Comparative detection of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum DNA in saliva and urine samples from symptomatic malaria patients in a low endemic area

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Definite diagnosis of malaria relies on microscopy detection of blood stages of parasites in peripheral blood and requires blood sample collection. The nested PCR method has shown to be more sensitive and superior to microscopy in detecting co-infections of <it>Plasmodium </it>species in circulation while <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>DNA can be identified in urine and saliva specimens of patients, albeit at a lower sensitivity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Matched blood, saliva and urine samples were collected from 100 microscopy-positive and 20 microscopy-negative febrile patients who attended a malaria clinic in Tak Province, northwestern Thailand for nested PCR analysis targeting the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene of human malaria. Both <it>P. falciparum </it>and <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>have been known to circulate at a comparable rate in the study area.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Comparing with microscopy results, nested PCR of saliva samples had a sensitivity of 74.1% for <it>P. falciparum </it>detection and 84% for <it>P. vivax </it>detection while 44.4% and 34.0% of the corresponding values were observed for urine samples. Both nested PCR results of saliva and urine samples had a specificity of 100% for identification of <it>P. falciparum </it>and <it>P. vivax </it>when compared with nested PCR results from blood. Co-infections of both species were found in four, 26 and 8 patients by microscopy and nested PCR of blood and saliva samples, respectively. Although the positive rates of nested PCR of saliva samples for <it>P. falciparum </it>increased with parasite density, no tendency occurred in results from nested PCR of saliva samples for <it>P. vivax </it>as well as those of urine samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Saliva and urine samples could be alternative noninvasive sources of DNA for molecular detection of both <it>P. falciparum </it>and <it>P. vivax</it>. Further improvement of the detection method will offer an opportunity to use these samples for diagnosis of malaria.</p

Plasmodium knowlesi Malaria in Humans and Macaques, Thailand

This parasite may be transmitted from macaques to humans

The effectiveness of community-based interprofessional education for undergraduate medical and health promotion students

Abstract Background Community-based interprofessional education (CBIPE) has been proven effective in enhancing the interprofessional competencies of medical and health professional students. However, there is a lack of evaluation on the impact of experiential CBIPE among undergraduate medical and health promotion students in Thailand. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the influence of CBIPE learning on the collaborative competencies of these students. Methods A one-group pre-posttest design in 193 (152 medical students and 41 health promotion) students were involved in the CBIPE program, later divided into 12 groups. Data was collected by direct observations of mentors using the Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICCAS). The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the CBIPE program. Results A total of 175 (90.67%) completed ICCAS and satisfaction questions before and after the CBIPE program. The mean age of respondents was 20.29 ± 1.63 years; 60.57% were women and 39.43% were men. The results showed a significant increase in collaborative competencies before and after the 2-week course. Gender-stratified analysis showed an improvement after CBIPE training for all subscales in women, while the communication, collaboration, conflict management, and functioning team skills segment score was significantly higher in the post-assessment among men. Conclusion The implementation of CBIPE learning was successful in enhancing collaborative competencies among both medical and health promotion students. These findings will provide valuable insights for the design and improvement of CBIPE learning programs in other universities