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Background There is a paucity of data on the prevalence of food allergy (FA) in Vietnam. A cross‐sectional, population‐based study was conducted to evaluate the current prevalence of FA among 2‐ to 6‐year‐old children in two different regions in Vietnam. Method A structured, anonymous questionnaire, modified from published FA epidemiologic studies and based on EAACI guidelines, was distributed to parents/guardians of participating children in Hue City (urban area) and Tien Giang Province (rural area). Data collected from the survey were statistically analyzed to generate the prevalence of self‐reported and doctor‐diagnosed FA and overarching pattern of food allergens. Results A total of 8620 responses were collected (response rate 81.5%). Children in Tien Giang reported more than twice the food‐induced adverse reactions seen in children in Hue (47.8% vs. 20.5%). In contrast, children in Hue showed higher self‐reported FA (9.8%) and doctor‐diagnosed FA rates (8.4%) than children in Tien Giang (7.9% and 5.0%, respectively). Crustacean was the predominant allergy‐inducing food in both areas (330 of 580 cases, 56.9%), followed by fish, mollusk, beef, milk, and egg. However, substantial variations of FA patterns were seen between the study sites. Geographic location and co‐morbidities of other allergic diseases were key risk factors for FA (P < 0.001). Conclusions The prevalence of FA in Vietnamese children seems to be higher than previously reported from other Asian countries. Crustacean is the predominant allergy‐inducing food among participating preschool children in Vietnam. The variation of reported food allergen sources across different socio‐economic locations could imply different eating habits or the participation of indoor and outdoor allergen exposure.

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Background - To assess the genetic architecture of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in patients of predominantly Chinese ancestry. Methods - We sequenced HCM disease genes in Singaporean patients (n=224) and Singaporean controls (n=3,634), compared findings with additional populations and Caucasian HCM cohorts (n=6,179) and performed in vitro functional studies. Results - Singaporean HCM patients had significantly fewer confidently interpreted HCM disease variants (Pathogenic (P)/Likely Pathogenic (LP):18%, p<0.0001) but an excess of variants of unknown significance (exVUS: 24%, p<0.0001), as compared to Caucasians (P/LP: 31%, exVUS: 7%). Two missense variants in thin filament encoding genes were commonly seen in Singaporean HCM ( TNNI3 :p.R79C, disease allele frequency (AF)=0.018; TNNT2 :p.R286H, disease AF=0.022) and are enriched in Singaporean HCM when compared with Asian controls ( TNNI3 :p.R79C, Singaporean controls AF=0.0055, p=0.0057, gnomAD-East Asian (gnomAD-EA) AF=0.0062, p=0.0086; TNNT2 :p.R286H, Singaporean controls AF=0.0017, p<0.0001, gnomAD-EA AF=0.0009, p<0.0001). Both these variants have conflicting annotations in ClinVar and are of low penetrance ( TNNI3 :p.R79C, 0.7%; TNNT2 :p.R286H, 2.7%) but are predicted to be deleterious by computational tools. In population controls, TNNI3 :p.R79C carriers had significantly thicker left ventricular walls compared to non-carriers while its etiological fraction is limited (0.70, 95% CI: 0.35-0.86) and thus TNNI3 :p.R79C is considered a VUS. Mutant TNNT2 :p.R286H iPSC-CMs show hypercontractility, increased metabolic requirements and cellular hypertrophy and the etiological fraction (0.93, 95% CI: 0.83-0.97) support the likely pathogenicity of TNNT2 :p.R286H. Conclusions - As compared to Caucasians, Chinese HCM patients commonly have low penetrance risk alleles in TNNT2 or TNNI3 but exhibit few clinically actionable HCM variants overall. This highlights the need for greater study of HCM genetics in non-Caucasian populations.

ObjectiveOur aim was to investigate the technical feasibility of a novel motion compensation method for cardiac magntic resonance (MR) T1 and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) mapping.Materials and methodsNative and post-contrast T1 maps were obtained using modified look-locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) pulse sequences with acquisition scheme defined in seconds. A nonrigid, nonparametric, fast elastic registration method was applied to generate motion-corrected T1 maps and subsequently ECV maps. Qualitative rating was performed based on T1 fitting-error maps and overlay images. Local deformation vector fields were produced for quantitative assessment. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility were compared with and without motion compensation.ResultsEighty-two T1 and 39 ECV maps were obtained in 21 patients with diverse myocardial diseases. Approximately 60% demonstrated clear quality improvement after motion correction for T1 mapping, particularly for the poor-rating cases (23% before vs 2% after). Approximately 67% showed further improvement with co-registration in ECV mapping. Although T1 and ECV values were not clinically significantly different before and after motion compensation, there was improved intra- and inter-observer reproducibility after motion compensation.ConclusionsAutomated motion correction and co-registration improved the qualitative assessment and reproducibility of cardiac MR T1 and ECV measurements, allowing for more reliable ECV mapping.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10334-017-0668-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Different PVs were identified as the major heat-stable allergens in all 33 analysed freshwater and marine fish species from Vietnam, many of which are exported world-wide and 21 species that have never been investigated before. The Indian mackerel PV represents a novel fish allergen, now officially registered as Ras k 1. Improved diagnostics for fish allergy against Asia-Pacific species should be developed with focus on PV.

BackgroundWeb-based surveys (WBS) are increasingly applied in epidemiological studies as an appealing alternative to traditional survey methods. Rapid data collection, reduced expenditure and ease of access to large populations are some of the clear advantages of online surveys. However, WBS are still subject to limitations in terms of sample size, response rate and other additional biases compared to traditional survey methods. In the present study, we seek to validate data on food allergy (FA) in two independent sample populations collected from a WBS, and compare it to a paper-based survey (PBS).MethodsData collected from two survey modes were compared by hypothesis testing for independent sample population. The WBS included 1185 respondents, while the PBS included 9039 respondents.ResultsOverall, the data from the WBS were comparable to the PBS conducted over the same period of time in Vietnamese adults. There were no effects of different survey modes on the lifetime prevalence of doctor-diagnosed FA (5.7%; P = 0.7795, β = 0.05) and IgE-mediated FA (5.8%; P = 0.9590, β = 0.05). Both surveys showed the dominance of seafood allergy in this population (up to 2.6%), followed by beef allergy. Close correlation was seen in the patterns of FAs and different clinical symptoms. The contribution of family history of allergic diseases and place of residence to FA were confirmed in both surveys.ConclusionsThe consistency of the WBS results with the PBS indicates a promising application of online surveys as an economic and validated model for future epidemiological studies, specifically in developing countries.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40413-018-0195-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Food allergy (FA) is a serious, costly and growing health problem worldwide. FA occurs in both children and adults; however, there is a paucity of information on FA prevalence and its clinical features in the adult population, especially in Asia. We sought to assess the prevalence of FAs in Vietnamese adults and the distribution of offending food items among different regions throughout Vietnam.Methods: A nationwide, cross-sectional, population-based survey was conducted among University students aged 16-50 years. We used a structured, anonymous questionnaire, which was modified from recently published FA epidemiologic studies and based on European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) guidelines, to collect data on FA prevalence, clinical presentations, and implicated food groups. Statistical analysis was performed to generate the prevalence of self-reported and doctor-diagnosed FA and to examine the association of key environmental factors and FA incidence in this population.Results: Of the 14,500 surveys distributed, a total of 9,039 responses were returned, resulting in a response rate of 62.4%. Among participants who reported food-induced adverse reactions, 48.0% have repeated reactions. 18.0% of the participants perceived FA symptoms, but less than half of them sought medical services for confirmation (37.9%). Stratifying for true FA symptoms, the prevalence of self-reported FA was 11.8% and of doctor-diagnosed FA, 4.6%. The most common doctordiagnosed FA was to crustacean (3.0%; 95% CI, 2.6-3.3), followed by fish (1.6%; 95% CI, 1.3-1.8), mollusk (1.3%; 95% CI, 1.0-1.5) and beef (1.0%; 95% CI, 0.8-1.2). The prevalence of doctordiagnosed FA differed among participants living in urban (6.5%) and rural regions (4.9%) (P < 0.001). Atopic family history was the strongest predictor for FA (odds ratio 8.0; 95% CI, 6.2-10.4).Conclusions: Seafood allergy among adults is predominant in Vietnam, followed by beef, milk, and egg, while peanut, soy, and tree nut allergy are much less common. Populations in rural regions have considerably less FA; however, the protective environmental factors have yet to be identified.