Risk of chikungunya virus transmission associated with European travelers returning from southern Thailand (2008-2015).

BACKGROUND: The impact of the spread of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) by autochthonous transmission and blood transfusion in nonendemic areas via travelers returning from CHIKV-affected locations is a concern. METHODS: We analyzed the risks of potential CHIKV importation and transfusion transmission from Thailand to Europe via travelers visiting southern Thailand from 2008 through 2015, using the web-based European Up-front Risk Assessment Tool. RESULTS: The risk of CHIKV importation by European travelers returning from Thailand from 2008 through 2015 varied depending on the year of travel, tourist destination, duration of stay, and time since last possible exposure. Specifically, the risks of acquiring CHIKV among travelers visiting Songkhla and Krabi for 1, 5, or 10-30 days during the highest epidemic activity in 2009 were estimated to be 74.40, 371.99, and 706.77 (Songkhla) and 1.82, 9.08, and 17.25 (Krabi) per 100,000 travelers, respectively. In contrast, such risks were estimated to be fewer than 0.099 per 100,000 travelers in nonepidemic years. The 2009 yearly average rates of expected incidence among 4,059,988 European travelers who stayed for 1 or 10-30 days in all six outbreak activity destinations were calculated to be, respectively, 4.01 × 10-6 or 1.20 × 10-4 cases per day, corresponding to the estimated rates of viremia and transfusion-transmitted CHIKV via traveling blood donations of 3.21 × 10-5 and 0.61, and 9.62 × 10-4 and 3.34, respectively. Additionally, it is probable that 18 (0.0004%) Europeans acquired CHIKV in Thailand, representing a maximum attack rate of 0.0023%. CONCLUSION: The extent of the expected risks and attack rates of CHIKV infection might reflect the travel preferences for popular destinations rather than the true risks of CHIKV transmission in travelers' home nonendemic countries. Nevertheless, preventive and blood-safety intervention measures may be applied to returning travelers at risk for infection to reduce CHIKV transfusion threats in their home countries.

Component-resolved diagnostics in Thai children with cow's milk and egg allergy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Component-resolved diagnostics (CRD) have garnered a lot of attention in recent years in the diagnosis of food allergies. We aimed to investigate sensitization against cow's milk and egg white components, and to study the clinical usefulness of serum food-specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) to cow's milk and egg white components in Thai children with cow's milk and egg allergies. METHOD: Children with IgE-mediated cow's milk and/or egg allergy were enrolled. Clinical reactions were determined. Specific IgE against cow's milk, egg white, alpha-lactalbumin (ALA), beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), casein, ovomucoid, ovalbumin and conalbumin were measured. RESULTS: Thirteen cow's milk allergic subjects and 32 egg allergic subjects were identified. The sensitization rate to BLG and casein was 91.7%, followed by ALA (66.7%) for cow's milk, and the sensitization rate to ovalbumin was 93.8%, followed by ovomucoid (81.3%) and conalbumin (37.5%) for egg. Patients in the urticaria group had a higher level of casein sIgE than the atopic dermatitis (AD) group but this difference was not significant (9.8 kUA/L vs. 0.9 kUA/L, p = 0.11). The level of ovomucoid sIgE was significantly higher in the non-AD group than in the AD group (3.8 kUA/L vs. 1.3 kUA/L, p = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: BLG and casein for cow's milk and ovomucoid and ovalbumin for egg were the common components causing sensitization in cow's milk and egg allergic patients. Among the patients with cow's milk allergy, the level of casein sIgE in the urticaria group tended to be higher than the AD group, and in egg allergic patients, the non-AD group had a significantly higher ovomucoid sIgE level compared with the AD group.