A Prospective Hospital-based Surveillance to Estimate Rotavirus Disease Burden in Bhutanese Children under 5 Years of Age

As part of efforts to develop an informed policy for rotavirus vaccination, this prospective study was conducted to estimate the burden of rotavirus diarrhea among children less than 5 years old attended to the Department of Pediatrics, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH), Thimphu, Bhutan. The duration of the study was three years, extending from February 2010 through December 2012. We estimated the frequency of hospitalization in the pediatric ward and dehydration treatment unit (DTU) for diarrhea and the number of events attributable to rotavirus infection among children under 5 years of age. During the study period, a total of 284 children (1 in 45) were hospitalized in the pediatric ward, and 2,220 (1 in 6) in the DTU with diarrhea among children residing in the Thimphu district. Group A rotavirus was detected in 32.5% and 18.8% of the stool samples from children hospitalized in the pediatric ward, respectively. Overall, 22.3% of the stool samples were rotavirus-positive, and the majority (90.8%) of them was detected in children under 2 years of age. From this study, we estimated that the annual incidence of hospitalization in the pediatric ward and DTU due to rotavirus diarrhea was 2.4/1000 (95% CI 1.7–3.4) and 10.8/1000 (95% CI 9.1–12.7) children, respectively. This study revealed that rotavirus is a major cause of diarrhea in Bhutanese children in Thimphu district and since no study has been performed previously, represents an important finding for policy discussions regarding the adoption of a rotavirus vaccine in Bhutan.

A prospective hospital based surveillance to estimate rotavirus disease burden in Bhutanese children under 5 years of age

To develop aninformed policy for rotavirus vaccination, this prospective study was conductedto estimate the burden of rotavirus diarrhea among children less than 5 years oldattending the Department of Pediatrics, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National ReferralHospital (JDWNRH), Thimphu, Bhutan. The duration of the study was three years, extendingfrom February 2010 through December 2012. We estimated the frequency of hospitalizationin pediatric ward and Dehydration Treatment Unit (DTU) for diarrhea and thenumber of events attributable to rotavirus infection among children under 5years of age. During the study period, a total of 284 children (1 in 45) werehospitalized in pediatric ward, and 2,220 children (1 in 6 children)  in Dehydration Treatment Unit (DTU) withdiarrhea among children residing in the Thimphu district. Group A rotavirus was detected in 32.5% of the stoolsamples from the hospitalized children in pediatric ward and 18.8% in DTU withdiarrhea. Overall, 22.3% of the stool samples were rotavirus-positive, and the majority(90.8%) of them was detected in children under 2 years of age. From this study,we estimated that the annual incidence of hospitalization in ward and DTU s dueto rotavirus diarrhea was 2.4/1000 (95% CI 1.7–3.4) and 10.8/1000 (95% CI9.1–12.7) children, respectively. This study revealed that rotavirus is a majorcause of diarrhea in Bhutanese children in Thimphu district and represents animportant finding to policy discussions regarding the adoption of a rotavirusvaccine in Bhutan since no study has been performed previously.

Preliminary Experimental Adaptation Of VNUCOVO - 32 Rabies Vaccine Strain into Vero Cell

Introduction: Rabies is a serious problem in the area of public health in developing countries including Vietnam. The death rate is almost 100%, however rabies can be prevented and preventively treated by vaccine, or a combination between vaccine with rabies resistant serum. The production of Vero cell culture vaccine is becoming a common trend worldwide because of its effective protection and safety. There is a requirement for the domestic production of cell cultured rabies vaccine. \r\n', u'Objectives: To determine the adaptive ability of VNUCOVO - 32 rabies vaccine strain into Vero cell. \r\n', u'Subjects and Method: Rabies vaccine propagation strains the rat\u2019s kidney cells. VNUCOVO - 32 was cultured into Vero cell with different conditions such as pH, temperature, multiplicity of infection (MOl) and time of virus harvests to discover the optimal conditions for virus propagation. \r\n', u'Results: The optimal condition for VNUCOVO - 32 propagation into vero cell with MOl 0.3, pH 7.4 and temperature is 37\xb0C. The highest titer achieves 103,4FFLJ/ml. The best time for virus harvest is 12 - 13 days post inoculation. \r\n', u'Conclusion: VNUCOVO rabies vaccine strain can penetrate and propagate into vera cell. \r\n', u'