SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in southern Vietnam (2020-2023): Tracking variant evolution and public health impact in a limited-resource setting.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for genomic surveillance to monitor viral evolution and guide public health responses, especially in limited-resource settings. This study describes the establishment and implementation of a SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance system by Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City (PIHCM), covering 20 provinces in southern Vietnam from January 2020 to June 2023. Nasopharyngeal swabs were systematically collected, screened by RT-PCR (Ct < 28), and sequenced using adaptable Next-Generation Sequencing technologies, including Illumina MiSeq and later Oxford Nanopore MinION, supported by international training and resources.

Serological and Molecular Epidemiology of Chikungunya Virus Infection in Vietnam, 2017-2019.

Chikungunya fever is an acute febrile illness caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Since 1965, only a few studies with limited scope have been conducted on CHIKV in Vietnam. Thus, this study aimed to determine the seroprevalence and molecular epidemiology of CHIKV infection among febrile patients in Vietnam from 2017 to 2019.

Association of self-reported allergic rhinitis with dengue severity: A case-control study.

Background: The severity of dengue infection has been reportedly associated with patients' allergic reactions. To further elucidate the role of allergy in dengue severity, we conducted a matched case-control study to assess the association between allergic background and dengue shock syndrome.

Methods: This is a matched case-control study that was carried out in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from January to December 2017.

Kinetics of CD4 T Helper and CD8 Effector T Cell Responses in Acute Dengue Patients.

The protective or pathogenic role of T lymphocytes during the acute phase of dengue virus (DENV) infection has not been fully understood despite its importance in immunity and vaccine development. This study aimed to clarify the kinetics of T lymphocyte subsets during the clinical course of acute dengue patients. In this hospital-based cohort study, 59 eligible Vietnamese dengue patients were recruited and admitted.

Knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards Chagas disease among the Bolivian migrant population living in Japan: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards Chagas disease (CD) among Latin American migrants in Japan and to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational activity (EA) in increasing knowledge of CD.

Design: A cross-sectional, mixed-methods study employing a preknowledge and postknowledge test and focus group discussion, conducted from March 2018 to June 2018.

Participants: Seventy-two participants were included, all born in Bolivia and residents in four Japanese cities.

Plasma cell-free DNA: a potential biomarker for early prediction of severe dengue.

Background: Considerable progress has been made in dengue management, however the lack of appropriate predictors of severity has led to huge number of unwanted admissions mostly decided on the grounds of warning signs. Apoptosis related mediators, among others, are known to correlate with severe dengue (SD) although no predictive validity is established. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) with SD, and evaluate its prognostic value in SD prediction at acute phase.

iPS cell serves as a source of dendritic cells for in vitro dengue virus infection model.

The lack of an appropriate model has been a serious concern in dengue research pertinent to immune response and vaccine development. It remains a matter of impediment in dengue virus (DENV) studies when it comes to an in vitro model, which requires adequate quantity of dendritic cells (DC) with uniform characters. Other sources of DC, mostly monocyte derived DC (moDC), have been used despite their limitations such as quantity, proliferation, and donor dependent characters.

A single amino acid substitution in the NS4B protein of Dengue virus confers enhanced virus growth and fitness in human cells in vitro through IFN-dependent host response.

Dengue virus (DENV) replication between mosquito and human hosts is hypothesized to be associated with viral determinants that interact in a differential manner between hosts. However, the understanding of inter-host viral determinants that drive DENV replication and growth between hosts is limited. Through the use of clinical isolates, we identified an amino acid variation of Ala, Met and Val at position 116 of DENV-1 NS4B.

Association between dengue severity and plasma levels of dengue-specific IgE and chymase.

There is no definitive predictor of dengue severity, and this has led to a very large number of unnecessary hospitalizations worldwide. Although mast cell mediators are believed to a play role in dengue severity, the lack of precise kinetic data demands further research on early predictors. We enrolled 111 patients with confirmed dengue and 85 with "other febrile illness" (OFI) in a hospital-based prospective study in Vietnam.

Criteria of "persistent vomiting" in the WHO 2009 warning signs for dengue case classification.

Introduction: Dengue is a viral disease that spreads rapidly in the tropic and subtropic regions of the world and causes 22,000 deaths annually. In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a new classification of dengue infections, which divided them into three categories: dengue without warning sign (D), dengue with warning sign (DWS), and severe dengue (SD). However, researchers have been using different criteria to define persistent vomiting; therefore, we aimed to evaluate the ability of the number of vomiting times in early prediction of SD development among D/DWS patients.