Trends in malaria research in 11 Asian Pacific countries: an analysis of peer-reviewed publications over two decades

Background: Quantitative data are lacking on published malaria research. The purpose of the study is to characterize trends in malaria-related literature from 1990 to 2009 in 11 Asian-Pacific countries that are committed to malaria elimination as a national goal. Methods. A systematic search was conducted for articles published from January 1990 to December 2009 in PubMed/MEDLINE using terms for malaria and 11 target countries (Bhutan, China, North Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vanuatu). The references were collated and categorized according to subject, Plasmodium species, and whether they contained original or derivative data. Results: 2,700 articles published between 1990 and 2009 related to malaria in the target countries. The annual output of malaria-related papers increased linearly whereas the overall biomedical output from these countries grew exponentially. The percentage of malaria-related publications was nearly 3% (111/3741) of all biomedical publications in 1992 and decreased to less than 1% (118/12171; p < 0.001) in 2009. Thailand had the highest absolute output of malaria-related papers (n = 1211), followed by China (n = 609) and Indonesia (n = 346). Solomon Islands and Vanuatu had lower absolute numbers of publications, but both countries had the highest number of publications per capita (1.3 and 2.5 papers/1,000 population). The largest percentage of papers concerned the epidemiology and control of malaria (53%) followed by studies of drugs and drug resistance (47%). There was an increase in the proportion of articles relating to epidemiology, entomology, biology, molecular biology, pathophysiology and diagnostics from the first to the second decade, whereas the percentage of papers on drugs, clinical aspects of malaria, immunology, and social sciences decreased. Conclusions: The proportion of malaria-related publications out of the overall biomedical output from the 11 target Asian-Pacific countries is decreasing. The discovery and evaluation of new, safe and effective drugs and vaccines is paramount. In addition the elimination of malaria will require operational research to implement and scale up interventions

Human influenza A H5N1 in Indonesia: health care service-associated delays in treatment initiation.

BACKGROUND: Indonesia has had more recorded human cases of influenza A H5N1 than any other country, with one of the world's highest case fatality rates. Understanding barriers to treatment may help ensure life-saving influenza-specific treatment is provided early enough to meaningfully improve clinical outcomes. METHODS: Data for this observational study of humans infected with influenza A H5N1 were obtained primarily from Ministry of Health, Provincial and District Health Office clinical records. Data included time from symptom onset to presentation for medical care, source of medical care provided, influenza virology, time to initiation of influenza-specific treatment with antiviral drugs, and survival. RESULTS: Data on 124 human cases of virologically confirmed avian influenza were collected between September 2005 and December 2010, representing 73% of all reported Indonesia cases. The median time from health service presentation to antiviral drug initiation was 7.0 days. Time to viral testing was highly correlated with starting antiviral treatment (p < 0.0001). We found substantial variability in the time to viral testing (p = 0.04) by type of medical care provider. Antivirals were started promptly after diagnosis (median 0 days). CONCLUSIONS: Delays in the delivery of appropriate care to human cases of avian influenza H5N1 in Indonesia appear related to delays in diagnosis rather than presentation to health care settings. Either cases are not suspected of being H5N1 cases until nearly one week after presenting for medical care, or viral testing and/or antiviral treatment is not available where patients are presenting for care. Health system delays have increased since 2007

Avian Influenza H5N1 Transmission in Households, Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Disease transmission patterns are needed to inform public health interventions, but remain largely unknown for avian influenza H5N1 virus infections. A recent study on the 139 outbreaks detected in Indonesia between 2005 and 2009 found that the type of exposure to sources of H5N1 virus for both the index case and their household members impacted the risk of additional cases in the household. This study describes the disease transmission patterns in those outbreak households. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We compared cases (n = 177) and contacts (n = 496) in the 113 sporadic and 26 cluster outbreaks detected between July 2005 and July 2009 to estimate attack rates and disease intervals. We used final size household models to fit transmission parameters to data on household size, cases and blood-related household contacts to assess the relative contribution of zoonotic and human-to-human transmission of the virus, as well as the reproduction number for human virus transmission. The overall household attack rate was 18.3% and secondary attack rate was 5.5%. Secondary attack rate remained stable as household size increased. The mean interval between onset of subsequent cases in outbreaks was 5.6 days. The transmission model found that human transmission was very rare, with a reproduction number between 0.1 and 0.25, and the upper confidence bounds below 0.4. Transmission model fit was best when the denominator population was restricted to blood-related household contacts of index cases. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The study only found strong support for human transmission of the virus when a single large cluster was included in the transmission model. The reproduction number was well below the threshold for sustained transmission. This study provides baseline information on the transmission dynamics for the current zoonotic virus and can be used to detect and define signatures of a virus with increasing capacity for human-to-human transmission

SITUASI VEKTOR DEMAM BERDARAH SAAT KEJADIAN LUAR BIASA (KLB) DI KECAMATAN PASARREBO, JAKARTA TIMUR

Kejadian luar biasa (KLB) penyakit Demam berdarah dengue (DBD) sering terjadi sejak dilaporkan tahun 1968. Pemberantasannya dengan penemuan penderita, pengobatan dan pengendalian vektor. Karena obat dan vaksin belum ditemukan maka sampai saat ini pemberantasan dan pencegahannya masih mengandalkan pada pengendalian vektor. Tujuan dari penelitian vektor ini adalah untuk mendapatkan informasi tentang habitat perkembangbiakan, kepadatan larva dan nyamuk penular DBD pada waktu terjadi KLB serta tipe virus yang dikandung vektornya. Penelitian dilakukan di Kecamatan Pasar Rebo, Jakarta Timur selama tiga bulan yaitu Juni sampai dengan Agustus 2003. Penelitian entomologi dilakukan merujuk kepada alamat penderita rawat inap yang bertempat tinggal di Kecamatan Pasar Rebo. Diagnosa penderita dilakukan dengan uji Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) terhadap 24 akut konvalesen sera penderita yang diambil dari Rumah Sakit Pasar Rebo. Basil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa index larva sebagai berikut House index (HI) 22,6%; Container index (Cl) 11,4% dan Breuteau index (Bl) 30,3. Kontainer yang positif larva yang berada di dalam rumah 12, 7% dari 387 kontainer. Sementara yang berada di luar rumah 3,1% dari 65 kontainer. Angka bebas jentik (ABJ) di daerah KLB kurang dari 95%. Hasil uji HI sera penderita menunjukkan 70,8% dari pasangan sera yang diperiksa, terinfeksi oleh virus dengue

Situasi Vektor Demam Berdarah Saat Kejadian Luar Biasa (Klb) Di Kecamatan Pasarrebo, Jakarta Timur

Kejadian luar biasa (KLB) penyakit Demam berdarah dengue (DBD) sering terjadi sejak dilaporkan tahun 1968. Pemberantasannya dengan penemuan penderita, pengobatan dan pengendalian vektor. Karena obat dan vaksin belum ditemukan maka sampai saat ini pemberantasan dan pencegahannya masih mengandalkan pada pengendalian vektor. Tujuan dari penelitian vektor ini adalah untuk mendapatkan informasi tentang habitat perkembangbiakan, kepadatan larva dan nyamuk penular DBD pada waktu terjadi KLB serta tipe virus yang dikandung vektornya. Penelitian dilakukan di Kecamatan Pasar Rebo, Jakarta Timur selama tiga bulan yaitu Juni sampai dengan Agustus 2003. Penelitian entomologi dilakukan merujuk kepada alamat penderita rawat inap yang bertempat tinggal di Kecamatan Pasar Rebo. Diagnosa penderita dilakukan dengan uji Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) terhadap 24 akut konvalesen sera penderita yang diambil dari Rumah Sakit Pasar Rebo. Basil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa index larva sebagai berikut House index (HI) 22,6%; Container index (Cl) 11,4% dan Breuteau index (Bl) 30,3. Kontainer yang positif larva yang berada di dalam rumah 12, 7% dari 387 kontainer. Sementara yang berada di luar rumah 3,1% dari 65 kontainer. Angka bebas jentik (ABJ) di daerah KLB kurang dari 95%. Hasil uji HI sera penderita menunjukkan 70,8% dari pasangan sera yang diperiksa, terinfeksi oleh virus dengue

Geographic distribution of the three major filarial species in Indonesia.

<p>Data from Indonesian Ministry of Health. Map showing distribution of <i>B. malayi</i> (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi), <i>W. bancrofti</i> (Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara Barat [NTB] and Papua), and <i>B. malayi</i> and <i>B. timori</i> in Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT).</p

Map of Indonesia.

<p>From Wikimedia Commons. Available: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indonesia_2002_CIA_map.png" target="_blank">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indonesia_2002_CIA_map.png</a>. Accessed 6 June 2013.</p