A5029433093- Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Bacterial Identification and Susceptibility Testing
- Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Studies
- Vector-Borne Animal Diseases
- Burkholderia infections and melioidosis
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Infective Endocarditis Diagnosis and Management
- Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Leptospirosis research and findings
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Study of Mite Species
- Poxvirus research and outbreaks
- Quality and Safety in Healthcare
- Parasites and Host Interactions
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
- Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
- Chemical Looping and Thermochemical Processes
- Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Fungal Infections and Studies
- Microbial infections and disease research
University of Oxford
2015-2025
Angkor Hospital for Children
2025
John Radcliffe Hospital
2021-2024
Churchill Hospital
2012-2024
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust
2022-2023
Mahosot Hospital
2012-2022
Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit
2012-2022
Centre for Human Genetics
2019
Wellcome Trust
2013
Abstract Objectives Intestinal carriage constitutes an important reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, with some the highest rates reported from Asia. Antibiotic resistance has been little studied in Laos, where antibiotics are available without restriction, but others such as carbapenems not available. Patients and methods We collected stools 397 healthy children 12 randomly selected pre-school childcare facilities around Vientiane. Colonization ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae...
Abstract Objective Tablet splitting is frequently performed to facilitate correct dosing, but the practice and implications in low‐income settings have rarely been discussed. Methods We selected eight drugs, with narrow therapeutic indices or critical dosages, divided Lao PDR (Laos). These were split, by common techniques used Laos, four nurses laypersons. The mean percentage deviation from theoretical expected weight loss of tablets/capsules recorded. Results Five study drugs failed, on...
Background Scrub typhus is a major cause of acute febrile illness in the tropics and endemic over large areas Asia Pacific region. The national global burden scrub remains unclear due to limited data difficulties surrounding diagnosis. Methodology/Principal findings reporting from 2003–2018 were collected Thai disease surveillance system. Additional information including district, sub-district village residence, population, geographical, meteorological satellite imagery also for Chiangrai,...
Melioidosis, a severe infection with the environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is being recognised increasingly frequently. What determines its uneven distribution within endemic areas poorly understood. We cultured soil from rice field in Laos for B. pseudomallei at different depths on 4 occasions over 13-month period. also measured physical and chemical parameters order to identify associated characteristics. Overall, 195 of 653 samples (29.7%) yielded pseudomallei. A higher...
<title>Abstract</title> Scrub typhus, an acute febrile illness caused by <italic>Orientia tsutsugamushi</italic>, has emerged as a significant public health concern, expanding beyond its traditional endemic region, the "tsutsugamushi triangle" in Asia-Pacific. Despite increasingly global distribution, comprehensive spatial assessments of scrub typhus risk remain sparse. An exhaustive assembly 56,093 unique human occurrence records worldwide was undertaken from published literature and...
Background Scrub typhus (ST) and murine (MT) are common but poorly understood causes of fever in Laos. We examined the spatial temporal distribution ST MT, with intent informing interventions to prevent control both diseases. Methodology principle findings This study included samples submitted from 2003 2017 Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, for MT investigation. Serum were tested using IgM rapid diagnostic tests. Patient demographic data along meteorological environmental Laos analysed....
The infrastructure challenges and costs of next-generation sequencing have been largely overcome, for many applications, by Oxford Nanopore Technologies' portable MinION sequencer. However, the question remains open whether MinION-based bacterial whole genome is itself sufficient accurate assessment phylogenetic epidemiological relationships between isolates such tasks can be undertaken in resource-limited settings. To investigate this question, we sequenced an isolate
Scrub typhus is a febrile disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, transmitted larval stage Trombiculid mites (chiggers), whose primary hosts are small mammals. The phylogenomics of O. tsutsugamushi in chiggers, mammals and humans remains poorly understood. To combat the limitations imposed low relative quantities pathogen DNA typical clinical ecological samples, along with technical, safety cost cell culture, novel probe-based target enrichment sequencing protocol was developed. method...
Scrub typhus is an important neglected vector-borne zoonotic disease across the Asia-Pacific region, with expanding known distribution. The ecology poorly understood, despite large global burden of disease. key determinants high-risk areas transmission to humans are unknown. Small mammals and chiggers were collected over 18-month period at three sites differing ecological profiles high scrub in Chiang Rai Province, northern Thailand. Field samples identified tested for Orientia tsutsugamushi...
We investigated whether dried cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) conserved on filter paper can be used as a substrate for accurate PCR diagnosis of important causes bacterial meningitis in the Lao PDR. Using mock CSF, we and optimized varieties, punch sizes, elution volumes quantities DNA template to achieve sensitive reliable detection from specimens. FTA Elute Micro CardTM (Whatman, Maidstone, UK) was most sensitive, consistent practical variety paper. Following optimization, lower limit...
Abstract The routine identification of pathogens during infection remains challenging because it relies on multiple modalities such as culture and nucleic acid amplification tests that tend to be specific for very few an enormous number possible infectious agents. Metagenomics promises single-test identification, but shotgun sequencing unwieldy expensive or in many cases insufficiently sensitive detect the amount pathogen material a clinical sample. Here we present validation application...
Linezolid, the first available agent in new class of oxazolidinone antibiotics, represents a significant advance management options for combating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. In UK it was launched clinical use 2001. The aim this study to audit linezolid and compliance with guidelines hospital antibiotic committee.Our committee agreed indications use. We undertook an these recommendations also reviewed its terms source infection, microbiology, duration...
Background: The scale of the 2022 global monkeypox outbreak has been unprecedented. In under six-months, non-endemic countries have reported over 67,000 cases a disease that had previously rare outside Africa. Mortality as but hospitalisation relatively common. We aimed to describe clinical and laboratory characteristics outcomes individuals hospitalised with associated complications, including tecovirimat recipients. Methods: Sixteen hospitals from Specialist High Consequence Infectious...
Abstract Motivation Target enrichment strategies generate genomic data from multiple pathogens in a single process, greatly improving sensitivity over metagenomic sequencing and enabling cost-effective, high throughput surveillance clinical applications. However, uptake by research laboratories is constrained an absence of computational tools that are specifically designed for the analysis multi-pathogen sequence data. Here we present Castanet pipeline: pipeline end-to-end processing...
Abstract Motivation Target enrichment strategies generate genomic data from multiple pathogens in a single process, greatly improving sensitivity over metagenomic sequencing and enabling cost-effective, high throughput surveillance clinical applications. However, uptake by research laboratories is constrained an absence of computational tools that are specifically designed for the analysis multi-pathogen sequence data. Here we present pipeline, Castanet, use with Castanet to work short-read...
Background: Scrub typhus is a leading cause of febrile illness in Laos and accounts for high burden disease. There have been no previous studies on the causative agent, Orientia tsutsugamushi, vector mites (“chiggers”) or their small mammal hosts Laos. Materials Methods: Small mammals free-living chiggers were trapped districts Vientiane Province Capital. Tissues tested O. tsutsugamushi by PCR serum IgG to immunofluorescence assays (IFAs). Chiggers removed from collected stage using black...
Abstract Scrub typhus is a febrile disease caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi , transmitted larval stage Trombiculid mites (chiggers), whose primary hosts are small mammals. The phylogenomics of O. in chiggers, mammals and humans remains poorly understood. To combat the limitations imposed low relative quantities pathogen DNA typical clinical ecological samples, along with technical, safety cost cell culture, novel probe-based target enrichment sequencing protocol was developed. method...
Background: Efforts to implement village-level water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) projects often suffer challenges related appropriate technology, local availability of supplies, sufficient training equipping the implementation team.This study highlights lessons learned from a safe drinking water treatment storage project undertaken through community-based participatory research collaboration in rural Punjab, India.Partners include communitybased organization, nine villages, both U.S....