What drives the intention to dispense ETC medications without prescription across community pharmacists in Can Tho city, Viet Nam? – A theory-based cross-sectional analysis

Objectives: To access determinants of the intent of providing ETC medicines in non-prescription settings in community pharmacists in Can Tho, Vietnam in 2021. Additionally, we aimed to create a new measurement scale of degrees of effect for each factor. Methods: A cross-sectional research was conducted between June and October 2021. A self-administered questionnaire stemmed from the “Theory of Planned Behavior” (TPB), consisting of 24 statements on a 5-point Likert scale was mailed to targeted individuals. Exploratory factor analysis is the major instrument apart from the t-Test and ANOVA statistics. 120 pharmacy personnel working at 120 randomly chosen drugstores in Can Tho. Results: Subjective norms have been found to be the most influential factor, followed by perceived behavior controls, and positive attitudes toward the action of concern. TPB-based model is responsible for approximately 40% of the variance in the willingness to take action. Conclusion: It seems that community pharmacists’ decision toward prescription pharmaceuticals has not been academically attractive. Extra papers are necessary to understand the motives behind the execution of the behavior. (AU)

Studies on hantavirus infection in small mammals captured in southern and central highland area of Vietnam.

To investigate the distribution of hantaviruses among animals in Southern and Central Highland area of Vietnam, a total of 1311 serum samples were obtained from rats and Asian house shrews (Suncus murinus) captured at 11 locations between 2006 and 2009. A total of 1066 serum samples from rats were examined for IgG antibodies against Hantaan virus, and there were 30 antibody-positive serum samples from rats that had been captured mainly in a port area and urban area in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (2.8%). All of the antibody-positive rats were Rattus norvegicus, and they had Seoul virus (SEOV) genome in their lungs. SEOV sequences detected from rats captured in Southern Vietnam belonged to the same lineage as those from rats captured at Haiphong Port and a market area in Hanoi City. SEOV strain CSG5 was isolated from a rat captured at Saigon Harbor. Strain CSG5 showed a cross-neutralization pattern almost the same as that of a representative strain of SEOV. A total of 245 Asian house shrews were captured in the Central Highland area and near HCMC. Sera were examined for IgG antibodies against Thottapalayam virus (TPMV), and 32 (13.1%) of the antibody-positive shrews were mainly from the Central Highland area and showed a neutralizing antibody against TPMV. These results indicated that SEOV is distributed among R. norvegicus inhabiting harbor and urban areas of Southern Vietnam and that TPMV or an antigenically related virus is distributed among Asian house shrews in Central Highland area.