Is DOTS-plus a feasible and cost-effective strategy?
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Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
Biomedical subjects
Marissa Alejandria
Publications and source records attributed to Marissa Alejandria.
An Asian study on the prevalence of atypical respiratory pathogens in community-acquired pneumonia.
BACKGROUND: In many parts of Asia, the inaccessibility and high cost of diagnostic tests have hampered the study of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) caused by atypical respiratory pathogens. OBJECTIVE: This surveillance study examined the frequency of infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila in 1756 patients presenting with signs and symptoms of CAP at 12 medical centres in Asia, using standardised laboratory techniques and interpretation criteria in all participating centres. METHODS: Diagnosis of current infection was based on significant changes in antibody titer or persisting high antibody titers, together with the presence of bacterial DNA in respiratory secretions, in the case of M. pneumoniae and C. pneumoniae infections, or bacterial antigen in urine, in the case of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 infection. RESULTS: Using these criteria, results from 1374 patients with paired sera showed that, overall, 23.5% of CAP cases were associated with infection with atypical respiratory pathogens, with M. pneumoniae, C. pneumoniae, and L. pneumophila being found in 12.2%, 4.7%, and 6.6% of cases, respectively. Persisting high antibody titers indicative of past exposure to M. pneumoniae, C. pneumoniae, and L. pneumophila were seen in 10.2%, 4.8%, and 18.9% of patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: These data reflect the overall high prevalence of these atypical pathogens among Asian patients with CAP.
Adolescent↗
Detection of antibodies against spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR), typhus group Rickettsia (TGR), and Coxiella burnetii in human febrile patients in the Philippines.
A total of 157 sera from febrile patients in the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, Luzon, and the Northern Samar Provincial Hospital, the Philippines, were used. Serum antibodies against spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) and typhus group Rickettsia (TGR) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence test. Antibody positive rates were 1.3% for SFGR (Rickettsia japonica) and 2.5% for TGR (R. typhus), respectively. Rickettsial antibodies in humans in the Philippines were found for the first time. These results underscore the need for further epidemiological study of clinical rickettsioses in the Philippines.
Antibodies, Bacterial↗