Co-circulation of Dengue and Chikungunya Viruses,Al Hudaydah,Yemen, 2012

We investigated 400 cases of dengue-like illness in persons hospitalized during an outbreak in Al Hudaydah, Yemen, in 2012. Overall, 116 dengue and 49 chikungunya cases were diagnosed. Dengue virus type 2 was the predominant serotype. The co-circulation of these viruses indicates that mosquitoborne infections represent a public health threat in Yemen.     

Increase in susceptibility of young adults to hepatitis B infection in the Republic of Yemen

Susceptibility to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among 987 young adult male blood donors in 2 major Yemeni cities was investigated. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected in 10.8% (107/987) of donors and 284 (28.8%) had evidence of ongoing or past HBV infection. Hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) only was detected in 34 (3.4%) donors. Thus, 67.8% (669/987) of donors had no detectable HBV-markers indicating susceptibility to infection. The proportion of HBV-susceptible donors decreased from 70.9% (249/351) in donors aged < 25 years to 69.4% (334/481) in those aged 25-34 years and 55.5% (86/155) in donors aged > 34 years (P = 0.002). The high proportion of susceptible young adults in a community with a high HBsAg carrier rate could be the result of changing epidemiology of hepatitis B in Yemen. Consideration should therefore be given to immunizing young adults as an adjunct to the current expanded infant immunization programme.     

A nested case-control study on relapse predictors among tuberculosis patients treated in Yemen’s NTCP

Setting:

The National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme in Yemen.

Objective:

To identify risk factors associated with TB relapse.

Methods:

In a prospective nested case-control study, relapse cases were recruited from a cohort of pulmonary TB patients registered between July 2007 and June 2008. Four controls per case were randomly selected from the list of non-relapse patients. Three forms were used for data collection, which included interviews with the participants and review of their medical cards and TB registers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for relapse.

Results:

A relapse rate of 5.7% was found. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that unemployment, smoking, presence of cavitations, weight gain, weight loss, non-adherence during the continuation phase and diabetes were significantly associated with relapse (P < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Relapse rates can be reduced by ensuring that patients take their treatment regularly and are counselled effectively to stop smoking. Reinforcing the implementation of the DOTS strategy and strengthening the anti-smoking campaigns are important actions. Action to help unemployed patients, including free services and the creation of new job opportunities, should be adopted. Using rifampicin-based regimens in the treatment of cavitary TB and bi-directional screening in TB and diabetes patients are recommended.     

“液门透中渚”针刺法的临证应用

“液门透中渚”的刺法用穴精简,疏通少阳经气功效卓著,主治三焦热证效果明显,常作为治疗感冒、高热、热病汗不出、偏头痛、目赤肿痛、耳聋、耳鸣、耳痛、牙齿肿痛、口舌生疮、咽喉红肿、项强筋急不舒等病证的针刺方法.施术时由液门穴进针,斜向上顺掌骨间隙朝中渚穴深刺,不断行针使针感向上传递.本法一针贯通荥输二穴,具有取穴少、刺法精、感应强、操作简易、应用安全、即时效果明显和一次性治愈率高的特点,值得在针灸临证中推广应用.     

Bioactive components of the traditionally used mushroom Podaxis pistillaris

In the course of an ethnobotanical study on fungi used in Yemeni ethnomedicine the fungus Podaxis pistillaris (Podaxales, Podaxaceae, Basidiomycetes) was found to exhibit antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus flavus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli. In the culture medium of P. pistillaris three epidithiodiketopiperazines were identified by activity-guided isolation. Based on spectral data (NMR, ESI-MS and DCI-MS) their identity was established as epicorazine A (1), epicorazine B (2) and epicorazine C (3, antibiotic F 3822), which have not been reported as constituents of P. pistillaris previously. It is assumed that the identified compounds contribute to the antibacterial activity of the extract.     

A study on the short tandem repeat systems HumCD4, HumTH01 and HumFIBRA in population samples from Yemen and Egypt

The short tandem repeat systems (STRs) HumCD4 (CD4), HumTH01 (TH01) and HumFIBRA (FGA) were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on blood samples from 100 unrelated Yemenians and 100 unrelated Egyptians. PCR products were separated on native horizontal discontinuous gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. The distribution of observed phenotypes did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. While significant differences between both Arab populations and an European population from Austria were found at all loci, differences between the Egyptian and the Yemenian samples were found only for CD4. In a number of verified Austrian families (TH01: 426 meioses, CD4: 275 meioses, FGA: 144 meioses) no mutations were found. The observation of a TH01 allele consisting of 4 repeats was confirmed by sequencing. Moreover we report the structure of a TH01 allele 6.3 observed in a Hungarian Caucasian population. Received: 20 May 1997 / Received in revised form: 1 September 1997