Assessing skin disease and associated health-related quality of life in a rural Lao community.

BACKGROUND: Skin diseases are common and often have an impact on an individual's health-related quality of life. In rural communities where access to healthcare may be limited and individuals rely on farming for food and income, the impact of skin diseases may be greater. The objectives for this study were to perform an assessment of skin disease prevalence in a rural village in Laos and assess the associated impact of any skin disease found using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). METHODS: A rural village was purposively selected and 340 participants examined by dermatologists over a four day period. Brief questionnaires were performed, followed by full body skin examinations and DLQI questionnaires completed were relevant. The data were analysed using chi square and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-one participants were found to have a skin disease (53%). The six most common skin diseases were: eczema (22%), dermatophyte infections (19%), acne (10%), scabies infestation (9%), melasma (8%) and pityriasis versicolor (4%). Just over half of those with skin disease (51%) completed the DLQI, with scores ranging from 0 to 24. Those with skin problems on examination were significantly more likely to be farmers, have had a previous skin problem, be older or live in a smaller family. Conclusions This study represents the first formal documentation of skin disease prevalence in Laos and establishes the high rate of skin disease in the rural community and the associated impact these diseases have on health-related quality of life.

An open, randomized comparison of artesunate plus mefloquine vs. dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and safety of oral dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP, Artekin) in the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in southern Laos. METHODS: An open, randomized clinical trial of oral artesunate-mefloquine (AM) vs. DP in 220 patients with acute uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Savannakhet Province, Laos. RESULTS: The 42-day cure rates (95% CI), as determined by survival analysis and adjusted for reinfection, were excellent and similar for the two groups [99 (94-100)% and 100 (100-100)% for AM and DP, respectively]. The median (range) fever and parasite clearance times for the AM and DP groups were also similar [20 (4-63) h and 2 (1-4) days vs. 20 (7-57) and 2 (1-4) days, logrank P = 0.4 and 0.17, respectively]. There were more patients with at least one potential side effect following treatment in the AM group when compared with the DP group [64/110 (58%) vs. 48/110 (44%), respectively, P = 0.031]. CONCLUSION: Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine did not have superior efficacy to AM for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in Laos but was associated with fewer adverse effects.

Fake antimalarials in Southeast Asia are a major impediment to malaria control: multinational cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of fake antimalarials.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of counterfeit antimalarial drugs in Southeast (SE) Asia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Pharmacies and shops selling antimalarial drugs in Myanmar (Burma), Lao PDR, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of artemisinin derivatives or mefloquine containing drugs of substandard quality. RESULTS: Of the 188 tablet packs purchased which were labelled as 'artesunate' 53% did not contain any artesunate. All counterfeit artesunate tablets were labelled as manufactured by 'Guilin Pharma', and refinements of the fake blisterpacks made them often hard to distinguish from their genuine counterparts. No other artemisinin derivatives were found to be counterfeited. Of the 44 mefloquine samples, 9% contained <10% of the expected amount of active ingredient. CONCLUSIONS: An alarmingly high proportion of antimalarial drugs bought in pharmacies and shops in mainland SE Asia are counterfeit, and the problem has increased significantly compared with our previous survey in 1999-2000. This is a serious threat to public health in the region.

Identification of cryptic coinfection with Plasmodium falciparum in patients presenting with vivax malaria.

In Thailand, approximately 8% of patients treated for vivax malaria are found subsequently to have coinfection with Plasmodium falciparum. A P. falciparum histidine rich protein 2 (PfHRP-2) dipstick test was evaluated as a predictor of mixed infections with subpatent P. falciparum in a prospective study of 238 patients admitted to the hospital with acute vivax malaria. Of these, 23 (10%) had subsequent development of falciparum malaria without reexposure. Patients with cryptic P. falciparum infection had a significantly lower mean (standard deviation) hematocrit than those with P. vivax alone: 29.6 (7.6%) versus 37.2 (6.4%) (P < 0.0001). Using microscopic appearance of P. falciparum after the start of treatment as the reference standard, the PfHRP-2 test was 74% sensitive and 99% specific in predicting mixed infections with subpatent P. falciparum parasitemia at presentation. The PfHRP-2 dipstick test may be a useful adjunct to microscopy in areas where mixed infections are common.

Fake artesunate in southeast Asia.

Artesunate is a key antimalarial drug in the treatment of multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria in southeast Asia. We investigated the distribution of counterfeit artesunate tablets by use of the validated, simple, and inexpensive Fast Red TR dye technique. We also aimed to identify distinguishing characteristics of the fake drugs. Of 104 shop-bought "artesunate" samples from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam, 38% did not contain artesunate. Characteristics such as cost and physical appearance of the tablets and packaging reliably predicted authenticity. The illicit trade in counterfeit antimalarials is a great threat to the lives of patients with malaria. The dye test will assist national malaria control authorities in urgently needed campaigns to stop this murderous trade.

Persistence of Plasmodium falciparum HRP-2 in successfully treated acute falciparum malaria.

The potential for Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein-2 (PfHRP-2) dipstick tests to predict antimalarial treatment failure was investigated in a prospective study in Thailand of 38 patients admitted with severe malaria and 54 hospitalized with uncomplicated P. falciparum infections. Of these, 40 had subsequent recrudescence of their infections. Overall, 89% of patients with severe malaria and 61% of patients with uncomplicated malaria had positive PfHRP-2 dipstick tests for > 2 weeks following the start of treatment. Persistence was correlated positively with admission parasite counts, PfHRP-2 intensity scores and disease severity. PfHRP-2 tests which remained positive for > 2 weeks and PfHRP-2 reactive intensity scores on admission, at day 7 and day 14 did not predict treatment failure independent of admission parasitaemia. Freezing and thawing the blood samples did not significantly affect PfHRP-2 results tested by the dipstick technique. The PfHRP-2 dipstick test provides a useful indicator of recent severe malaria, but does not predict the therapeutic response.

Melioidosis and Pandora's box in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Melioidosis has not been recognized previously in Laos, but within months of starting a prospective study of community acquired septicemia in Vientiane, 2 patients with melioidosis were identified. One was a previously healthy, 44-year-old female rice farmer who presented with supraclavicular lymphadenitis and the other was a 74-year-old man with diabetes and renal calculi who was receiving corticosteroids and had septicemia and septic arthritis.

Contribution of humoral immunity to the therapeutic response in falciparum malaria.

The contribution of humoral immunity to the therapeutic response in acute falciparum malaria was assessed in a case-control study. Forty adult Thai patients with acute falciparum malaria who had subsequent recrudescent infections and 40 patients matched for age, therapeutic regimen, and disease severity who were cured by Day 28 were studied. All cured patients had positive immunoglobulin (Ig) G to ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA) in their admission plasma, compared with only 60% of patients who failed to respond to treatment (P < 0.001). The proportion of IgM-positive cases at admission was also higher in the successfully treated group than in the group with failure (70% versus 30%) (P < 0.001). The geometric mean (95% confidence interval) reciprocal IgG titer at admission was significantly higher in cured patients (187.0 [83.5-418.3]) compared with those who experienced treatment failure (11.6 [5.1-26.5]) (P < 0.001). The patients with uncomplicated malaria who were both IgG and IgM positive at admission had significantly shorter fever clearance times and lower admission parasitemia levels compared with those who were negative (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively). The median (range) in vitro parasite multiplication rate was significantly lower in cultures containing positive anti-RESA antibody plasma compared with those containing normal plasma (0.7 [0.1-3.5] versus 2.6 [0.1-12.1]; P < 0.001). These results suggest that antimalarial antibodies may play an important supportive role in the therapeutic response to antimalarial drugs during acute falciparum malaria.