scholarly journals A Phage Therapy Guide for Clinicians and Basic Scientists: Background and Highlighting Applications for Developing Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Khalid ◽  
Ruby C. Y. Lin ◽  
Jonathan R. Iredell
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Phage Therapy ◽  
Critical Level ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Global Health Research ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant ◽  
Feasible Option

Approximately 10% of global health research is devoted to 90% of global disease burden (the so-called “10/90 Gap”) and it often neglects those diseases most prevalent in low-income countries. Antibiotic resistant bacterial infections are known to impact on healthcare, food security, and socio-economic fabric in the developing countries. With a global antibiotic resistance crisis currently reaching a critical level, the unmet needs in the developing countries are even more striking. The failure of traditional antimicrobials has led to renewed interest in century-old bacteriophage (phage) therapy in response to the urgent need to develop alternative therapies to treat infections. Phage therapy may have particular value in developing countries where relevant phages can be sourced and processed locally and efficiently, breaking specifically the economic barrier of access to expensive medicine. Hence this makes phage therapy an attractive and feasible option. In this review, we draw our respective clinical experience as well as phage therapy research and clinical trial, and discuss the ways in which phage therapy might reduce the burden of some of the most important bacterial infections in developing countries.

scholarly journals Bacteriophage JSF4 can be a Potential Prophylaxis Therapy for Cholera: An Alternative Approach to Antibiotics

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-128
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Phage Therapy ◽  
Prevention Strategies ◽  
Mice Model ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Prophylaxis Therapy ◽  
Effective Prevention Strategies

Cholera remains a major risk in developing countries like Bangladesh, particularly after natural or man-made disasters and becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Effective prevention strategies will be essential in reducing the disease burden of these bacterial infections. Here, we used the specificity and rapid-acting properties of bacteriophages as a potential prophylaxis therapy for cholera, a severely dehydrating disease caused by Vibrio cholerae 01 or 0139 serogroup. In this study, a single bacteriophage, JSF4 specific for V. cholerae 01 serogroup, was used to reduce the severity of cholera therapeutically in the infant mice model. Bacterial counts were decreased up to 106 times in the intestines of bacteriophage-treated animals and increased up to 24 times in the untreated control mice intestines. This is the first report that a single bacteriophage JSF4 might be useful to treat cholera caused by V. cholerae 01 serogroup strains and could be an alternative to antibiotics. In the future, JSF4 bacteriophages may also have profound implications in phage therapy for controlling cholera caused by pathogenic V. cholerae 01 serogroup strains.

scholarly journals The Rotavirus Vaccine Landscape, an Update

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 520
Author(s):  
Roberto Cárcamo-Calvo ◽  
Carlos Muñoz ◽  
Javier Buesa ◽  
Jesús Rodríguez-Díaz ◽  
Roberto Gozalbo-Rovira
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Low Income ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Cold Chain ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccine ◽  
Oral Vaccines

Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe acute childhood gastroenteritis, responsible for more than 128,500 deaths per year, mainly in low-income countries. Although the mortality rate has dropped significantly since the introduction of the first vaccines around 2006, an estimated 83,158 deaths are still preventable. The two main vaccines currently deployed, Rotarix and RotaTeq, both live oral vaccines, have been shown to be less effective in developing countries. In addition, they have been associated with a slight risk of intussusception, and the need for cold chain maintenance limits the accessibility of these vaccines to certain areas, leaving 65% of children worldwide unvaccinated and therefore unprotected. Against this backdrop, here we review the main vaccines under development and the state of the art on potential alternatives.

scholarly journals Why Do Developing Countries Tax So Little?

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 99-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Besley ◽  
Torsten Persson
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
News Media ◽  
Weak Sense ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Weak Institutions ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors ◽  
A Share

Low-income countries typically collect taxes of between 10 to 20 percent of GDP while the average for high-income countries is more like 40 percent. In order to understand taxation, economic development, and the relationships between them, we need to think about the forces that drive the development process. Poor countries are poor for certain reasons, and these reasons can also help to explain their weakness in raising tax revenue. We begin by laying out some basic relationships regarding how tax revenue as a share of GDP varies with per capita income and with the breadth of a country's tax base. We sketch a baseline model of what determines a country's tax revenue as a share of GDP. We then turn to our primary focus: why do developing countries tax so little? We begin with factors related to the economic structure of these economies. But we argue that there is also an important role for political factors, such as weak institutions, fragmented polities, and a lack of transparency due to weak news media. Moreover, sociological and cultural factors—such as a weak sense of national identity and a poor norm for compliance—may stifle the collection of tax revenue. In each case, we suggest the need for a dynamic approach that encompasses the two-way interactions between these political, social, and cultural factors and the economy.

scholarly journals Bacteriophages: the possible solution to treat infections caused by pathogenic bacteria

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 865-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman El-Shibiny ◽  
Salma El-Sahhar
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Phage Therapy ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Western World ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Vaccine Production ◽  
Bacterial Populations ◽  
Antibiotic Resistant

Since their discovery in 1915, bacteriophages have been used to treat bacterial infections in animals and humans because of their unique ability to infect their specific bacterial hosts without affecting other bacterial populations. The research carried out in this field throughout the 20th century, largely in Georgia, part of USSR and Poland, led to the establishment of phage therapy protocols. However, the discovery of penicillin and sulfonamide antibiotics in the Western World during the 1930s was a setback in the advancement of phage therapy. The misuse of antibiotics has reduced their efficacy in controlling pathogens and has led to an increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As an alternative to antibiotics, bacteriophages have become a topic of interest with the emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria, which are a threat to public health. Recent studies have indicated that bacteriophages can be used indirectly to detect pathogenic bacteria or directly as biocontrol agents. Moreover, they can be used to develop new molecules for clinical applications, vaccine production, drug design, and in the nanomedicine field via phage display.

Application of high-throughput serological tests for controlling zoonotic viral infection in Amazon rainforest and as a strategy to prevent future pandemics (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Santiago Pacheco De Azevedo ◽  
Daniela Gomes Ribeiro ◽  
Felipe Rocha Da Silva Santos ◽  
Siomar De Castro Soares ◽  
Vasco Ariston De Carvalho Azevedo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Preventive Health Care ◽  
Amazon Rainforest ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Sequencing Data ◽  
Serological Tests

UNSTRUCTURED From the bubonic plague on the 14th century to the new Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), pandemics have profoundly changed societies function. Infectious disease outbreaks are getting shorter and shorter due to our densely populated cities, global travel, and nature mass exploration. In this regard, there is a particular concern about fires occurring in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, one of the most biodiverse places on earth that facilitates cross-species transmission giving rise to the emergency of new virulent pathogens. Situation is further complicated because Amazon spans across eight developing countries with limited preventive health care services. In this perspective, this review highlights the role of new methodologies best suited for epidemiological monitoring in low-income countries, such as high-throughput serological tests. Phage immunoprecipitation sequencing (Phip-Seq), for example, can evaluate antibody-repertoire binding specificities using oligonucleotides libraries encoding epitopes covering the DNA sequences from all human pathogenic viruses or all Arboviruses already described. After incubation with an individual's serum, these libraries can be immunoprecipitated for subsequent analysis by DNA sequencing. Data are analyzed revealing peptides recognized by the antibodies present in the sample. Being a technique at a relatively low cost, its implementation in developing countries is feasible and can generate very interesting scientific information.

A Systems Approach for Sustainably Reducing Childhood Diarrheal Deaths in Developing Countries

2016 ◽  
pp. 1208-1227
Author(s):  
Monica Gray
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
Sub Saharan

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death and is the major cause of malnutrition in children under age 5 worldwide. More than 50 percent of the cases occur in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Open defecation, substandard fecal disposal systems, and contaminated water supplies are the typical causes of diarrheal diseases. This public health crisis in low income countries mirrors the experiences of today's industrialized nations two centuries ago. The lessons learned from their sanitary evolution can be instructive in charting a sustainable path towards saving the lives of almost 2 million children annually. In this chapter a case study of Cuba's sanitary reformation is also presented to showcase successes, similar to those of developed countries, within a developing country and economically challenging context.

scholarly journals Evaluating farm-level livestock interventions in low-income countries: a scoping review of what works, how, and why

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Johanna F. Lindahl ◽  
Florence Mutua ◽  
Delia Grace
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Livestock Products ◽  
Development Outcomes

Abstract Livestock interventions can improve nutrition, health, and economic well-being of communities. The objectives of this review were to identify and characterize livestock interventions in developing countries and to assess their effectiveness in achieving development outcomes. A scoping review, guided by a search strategy, was conducted. Papers needed to be written in English, published in peer-reviewed journals, and describe interventions in animal health and production. Out of 2739 publications systematically screened at the title, abstract, and full publication levels, 70 met our inclusion criteria and were considered in the study. Eight relatively high-quality papers were identified and added, resulting in 78 reviewed publications. Only 15 studies used randomized controlled trial designs making it possible to confidently link interventions with the resulting outcomes. Eight studies had human nutrition or health as outcomes, 11 focused on disease control, and four were on livestock production. Eight interventions were considered successful, but only four were scalable. We found good evidence that livestock-transfer programs, leveraging livestock products for nutrition, and helping farmers manage priority diseases, can improve human well-being. Our report highlights challenges in garnering evidence for livestock interventions in developing countries and provides suggestions on how to improve the quantity and quality of future evaluations.

scholarly journals Disease burden and associated risk factors for metabolic syndrome among adults in Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samrawit Solomon ◽  
Wudeneh Mulugeta
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Metabolic Syndrome ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
World Health ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract Background Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are alarmingly increasing in low-income countries. Yet, very limited is known about the prevalence and risk factors associated with MetS in Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult outpatients (N = 325) at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study was conducted in accordance with STEPwise approach of the World Health Organization. MetS was defined using modified National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Results The overall prevalence of MetS was 20.3%. Among the 325 participants, 76.9% had at least one MetS components. Reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was the most common MetS component at 48.6%, followed by elevated blood pressure at 36.3%, and elevated fasting glucose at 32.6%. Older age (odds ratio [OR] = 4.15; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.43–12.04), Amhara ethnicity (OR = 2.36; 95%CI = 1.14–4.88), overweight status (OR = 2.21; 95%CI = 1.03–4.71), higher income (OR = 3.31; 95%CI = 1.11–9.84) and higher education levels (OR = 2.19; 95%CI = 1.05–4.59) were risk factors for MetS. Conclusion The disease burden of MetS among Ethiopians is high, and is associated with age, weight, income, education and ethnicity. Comprehensive screening and assessment of MetS is needed along with effective preventive and treatment strategies in low-income countries, such as Ethiopia.

scholarly journals The contribution of Dutch doctors in Global Health and Tropical Medicine to research in global health in low- and middle-income countries: an exploration of the evidence

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Mooij ◽  
Esther MJ Jurgens ◽  
Jeroen van Dillen ◽  
Jelle Stekelenburg
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Tropical Medicine ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Global Health Research ◽  
Medical Doctors ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Phd Thesis ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Results from medical research from high-income countries may not apply to low- and middle-income countries. Some expatriate physicians combine clinical duties with research. We present global health research conducted by Dutch medical doctors in Global Health and Tropical Medicine in low- and middle-income countries and explore the value of their research. We included all research conducted in the last 30 years by medical doctors in Global Health and Tropical Medicine in a low- and middle-income country, resulting in a PhD thesis. Articles and co-authors were found through Medline. More than half of the 18 identified PhD theses concerned maternal health and obstetrics, and the majority of the research was conducted in low-income countries, mostly in rural hospitals. Over 70 local co-authors were involved. Different aspects of these studies are discussed.

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