Association between nasopharyngeal load of Streptococcus pneumoniae, viral co-infection and radiologically confirmed pneumonia in Vietnamese children.

Hospitalized Vietnamese children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) were investigated for 13 viral pathogens using multiplex-polymerase chain reaction. We enrolled 958 children of whom 659(69%) had documented viral infection: rhinovirus (28%), respiratory syncytial virus (23%), influenza virus (15%), adenovirus (5%), human metapneumo virus (4.5%), parainfluenza virus (5%) and bocavirus (2%). These Vietnamese children had a range of respiratory viruses which underscores the need for enhanced ARI surveillance in tropical developing countries. Positive templates were used in each assay for quality control. RESULTSDuring the 14-months study period, a total of 1,014 pediatric patients from the catchment area were admitted to KHGH, of which 958 (95%) were enrolled in the study.Males comprised 58% of patients and 94% of the patients were less than 5 years old (median age: 1.4 years). The results showed that one or more respiratory viruses were found in 69% of patients: 11% had dual and 1.4% had triple infection. Eighty six percent of the viral ARI patients were less than 3 years old (detail information of age breakdown is shown in supplementary table 2, online only).Major viruses detected were rhinovirus (28%), RSV (23%) and influenza A (15%). This was followed by adenovirus (5%), hMPV (5%), PIV3 (4%) and bocavirus (2%). Other viruses (PIV1, PIV2 and influenza B) were detected in a small proportion (1.5%) of ARI patients. Across age, sex, and case categories, there were no significant differences between proportion of virus positive and negative patients.The pattern of virus detection did not differ between URTI and LRTI patients. A total of 268 radiologically-confirmed pneumonia (RCP) patients and 195 bronchiolitis 7 patients were identified. PIV3 detection was significantly associated with hospitalized LRTI (p=0.016) and bronchiolitis (p=<0.001). Similar to previous reports, we found that RSV infection was significantly associated with bronchiolitis (p=0.002) (6). We also found that a significantly higher proportion of patients (n=119)

Background: Stigma against those who suffer from mental illness is a major issue in many nations. Stigma, which is comprised of prejudice, ignorance, and discrimination, serves as a barrier to seeking help and staying in contact with mental health services.It is thus imperative that concerted efforts are taken against stigma.Methods: Eight young psychiatrists from eight Asian nations offer a narrative review of the state of stigma in their respective nations, the sociocultural reasons behind this stigma, recent anti-stigma efforts and the effects, if any, of such efforts.

Risk factors for atherosclerosis accelerate the senescence of vascular endothelial cells and promote atherogenesis by inducing vascular inflammation. A hallmark of endothelial senescence is the persistent up-regulation of pro-inflammatory genes. We identified CDC42 signaling as a mediator of chronic inflammation associated with endothelial senescence. Inhibition of CDC42 or NF-κB signaling attenuated the sustained up-regulation of pro-inflammatory genes in senescent human endothelial cells. Endothelium-specific activation of the p53/p21 pathway, a key mediator of senescence, also resulted in up-regulation of pro-inflammatory molecules in mice, which was reversed by Cdc42 deletion in endothelial cells. Likewise, endothelial-specific deletion of Cdc42 significantly attenuated chronic inflammation and plaque formation in atherosclerotic mice. While inhibition of NF-κB suppressed the pro-inflammatory responses in acute inflammation, the influence of Cdc42 deletion was less marked. Knockdown of cdc-42 significantly down-regulated pro-inflammatory gene expression and restored the shortened lifespan to normal in mutant worms with enhanced inflammation. These findings indicate that the CDC42 pathway is critically involved in senescence-associated inflammation and could be a therapeutic target for chronic inflammation in patients with age-related diseases without compromising host defenses.

BackgroundThe projection from dopaminergic neurons to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) interneurons in the prefrontal cortex is involved in the etiology of schizophrenia. The impact of interacting effects between dopamine signals and the expression of GABA on the clinical phenotypes of schizophrenia has not been studied. Since these interactions could be closely involved in prefrontal cortex functions, patients with speci c alleles of these relevant molecules (which lead to lower or vulnerable genetic functions) may develop treatment-refractory symptoms. Subjects and MethodsWe conducted a genetic association study focusing on COMT and GAD1 genes for a treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) group (n = 171), a non-TRS group (n = 592) and healthy controls (HC: n = 437), and we examined allelic combinations speci c to TRS. ResultsThe results revealed that the percentage of subjects with Met allele of rs4680 on the COMT gene and C/C homozygote of rs3470934 of the GAD1 gene was signi cantly higher in the TRS group than the other two groups. There was no signi cant difference between the non-TRS group and HC groups. ConclusionsConsidering the direction of functions of these single-nucleotide polymorphisms revealed by previous studies, we speculate that subjects with the Met/CC allelic combination could have a higher dopamine level and a lower expression of GABA in the prefrontal cortex. Our results suggest that an interaction between the dopaminergic signal and GABA signal intensities could differ between TRS patients and patients with other types of schizophrenia and healthy subjects.