Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal [2022; Vol.28, Issue 9]

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal is the official health journal published by the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office of the World Health Organization. It is a forum for the presentation and promotion of new policies and initiatives in health services; and for the exchange of ideas concepts epidemiological data research findings and other information with special reference to the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It addresses all members of the health profession medical and other health educational institutes interested NGOs WHO Collaborating Centres and individuals within and outside the Region

المجلة الصحية لشرق المتوسط هى المجلة الرسمية التى تصدرعن المكتب الاقليمى لشرق المتوسط بمنظمة الصحة العالمية. وهى منبر لتقديم السياسات والمبادرات الجديدة فى الصحة العامة والخدمات الصحية والترويج لها، و لتبادل الاراء و المفاهيم والمعطيات الوبائية ونتائج الابحاث وغير ذلك من المعلومات، و خاصة ما يتعلق منها باقليم شرق المتوسط. وهى موجهة الى كل اعضاء المهن الصحية، والكليات الطبية وسائر المعاهد التعليمية، و كذا المنظمات غير الحكومية المعنية، والمراكز المتعاونة مع منظمة الصحة العالمية والافراد المهتمين بالصحة فى الاقليم و خارجه

La Revue de Santé de la Méditerranée Orientale est une revue de santé officielle publiée par le Bureau régional de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé pour la Méditerranée orientale. Elle offre une tribune pour la présentation et la promotion de nouvelles politiques et initiatives dans le domaine de la santé publique et des services de santé ainsi qu’à l’échange d’idées de concepts de données épidémiologiques de résultats de recherches et d’autres informations se rapportant plus particulièrement à la Région de la Méditerranée orientale. Elle s’adresse à tous les professionnels de la santé aux membres des instituts médicaux et autres instituts de formation médico-sanitaire aux ONG Centres collaborateurs de l’OMS et personnes concernés au sein et hors de la Région

Prevalence of group A genotype human rotavirus among children with diarrhoea in Nepal, 2009–2011

Background: Rotavirus as a causative agent of childhood diarrhea is known to cause seriousillness among children less than 5 years of age. This study examined the epidemiology of rotavirusdisease burden and diversity of G and P genotypes of rotavirus in Nepal.Methods: Stool samples were tested for rotavirus by Enzyme Immuno Assay and Group A rotaviruseswere detected by using both ELISA and RT-PCR in 2718 samples between 2009 and 2011.Results: Rotavirus was more frequently detected among inpatients (28.5%) than outpatients(15.2%). Over the three-year study period, 653 (24.4%) cases were positive for rotavirus byELISA. Genotyping by RT-PCR was done on 638 samples. The most prevalent genotype was G12P[6] (60.4%). Mixed infections were not uncommon (14% in 2009, 29% in 2010 an 7% in 2011).However, 41 were partially typed and 23 were completely untyped over the study period.Conclusions: This study highlights the rotavirus disease burden and diversity of rotavirus strainscirculating in Nepal. Continued sentinel surveillance will provide useful information to policy makerswith regard to rotavirus vaccine introduction.

Development of the International Consortium for Blood Safety [ICBS] HCV panels

To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of assays used to screen blood for antibody to hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection, the International Consortium for Blood Safety [ICBS] established fully characterized ICBS panels. ICBS collected and characterized 1007 anti-HCV-positive plasma units from geographically diverse origins by ELISA, RIBA, RT-PCR, and sequence-based genotyping, 539 of which met the definition of a true positive. Of these, 200 confirmed positive plasma units, representing the 6 major HCV genotypes, were selected to assemble the true-positive constituents of the panel. The negative panel comprises 181 plasma units collected from the USA. The panels have proved valuable for determining the performance of anti-HCV assays thus permitting national authorities, especially in resource-limited countries, to make informed decisions on selection of affordable and reliable assays