal STRs but there was a paucity of X-STRs, exclusively reported from the North and Central regions of the country. In this study, we have newly established a 12 X-STRs from a total of 896 samples from Northeastern Thailand, encompassing Lao Isan as the major group in the region, alongside nine minor populations (Khmer, Mon, Nyahkur, Bru, Kuy, Phutai, Kalueang, Nyaw, and Saek)...

The Northeastern region of India is considered a gateway for modern humans' dispersal throughout Asia. This region is a mixture of various ethnic and indigenous populations amalgamating multiple ancestries. One reason for such amalgamation is that, South Asia experienced multiple historic migrations from various parts of the world. A few examples explored genetically are Jews, Parsis and Siddis. Ahom is a dynasty that historically migrated to India during the 12th century. However, this putative migration has not been studied genetically at high resolution...

Ecological analyses of the small and lesser-known insect order Mecoptera in Thailand are presented. Specimens were collected monthly over a period of 12 consecutive months, using both Malaise and pan traps, from 29 sampling sites located in 18 national parks throughout Thailand. A total of 21 species in four genera were identified from 797 specimens, including Panorpa (1 species), Neopanorpa (18 species), Bittacus (1 species), and Terrobittacus (1 species), with the latter genus representing a new genus record to Thailand...

INTRODUCTION: Haemosporidian parasites are prevalent worldwide and can cause economic losses in poultry production. These parasites are arousing interest in Thailand and are found in many avian species. There is insufficient information on the genetic diversity of these alveolates from the largest families - Plasmodidae, Haemoprotidae and Leucocytozoidae - specifically parasitising ducks, turkeys, and geese. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Blood samples from 116 backyard poultry (60 ducks, 36 turkeys and 20 geese) in northeastern Thailand were investigated for Plasmodium spp...

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: Thailand has approached an aged society in which the proportion of older adults rose from 5% in 1995 to 20.7% in 2022 and is projected to increase to 27.2% in 2030. Older adults face health risks and challenges, requiring supportive care. This research aimed to promote the wellness of older adults through Integrated Health-Promoting Programs and Supportive Peers (IHPP-SP) in semi-urban communities. METHODS: A one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was conducted among 229 older adults from 22 communities...

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic disease characterized by elevated LDL-C levels. In this study, two FH probands and 9 family members from two families from northeastern Thailand were tested for LDLR, APOB, and PCSK9 variants by whole-exome sequencing, PCR-HRM, and Sanger sequencing. In silico analysis of LDLR was performed to analyse its structure‒function relationship. A novel variant of LDLR (c.535_536delinsAT, p.Glu179Met) was detected in proband 1 and proband 2 in homozygous and heterozygous forms, respectively...

Melioidosis, infection caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, is characterized by robust innate immune responses. We have previously reported associations of TLR1 single nucleotide missense variant rs76600635 with mortality and of TLR5 nonsense variant rs5744168 with both bacteremia and mortality in single-center studies of patients with melioidosis in northeastern Thailand. The objective of this study was to externally validate the associations of rs76600635 and rs5744168 with bacteremia and mortality in a large multicenter cohort of melioidosis patients...

Climate-induced health hazards are increasingly evident and frequent, with mental health emerging as a critical concern. Our study focuses on assessing mental health challenges related to climate variability in Northeastern Thailand. Using descriptive cross-sectional analysis and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10), we analyzed mental health morbidity from 2018 to 2022. High average monthly temperatures exceeding 30°C and exposure to floods or droughts elevate the risk of mental health challenges...

BACKGROUND: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) caused by Opisthorchis viverrini is a well-known and significant public health issue in northeastern Thailand; however, a link between pesticide exposure (PE) and CCA risk has not yet been established. Therefore, our research objective was to investigate the relationship between PE and CCA risk. METHODS: A hospital-based matched case-control study was carried out. All cases (in-patients) and controls (out-patients) were volunteers at a tertiary hospital in northeast Thailand...

INTRODUCTION: Thailand experienced a nationwide outbreak of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in 2021, highlighting the need for effective prevention and control strategies. This study aimed to identify herd-level risk factors associated with LSD outbreaks in beef cattle herds across different regions of Thailand. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in upper northeastern, northeastern, and central regions, where face-to-face interviews were conducted with farmers using a semi-structured questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is experiencing a global increase, particularly in Northeast Thailand, which has the highest global incidence rates. However, there is a paucity of studies on CCA screening, especially in high-risk populations. This study aimed to investigate the distribution and spatial patterns of CCA in Northeast Thailand over a ten-year screening period. METHODS: The study included CCA patients from the Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) between 2013 and 2022, which encompasses 20 provinces and 282 districts in Northeast of Thailand...

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had effects on changes in people, society, and pollutant sources. This was a unique research opportunity to assess the effects on the risk of pneumonia resulted from the changes in air pollution and personal hygiene regarding city lockdown. METHODS: This study, we estimated time-series relative risks (RRs) of pneumonia (n=94,288) associated with PM10 , PM2.5 , NO2 , and O3 in Khon Kaen province and its vicinity, using Poison regression with generalized additive model and compared air pollutant-associated risk of pneumonia before vs...

INTRODUCTION: In Thailand, community-level poultry trade is conducted on a small-scale involving farmers and traders with many trade networks. Understanding the poultry movements may help identify different activities that farmers and traders might contribute to the spread of avian influenza. METHODS: This study aimed to describe the characteristics of players involved in the poultry trade network at the northeastern border of Thailand using network analysis approaches...