Background: Forest malaria is one of the challenges faced by the Malaria Control Program in Vietnam. Objectives: (1). To evaluate the malaria prevalence among forest goers, (2). To study the efficacy of insecticide-treated hammock net (ITHNs) in malaria prevention for forest goers. Subject and method: The descriptive epidemiological intervention study on the effect of ITHNs in forest malaria control has been carried out in Ninh Thuan in 2005 \ufffd?2006. Results: Malaria prevalence among forest goers was very high: Clinical malaria: 15.5%, enlarged spleen: 7.0%, confirmed cases: 13.3% and asymptomactic cases: 74%. Age, sex, ethnic, low educated levels, low income, less use of mosquito-nets and poor house condition were considered as risk factors in malaria infection, especially for people who spent much time in the forest. ITHNs were effective in prevention of malaria infection, the malaria morbidity was decreased after 2 years of application (reduced from 31 % to 14% for prevalence, and from 274/1000 population to 161/1000 population for incidence), and the morbidity rate was lower than that in the group of people who did not use ITHNs. Conclusion: For the entomological survey, it is found that Anopheles density reduced in the group of people prevented by ITHNs. The residual of insecticide on the hammock net was decreased after 2 years utilization.\r\n', u'\r\n', u'\r\n', u'
Malaria

Background: Flail chest is a severe condition of thoracic trauma, and it requires diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. From year 2000, we developed an improved technique of open fixation in order to adapt the situations of Vietnam health settings. Objectives: To report preliminary results of application of improved open fixation technique in Viet Duc Hospital from 2001 to 2006. Subjects and method: This descriptive, prospective and retrospective study involved 19 patients with flail chest due to closed thoracic trauma or multiple traumas, treated by open fixation technique. The parameters included features of patients, characteristics of this technique and postoperative progression.Results: Of 19 patients, there were 16 males and 3 females, mean age: 47.8 years. All patients presented obvious signs of flail chest preoperatively, but only 9 cases were treated by open fixation technique and pleural drainage immediately. This technique canbe applied in all sugical settings with single local anaesthesia, and any kind of common surgical threads. The most suitable initial pulled weight is 2000 g. All cases of flail chest required pleural drainage. All patients had good outcomes with open fixation technique, no death. There were 3 patients with postoperative complications, all were severe multiple trauma patients. Conclusion: Improved open fixation technique applied in Viet Duc Hospital is simple, effective and safe, and can be widely used in all surgical settings.
Flail Chest ; Flank Pain/ therapy ;

Background: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a now new, effective approach in diagnosis and treatment of thoracic diseases. Objective: To summarize and evaluate the results of VATS for mediastinal tumors. Subjects and method: A retrospective study included patients with mediastinal tumors who performed VATS in Viet Duc Hospital from March 2006 to August 2007. The measurements about age, sex, hospital-admitted reasons, tumor\u2019s size and location, outcomes and complications were analysed. Results: There were sixteen patients, included 9 males and 7 females. The patients\ufffd?average age was 35.3 years (ranged from 16 to 72 years). Clinical characteristics of mediastinal tumors were chest pain (11 cases), trouble breathing (4 cases), cough (2 cases). CT scanner detected mediastinal tumors in all patients (16 cases). Pathologically, 15 patients had benign tumors and only one had malignant tumor. The average time for postoperative drainage withdrawal was 3.0625 days (ranged from 2 to 5 days). The average time of hospital stay was 5 days (ranged from 3 to 11 days). There was no postoperative complication. Conclusion: VATS for mediastinal tumors obtained good outcomes. This was a selective method with many advantages for mediastinal tumors.
Mediastinal Neoplasms/surgery ; Thoracic Surgery ; Video-Assisted ;

Background: peripheral vascular wounds/trauma is a severe type of surgical emergency, the increasing rate due to the rapid increase of traffic, labor and living accidents. Subjectives and Method: retrospective study, all patients with peripheral vascular wounds/traumas (alone or combination in multiple trauma) were emergency operated at Viet Duc Hospital from January 2004 to June 2006. Results: A total of 310 patients with peripheral vascular injuries in the study, of which accounted for 62.3% of injury, trauma group accounted for 37.7%. The mean age of 30. In first aid, pressed tape accounted for high rate (71.5%). Rate of popliteal vascular trauma due to fractures around the knee accounted for 65.5%, the rate of brachial vascular trauma with fractures around the elbow was 50%. Rate of late diagnosis of arterial trauma was 14.6%, higher than the arterial wounds (2.6%). The rate of ultrasound for forelimbs - where vessels were many wounds, was lower than that for hindlimbs - where vessels were many traumas (44% vs 67.9%). For vascular wounds, more directly vascular connection and more intervention on veins, whereas, for arterial trauma, more vascular graft. Rate of complications was low (7.4%), with no deaths. Conclusions: Overall, the results of emergency surgery for peripheral vascular wounds/trauma were well. No cases was death from vascular lesions, rate of complications was low.
Blood Vessels/ injuries ; Emergencies ;

The aerial parts of Eclipta prostrata is used as a traditional medicine and vegetable. In traditional folk medicine, it is used for treatment of hemorrhages, hepatic, disease, renal injuries, hair loss, tooth mobility, and viper bites. In this study, ten compounds (1 ‒ 10) were isolated from the aerial parts of E. prostrata. A reliable high performance liquid chromatography equipped with photometric diode array detector (HPLC-PDA) method was developed to simultaneously quantitate 10 marker compounds [chlorogenic acid (1), paratensein 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (2), quercetin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (3), luteolin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (4), apigenin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (5), apigenin 4'-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (6), apigenin (7), luteolin (8), wedelolactone (9), and paratensein (10)]. In addition, compounds 5 and 6 showed considerable inhibitory effects against protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) enzyme. Moreover, compounds 6 ‒ 8, and 10 exhibited potent α-glucosidase inhibitory effects with IC50 values of 24.5 ± 1.9, 33.0 ± 0.5, 45.5 ± 0.1, and 23.8 ± 1.0 µM, respectively. All compounds (1 ‒ 10) showed considerable acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effects with IC 50 ranging from 30.1 to 75.2 µM.

The aerial parts of Eclipta prostrata is used as a traditional medicine and vegetable. In traditional folk medicine, it is used for treatment of hemorrhages, hepatic, disease, renal injuries, hair loss, tooth mobility, and viper bites. In this study, ten compounds (1 ‒ 10) were isolated from the aerial parts of E. prostrata. A reliable high performance liquid chromatography equipped with photometric diode array detector (HPLC-PDA) method was developed to simultaneously quantitate 10 marker compounds [chlorogenic acid (1), paratensein 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (2), quercetin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (3), luteolin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (4), apigenin 7-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (5), apigenin 4'-O-β-ᴅ-glucoside (6), apigenin (7), luteolin (8), wedelolactone (9), and paratensein (10)]. In addition, compounds 5 and 6 showed considerable inhibitory effects against protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) enzyme. Moreover, compounds 6 ‒ 8, and 10 exhibited potent α-glucosidase inhibitory effects with IC50 values of 24.5 ± 1.9, 33.0 ± 0.5, 45.5 ± 0.1, and 23.8 ± 1.0 µM, respectively. All compounds (1 ‒ 10) showed considerable acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory effects with IC 50 ranging from 30.1 to 75.2 µM.

Background: The vulnerability to contract malaria was researched among the Raglai ethnic minority population living in the mountainous areas of Ninh Thuan province, South-central Viet Nam, one of the areas with highest incidence rates in the country. Objective: To investigate the bed net use, risk perception of contracting malaria in Raglai ethnic minority. Subject and Method: The study used qualitative and quantitative method and was carried out in Ninh Thuan from 8/2005 to 8/2006. Result: Raglai exposure to malaria was related to farmers' forest activity and forest sleep which were directly related to the combination of sleeping and living in a government supported home in newly established villages along the road with a second home or reduced plot hut near fields in the forest to meet work requirements during the labor intensive malaria transmission and rainy season. In this context, access to health care, bed net use, risk perception of contracting malaria and health seeking behavior were researched. Conclusion: The results of the study do not only show the vulnerability of an impoverished ethnic minority population but as well the urgent need to better understand ethnic minorities' social context and culture to improve malaria control strategies.
Awareness of malaria ; ethnic minority ; Ninh Thuan province ; bed net use

Objective: To evaluate the antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo of saponin–phospholipid complex of Panax notoginseng. Methods: The in vitro cytotoxic effect of saponins extract and saponin–phospholipid complex against human lung cancer NCI-H460 and breast cancer cell lines BT474 was examined using MTS assay. For in vivo evaluation of antitumor potential, saponin and saponin–phospholipid complex were administered orally in rats induced mammary carcinogenesis by 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, for 30 days. Results: Our data showed that saponin–phospholipid complex had stronger anticancer effect compared to saponin extract. The IC50 values of saponin–phospholipid complex and saponin extract for NCI-H460 cell lines were 28.47μg/mL and 47.97μg/mL, respectively and these values for BT474 cells were 53.18μg/mL and 86.24μg/mL, respectively. In vivo experiments, administration of saponin, saponin–phospholipid complex and paclitaxel (positive control) effectively suppressed 7,12-dimethylbenz(a) anthracene-induced breast cancer evidenced by a decrease in tumor volume, the reduction of lipid peroxidation level and increase in the body weight, and elevated the enzymatic antioxidant activities of su-peroxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase in rat breast tissue. Conclusions: Our study suggests that saponin extract from Panax notoginseng and saponin–phospholipid complex have potential to prevent cancer, especially breast cancer.

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and characteristics of pathogenic Escherichia (E.) coli strains from diarrheic calves in Vietnam. A total of 345 E. coli isolates obtained from 322 diarrheic calves were subjected to PCR and multiplex PCR for detection of the f5, f41, f17, eae, sta, lt, stx1, and stx2 genes. Of the 345 isolates, 108 (31.3%) carried at least one fimbrial gene. Of these 108 isolates, 50 carried genes for Shiga toxin and one possessed genes for both enterotoxin and Shiga toxin. The eae gene was found in 34 isolates (9.8%), 23 of which also carried stx genes. The Shiga toxin genes were detected in 177 isolates (51.3%) and the number of strains that carried stx1, stx2 and stx1/stx2 were 46, 73 and 58, respectively. Among 177 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli isolates, 89 carried the ehxA gene and 87 possessed the saa gene. Further characterization of the stx subtypes showed that among 104 stx1-positive isolates, 58 were the stx1c variant and 46 were the stx1 variant. Of the 131 stx2-positive strains, 48 were stx2, 48 were stx2c, 11 were stx2d, 17 were stx2g, and seven were stx2c/stx2g subtypes. The serogroups most prevalent among the 345 isolates were O15, O20, O103 and O157.
Animals ; Cattle ; Cattle Diseases/epidemiology/*microbiology ; DNA, Bacterial/chemistry/genetics ; Diarrhea/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary ; Escherichia coli/genetics/*isolation & purification/pathogenicity ; Escherichia coli Infections/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary ; Feces/microbiology ; Fimbriae, Bacterial/genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Vietnam/epidemiology ; Virulence Factors/*genetics

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