Predicting mortality in febrile adults: comparative performance of the MEWS, qSOFA, and UVA scores using prospectively collected data among patients in four health-care sites in sub-Saharan Africa and South-Eastern Asia.

Background: Clinical severity scores can identify patients at risk of severe disease and death, and improve patient management. The modified early warning score (MEWS), the quick Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), and the Universal Vital Assessment (UVA) were developed as risk-stratification tools, but they have not been fully validated in low-resource settings where fever and infectious diseases are frequent reasons for health care seeking. We assessed the performance of MEWS, qSOFA, and UVA in predicting mortality among febrile patients in the Lao PDR, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

Case Report: Soft tissue infection with capsular variant: case report from the Lao PDR.

Background: is an environmental bacteria closely related to that rarely causes infection in humans. Some environmental isolates have shown to express a capsular polysaccharide known as capsular variant (BTCV), but human infection has not previously been reported. Although has been identified in environmental samples in Laos before, there have not been any human cases reported.

Invasive ST283 infection after fish consumption in two sisters, Lao PDR.

is a normal commensal of the human gastro-intestinal and female genital tracts. It causes serious disease in neonates and pregnant women, as well as non-pregnant adults. Food-borne outbreaks have also been described.

Distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei within a 300-cm deep soil profile: implications for environmental sampling.

The environmental distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, remains poorly understood. B. pseudomallei is known to have the ability to occupy a variety of environmental niches, particularly in soil.

Using Land Runoff to Survey the Distribution and Genetic Diversity of in Vientiane, Laos.

Melioidosis is a disease of significant public health importance that is being increasingly recognized globally. The majority of cases arise through direct percutaneous exposure to its etiological agent, In the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos), the presence and environmental distribution of are not well characterized, though recent epidemiological surveys of the bacterium have indicated that is widespread throughout the environment in the center and south of the country and that rivers can act as carriers and potential sentinels for the bacterium. The spatial and genetic distribution of within Vientiane Capital, from where the majority of cases diagnosed to date have originated, remains an important knowledge gap.

Bacteremia Caused by Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae in Vientiane, Lao PDR: A 5-Year Study.

Although there has been an increasing incidence of bacteremia caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) across South East Asia, there are sparse data from the Lao PDR, where laboratory capacity for antimicrobial resistance surveillance is limited. We, therefore, retrospectively reviewed bacteremia caused by ESBL-producing and between 2010 and 2014 at Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, Lao PDR. Clinical and laboratory data relating to all episodes of ESBL-E bacteremia were reviewed over the 5-year period and compared with non-ESBL-E bacteremia.

The cost-effectiveness of the use of selective media for the diagnosis of melioidosis in different settings.

Background: Melioidosis is a frequently fatal disease requiring specific treatment. The yield of Burkholderia pseudomallei from sites with a normal flora is increased by culture using selective, differential media such as Ashdown's agar and selective broth. However, since melioidosis mainly affects people in resource-poor countries, the cost effectiveness of selective culture has been questioned.

Melioidosis in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Melioidosis is clearly highly endemic in Laos, although the disease has only been diagnosed regularly in humans (1359 cases) since 1999, and only a single animal case has been microbiologically confirmed. is extensively and abundantly present in soil and surface water in central and southern Laos, but the true distribution of the disease across the country remains to be determined. Surveillance is almost non-existent and diagnostic microbiology services are not yet well established, whilst awareness of melioidosis is low amongst policy-makers, healthcare providers, and the public.

Climatic drivers of melioidosis in Laos and Cambodia: a 16-year case series analysis.

Background: Burkholderia pseudomallei is the cause of melioidosis, a serious and difficult to treat infection that is endemic throughout the tropics. Melioidosis incidence is highly seasonal. We aimed to identify the climatic drivers of infection and to shed light on modes of transmission and potential preventive strategies.