Complete genome characterization of two wild-type measles viruses from Vietnamese infants during the 2014 outbreak

A large measles virus outbreak occurred across Vietnam in 2014. We identified and obtained complete measles virus genomes in stool samples collected from two diarrheal pediatric patients in Dong Thap Province. These are the first complete genome sequences of circulating measles viruses in Vietnam during the 2014 measles outbreak

Genome sequences of a novel Vietnamese bat bunyavirus

To document the viral zoonotic risks in Vietnam, fecal samples were systematically collected from a number of mammals in southern Vietnam and subjected to agnostic deep sequencing. We describe here novel Vietnamese bunyavirus sequences detected in bat feces. The complete L and S segments from 14 viruses were determined

Demand and willingness to pay for different treatment and care services among patients with heart diseases in Hanoi, Vietnam

Bach Xuan Tran,1,2 Giang Thu Vu,3 Thu Hong Thi Nguyen,4 Long Hoang Nguyen,5 Dat Dinh Pham,4 Viet Quang Truong,4 Thao Phuong Thi Thai,6 Thuc Minh Thi Vu,7 Tuan Quoc Nguyen,8 Vu Nguyen,9 Trang Huyen Thi Nguyen,10 Carl A Latkin,2 Cyrus SH Ho,11 Roger CM Ho12 1Department of Health Economics, Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3Center of Excellence in Evidence-based Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 4Hanoi Heart Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Center of Excellence in Behavioral Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; 6Department of General Planning and Department of Cardiology, Friendship Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 7Tam Anh Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 8Hanoi Department of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam; 9Department of Neurosurgery Spine-Surgery, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 10Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam; 11Department of Psychological Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore; 12Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore Introduction: In Vietnam, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are serious health issues, especially in the context of overload central heart hospitals, insufficient primary healthcare, and lack of customer-oriented care and treatment. Attempts to measure demand and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for different CVD treatments and care services have been limited. This study explored the preferences and WTP of patients with heart diseases for different home- and hospital-based services in Hanoi, Vietnam. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed at the Hanoi Heart Hospital from July to December 2017. A contingent valuation was adopted to determine the preferences of patients and measure their WTP. Interval regressions were employed to determine the potential predictors of patients’ WTP. Results: Hospital-based services were most preferred by patients, with demand ranging from 45.6% to 82.3% of total participants, followed by home-based (45.4%–45.8%) and administrative services (28.9%–34%). WTP for hospital-based services were in the range of US$9.8 (US$ 8.4–11.2)–US$21.9 (US$ 20.3–23.4), while figures for home-based and administrative services were US$9.8 (US$ 8.4–11.2)–US$22 (US$ 18.7–25.3) and 1.9 (US 1.6–2.2)–US 7.5 (US$ 6.3–8.6), respectively. Patients who lived in urban areas, were employed, were having higher level of education, and were not covered by health insurance were willing to pay more for services, especially home-based ones. Conclusion: Demand and WTP for home-based services among heart disease patients were moderately low compared with hospital-based ones. There is a need for more policies supporting home-based services, better communication of services’ benefits to general public and patients, and introduction of services packages based on patients’ preferences. Keywords: willingness to pay, preference, heart disease, service, Vietna

The impact of frailty on prolonged hospitalization and mortality in elderly inpatients in Vietnam: a comparison between the frailty phenotype and the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale

Anh Trung Nguyen,1,2 Thanh Xuan Nguyen,1,2 Tu N Nguyen,1,3 Thu Hoai Thi Nguyen,1,2,4 Thang Pham,1,2 Robert Cumming,5 Sarah N Hilmer,6 Huyen Thi Thanh Vu1,2 1The National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada; 4Dinh Tien Hoang Institute of Medicine, Hanoi, Vietnam; 5Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 6Departments of Clinical Pharmacology and Aged Care, Royal North Shore Hospital and Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Aims: To investigate the impact of frailty on outcomes in older hospitalized patients, including prolonged length of stay and all-cause mortality 6 months after admission, using both the frailty phenotype and the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale (REFS).Patients and methods: This study is the follow-up phase of a study designed to investigate the prevalence of frailty and its impact on adverse outcomes in older hospitalized patients at the National Geriatric Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam.Results: A total of 461 participants were included, with a mean age 76.2±8.9 years, and 56.8% were female. The prevalence of frailty was 31.9% according to the REFS and 35.4% according to Fried’s criteria. The kappa coefficient was 0.57 (95% CI =0.49–0.66) between the two frailty criteria in identifying frail and non-frail participants. There was a trend toward increasing the likelihood of prolonged hospitalization in participants with frailty defined by Fried’s criteria (adjusted OR =1.49, 95% CI =0.94–2.35) or by REFS (adjusted OR =1.43, 95% CI =0.89–2.29). During 6 months of follow-up, 210 were lost and 18/251 (7.2%) participants died. Mortality was higher in those with frailty defined by either Fried’s criteria or REFS. On multivariable survival analysis, adjusted HRs for mortality were 2.65 (95% CI =1.02–6.89) for Fried’s criteria and 4.19 (95% CI =1.59–10.99) for REFS.Conclusion: Fried’s frailty phenotype or REFS can be used as a screening tool to detect frailty in older inpatients in Vietnam and predict mortality. Frailty screening can help prioritize targeted frailty-tailored treatments, such as nutrition, early mobility and medication review, for these vulnerable patients to improve clinical outcomes. Keywords: frailty, elderly, inpatients, Vietna

New TiO₂-doped Cu-Mg spinel-ferrite-based photocatalyst for degrading highly toxic rhodamine B dye in wastewater.

The quest for finding an effective photocatalyst for environmental remediation and treatment strategies is attracting considerable attentions from scientists. In this study, a new hybrid material, Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4-TiO2, was designed and fabricated using coprecipitation and sol-gel approaches for degrading organic dyes in wastewater. The prepared hybrid materials were fully characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results revealed that the Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4-TiO2 hybrid material was successfully synthesized with average particle sizes of 40.09 nm for TiO2 and 27.9 nm for Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4. As the calculated bandgap energy of the hybrid material was approximately 2.86 eV, it could harvest photon energy in the visible region. Results indicate that the Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4-TiO2 also had reasonable magnetic properties with a saturation magnetization value of 11.2 emu/g, which is a level of making easy separation from the solution by an external magnet. The resultant Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4-TiO2 hybrid material revealed better photocatalytic performance for rhodamine B dye (consistent removal rate in the 13.96 × 10-3 min-1) compared with free-standing Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4 and TiO2 materials. The recyclability and photocatalytic mechanism of Cu0.5Mg0.5Fe2O4-TiO2 are also well discussed

Epidemiology and Virology of Acute Respiratory Infections During the First Year of Life A Birth Cohort Study in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Understanding viral etiology and age-specific incidence of acute respiratory infections in infants can help identify risk groups and inform vaccine delivery, but community-based data is lacking from tropical settings. METHODS: One thousand four hundred and seventy-eight infants in urban Ho Chi Minh City and 981 infants in a semi-rural district in southern Vietnam were enrolled at birth and followed to 1 year of age. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) episodes were identified through clinic-based illness surveillance, hospital admissions and self-reports. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from infants with respiratory symptoms and tested for 14 respiratory pathogens using multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Estimated incidence of ARI was 542 and 2691 per 1000 infant-years, and hospitalization rates for ARI were 81 and 138 per 1000 infant-years, in urban and semi-rural cohorts, respectively, from clinic- and hospital-based surveillance. However self-reported ARI episodes were just 1.5-fold higher in the semi-rural versus urban cohort, indicating that part of the urban-rural difference was explained by under-ascertainment in the urban cohort. Incidence was higher in infants ≥6 months of age than <6 months, but this was pathogen-specific. One or more viruses were detected in 53% (urban) and 64% (semi-rural) of samples from outpatients with ARI and in 78% and 66% of samples from hospitalized ARI patients, respectively. The most frequently detected viruses were rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza virus A and bocavirus. ARI-associated hospitalizations were associated with longer stays and more frequent ICU admission than other infections. CONCLUSIONS: ARI is a significant cause of morbidity in Vietnamese infants and influenza virus A is an under-appreciated cause of vaccine-preventable disease and hospitalizations in this tropical setting. Public health strategies to reduce infant ARI incidence and hospitalization rates are needed

Households as Foci for Dengue Transmission in Highly Urban Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Dengue control programs commonly employ reactive insecticide spraying around houses of reported cases, with the assumption that most dengue virus (DENV) transmission occurs in the home. Focal household transmission has been demonstrated in rural settings, but it is unclear whether this holds true in dense and mobile urban populations. We conducted a prospective study of dengue clustering around households in highly urban Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. METHODS: We enrolled 71 index cases with suspected dengue (subsequently classified as 52 dengue cases and 19 non-dengue controls); each initiated the enrollment of a cluster of 25-35 household members and neighbors who were followed up over 14 days. Incident DENV infections in cluster participants were identified by RT-PCR, NS1-ELISA, and/or DENV-IgM/-IgG seroconversion, and recent infections by DENV-IgM positivity at baseline. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS/CONCLUSIONS: There was no excess risk of DENV infection within dengue case clusters during the two-week follow-up, compared to control clusters, but the prevalence of recent DENV infection at baseline was two-fold higher in case clusters than controls (OR 2.3, 95%CI 1.0-5.1, p = 0.05). Prevalence of DENV infection in Aedes aegypti was similar in case and control houses, and low overall (1%). Our findings are broadly consistent with household clustering of dengue risk, but indicate that any clustering is at a short temporal scale rather than sustained chains of localized transmission. This suggests that reactive perifocal insecticide spraying may have a limited impact in this setting

Pandemic H1N1 virus transmission and shedding dynamics in index case households of a prospective Vietnamese cohort

OBJECTIVES: Influenza household transmission studies are required to guide prevention strategies but most passively recruit index cases that seek healthcare. We investigated A(H1N1)pdm09 transmission in a household-based cohort during 2009. METHODS: Health-workers visited 270 households weekly, and collected swabs from influenza-like-illness cases. If A(H1N1)pdm09 was RT-PCR-confirmed, all household members had symptoms assessed and swabs collected daily for 10-15 days. Viral RNA was quantified and sequenced and serology performed on pre-pandemic sera. RESULTS: Index cases were detected in 20 households containing 81 people. 98.5% lacked A(H1N1)pdm09 neutralizing antibodies in pre-pandemic sera. Eleven (18.6%, 95% CI 10.7-30.4%) of 59 contacts were infected. Virus genetic diversity within households was negligible and less than between households. Index and secondary cases were distributed between mothers, daughters and sons, and had similar virus-RNA shedding and symptom dynamics. Fathers were rarely infected. Five secondary cases (45%) had no apparent symptoms and three shed virus before symptoms. Secondary infection was associated with index case wet cough (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.22-1.99). CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of A(H1N1)pdm09 susceptible persons, virus sequencing was capable of discriminating household from community transmission. Household transmission involved mothers and children but rarely fathers. Asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic shedding was common