Vietnam is undergoing a rapid social and economic developments resulting in speedy urbanization, changes in methods for animal production, food marketing systems, and food consumption habits. These changes will have major impacts on human exposures to food poisoning. The present case study aimed to estimate hospitalization costs of foodborne diarrhea cases in selected health facilities in Vietnam. This is a facility-based cost-of-illness study conducted in seven health facilities in Northern Vietnam. All suspect cases of foodborne diarrhea, as diagnosed by doctors, who admitted to the studied health facilities during June-August, 2013 were selected. Costs associated with hospitalization for foodborne diseases were estimated from societal perspective using retrospective approach. We included direct and indirect costs of hospitalization of foodborne diarrhea cases. During the study period, 87 foodborne diarrhea cases were included. On average, the costs per treatment episode and per hospitalization day for foodborne diarrhea case were US$ 106.9 and US$ 33.6 respectively. Indirect cost (costs of times to patient, their relatives due to the patient's illness) made up the largest share (51.3%). Direct medical costs accounted for 33.8%; direct non-medical costs (patient and their relatives) represented 14.9%. Cost levels and compositions varied by level of health facilities. More attentions should be paid on prevention, control of foodborne diarrhea cases in Vietnam. Ensuring safety of food depends on efforts of everyone involved in food chain continuum, from production, processing, and transport to consumption.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; *Cost of Illness ; Diarrhea/*economics/epidemiology ; Female ; Foodborne Diseases/*economics/epidemiology ; Health Care Costs/*statistics & numerical data ; Hospitalization/*economics ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Sex Distribution ; Vietnam/epidemiology ; Young Adult

Balanophora laxiflora Hemsl. (Balanophoraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant with a diverse array of biological activities. In our exploration of new bioactive constituents from B. laxiflora, we isolated five compounds, including a new lignan, balanophorone (5), and four known phenolic compounds (1–4). The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and CD. In addition, we evaluated the effects of each of the isolates (1–5) on the messenger RNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Compound 2 showed significant inhibition of LPS-induced COX-2 and TNF-α expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages, while compound 4 showed moderate cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with IC 50 values of 18.3 and 30.7 μM, respectively. No significant effects on the viability of normal mammary epithelial cells were observed.

Balanophora laxiflora Hemsl. (Balanophoraceae) is a traditional medicinal plant with a diverse array of biological activities. In our exploration of new bioactive constituents from B. laxiflora, we isolated five compounds, including a new lignan, balanophorone (5), and four known phenolic compounds (1–4). The chemical structures of these compounds were determined by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and CD. In addition, we evaluated the effects of each of the isolates (1–5) on the messenger RNA expression levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages and cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Compound 2 showed significant inhibition of LPS-induced COX-2 and TNF-α expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages, while compound 4 showed moderate cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, with IC 50 values of 18.3 and 30.7 μM, respectively. No significant effects on the viability of normal mammary epithelial cells were observed.

Health financing has been considered as an important building block of a health system and has a key role in promoting universal health coverage in the Vietnam. This paper aims to describe the pattern of health expenditure, including total health expenditure and composition of health expenditure, over the last two decades in Vietnam. The paper mainly uses the data from Vietnam National Health Account and Vietnam Living Standards Survey. We also included data from other relevant published literature, reports and statistics about health care expenditure in Vietnam. The per capita health expenditure in Vietnam increased from US$ 14 in 1995 to US$ 86 in 2012. The total health expenditure as a share of GDP also rose from 5.2% in 1995 to 6.9% in 2012. Public health expenditure as percentage of government expenditure rose from 7.4% in 1995 to nearly 10% in 2012. The coverage of health insurance went up from 10% in 1995 to 68.5% in 2012. However, health financing in Vietnam was depending on private expenditures (57.4% in 2012). As a result, the proportion of households with catastrophic expenditure in 2012 was 4.2%. The rate of impoverishment in 2012 was 2.5%. To ensure equity and efficient goal of health system, policy actions for containing the health care out-of-pocket payments and their poverty impacts are urgently needed in Vietnam.
Developing Countries/*economics ; Financing, Government/economics/trends ; Health Expenditures/*statistics & numerical data/*trends ; *Healthcare Financing ; Insurance, Health/*economics/*trends ; Vietnam/epidemiology

Surgical sperm retrieval (SSR) is currently one of the most common procedures in in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, a gap between the guidelines and routine clinical practice regarding antibiotic use in SSR, which might lead to antibiotic resistance, is a challenging problem worldwide. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 1, 2021, to July 15, 2021, to investigate antibiotic usage by medical professionals when performing SSR in IVF centers in Vietnam. The confidential questionnaire comprised 12 items, including characteristics of the study population, awareness of antimicrobial resistance, attitude toward prescribing antibiotics, and current practice of prescribing antibiotics when performing SSR. Surveys were completed by 30 of 45 registered IVF centers (66.7%). Among 67 physicians working at those centers, the age and work-experience years (mean ± standard deviation [s.d.]) were 38.6 ± 6.6 years and 11.2 ± 7.0 years, respectively. Over 60% of them held a degree in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and over four-fifths were men. Most respondents "often/very often/always" raised awareness of antimicrobial resistance to their patients (83.3%), but only half of them "often/occasionally" prescribed antibiotics to patients with SSR in cases where the prescription would be optional. About one-tenth of respondents followed the recommendation from the American Urological Association using "prophylaxis only" for SSR patients. For more invasive SSR, physicians tended to prescribe more complicated and sometimes inappropriate regimens. In conclusion, antibiotic usage in SSR was not always appropriate among IVF centers. Further studies may define specific recommendations for regimens, intervention strategies, and programs to promote appropriate antibiotic use for SSR patients among IVF specialists.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use* ; Sperm Retrieval ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Semen ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Practice Patterns, Physicians'

Background: Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) is an extremely contagious and high mortality rates in chickens resulting in substantial economic impact on the poultry sector. Therefore, it is necessary to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of HPAIV for infection control. Objective: Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) can effectively avoid the limitations of subjective screening for differential gene expression. Therefore, we performed GSEA to compare HPAI-infected resistant and susceptible Ri chicken lines. Methods: The Ri chickens Mx(A)/BF2(B21) were chosen as resistant, and the chickens Mx(G)/ BF2(B13) were selected as susceptible by genotyping the Mx and BF2 genes. The tracheal tissues of HPAIV H5N1 infected chickens were collected for RNA sequencing followed by GSEA analysis to define gene subsets to elucidate the sequencing results. Results: We identified four differentially expressed pathways, which were immune-related pathways with a total of 78 genes. The expression levels of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12), chemokines (CCL4 and CCL5), type interferons and their receptors (IFN-β, IFNAR1, IFNAR2, and IFNGR1), Jak-STAT signaling pathway genes (STAT1, STAT2, and JAK1), MHC class I and II and their co-stimulatory molecules (CD80, CD86, CD40, DMB2, BLB2, and B2M), and interferon stimulated genes (EIF2AK2 and EIF2AK1) in resistant chickens were higher than those in susceptible chickens. Conclusions Resistant Ri chickens exhibit a stronger antiviral response to HPAIV H5N1 compared with susceptible chickens. Our findings provide insights into the immune responses of genetically disparate chickens against HPAIV.

In this report we describe a new approach in HIV sentinel surveillance that was piloted in Viet Nam in 2009 and is currently being rolled out in all provinces. It comprises a brief behavioural questionnaire added to the HIV sentinel surveillance surveys conducted routinely among people who inject drugs, female sex workers and men who have sex with men. Timely reporting of data from this system has resulted in improvements to HIV prevention efforts for most at-risk populations.

Animals ; Antibodies, Neutralizing ; Blotting, Western ; Classical swine fever virus ; Classical Swine Fever ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Genotype ; Mortality ; Spleen ; Swine ; Vaccines ; Vaccines, Subunit ; Vietnam ; Virulence

Objectives: Online misinformation has reached unprecedented levels during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study analyzed the magnitude and sentiment dynamics of misinformation and unverified information about public health interventions during a COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang, Vietnam, between July and September 2020. Methods: We analyzed user-generated online information about five public health interventions during the Da Nang outbreak. We compared the volume, source, sentiment polarity, and engagements of online posts before, during, and after the outbreak using negative binomial and logistic regression, and assessed the content validity of the 500 most influential posts. Results: Most of the 54,528 online posts included were generated during the outbreak (n = 46,035; 84.42%) and by online newspapers (n = 32,034; 58.75%). Among the 500 most influential posts, 316 (63.20%) contained genuine information, 10 (2.00%) contained misinformation, 152 (30.40%) were non-factual opinions, and 22 (4.40%) contained unverifiable information. All misinformation posts were made during the outbreak, mostly on social media, and were predominantly negative. Higher levels of engagement were observed for information that was unverifiable (incidence relative risk [IRR] = 2.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33–0.62), posted during the outbreak (before: IRR = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.07–0.35; after: IRR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.34-0.63), and with negative sentiment (IRR = 1.84; 95% CI, 1.23–2.75). Negatively toned posts were more likely to be misinformation (odds ratio [OR] = 9.59; 95% CI, 1.20–76.70) or unverified (OR = 5.03; 95% CI, 1.66–15.24). Conclusions Misinformation and unverified information during the outbreak showed clustering, with social media being particularly affected. This indepth assessment demonstrates the value of analyzing online “infodemics” to inform public health responses.

Background: Suicide continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide. Recently, more than 45,000 children in the age group of 10 to 19 years died by suicide, making it the second leading cause of death in the age group of 15 to 19, surpassed only by traffic accidents, tuberculosis, and fighting. Objective: To determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation among adolescents whose parents are separated/divorced; and to explore the factors associated with suicidal ideation and describe adverse experiences among adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 309 adolescents with separated/separated parents in Hue City. Data was collected through direct interviews using a structured questionnaire. Suicidal ideation was defined as the presence of thoughts or plans related to suicide within the last 12 months. Multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify factors associated with suicidal ideation in adolescents with separated/ separated parents. Results: The study found that 15.5% (95% CI:11.7 - 20.1) of adolescents with separated /separated parents reported experiencing suicidal thoughts, in which men accounted 8.4% (95% CI:5.6 – 11.2) and women accounted 7.1% (95% CI:4.5 - 10.6). Several factors were identified as increasing the risk of suicidal ideation, including alcohol use (OR = 3.24; 95% CI:1.42 - 7.42), hyperactivity/inattention (OR = 4.96; 95% CI:1.58 - 15.605), and a poor quality of family relationships (OR = 4.82; 95% CI:1.26 - 18.50). On the contrary, certain factors were found to reduce the risk, including being in the 14-15 age group of 14-15 (OR = 0.26; 95% CI:0.10 - 0.69) and participating in physical activity (OR = 0.44; 95% CI:0.21 – 0.94). Conclusions: The research highlights a significant percentage of adolescents with separated / divided parents who experience suicidal ideation. Therefore, it is imperative for families, schools, and society to develop comprehensive strategies to monitor and address various risky behaviours among students simultaneously.