Correlation between rainfall and the prevalence of malaria in Thailand

Malaria is the most important parasitic disease of people, affecting over 200 million people and causing more than one million deaths each year. Presently, the Southeast Asia including Thailand is still the endemic are for malaria. The surveys of the disease prevalence are useful for prevention and control of disease [Phillips RS. Current status of malaria and potential for control. Clin Microbiol Rev 2001;14:208-26] and have been continuously performed in Thailand. The correlation between rainfall and infection rate of malaria is of interest. Here, the correlation between the rainfall and the prevalence of malaria was investigated. The relation between the rainfall (transformed from the geographical data) and the prevalence of malaria (transformed from the overall infection rate of malaria) is investigated. The least square equation plot rainfall (Y) vs. prevalence (X) is Y=24.82X+987.84 (r=0.76, P<0.01). In conclusion, the prevalence of malarial infection in Thailand may depend on rainfall. Therefore, the surveillance and control of mosquito during the period with high rainfall is recommended. Further, similar study to assess the correlation between the rainfall and prevalence of infection in the other countries is required to fulfill the conclusion.     

Rate of malarial infection among foreigners in a tertiary hospital of Thailand: change of epidemiology and importance of travel medicine (1996-2005)

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Malaria is still an important infectious disease in Thailand. The study of the incidence of malaria can provide useful data for disease prevention and control. At present, trade and travel can impact on vector-borne diseases, including malaria. Transmission of malaria from an endemic to a non-endemic area can be expected and this can affect the pattern of malaria epidemiology. METHODS: Analysis of rate of malarial infection among foreigners in a tertiary hospital of Thailand in the past decade (1996-2005) was carried out by scrutinising the available published and unpublished. RESULTS: According to this study, two main groups of travellers, the migrant workers from the nearby countries, who bring malaria from the endemic area in their countries and the naive cases as the travellers from the western countries, who expose to malaria during their travelling in Thailand, can be identified. CONCLUSION: Change of epidemiology due to high rate of infection in non-Thai patients and importance of travel on the epidemiology of malaria can be seen from this study.     

An 11‐country study to benchmark the implementation of recommended nutrition policies by national governments using the Healthy Food Environment Policy Index, 2015‐2018

The Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food‐EPI) aims to assess the extent of implementation of recommended food environment policies by governments compared with international best practices and prioritize actions to fill implementation gaps. The Food‐EPI was applied in 11 countries across six regions (2015‐2018). National public health nutrition panels (n = 11‐101 experts) rated the extent of implementation of 47 policy and infrastructure support good practice indicators by their government(s) against best practices, using an evidence document verified by government officials. Experts identified and prioritized actions to address implementation gaps. The proportion of indicators at “very low if any,” “low,” “medium,” and “high” implementation, overall Food‐EPI scores, and priority action areas were compared across countries. Inter‐rater reliability was good (GwetAC2 = 0.6‐0.8). Chile had the highest proportion of policies (13%) rated at “high” implementation, while Guatemala had the highest proportion of policies (83%) rated at “very low if any” implementation. The overall Food‐EPI score was “medium” for Australia, England, Chile, and Singapore, while “very low if any” for Guatemala. Policy areas most frequently prioritized included taxes on unhealthy foods, restricting unhealthy food promotion and front‐of‐pack labelling. The Food‐EPI was found to be a robust tool and process to benchmark governments' progress to create healthy food environments.     

Report on blood cholinesterase among vegetable growers

We report our study on serum cholinesterase in vegetable growers, a risk occupation in a rural area of Thailand. In this study, 70 subjects (35 vegetable growers and 35 controls) were studied. The mean blood cholinesterase level in vegetable growers (17.7 +/- 7.0 U/ml) was significantly lower than that of the control group (24.7 +/- 12.4 U/ml) (p=0.01).     

Cadaver donation: a retrospective review at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital,Bangkok

Cadavers are a crucial resource for medical education. Currently, donation is the only means of obtaining cadavers for use in Thai medical schools. Some traditional beliefs result in an insufficient number of donated cadavers. This shortage of cadavers may affect the quality of medical training. We report on the present situation regarding the quantity and usage of donated cadavers in the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Bangkok, during the eight years between 1993 and 2000. During this period, 19,674 cadavers became available (2.459.3 +/- 1,243.7 cadavers/year) as the result of advanced donation. However, only 619 cadavers (3.1%) were actually obtained. Poor preservation and delayed delivery contributed to the underutilization; furthermore, some cadavers were reclaimed. In order to increase the number of cadavers and maintain the quality of medical education, the appropriateness and importance of cadaver donation should be emphasized to the public.     

A survey of metacercariae in cyprinoid fish in Nakhon Ratchasima,northeast Thailand

Metacercariae were recovered from freshwater fish taken from a stream in Lum Cha Muak, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeast Thailand during the year 2000. Seventy-nine cyprinoid fish comprising 3 species (52 Puntius leiacanthus, 22 Cyclocheilichthys armatus, and 5 Hampla dispar) were collected. The prevalence of infection with metacercariae was 51.9%. Only two genera of metacercariae were found: Haplochinae spp and Heterophyidae spp. Haplochinae metacercariae were found in all 3 species of fish, giving rates of infection of 95.5%, 20% and 1.9% for Puntius leiacanthus, Cyclocheilichthys armatus and Hampla dispar respectively. Heterophyidae metacercariae were found only in Puntius leiacanthus, whose infection rate was 30.77%. There were fish intected at the rate of 3.8% with unclassified metacercariae. Interestingly, no fish infected with Opisthorchis viverrini metacercariae were found, which is at odds with previous reports from Thailand in which a higher infection rate was given. This is the first report of fish infected with Haplorchinae spp in Thailand.     

Prevalence and genotypes of hepatitis C virus infection among drug addicts and blood donors in Thailand

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an infectious agent that has the potential to cause chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. We determined the prevalence and genotypes of HCV infection among groups of drug addicts: intravenous drug users (n = 134), methamphetamine users (n = 100), inhaled-drugs users (n = 19) and alcoholics (n = 50); a group of blood donors acted as a control. The control group consisted of 179 randomly-selected anti-HCV positive samples: these were subjected to HCV RNA screening and genotyping. The anti-HCV test was performed by ELISA: HCV RNA screening was by nested RT-PCR that employed primers from the 5' noncoding region. The genotype assay was based upon analysis of the 5' NCR amplified sequences and RFLP. Hepatitis C virus was highly prevalent among all groups of drug addicts (12-70%). In 2000. among the new blood donors (n = 66,340) at the National Blood Center, Thai Red Cross, anti-HCV prevalence amounted to 0.98%. The HCV genotype distribution showed that the most prevalent genotype was 3a, followed by 1b and 6a. Our data demonstrated the very high prevalence of HCV infection in IVDUs, a finding that is consistent with the blood-borne nature of the virus. In order to curb HCV infection, a determined effort to educate both the general population and high-risk groups is required; such a program of education would address both general and particular methods of transmission, especially the use of non-sterile needles etc.