A single dose of the oral cholera vaccine was efficacious in older children (≥5 years of age) and in adults in a setting with a high level of cholera endemicity. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02027207.).

BackgroundA number of individual risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) have been identified in Bangladesh. However, the etiology of IPV, intergenerational transmission, has never been tested in Bangladesh.ObjectiveWe examined whether witnessing inter-parental physical violence (IPPV) was associated with IPV to identify whether IPV passes across generations in Bangladesh.MethodsWe used nationally representative data of currently married women from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-2007. Variations in experiencing IPV were assessed by Chi-square tests. Logistic regression models were fit to determine the association between witnessing IPPV and different types of IPV against women.ResultsOne-fourth of women witnessed IPPV and experienced IPV. After adjusting for the covariates, women who witnessed IPPV were 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0–2.8) times more likely to experience any kind of IPV, 2.5 (95% CI: 2.0–3.0) times more likely to experience moderate physical IPV, 2.3 (95% CI: 1.8–3.0) times more likely to experience severe physical IPV, and 1.8 (95% CI: 1.4–2.3) times more likely to experience sexual IPV. Age, age at first marriage, literacy, work status, wealth, justified wife beating, and women's autonomy were also identified as significant correlates of IPV.ConclusionsThis study's results indicate that IPV passes from one generation to another. We make recommendations for preventing IPPV so that subsequent generations can enjoy healthy, respectful, nonviolent relationships in married life without exposure to IPV in Bangladesh.

BackgroundBangladesh lies in the global thalassemia belt, which has a defined mutational hot-spot in the beta-globin gene. The high carrier frequencies of beta-thalassemia trait and hemoglobin E-trait in Bangladesh necessitate a reliable DNA-based carrier screening approach that could supplement the use of hematological and electrophoretic indices to overcome the barriers of carrier screening. With this view in mind, the study aimed to establish a high resolution melting (HRM) curve-based rapid and reliable mutation screening method targeting the mutational hot-spot of South Asian and Southeast Asian countries that encompasses exon-1 (c.1 - c.92), intron-1 (c.92 + 1 - c.92 + 130) and a portion of exon-2 (c.93 - c.217) of the HBB gene which harbors more than 95% of mutant alleles responsible for beta-thalassemia in Bangladesh.ResultsOur HRM approach could successfully differentiate ten beta-globin gene mutations, namely c.79G > A, c.92 + 5G > C, c.126_129delCTTT, c.27_28insG, c.46delT, c.47G > A, c.92G > C, c.92 + 130G > C, c.126delC and c.135delC in heterozygous states from the wild type alleles, implying the significance of the approach for carrier screening as the first three of these mutations account for ~85% of total mutant alleles in Bangladesh. Moreover, different combinations of compound heterozygous mutations were found to generate melt curves that were distinct from the wild type alleles and from one another. Based on the findings, sixteen reference samples were run in parallel to 41 unknown specimens to perform direct genotyping of the beta-thalassemia specimens using HRM. The HRM-based genotyping of the unknown specimens showed 100% consistency with the sequencing result.ConclusionsTargeting the mutational hot-spot, the HRM approach could be successfully applied for screening of beta-thalassemia carriers in Bangladesh as well as in other countries of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The approach could be a useful supplement of hematological and electrophortic indices in order to avoid false positive and false negative results.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12863-017-0594-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the International Vaccine Institute.

Two changes for the better: A novel class of sialic acid derivatives is prepared by modifying both the C‐4 and C‐9 positions of Neu5Aα2Me (see structure). This approach gives a lead compound that has sub‐micromolar affinity for Siglec‐2 and may provide a pathway for immunoglycotherapy strategies for autoimmune diseases and B cell derived non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma.

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The study aimed to examine for the first time the spectra of viral and bacterial pathogens along with the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated bacteria in under-5 children with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in hospital settings of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Nasal swabs were collected from 200 under-five children hospitalized with clinical signs of ARIs. Nasal swabs from 30 asymptomatic children were also collected. Screening of viral pathogens targeted ten respiratory viruses using RT-qPCR. Bacterial pathogens were identified by bacteriological culture methods and antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was determined following CLSI guidelines. About 82.5% (n = 165) of specimens were positive for pathogens. Of 165 infected cases, 3% (n = 6) had only single bacterial pathogens, whereas 43.5% (n = 87) cases had only single viral pathogens. The remaining 36% (n = 72) cases had coinfections. In symptomatic cases, human rhinovirus was detected as the predominant virus (31.5%), followed by RSV (31%), HMPV (13%), HBoV (11%), HPIV-3 (10.5%), and adenovirus (7%). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most frequently isolated bacterial pathogen (9%), whereas Klebsiella pneumaniae, Streptococcus spp., Enterobacter agglomerans, and Haemophilus influenzae were 5.5%, 5%, 2%, and 1.5%, respectively. Of 15 multidrug-resistant bacteria, a Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate and an Enterobacter agglomerans isolate exhibited resistance against more than 10 different antibiotics. Both ARI incidence and predominant pathogen detection rates were higher during post-monsoon and winter, peaking in September. Pathogen detection rates and coinfection incidence in less than 1-year group were significantly higher (P = 0.0034 and 0.049, respectively) than in 1–5 years age group. Pathogen detection rate (43%) in asymptomatic cases was significantly lower compared to symptomatic group (P<0.0001). Human rhinovirus, HPIV-3, adenovirus, Streptococcus pneumonia, and Klebsiella pneumaniae had significant involvement in coinfections with P values of 0.0001, 0.009 and 0.0001, 0.0001 and 0.001 respectively. Further investigations are required to better understand the clinical roles of the isolated pathogens and their seasonality.

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