Allen Guy Patrick RossCharles Sturt University · Rural Health
Allen Guy Patrick Ross
M.D. Ph.D. D.Sc. FRCP FRCPath
Rural Health, Global Health
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182
Publications
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Publications (182)
The rapid epidemiological transition in Asian countries, resulting from the rising trend of urbanisation and lifestyle changes, is associated with an increasing risk of obesity in women of reproductive age. This is the first study to investigate the trends and population-attributable fraction (PAF) of obesity, and the interaction effects of educati...
Background Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face an increased risk of common mental disorders, which may be associated with underlying socioeconomic challenges, racism, and discrimination. This is the first study to calculate the population attributable fractions (PAFs) for depression and anxiety attributed to potentially modifiable ri...
Background Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest burden of neonatal mortality in the world. Identifying the most critical modifiable risk factors is imperative for reducing neonatal mortality rates. This study is the first to calculate population-attributable fractions (PAFs) for modifiable risk factors of neonatal mortality in SSA.
Background
Identifying the critical modifiable risk factors for acute respiratory tract infections (ARIs) and diarrhoea is crucial to reduce the burden of disease and mortality among children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and ultimately achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We investigated the modifiable risk factor...
As research on parasitic helminths has entered the post-genomic era, research efforts have turned to deciphering the function of genes in the public databases of genome sequences. It is hoped that, by understanding the role of parasite genes in maintaining their parasitic lifestyle, critical insights can be gained to develop new intervention and co...
Background
In countries with high child mortality rates, such as Nigeria, early intervention for common childhood illnesses (e.g., pneumonia and malaria) is essential for improving clinical outcomes. The timely reporting and treatment of fever is therefore critical in making a differential diagnosis and choosing an appropriate course of treatment....
Objective
To conduct a systematic review of experimental or quasi-experimental studies that aimed to improve the nutritional status of under five years of age children in Ethiopia.
Design
Embase, MEDLINE/PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychINFO, and Academic Search Database were used to locate peer-revie...
Importance
Identifying modifiable risk factors associated with childhood stunting in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is imperative for the development of evidence-based interventions and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Objective
To evaluate key modifiable risk factors associated with childhood stunting in SSA.
Design, Setting, and Particip...
Background
Schistosomiasis, a disease caused by parasites of the genus Schistosoma, remains a global public health threat. This study aimed to validate the diagnostic performance of a recently developed gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) for the detection of S. japonicum infection in a rural endemic area of the Philippines.
Methods
Human clin...
Developing programs that ensure a safe start to life for Indigenous children can lead to better health outcomes. To create effective strategies, governments must have accurate and up-to-date information. Accordingly, we reviewed the health disparities of Australian children in Indigenous and remote communities using publicly available reports. A th...
Background
Despite the advancement in our understanding of cholera and its etiological agent, Vibrio cholerae, the prevention and treatment of the disease are often hindered due to rapid changes in drug response pattern, serotype, and the major genomic islands namely, the CTX-prophage, and related genetic characteristics. In the present study, V. c...
Background
The neglected zoonosis, schistosomiasis japonica, remains a major public health problem in the Philippines. The current study aims to develop a novel gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) and evaluate its performance in the detection of Schistosoma japonicum infection.
Methods
A GICA strip incorporating a S. japonicum saposin protein,...
Introduction:
Understanding the specific geospatial variations in childhood stunting is essential for aligning appropriate health services to where new and/or additional nutritional interventions are required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and national targets.
Objectives:
We described local variations in the prevalence of c...
Objective:
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical parasitic disease caused by blood flukes of the genus Schistosoma. S. japonicum is zoonotic in China, the Philippines and Indonesia, with bovines acting as major reservoirs of human infection. The primary objective of the trial was to examine the impact of a combination of human mass chemotherapy,...
Background
Immune responses that target sialidase occur following natural cholera and have been associated with protection against cholera. Sialidase is a neuraminidase that facilitates the binding of cholera toxin (CT) to intestinal epithelial cells. Despite this, little is known about age-related sialidase-specific immune responses and the impact...
Background
Type 2 circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV2) from Sabin oral poliovirus vaccines (OPVs) are the leading cause of poliomyelitis. A novel type 2 OPV (nOPV2) has been developed to be more genetically stable with similar tolerability and immunogenicity to that of Sabin type 2 vaccines to mitigate the risk of cVDPV2. We aimed to a...
Background
Despite the advancement in our understanding of cholera and its etiological agent, V. cholerae, the prevention and treatment of the disease are often hindered due to rapid changes in drug response pattern, serotype, and the major genomic islands namely, the cholera toxin phage, and related genetic characteristics. In the present study, V...
The current study developed and evaluated the performance of a urine-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the screening of Schistosoma japonicum infection in a human cohort (n = 412) recruited from endemic areas, Northern Samar, the Philippines. The diagnostic performance of the urine ELISA assay was further compared with the Kato-Ka...
Background
Schistosoma japonicum is one of three major species of blood flukes causing schistosomiasis, a disease, which continues to be a major public health issue in the Philippines. SjSAP4, a member of a multigene family of saposin-like proteins, is a recognized immunodiagnostic biomarker for schistosomiasis japonica. This study aimed to identif...
Cholera is endemic in 47 countries, but deaths from this disease can be eliminated with a package of low-cost measures implemented by community healthcare workers.
Cholera, caused by Vibrio cholerae, persists in developing countries due to inadequate access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. There are approximately 4 million cases and 143,000 deaths each year due to cholera. The disease is transmitted fecally-orally via contaminated food or water. Severe dehydrating cholera can progress to hypovolemic sh...
Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (S. Typhi) causes typhoid fever and is responsible for an estimated nine million cases and 110,000 deaths globally per annum. Typhoid fever is endemic in areas where water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) infrastructure is poor. Serious complications develop in approximately 10-15% of patients if left untreated and...
The ongoing pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a public health crisis of global concern. The progression of the COVID-19 pandemic has been monitored in the first place by testing symptomatic individuals for SARS-CoV-2 virus in the respiratory samples. Concurrently, wastewater carry feces, urine, and sputum that potentially conta...
Bangladesh remains cholera endemic with biannual seasonal peaks causing epidemics. At least 300,000 severe cases and over 4,500 deaths occur each year. The available oral cholera vaccines have not yet been adopted for cholera control in Bangladesh due to insufficient number of doses available for endemic control. With a public private partnership,...
Informal slums are growing exponentially in the developing world and these will serve as the breeding ground for a future global pandemic. Virtually every sustainable development goal is unmet in slums around the globe thus we must act now to divert a global humanitarian crisis.
Background
Zoonotic schistosomiasis, caused by Schistosoma japonicum , remains a major public health problem in the Philippines. This study aimed to evaluate the commercially available rapid diagnostic point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test in detecting individuals infected with S. japonicum in a human cohort from an endemic area...
Safe and effective rotavirus vaccines (RV) are needed to reduce the enormous public health burden of rotavirus illness in developing countries. Vaccination is critical for effective control of rotavirus infection since it cannot be prevented with improvements in water and sanitation. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Banglad...
Safe and effective rotavirus vaccines (RV) are needed to reduce the enormous public health burden of rotavirus illness in developing countries. Vaccination is critical for effective control of rotavirus infection since it cannot be prevented with improvements in water and sanitation. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Banglad...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241717.].
Background:
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the use of oral cholera vaccines (OCVs) as part of an integrated control program, both in highly endemic settings and during cholera epidemics. The available and internationally recommended WHO-prequalified OCVs (Dukoral, Shanchol, Euvichol) contain multiple heat and formalin-killed V. cho...
We assessed zoonotic tuberculosis (zTB) knowledge and prevention and control practices of 404 cattle handlers via a survey in three dairy-intensive districts of Bangladesh. Most respondents were aged 30–49 (52%) and male (95%). Almost all (99%) recognized the important public health burden of tuberculosis in Bangladesh, however, most (58%) had inad...
To date, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over 80 million people globally. We report a case series of five clinically and laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients from Bangladesh who suffered a second episode of COVID-19 illness after 70 symptom-free days. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Resear...
To date, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over 80 million people globally. We report a case series of five clinically and laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients from Bangladesh who suffered a second episode of COVID-19 illness after 70 symptom-free days. The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Resear...
Intestinal perforation is one of the most dangerous complications of typhoid fever and demands urgent hospitalization, diagnosis, and surgical management to reduce morbidity and prevent mortality. Here, we report a case of typhoidal intestinal perforation in a 19 year-old young man detected by passive surveillance during a cluster-randomized trial...
The aim of this service evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) group intervention for clients presenting with trauma-related difficulties within a part primary care, part ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies’ (IAPT) community service (Howells, 2004). Self-report measures were used to assess low m...
Methamphetamine use has increased among gender and sexually diverse people in several countries, including Bangladesh. This study aimed to explore the effects of methamphetamine on the sexual lives of these people in Dhaka, Bangladesh. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted, comprising 30 in-depth interviews with gender and sexually diverse...
Highlights • Ivermectin, an FDA-approved anti-parasitic agent, was found to be an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 replication in the laboratory. • Ivermectin may be effective for the treatment of early-onset mild Covid-19 in adult patients. Early viral clearance of SARS-CoV-2 was observed in treated patients. J o u r n a l P r e-p r o o f • Remission of fe...
Background
In Bangladesh, about 80% of healthcare is provided by the private sector. Although free diagnosis and care is offered in the public sector, only half of the estimated number of people with tuberculosis are diagnosed, treated, and notified to the national program. Private sector engagement strategies often have been small scale and time l...
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in selected districts of Bangladesh to estimate the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), and to identify the risk factors for bTB. We included 1865 farmed cattle from 79 herds randomly selected from five districts. Herd and animal level data were collected using semi-structured interviews with cattle herd...
Low and middle income countries (LMICs) face many challenges in controlling COVID-19 in their countries. Health-care resources are limited and so are ICU beds. RT-PCR testing is conducted on a limited scale and treatment options are few. There is no vaccine. Therefore, what low cost solutions remain for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of S...
Hookworms are some of the most widespread of the soil-transmitted helminths (STH) with an estimated 438.9 million people infected. Until relatively recently Ancylostoma ceylanicum was regarded as a rare cause of hookworm infection in humans, with little public health relevance. However, recent advances in molecular diagnostics have revealed a much...
Chronic infection with Schistosoma japonicum or Schistosoma mansoni results in hepatic fibrosis of the human host. The staging of fibrosis is crucial for prognosis and to determine the need for treatment of patients with schistosomiasis. This study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between the levels of serum exosomal micro-ribonucl...
Polyparasitism, involving soil-transmitted helminths (STH) and Schistosoma blood flukes, is common in low to middle income countries. These helminths impact on the gut environment and can cause changes to the gut microbiome composition. Here we examined the gut microbiome in individuals with polyparasitism from two human cohorts in the Philippines...
The world is becoming increasingly urban and most of this growth is taking place in urban slums of the developing world (Prasad et al., 2016; Turley et al., 2013). The current (2019) global population stands at 7.7 billion with approximately one billion (13%) living in urban slums. By 2030 the world's population is projected to grow to 8.5 billion...
Novel tools for early diagnosis and monitoring of schistosomiasis are urgently needed. This study aimed to validate parasite-derived miRNAs as potential novel biomarkers for the detection of human Schistosoma japonicum infection. A total of 21 miRNAs were initially validated by RT-PCR using serum samples of S. japonicum-infected BALB/c mice. Of the...
Bangladesh, with a population of 167 million, has recently emerged from being classified as a low-income country to a low-middle-income country and has made some progress in poverty reduction. However, in Bangladesh, mortality among children younger than 5 years is 33 per 1000 live births, life expectancy at birth is 72 years, and the most common c...
Despite significant progress, China faces the challenge of re-emerging schistosomiasis transmission in currently controlled areas due, in part, to the presence of a range of animal reservoirs, notably water buffalo and cattle, which can harbor Schistosoma japonicum infections. Environmental, ecological and social-demographic changes in China, shown...
Background
Zoonotic schistosomiasis in Asia, caused by Schistosoma japonicum, remains a major public health concern in China and the Philippines. The developing epidemiological and socio-economic picture of the disease in endemic areas necessitates the development of affordable and highly accurate field diagnostics as an important component in eval...
The rates of both HIV and HCV are exploding among the People Who Inject Drugs (PWID)subpopulation in the People's Republic of Bangladesh. 5,586 HIV confirmed cases have been reported since the first case of HIV was identified in 1989, of which, 865 new cases (15.5%)have been reported in the year 2017 alone. Among the new cases, 330 (38.2%)were from...
Background
With the closure of the Three Gorges Dam in 2003 the hydrology of Poyang Lake was altered dramatically leading to significant changes in the environment. In order to assess the impact on schistosomiasis this study assessed the spatial and temporal patterns of the snail intermediate host, Oncomelania hupensis in the Poyang Lake tributarie...
Background
Schistosomiasis in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can be traced back to antiquity. In the past 60 years, the Chinese government has made great efforts to control this persistent disease with elimination slated by 2020 through the implementation of a comprehensive control strategy. This strategy aims to reduce the role of bovines an...
Background
Co-parasitism is a frequent occurrence in impoverished communities in the tropics resulting in a considerable disease burden. While there are extensive reports of intestinal helminthiases, including schistosomiasis japonica, the occurrence and extent of diseases caused by intestinal protozoa (IP) have yet to be investigated in depth in t...
Background
Chronic infection with Schistosoma japonicum or S. mansoni results in hepatic fibrosis of the human host. Staging fibrosis is crucial for the prognosis and to determine the rapid need of treatment in patients with schistosomiasis.
Methods
To establish whether there is a correlation between circulating microRNA (miRNA) level and fibrosis...
Background:
Preventive chemotherapy is the current global control strategy for schistosomiasis. The WHO target coverage rate is at least 75% for school-aged children. In the Philippines, the reported national coverage rate (43.5%) is far below the WHO target. This study examined the factors associated with non-compliance to mass drug administratio...
Here we discuss the follow-up case of a 27-year-old male patient from rural Philippines, who was neglected by local health services after losing all four of his limbs as a result of a high-voltage electrical accident. The case follows the patient’s road to accessing prostheses, rehabilitation health services and physiotherapy. Significant dispariti...