Creation of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Education Program for Young Adults in Rural Cambodia

Introduction: Globally, adolescents and young adults aged from 15 to 24 years accounted for 25% of the sexually active population. They also took up almost 50% of all newly acquired sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) worldwide. In developing countries/ regions, there have been more unreported cases due to the limited resources and availability of data. This project aimed to enhance sexual health knowledge and encourage behavioral change in sexual practice in rural Cambodia by educational interventions.Methods: A multi-prong project used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as framework to guide the implementation, which involved carrying out educational talks, group discussion sessions. The educational health talks described the signs and symptoms of STDs and preventive measures including the Abstinence-Be faithful- Condom (ABC) strategy. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted on 111 villagers aged between 18 and 30 years who lived in Peaksneng Thyme Village, Cambodia. Special materials were prepared that highlighted such information were also given to all participants. This was followed by discussion sessions that aimed to strengthen an appropriate attitude toward STDs. A pilot trial was done to prepare and build a constructive, realistic atmosphere and facilitated in-depth spread of main messages. A 20-item assessment of STD knowledge was used as pre- and post-intervention evaluation tool. Individual participant scores were compared to determine the effectiveness of interventions.Conclusion: This comprehensive program was effective in enhancing sexual knowledge in high-risk groups of both sexes as well as general public in rural Cambodia. With experiences gained, this could be replicated in nearby communities, possibly motivating community behavioral change in future. Alternatively, this approach could be further developed, or using other behavioral theories, and applied to other health issues in this country

A cost-effective and universal strategy for complete prokaryotic genomic sequencing proposed by computer simulation

Background: Pyrosequencing techniques allow scientists to perform prokaryotic genome sequencing to achieve the draft genomic sequences within a few days. However, the assemblies with shotgun sequencing are usually composed of hundreds of contigs. A further multiplex PCR procedure is needed to fill all the gaps and link contigs into complete chromosomal sequence, which is the basis for prokaryotic comparative genomic studies. In this article, we study various pyrosequencing strategies by simulated assembling from 100 prokaryotic genomes. Findings. Simulation study shows that a single end 454 Jr. run combined with a paired end 454 Jr. run (8 kb library) can produce: 1) ∼90% of 100 assemblies with 99.99%; 4) average false gene duplication rate is < 0.7%; 5) average false gene loss rate is < 0.4%. Conclusions: A single end 454 Jr. run combined with a paired end 454 Jr. run (8 kb library) is a cost-effective way for prokaryotic whole genome sequencing. This strategy provides solution to produce high quality draft assemblies for most of prokaryotic organisms within days. Due to the small number of assembled scaffolds, the following multiplex PCR procedure (for gap filling) would be easy. As a result, large scale prokaryotic whole genome sequencing projects may be finished within weeks. © 2012 Jiang et al; BioMed Central Ltd.published_or_final_versio

PulseNet International: vision for the implementation of whole genome sequencing (WGS) for global food-borne disease surveillance

FWD-NEXT Expert Panel - Portugal/INSA - Vítor Borges (Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal)PulseNet International is a global network dedicated to laboratory-based surveillance for food-borne diseases. The network comprises the national and regional laboratory networks of Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and the United States. The PulseNet International vision is the standardised use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify and subtype food-borne bacterial pathogens worldwide, replacing traditional methods to strengthen preparedness and response, reduce global social and economic disease burden, and save lives. To meet the needs of real-time surveillance, the PulseNet International network will standardise subtyping via WGS using whole genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST), which delivers sufficiently high resolution and epidemiological concordance, plus unambiguous nomenclature for the purposes of surveillance. Standardised protocols, validation studies, quality control programmes, database and nomenclature development, and training should support the implementation and decentralisation of WGS. Ideally, WGS data collected for surveillance purposes should be publicly available, in real time where possible, respecting data protection policies. WGS data are suitable for surveillance and outbreak purposes and for answering scientific questions pertaining to source attribution, antimicrobial resistance, transmission patterns, and virulence, which will further enable the protection and improvement of public health with respect to food-borne disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PulseNet International survey on the implementation of whole genome sequencing in low and middle-income countries for foodborne disease surveillance

PulseNet International (PNI) is a global network of 88 countries who work together through their regional and national public health laboratories to track foodborne disease around the world. The vision of PNI is to implement globally standardized surveillance using whole genome sequencing (WGS) for real-time identification and subtyping of foodborne pathogens to strengthen preparedness and response and lower the burden of disease. Several countries in North America and Europe have experienced significant benefits in disease mitigation after implementing WGS. To broaden the routine use of WGS around the world, challenges and barriers must be overcome. We conducted this study to determine the challenges and barriers countries are encountering in their attempts to implement WGS and to identify how PNI can provide support to improve and become a better integrated system overall. A survey was designed with a set of qualitative questions to capture the status, challenges, barriers, and successes of countries in the implementation of WGS and was administered to laboratories in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East. One-third of respondents do not use WGS, and only 8% reported using WGS for routine, real-time surveillance. The main barriers for implementation of WGS were lack of funding, gaps in expertise, and training, especially for data analysis and interpretation. Features of an ideal system to facilitate implementation and global surveillance were identified as an all-in-one software that is free, accessible, standardized and validated. This survey highlights the minimal use of WGS for foodborne disease surveillance outside the United States, Canada, and Europe to date. Although funding remains a major barrier to WGS-based surveillance, critical gaps in expertise and availability of tools must be overcome. Opportunities to seek sustainable funding, provide training, and identify solutions for a globally standardized surveillance platform will accelerate implementation of WGS worldwide.Cooperative Agreement number NU60OE000104, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/foodborne-pathogens-and-disease/108hj2023Medical Microbiolog

Standardization and international multicenter validation of a PulseNet pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocol for subtyping Shigella flexneri isolates

Fil: Pichel, Mariana. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Brengi, Silvina P. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Cooper, Kara L. F. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos.Fil: Ribot, Efrain M. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Al-Busaidy, Suleiman. Central Public Health Laboratory; Omán.Fil: Araya, Pamela. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Fernández, Jorge. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Vaz, Tania Ibelli. Instituto Adolfo Lutz; Brazil.Fil: Kam, Kai Man. Public Health Laboratory Centre; Japón.Fil: Morcos, Myriam. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Nielsen, Eva M. Statens Serum Institut; Dinamarca.Fil: Nadon, Celine. National Microbiology Laboratory; Canadá.Fil: Pimentel, Guillermo. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Pérez-Gutiérrez, Enrique. PAHO/WHO. Health Surveillance; Panamá.Fil: Gerner-Smidt, Peter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Binsztein, Norma. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Shigella flexneri is one of the agents most frequently linked to diarrheal illness in developing countries and often causes outbreaks in settings with poor hygiene or sanitary conditions. Travel is one of the means by which S. flexneri can be imported into developed countries, where this pathogen is not commonly seen. A robust and discriminatory subtyping method is needed for the surveillance of S. flexneri locally and regionally, and to aid in the detection and investigation of outbreaks. The PulseNet International network utilizes standardized pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) protocols to carry out laboratory-based surveillance of foodborne pathogens in combination with epidemiologic data. A multicenter validation was carried out in nine PulseNet laboratories located in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and it demonstrated that a new protocol is highly robust and reproducible for subtyping of S. flexneri. This protocol, already approved for PulseNet laboratories, applies NotI and XbaI as primary and secondary restriction enzymes, respectively, under electrophoresis conditions of initial switch time of 5 s to final switch time of 35 s, at 6 volts/cm

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals &lt;1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens