Lo Family: William Yang (Youth)

Seeing San Francisco for the first time, at the age of three, after immigrating from Loas will always be a special memory for William Yang now age 16. The sky scrapers of San Francisco were a great contrast to the jungles and life he had just left. In Laos, he lived with his family in a typical rural village where the houses were made of bamboo, thatched roofs and had dirt floors. The villagers would work in their fields to gather food, which they cooked on an open fire. Leaving his parents behind, accompanied only by his grandfather, the trip to America was indeed a great adventure…https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/ss-ha/1005/thumbnail.jp

Evaluation Integrated Mass Drug Administrations (MDA) for Neglected Tropical Diseases, in Koza District, Cameroon

Health education and preventive chemotherapy are main strategies to control or eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as lymphatic filariasis (LF), trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis (SCH), and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH). Integrated MDA for LF, onchocerciasis, SCH, STH, and trachoma were organized in the Koza district of Cameroon from July to August 2011. Ivermectin (IVM) and albendazole (ALB) were distributed for LF to the entire population except pregnant or lactating women, children \u3c90 cm in height, and the severely ill. Azithromycin was distributed at least one week after the LF MDA to all persons older than 6 months of age. Praziquantel (PZQ), targeting school age children (SAC), was only distributed in schools. In order to validate reported coverage and assess the knowledge and attitude of the population towards NTDs and MDAs, an independent coverage and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice (KAP) survey was administered. The WHO recommended population based 30-cluster coverage survey was implemented. Clusters were selected by Probability Proportional to Estimated Size and in each cluster, 10 houses were selected using the improved expanded program on immunization random walk. Coverage questions were administered by trained interviewers to each person living in selected houses and KAP questions were asked to a randomly selected adult in the house. A total of 1301 persons participated in the coverage survey and 149 adults answered the KAP questions. The survey coverage estimates for IVM /ALB and azithromycin are 76.9% (95% CI 72.0-81.9), 86.8% (95% CI 80.9-92.7), respectively, while the reported coverage is 80.3% and 93%, respectively. The survey coverage estimated for PZQ among SAC is 39.9% (95% CI 30.7-49.1), reported coverage is unknown. There was no significant association between participation in the MDA and age, gender, or knowing the disease. SAC who attended school were 269 times as likely to have taken PZQ and 3 times as likely to have taken LF drugs as SAC not attending school. Less than 50% of respondents had heard of LF and only 31.8% could mention at least one LF symptom. More than 70% of respondents had heard of STH, SCH, and trachoma, but only 52.3%, 40%, 30%, respectively, knew at least one way to prevent or treat STH, SCH, and trachoma. Despite low or incorrect knowledge of LF, SCH, STH, and trachoma, overall, MDA coverage was good except for the PZQ which was only distributed in school

Detection of Novel SARS-like and Other Coronaviruses in Bats from Kenya

Diverse coronaviruses have been identified in bats from several continents but not from Africa. We identified group 1 and 2 coronaviruses in bats in Kenya, including SARS-related coronaviruses. The sequence diversity suggests that bats are well-established reservoirs for and likely sources of coronaviruses for many species, including humans

Lo Family: William Yang (Youth)

Seeing San Francisco for the first time, at the age of three, after immigrating from Loas will always be a special memory for William Yang now age 16. The sky scrapers of San Francisco were a great contrast to the jungles and life he had just left. In Laos, he lived with his family in a typical rural village where the houses were made of bamboo, thatched roofs and had dirt floors. The villagers would work in their fields to gather food, which they cooked on an open fire. Leaving his parents behind, accompanied only by his grandfather, the trip to America was indeed a great adventure…https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/ss-ha/1005/thumbnail.jp

Sensitive, microliter PCR with consensus degenerate primers for Epstein Barr virus amplification

Abstract Sensitive identification of the etiology of viral diseases is key to implementing appropriate prevention and treatment. The gold standard for virus identification is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a technique that allows for highly specific and sensitive detection of pathogens by exponentially amplifying a specific region of DNA from as little as a single copy through thermocycling a biochemical cocktail. Today, molecular biology laboratories use commercial instruments that operate in 0.5-2 h/analysis using reaction volumes of 5-50 μL contained within polymer tubes or chambers. Towards reducing this volume and maintaining performance, we present a semi-quantitative, systematic experimental study of how PCR yield is affected by tube/chamber substrate, surface-area-to-volume ratio (SA:V), and passivation methods. We perform PCR experiments using traditional PCR tubes as well as using disposable polymer microchips with 1 μL reaction volumes thermocycled using water baths. We report the first oil encapsulation microfluidic PCR method without fluid flow and its application to the first microfluidic amplification of Epstein Barr virus using consensus degenerate primers, a powerful and broad PCR method to screen for both known and novel members of a viral family. The limit of detection is measured as 140 starting copies of DNA from a starting concentration of 3×10 5 copies/mL, regarded as an accepted sensitivity threshold for diagnostic purposes, and reaction specificity was improved as compared to conventional methods. Also notable, these experiments were conducted with conventional reagent concentrations, rather than commonly spiked enzyme and/or template mixtures. This experimental study of the effects of substrate, SA:V, and passivation, together with sensitive and specific microfluidic PCR with consensus degenerate primers represent advances towards lower cost and higher throughput pathogen screening

Detection of novel SARS-like and other coronaviruses in bats from Kenya

Diverse coronaviruses have been identified in bats from several continents but not from Africa. We identified group 1 and 2 coronaviruses in bats in Kenya, including SARS-related coronaviruses. The sequence diversity suggests that bats are well-established reservoirs for and likely sources of coronaviruses for many species, including humans

Reassortant Group A Rotavirus from Straw-colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum)

TOC summary: Bats may be reservoirs of zoonotic viruses that threaten human health