Debasish Saha

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh

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Publications (8)146.37 Total impact

  • Chapter: Antimicrobial Resistance in Vibrios
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    ABSTRACT: This chapter addresses antimicrobial resistance in a genus – Vibrio – that results in two distinct clinical syndromes. One is profound diarrheal disease – cholera – caused by Vibrio cholerae O1 or O139. The other is often the fatal wound infection and sepsis caused by a variety of halophilic (saltloving) vibrios (1) – with V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus perhaps being the most commonly occurring species (2–4) but including infections with V. alginolyticus (5), V. harveyi, V. fl uvialis, and others (6).
    12/2008: pages 833-845;
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    Article: Emergence of multidrug-resistant strain of Vibrio cholerae O1 in Bangladesh and reversal of their susceptibility to tetracycline after two years.
    Journal of Health Population and Nutrition 07/2007; 25(2):241-3. · 0.95 Impact Factor
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    Article: Single-dose azithromycin for the treatment of cholera in adults.
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    ABSTRACT: Single-dose azithromycin is effective in the treatment of severe cholera in children, but its effectiveness in adults has not been evaluated. We conducted a double-blind, randomized trial comparing the equivalence of azithromycin and ciprofloxacin (each given in a single 1-g dose of two 500-mg tablets) among 195 men with severe cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae O1 or O139. Patients were hospitalized for five days. A stool culture was performed daily. Primary outcome measures were clinical success (the cessation of watery stools within 48 hours after drug administration) and bacteriologic success (the inability to isolate V. cholerae after 48 hours). Therapy was clinically successful in 71 of 97 patients receiving azithromycin (73 percent) and in 26 of 98 patients receiving ciprofloxacin (27 percent) (P<0.001) and bacteriologically successful in 76 of 97 patients receiving azithromycin (78 percent) and in 10 of 98 patients receiving ciprofloxacin (10 percent) (P<0.001). Patients who were treated with azithromycin had a shorter duration of diarrhea than did patients treated with ciprofloxacin (median, 30 vs. 78 hours); a lower frequency of vomiting (43 percent vs. 67 percent); fewer stools (median, 36 vs. 52); and a lower stool volume (median, 114 vs. 322 ml per kilogram of body weight). The median minimal inhibitory concentration of ciprofloxacin for the 177 isolates of V. cholerae O1 was 0.25 mug per milliliter, which was 11 to 83 times as high as that in previous studies at this site. Single-dose azithromycin was effective in the treatment of severe cholera in adults. The lack of efficacy of ciprofloxacin may result from its diminished activity against V. cholerae O1 strains currently circulating in Bangladesh. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00229944.).
    New England Journal of Medicine 06/2006; 354(23):2452-62. · 53.30 Impact Factor
  • Article: Low risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome after early effective antimicrobial therapy for Shigella dysenteriae type 1 infection in Bangladesh.
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    ABSTRACT: Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) may complicate up to 15% of cases of Shiga toxin (Stx)-expressing enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 infections in children. Administration of antimicrobials has been reported to increase the risk of STEC-associated HUS by >10-fold, presumably by increasing the expression and release of Stx by dying STEC bacteria. Shigella dysenteriae type 1 also expresses Stx. However, the effect of antimicrobial therapy on Stx release and the risk of HUS in humans is unknown. We measured serial stool Stx concentrations before and after administration of antimicrobials in 20 children infected with S. dysenteriae type 1 who had frank dysentery of <72 h duration. We also reviewed the results of 7 shigellosis drug trials performed in Bangladesh during 1988-2000 to estimate the risk of HUS. In these studies, antimicrobials were administered within 96 h after the onset of dysentery. Stx levels decreased in stool samples obtained from 17 of 20 children after administration of antimicrobial agents; none of the 20 children developed HUS. Of 378 individuals infected with S. dysenteriae type 1 who were enrolled in drug trials (128 adult men [age, 18-60 years] and 250 children [age, 6 months to 15 years]), 351 (93%) received an antimicrobial agent to which the S. dysenteriae organism was susceptible <or=96 h after the onset of symptoms; HUS developed in 1 child. The risk of developing HUS was 0.0026 for all participants (95% confidence interval, <0.001 to 0.015) and was 0.004 for children (95% confidence interval, 0.001-0.022). In persons infected with S. dysenteriae type 1, early administration of effective antibiotics is associated with decreased Stx concentrations in stool and a low risk of developing HUS.
    Clinical Infectious Diseases 02/2006; 42(3):356-62. · 9.15 Impact Factor
  • Article: Incomplete correlation of serum vibriocidal antibody titer with protection from Vibrio cholerae infection in urban Bangladesh.
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    ABSTRACT: The serum vibriocidal antibody is the only recognized predictor of protection from cholera, but no seroepidemiological data have been gathered since the emergence of Vibrio cholerae O139. We assessed the association between the vibriocidal antibody titer and protection from cholera in an endemic setting. Although a higher baseline vibriocidal titer correlated with protection from V. cholerae O1, infection still developed in some contacts with very high titers. No association between baseline vibriocidal titer and protection from V. cholerae O139 infection was found. Our findings suggest that the vibriocidal antibody is an incomplete predictor of protection from V. cholerae infection.
    The Journal of Infectious Diseases 07/2004; 189(12):2318-22. · 6.41 Impact Factor
  • Article: Comparison of single-dose azithromycin and 12-dose, 3-day erythromycin for childhood cholera: a randomised, double-blind trial.
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    ABSTRACT: Cholera is a major public-health problem, with children most affected. However, effective single-dose antimicrobial regimens have been identified only for adults. Our aim was to compare the efficacy of azithromycin and erythromycin regimens in the treatment of children. We did a double-blind, randomised study of 128 severely dehydrated children (age 1-15 years) with cholera, treated at one of two treatment centres in Bangladesh in 1999. Children were assigned single-dose azithromycin (20 mg/kg bodyweight, maximum individual dose 1 g; n=65) or 12.5 mg/kg erythromycin (maximum dose 500 mg; n=63) every 6 h for 3 days. Patients stayed in hospital for 5 days. We measured fluid balance every 6 h, and obtained a rectal swab or stool sample for culture daily. Our primary outcome measures were clinical success of treatment-ie, cessation of watery diarrhoea within 48 h-and bacteriological success-ie, absence of Vibrio cholerae O1 or O139 from cultures of stool or rectal swab samples after study day 2. Analysis was per protocol. Two children in both groups withdrew from the study, and we excluded one child in the erythromycin group. Treatment was clinically successful in 48 (76%) patients who received azithromycin and 39 (65%) who received erythromycin (difference 11%, 95% CI -5 to 27, p=0.244); and bacteriologically successful in 45 (71%) and 49 (82%) patients, respectively (10%, -5 to 25, p=0.261). Patients treated with azithromycin had a shorter duration of diarrhoea (median 24 h vs 42 h; difference 12 h, 0-18 h, p=0.019) and fewer episodes of vomiting (1 vs 4; difference 1 episode, 0-3 episodes, p=0.023). Single-dose azithromycin is as effective for treatment of cholera in children as standard erythromycin therapy, but is associated with less vomiting.
    The Lancet 12/2002; 360(9347):1722-7. · 38.28 Impact Factor
  • Article: Single-dose ciprofloxacin versus 12-dose erythromycin for childhood cholera: a randomised controlled trial.
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    ABSTRACT: Single-dose ciprofloxacin is effective for the treatment of severe cholera in adults. We assessed whether single-dose ciprofloxacin would be as effective as 3-day, 12-dose erythromycin in achieving clinical cure in children with severe cholera. We did a randomised, open label, controlled trial in children age 2-15 years with V cholerae O1 or O139 present in stool on dark-field microscopy. Children received either a single 20 mg/kg dose of ciprofloxacin (n=90) or 12.5 mg/kg of erythromycin (n=90) every 6 h for 3 days, and remained in hospital for 5 days. The primary outcome was clinical success of treatment, defined as cessation of watery stools within 48 h of start of drug treatment. Analysis was per protocol. This study is registered with the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration System at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov (registration number NCT 00142272) [corrected] Of 180 children randomised 162 completed the study. Treatment was clinically successful in 60% (47/78) of children treated with ciprofloxacin and in 55% (46/84) of those treated with erythromycin (difference 5% [95% CI -10 to 21]). Children receiving ciprofloxacin vomited less often (58%vs 74%; difference 16% [2 to 30]), had fewer stools (15 vs 21; 6 [0 to 9]), and less stool volume (152 vs 196 mL/kg; 43 mL/kg [13 to 87]) than those receiving erythromycin. Bacteriological failure was more common in ciprofloxacin-treated patients (58%vs 30%; 28% [13 to 43]) than erythromycin-treated patients. Single-dose ciprofloxacin achieves clinical outcomes similar to, or better than, those achieved with 12-dose erythromycin treatment in childhood cholera, but is less effective in eradicating V cholerae from stool.
    The Lancet 366(9491):1085-93. · 38.28 Impact Factor
  • Article: LETTER-TO-THE-EDITOR - Emergence of Multidrug-resistant Strain of Vibrio cholerae O1 in Bangladesh and Reversal of Their Susceptibility to Tetracycline after Two Years
    The Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (ISSN: 1606-0997) Vol 25 Num 2.