Pharmacokinetics of the antimalarial drug piperaquine in healthy Vietnamese subjects.

We compared plasma maximum concentration (Cmax) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of the antimalarial drug piperaquine in 26 healthy Vietnamese subjects after treatment with either a single oral dose of 500 mg (n = 6) or 1,000 mg (n = 6) of piperaquine phosphate and a three-day course of 500 mg of piperaquine/ day in the fasting state (n = 7) or with food (approximately 17 g fat) (n = 7). The geometric mean plasma Cmax and AUC((0-28)) was 2.8-fold (200 ng/mL versus 70 ng/mL) and 1.9-fold (5,736 ng x h/mL versus 2,999 ng x h/mL), respectively, and higher in subjects receiving the 1,000-mg dose than in those receiving the 500-mg dose. The geometric mean Cmax and AUC((0-28)) was 1.7-fold (198 ng/mL versus 119 ng/mL) and 1.4-fold (11,187 ng x h/mL versus 7,954 ng x h/mL) higher in the fed state than in the fasting state. Piperaquine AUC was proportional to the two doses tested and a moderate-fat meal enhanced the bioavailability of piperaquine by 41%, which should improve the therapeutic efficacy of this drug.

Paraclinical, clinical characteristics and treatment of scrub typhus at 108 Hospital (1998-2003)

In the Department of Communicable Diseases Hospital 108, 41 patients with srub typhus were diagnosed by Weil-Felix assay and dipsticks ELISA(+) were treated. Among them 22 by chloramphenicol 50mg/kg daily and 19 by doxycycline 200mg/daily in 7 days consecutively. Clinically, the common symptoms of the disease were prolonged fever (100%) in combining with head ache 100%, muscle pain 78.4%, erythema 34.7%. Doxycycline and chloramphenicol were the most efficient medicine.

Treatment of hepatitis B

Vietnam is one of high prevalence HBV-infection country, with average rate of HBV-carriers was between 10% and 20%. If all people that had at least 1 of 3 markers (HBsAg, anti HBs, and anti HBc) were added in, prevalence of HBV infection was as high as 45-70%. The prevalence of acute hepatitis was between 37% and 49%, rate of cirrhotic HBV-positive patients was 47%-87%, and rate of liver cancer in HBV-positive patients was 57%-80%. HBV was concerned as a leading cause of primary hepatocellular carcinoma in human

Clinical and paraclinical characteristics and the sensitivity to antibiotic in septicemia patients with gram(-) bacteria

Study was carried out on 93 patients suffering from septicemia with gram(-) bacteria, who were treated in Central Military Hospital 108 from 1998 to 2003. All of them were taken blood samples for hemoculture. The results showed: the main clinical symptoms of septicemia with gram(-) bacteria are fever with sweats, liver and spleen palpable, rash, normal or low white blood cell count, anemia, and elevated levels of enzyme transaminase; main causes of septicemia gram negative are E.coli, Enterobacter, P. aeruginosa, Klebsiella, and Proteus. These pathogens E.coli, Enterobacter, P. aeruginosa still remain sensitive with cephalosporin III, ciprofloxacin, amikacine, and imipemem