COVID-19 among staff and their family members of a healthcare research institution in Bangladesh between March 2020 and April 2021 : a test-negative case–control study

Objective To identify factors associated with COVID- 19 positivity among staff and their family members of icddr,b, a health research institute located in Bangladesh. Setting Dhaka, Bangladesh. Participants A total of 4295 symptomatic people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse-transcription PCR between 19 March 2020 and 15 April 2021. Multivariable logistic regression was done to identify the factors associated with COVID- 19 positivity by contrasting test positives with test negatives. Result Forty-three per cent of the participants were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The median age was high in positive cases (37 years vs 34 years). Among the positive cases, 97% were recovered, 2.1% had reinfections, 24 died and 41 were active cases as of 15 April 2021. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age more than 60 years (adjusted OR (aOR)=2.1, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.3; pwere tested negative. Conclusions The study findings suggest that older age, fever, cough and anosmia were associated with COVID- 19 among the study participants.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Occurrence of Hybrid Escherichia coli Strains Carrying Shiga Toxin and Heat-Stable Toxin in Livestock of Bangladesh

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) are important causes of diarrhea in humans and animals worldwide. Although ruminant animals are the main source of STEC, diarrhea due to this pathotype is very low in Bangladesh where ETEC remains the predominant group associated with childhood diarrhea. In the present study, E. coli strains (n = 35) isolated from Bangladesh livestock (goats, sheep, and cattle) and poultry (chicken and ducks) were analyzed for the presence of major virulence factors, such as Shiga toxins (STX-1 and STX-2), heat-labile toxin, and heat-stable toxins (STa and STb). Multiplex polymerase chain reaction results revealed 23 (66%) E. coli strains to be virulent possessing either sta (n = 5), stx (stx1, n = 8; stx2, n = 2), or both (n = 8) genes in varying combinations. Thirty-four percent (8/23) of strains from livestock were hybrid type that carried both stx (either stx1 or stx2) and ETEC-specific enterotoxin gene sta. Serotyping results revealed that the ETEC strains belonged to five serotypes, namely O36: H5, O174: H-, O152: H8, O109: H51, and O8: H21, while the STEC-producing strains belonged to serotypes O76: H19 (n = 3), O43: H2 (n = 2), O87: H16 (n = 2), OR: H2 (n = 1), O110: H16 (n = 1), and O152: H8 (n = 1). The STEC-ETEC hybrid strains belonged to serotypes O76: H19 (n = 3), O43: H2 (n = 2), O87: H16, OR: H2, and O152: H8. Forty percent (2/5) of the ETEC and 20% (2/10) of the STEC strains were multidrug resistant with the highest drug resistance (50%) being found in the hybrid strains. Molecular fingerprinting determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and cluster analyses by dendrogram revealed that, genetically, STEC-ETEC hybrid strains were highly heterogeneous. Multidrug-resistant E. coli STEC-ETEC hybrid strains in domesticated animals pose a public health threat for humans in Bangladesh

Iron-containing micronutrient powder provided to children with moderate-to-severe malnutrition increases hemoglobin concentrations but not the risk of infectious morbidity:a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, noninferiority safety trial

A link between the provision of iron and infectious morbidity has been suggested, particularly in children with malnutrition. Two meta-analyses concluded that iron is not harmful, but malnourished children were underrepresented in most available studies