The management of persistent diarrhoea at Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research: a clinical chart review.

BACKGROUND: Persistent diarrhoea (PD) is poorly recognised and it requires proper assessment and early intervention to ensure effective treatment. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) has been managing children with PD for more than two decades. This review focuses on different aspects of the management of PD in a hospital setting. AIM: To estimate the prevalence, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment outcome and hospital course in under-5 children with persistent diarrhoea (PD). METHODS: The hospital records of all children under 5 years admitted with PD to Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research between January 2012 and December 2013 were reviewed. Data were retrieved from the hospital's electronic database. RESULTS: Of 8638 children under 5 years of age admitted with diarrhoea, 551 (6.4%) had PD and one-third had developed PD during their hospital stay. The incidence of PD was highest (228, 41.4%) in summer (April-June). Half (51%) of the children with PD had dehydration on admission. Fifty-seven (10.3%) had never been breastfed, 138 (25.1%) were severely wasted and 21 (3.8%) had bipedal oedema. Following the steps of a dietary algorithm, 224 (40.6%) patients responded to a milk-based low-lactose diet, 235 (42.6%) to a lactose-, sucrose- and milk-free diet, 48 (8.7%) to a comminuted chicken and glucose-based diet, 41 (7.4%) to exclusive breastfeeding, and 3 (0.5%) required a partially hydrolysed, semi-elemental diet. Major stool pathogens were Campylobacter species (23/59, 39%), Salmonella (10/59, 16.9%) and Shigella (10/59, 16.9%). The overall recovery rate from PD was 95.6% (527/551) and the duration of treatment until resolution of diarrhoea was 6 (3-9) days. The case-fatality rate was 2% (11/551). CONCLUSION: Persistent diarrhoea remains an important public health problem in children under-5 in Bangladesh. Algorithm-based dietary management with simple clinical guidelines was effective in most cases. This treatment is appropriate in low-income settings where resources are limited.

Prevalence, pattern and sociodemographic differentials in smokeless tobacco consumption in Bangladesh: evidence from a population-based cross-sectional study in Chakaria.

BACKGROUND: The health hazards associated with the use of smokeless tobacco (SLT) are similar to those of smoking. However, unlike smoking, limited initiatives have been taken to control the use of SLT, despite its widespread use in South and Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh. It is therefore important to examine the prevalence of SLT use and its social determinants for designing appropriate strategies and programmes to control its use. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the use of SLT in terms of prevalence, pattern and sociodemographic differentials in a rural area of Bangladesh. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional household survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 6178 individuals aged ≥13 years from 1753 households under the Chakaria HDSS area were interviewed during October-November 2011. METHODS: The current use of SLT, namely sadapatha (dried tobacco leaves) and zarda (industrially processed leaves), was used as the outcome variable. The crude and net associations between the sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and the outcome variables were examined using cross-tabular and multivariable logistic regression analysis, respectively. RESULTS: 23% of the total respondents (men: 27.0%, women: 19.3%) used any form of SLT. Of the respondents, 10.4% used only sadapatha,13.6% used only zarda and 2.2% used both. SLT use was significantly higher among men, older people, illiterate, ever married, day labourers and relatively poorer respondents. The odds of being a sadapatha user were 3.5-fold greater for women than for men and the odds of being a zarda user were 3.6-fold greater for men than for women. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of SLT use was high in the study area and was higher among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. The limitation of the existing regulatory measures for controlling the use of non-industrial SLT products should be understood and discussion for developing new strategies should be a priority.

Intradermal vaccination using the novel microneedle device MicronJet600: Past, present, and future.

Intradermal immunization has become a forefront of vaccine improvement, both scientifically and commercially. Newer technologies are being developed to address the need to reduce the dose required for vaccination and to improve the reliability and ease of injection, which have been major hurdles in expanding the number of approved vaccines using this route of administration. In this review, 7 y of clinical experience with a novel intradermal delivery device, the MicronJet600, which is a registered hollow microneedle that simplifies the delivery of liquid vaccines, are summarized. This device has demonstrated both significant dose-sparing and superior immunogenicity in various vaccine categories, as well as in diverse subject populations and age groups. These studies have shown that intradermal delivery using this device is safe, effective, and preferred by the subjects. Comparison with other intradermal devices and potential new applications for intradermal delivery that could be pursued in the future are also discussed.

Level, pattern, and determinants of polypharmacy and inappropriate use of medications by village doctors in a rural area of Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: Village doctors, informal health care providers practicing modern medicine, are dominant health care providers in rural Bangladesh. Given their role, it is important to examine their prescription pattern and inappropriate use of medication. METHODS: These cross-sectional study data were collected through surveys of patients seen by village doctors during 2008 and 2010 at Chakaria, a typical rural area of Bangladesh. Categorization of appropriate, inappropriate, and harmful prescriptions by disease conditions was based on guidelines defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the Government of Bangladesh. Analytical categorization of polypharmacy was defined when five or more medications were prescribed for a patient at a single visit. FINDINGS: A total of 2,587 prescriptions were written by village doctors during the survey periods. Among the prescriptions were appropriate (10%), inappropriate (8%), combination of appropriate and inappropriate (63%), and harmful medications (19%). Village doctors with more than high school education were 53% less likely (odds ratio [OR]: 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.26-0.86) to give polypharmacy prescriptions than those with less than high school education. While exploring determinants of prescribing inappropriate and harmful medications, this study found that polypharmacy prescriptions were six times more likely [OR: 6.00, 95% CI: 3.88-9.29] to have harmful medications than prescriptions with <5 medications. CONCLUSION: Village doctors' training and supervision may improve the quality of services and establish accountability for the benefit of the rural population.

Epidemiology and genetic diversity of human astrovirus infection among hospitalized patients with acute diarrhea in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2012.

BACKGROUND: Globally, human astroviruses (HAstVs) have emerged as another common cause of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis. Limited data exist on the epidemiology and genetic diversity of HAstVs in Bangladesh. OBJECTIVE: We describe the epidemiology of HAstV-associated diarrhea among hospitalized patients, including HAstV genotypes, clinical symptoms and co-infecting pathogens. STUDY DESIGN: Stool samples were collected from an ongoing diarrhea etiology surveillance during 2010-2012. HAstV was detected using RT-PCR and positive samples were subsequently tested for other common viral and bacterial pathogens. Phylogenetic analysis was performed and genotyped HAstV sequences were compared with previously reported Bangladeshi HAstV strains. RESULTS: Of 826 fecal specimens, HAstV was detected in 26 cases (3.1%) and the majority of these cases (92%) was observed in children under 3 years of age. For 6 out of the 26 cases (23%) no other co-infecting pathogens were observed, whereas for the 20 remaining cases (77%) a variety of other known enteric viral and bacterial pathogens were observed. Based on the overlap region between ORF1b (RdRp) and ORF2 (capsid), five different genotypes (HAstV-1, -2, -3, -5 and -6) were identified circulating during the study period, with HAstV-1 being the predominant type. Genetic analysis revealed that HAstV-1 strains detected in this study were distantly related (<90% similarity of the capsid protein on the nt level) with HAstV-1 strains previously reported from Bangladesh. CONCLUSION: Our study provides an epidemiological overview and genetic diversity of HAstVs associated with acute diarrhea in Bangladesh.

Anti-rotavirus protein reduces stool output in infants with diarrhea: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Rotavirus infection is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years of age. Current treatment options are limited. We assessed the efficacy of a llama-derived, heavy-chain antibody fragment called anti-rotavirus protein (ARP1), in modifying the severity and duration of diarrhea in male infants with rotavirus infection. METHODS: We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 176 male infants (6-24 months old) with severe rotavirus-associated diarrhea at Dhaka Hospital, Bangladesh. The infants were randomly assigned to groups given oral ARP1 (15-30 mg/kg/day, n = 88) or placebo (maltodextrin, n = 88) for a maximum of 5 days. The primary outcomes were severity (stool output) and duration of diarrhea and fecal excretion of rotavirus. Secondary outcomes were intake of oral rehydration salt solution, severity of vomiting, and serum levels of rotavirus-specific IgA. RESULTS: In infants with only rotavirus infection, total cumulative stool output was 305.47 g/kg body weight among those given placebo (n = 63) and 237.03 g/kg body weight among those given ARP1 (n = 61) (a difference of 68.44 g/kg body weight or 22.5%; 95% confidence interval: 18.27-118.59 g/kg body weight; P =.0079). There was a significant reduction in rate of stool output (g/kg/d) in the ARP1 group compared with the placebo group (61%; P = .002). ARP1 had no significant effect in infants with concomitant infections or on any other measured outcomes. No adverse events could be linked to ARP1. CONCLUSIONS: In a placebo-controlled trial, ARP1 reduced stool output in male infants with severe rotavirus-associated diarrhea. Clinicaltrials.gov number: NCT01259765.