Nguyen Van Vinh Chau

• MD. PhD.
• Research Director at Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City

Introduction The pathognomonic feature of dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is a transient capillary leak syndrome resulting in profound intravascular volume depletion. WHO management guidelines recommend particular parenteral fluid regimens during the critical leakage phase, including synthetic colloid solutions in certain circumstances. We set out to d...

We studied a community cluster of 25 mpox cases in Vietnam caused by emerging monkeypox virus sublineage C.1 and imported into Vietnam through 2 independent events; 1 major cluster carried a novel APOBEC3-like mutation. Three patients died; all had advanced HIV co-infection. Viral evolution and its potential consequences should be closely monitored...

Liver injury with marked elevation of aspartate aminotransferase enzyme (AST) is commonly observed in dengue infection. To understand the pathogenesis of this liver damage, we compared the plasma levels of hepatic specific, centrilobular predominant enzymes (glutamate dehydrogenase, GLDH; glutathione S transferase-α, αGST), periportal enriched 4-hy...

Muscle ultrasound has been shown to be a valid and safe imaging modality to assess muscle wasting in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This typically involves manual delineation to measure the rectus femoris cross-sectional area (RFCSA), which is a subjective, time-consuming, and laborious task that requires significant expe...

Background Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus are major bacterial causes of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) globally, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. The rapid increase of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in these patho...

Background Diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is hampered by the lack of a gold standard. Current microbiological tests lack sensitivity and clinical diagnostic approaches are subjective. We therefore built a diagnostic model that can be used before microbiological test results are known. Methods We included 659 individuals aged ≥16\documen...

We report on a 2023 outbreak of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease in southern Vietnam caused by an emerging lineage of enterovirus A71 subgenogroup B5. Affected children were significantly older than those reported during previous outbreaks. The virus should be closely monitored to assess its potential for global dispersal.

Đặt vấn đề: Giám sát nồng độ thuốc trong máu (TDM) là giải pháp giúp tối ưu hóa chế độ liều vancomycin. Nghiên cứu thực hiện nhằm đánh giá chi phí – hiệu quả của việc chuyển đổi từ TDM Ctrough sang TDM AUC tại Bệnh viện Bệnh Nhiệt Đới. Đối tượng và phương pháp nghiên cứu: Nghiên cứu mô tả cắt ngang, hồi cứu dữ liệu người bệnh sử dụng vancomycin tro...

Mục tiêu: Đánh giá tác động dài hạn của chương trình quản lý sử dụng kháng sinh tại Bệnh viện Bệnh Nhiệt đới TPHCM bằng mô hình giả lập. Đối tượng và phương pháp: Đối tượng nghiên cứu của đề tài là chương trình quản lý sử dụng kháng sinh tại Bệnh viện Bệnh Nhiệt đới TPHCM giai đoạn 2016 – 2018 (pASP) và 2018 – 2020 (nASP). Kết quả: Kết quả từ mô hì...

Human influenza virus evolves to escape neutralization by polyclonal antibodies. However, we have a limited understanding of how the antigenic effects of viral mutations vary across the human population, and how this heterogeneity affects virus evolution. Here we use deep mutational scanning to map how mutations to the hemagglutinin (HA) proteins o...

Introduction: Talaromycosis (formerly penicilliosis), one of the most important opportunistic infections in Southeast Asia, is a common cause of HIV-AIDS-associated death. The current diagnosis of Talaromyces marneffei relies on culture. As microbiological results are often late, taking up to 14 days for pathogens isolation, the mortality rate is h...

Đặt vấn đề: Viêm não do virus Herpes simplex (HSV) là một trong số ít các bệnh lý nhiễm trùng thần kinh do virus có thuốc điều trị đặc hiệu. Chẩn đoán xác định đòi hỏi phải có công cụ PCR-HSV trong dịch não tủy (DNT). Hiện tại, ở Việt Nam, vẫn chưa có nhiều thông tin về kết quả điều trị viêm não do HSV và các yếu tố liên quan đến kết cục xấu sau đi...

Introduction It is well known that influenza and other respiratory viruses are wintertime-seasonal in temperate regions. However, respiratory disease seasonality in the tropics is less well understood. In this study, we aimed to characterise the seasonality of influenza-like illness (ILI) and influenza virus in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Methods W...

Background Shigella sonnei is a pathogen of growing global importance as a cause of diarrhoeal illness in childhood, particularly in transitional low-middle income countries (LMICs). Here, we sought to determine the incidence of childhood exposure to S. sonnei infection in a contemporary transitional LMIC population, where it represents the dominan...

Background Muscle ultrasound has been shown to be a valid and safe imaging modality to assess muscle wasting in critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This typically involves manual delineation to measure the Rectus Femoris cross-sectional area (RFCSA), which is a subjective, time-consuming, and laborious task that requires signi...

Background Adjunctive corticosteroids are widely used to treat HIV-associated tuberculous meningitis despite limited data supporting their safety and efficacy. Methods We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial in HIV-positive adults (≥18 years) with tuberculous meningitis in Vietnam and Indonesia. Participants were randomized...

Background Diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is hampered by the lack of a gold standard. Current microbiological tests lack sensitivity and clinical diagnostic approaches are subjective. We therefore built a diagnostic model that can be used before microbiological test results are known. Methods We included 659 individuals aged at least 16...

Background: Interpreting point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) images from intensive care unit (ICU) patients can be challenging, especially in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs) where there is limited training available. Despite recent advances in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate many ultrasound imaging analysis tasks, no...

The emergence of antibiotics is one of the most significant advancements in modern medicine. Antibiotics help save millions of lives each year and significantly increase the average life expectancy of the global population, particularly in developing countries. However, improper use of antibiotics has created conditions for the development and prol...

Patients with severe COVID-19 disease require monitoring with pulse oximetry as a minimal requirement. In many low- and middle- income countries, this has been challenging due to lack of staff and equipment. Wearable pulse oximeters potentially offer an attractive means to address this need, due to their low cost, battery operability and capacity f...

Nucleic acid testing to confirm sustained virological response (SVR) after HCV therapy is technical, often expensive, and frequently unavailable where disease prevalence is highest. Alternative surrogate biomarkers merit evaluation. In a short-treatment trial in Vietnam (SEARCH-1; n = 52) we analysed how changes in alanine transaminase (ΔALT) and a...

Introduction Infection with Plasmodium vivax is a recognized cause of severe malaria including deaths. The exact burden and patterns of severe P. vivax monoinfections is however still not well quantified, especially in P. vivax endemic regions. We examined the magnitude and patterns of severe malaria caused by monoinfections of P. vivax and associa...

Problem: Direct application of digital health technologies from high-income settings to low- and middle-income countries may be inappropriate due to challenges around data availability, implementation and regulation. Hence different approaches are needed. Approach: Within the Viet Nam ICU Translational Applications Laboratory project, since 2018...

We analyzed 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences from Vietnam, and found the Alpha and Delta variants were responsible for a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19 in 2021. The Delta variant was confined to the AY.57 lineage and caused >1.7 million infections and >32,000 deaths. Viral transmission was strongly affected by nonpharmaceutical interv...

Objectives: To characterise the clinical features of A. baumannii infections and investigate the phylogenetic structure and transmission dynamics of A. baumannii in Vietnam. Methods: Between 2019 and 2020, a surveillance of A. baumannii (AB) infections was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Risk factors for in-hospita...

Severe tetanus is characterized by muscle spasm and cardiovascular system disturbance. The pathophysiology of muscle spasm is relatively well understood and involves inhibition of central inhibitory synapses by tetanus toxin. That of cardiovascular disturbance is less clear, but is believed to relate to disinhibition of the autonomic nervous system...

Background: It is well known that influenza and other respiratory viruses are wintertime-seasonal in temperate regions. However, respiratory disease seasonality in the tropics remains elusive. In this study, we aimed to characterize the seasonality of influenza-like illness (ILI) and influenza virus in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Methods: We...

The introgression of antiviral strains of Wolbachia into Ae. aegypti mosquito populations is a public-health intervention for the control of dengue. Plausibly, dengue virus (DENV) could evolve to bypass the antiviral effects of Wolbachia and undermine this approach. Here, we established a serial-passage system to investigate evolution of dengue vir...

Background Increased data availability has prompted the creation of clinical decision support systems. These systems utilise clinical information to enhance health care provision, both to predict the likelihood of specific clinical outcomes or evaluate the risk of further complications. However, their adoption remains low due to concerns regarding...

Mpox was diagnosed in 2 women returning to Vietnam from the United Arab Emirates. The monkeypox viruses belonged to an emerging sublineage, A.2.1, distinct from B.1, which is responsible for the ongoing multicountry outbreak. Women could contribute to mpox transmission, and enhanced genomic surveillance is needed to clarify pathogen evolution.

Background: WHO has called for research into predictive factors for selecting persons who could be successfully treated with shorter durations of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for Hepatitis C. We evaluated early virological response as a means of shortening treatment and explored host, viral and pharmacokinetic contributors to treatment out...

In 2021, Vietnam experienced a large nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, with over 1.7 million infections and 32,000 deaths. We generated 1,303 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences, and mapped out the public health measures alongside the evolutionary trajectory of the pathogen. The Alpha variant caused sporadic outbreaks in early 2021 prior to the upsurg...

Background: Little is known about the magnitude and patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage among intensive care unit (ICU) healthcare workers (HCWs), especially in lower-middle-income countries like Vietnam. Materials and methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted on HCWs working in the adult ICU of the Hospi...

Background: Little is known about the prevalence and patterns of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) especially in low-middle income countries like Vietnam. Materials and Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted on HCWs working at the Adult ICU of the H...

We studied the development and persistence of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain, and Delta and Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) variants in Vietnamese healthcare workers (HCWs) up to 15 weeks after booster vaccination. We included 47 HCWs, including group 1 (G1, N = 21) and group 2 (G2; N = 26) without and with breakthrough Delta v...

Background Wearable devices have been used extensively both inside and outside of the hospital setting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in some contexts, there was an increased need to remotely monitor pulse and saturated oxygen for patients due to the lack of staff and bedside monitors. Objective A prototype of a remote monitoring system using wear...

BACKGROUND Wearable devices have been used extensively both inside and outside of the hospital setting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in some contexts, there was an increased need to remotely monitor pulse and saturated oxygen for patients due to the lack of staff and bedside monitors. OBJECTIVE A prototype of a remote monitoring system using wear...

An estimated 73% of emerging infections are zoonotic in origin, with animal contact and encroachment on their habitats increasing the risk of spill-over events. In Vietnam, close exposure to a wide range of animals and animal products can lead to acquisition of zoonotic pathogens, a number of which cause central nervous system (CNS) infections. How...

Patients with severe COVID-19 disease require monitoring with pulse oximetry as a minimal requirement. In many low- and middle- income countries, this has been challenging due to lack of staff and equipment. Wearable pulse oximeters potentially offer an attractive means to address this need, due to their low cost, battery operability and capacity f...

Purpose Direct acting antiviral treatment to cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) is becoming more accessible yet the experiences of those accessing care and treatment and the contexts under which care seeking takes place are largely unknown in low- and middle-income countries. These experiences are important for insight into the challenges people encounte...

This article summarises a recent virtual meeting organised by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam on the topic of climate change and health, bringing local partners, faculty and external collaborators together from across the Wellcome and Oxford networks. Attendees included invited local and global climate scientists, clinicians...

The number of patients in need of critical care increased sharply in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic putting increased pressure on the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, which was designated as a centre for treatment. In order to meet the new demand for critical care, the hospital introduced a prototype wearable system to monitor the vital signs...

Background Simple, bedside prediction of infection-related mortality in low-resource settings is crucial for triage and resource-utilisation decisions. We aimed to evaluate mortality prediction by combining point-of-care venous lactate with the quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score in adult patients admitted to hospital with suspe...

- Mở đầu: Viêm màng não mủ (VMNM) mắc phải tại cộng đồng gây ra bởi trực khuẩn Gram âm được ghi nhận gia tăng trong thập kỷ vừa qua. Bệnh thường xảy ra trên cơ địa người lớn tuổi và/hoặc có bệnh nền, với dự hậu xấu và tỷ lệ tử vong cao. Nghiên cứu mô tả đặc điểm viêm màng não mủ do trực khuẩn Gram âm mắc phải từ cộng đồng ở người lớn. - Phương pháp...

This article summarises a recent virtual meeting organised by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam on the topic of climate change and health, bringing local partners, faculty and external collaborators together from across the Wellcome and Oxford networks. Attendees included invited local and global climate scientists, clinicians...

Background: WHO has called for research into predictive factors for selecting persons who could be successfully treated with shorter durations of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for Hepatitis C. We evaluated early virological response as a means of shortening treatment and explored host, viral and pharmacokinetic contributors to treatment out...

The International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 dataset is one of the largest international databases of prospectively collected clinical data on people hospitalized with COVID-19. This dataset was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic by a network of hospitals that collect data using the ISARIC-World...

We studied the development and persistence of neutralising antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain, and Delta and Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) variants in Vietnamese healthcare workers (HCWs) up to 15 weeks after booster vaccination. We included 47 HCWs with different pre-existing immune statuses (group 1 (G1): n=21, and group 2 (G2): n=26 withou...

Background Critically ill patients often require complex clinical care by highly trained staff within a specialized intensive care unit (ICU) with advanced equipment. There are currently limited data on the costs of critical care in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study aims to investigate the direct-medical costs of key infectious di...

Background Intramuscular antitoxin is recommended in tetanus treatment, but there are few data comparing human and equine preparations. Tetanus toxin acts within the CNS, where there is limited penetration of peripherally administered antitoxin; thus, intrathecal antitoxin administration might improve clinical outcomes compared with intramuscular i...

Mục tiêu: Mô tả đặc điểm dịch tễ, lâm sàng, cận lâm sàng và điều trị VMNM do trực khuẩn Gram âm mắc phải tại cộng đồng tại BVBNĐ từ năm 2014-2020. Đối tượng và phương pháp: Nghiên cứu mô tả hàng loạt ca bệnh được chẩn đoán VMNM do trực khuẩn Gram âm mắc phải từ cộng đồng được điều trị tại BVBNĐ từ năm 2014 đến năm 2020. Nghiên cứu gồm 2 giai đoạn h...

Mục tiêu: Mô tả kết quả điều trị của piperacillin/tazobactam và carbapenem trong nhiễm khuẩn có cấy máu dương tính trực khuẩn gram âm đường ruột kháng cephalosporin thế hệ thứ 3. Đối tượng, phương pháp: Nghiên cứu mô tả hàng loạt ca bệnh người lớn có kết quả cấy máu dương tính với trực khuẩn gram âm đường ruột kháng cephalosporin thế hệ 3 nhạy cảm...

Background Dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is one of the major clinical phenotypes of severe dengue. It is defined by significant plasma leak, leading to intravascular volume depletion and eventually cardiovascular collapse. The compensatory reserve Index (CRI) is a new physiological parameter, derived from feature analysis of the pulse arterial wavefo...

Background Symptomatic dengue infection can result in a life-threatening shock syndrome and timely diagnosis is essential. Point-of-care tests for non-structural protein 1 and IgM are used widely but performance can be limited. We developed a supervised machine learning model to predict whether patients with acute febrile illnesses had a diagnosis...

Background Identifying patients at risk of dengue shock syndrome (DSS) is vital for effective healthcare delivery. This can be challenging in endemic settings because of high caseloads and limited resources. Machine learning models trained using clinical data could support decision-making in this context. Methods We developed supervised machine le...

We studied the immunogenicity of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in health-care workers of a major infectious diseases hospital in Vietnam. We measured neutralizing antibodies before and 14 days after each dose, and at day 28 and month 3 after dose 1. A total of 554 workers (136 men and 418 women; age range, 22-71 years; median age, 36 years) partic...

Mục tiêu: Khảo sát tình hình triển khai chương trình QLKS tại các cơ sở y tế trên địa bàn TPHCM năm 2020. Đối tượng và phương pháp nghiên cứu: Nghiên cứu mô tả cắt ngang khảo sát các cơ sở y tế trên địa bàn TPHCM về việc triển khai chương trình quản lý sử dụng kháng sinh. Kết quả: Tình hình triển khai hoạt động quản lý sử dụng kháng sinh tại 57 cơ...

Background: The impact of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) on immune dysregulation associated with hepatitis C (HCV)/ HIV co-infection is incompletely understood. Methods: We serially assessed monocyte activation (neopterin, sCD14, and sCD163) and T-cell activation (HLA-DR, CD38) and immune exhaustion (PD-1,TIGIT) in HIV/HCV co-infected individu...

PIIS14733099210056 5X.pdf

The relationship between age and seroprevalence can be used to estimate the annual attack rate of an infectious disease. For pathogens with multiple serologically distinct strains, there is a need to describe composite exposure to an antigenically variable group of pathogens. In this study, we assay 24,402 general-population serum samples, collecte...

Background Data on breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infections in vaccinated individuals are limited. Methods We studied breakthrough infections among Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccinated healthcare workers in an infectious diseases hospital in Vietnam. We collected demographic and clinical data alongside serial PCR testing, measurement of SARS-CoV-...

This article summarises a recent virtual meeting organised by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam on the topic of climate change and health, bringing local partners, faculty and external collaborators together from across the Wellcome and Oxford networks. Attendees included invited local and global climate scientists, clinicians...

Background The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruit...

Background: Cryptococcal meningitis has high mortality. Flucytosine is a key treatment but is expensive and rarely available. The anti-cancer agent tamoxifen has synergistic anti-cryptococcal activity with amphotericin in vitro. It is off-patent, cheap, and widely available. We performed a trial to determine its therapeutic potential. Methods: Open...

Background An endotracheal tube cuff pressure between 20-30 cmH2O is recommended to prevent ventilator-associated respiratory infection (VARI). We aimed to evaluate whether continuous cuff pressure control (CPC) was associated with reduced VARI incidence compared with intermittent CPC. Methods We conducted a multi-centre open-label randomised cont...

The evolution of influenza viruses is fundamentally shaped by within-host processes. However, the within-host evolutionary dynamics of influenza viruses remain incompletely understood, in part because most studies have focused on infections in healthy adults based on single timepoint data. Here, we analysed the within-host evolution of 82 longitudi...

We tested pre-pandemic (2015-2019) plasma samples from 148 Vietnamese children, and 100 Vietnamese adults at high risk of zoonotic infections, for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike proteins. None was positive. The data thus demonstrated that there was no evidence of prior serological cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 that might ex...

Little is known about antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (GNB) intestinal carriage among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Vietnam. All HCWs at a tertiary ICU were asked to undertake weekly rectal swabs. Among 40 participants, 65% (26/40) carried ESBL/AmpC beta lactamase-producing Escherichia coli. Two HCWs colonized with ESBL/AmpC beta lactama...

We tested pre-pandemic (2015-2019) plasma samples from 148 Vietnamese children, and 100 Vietnamese adults at high risk of zoonotic infections, for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike proteins. None was positive, indicating no prior serological cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2 that might explain the low numbers of COVID-19 in Vietna...

We studied the immunogenicity of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Vietnamese healthcare workers. We collected blood samples before each dose, at 14 days after each dose, and month 1 and 3 after dose 1 from each participant alongside demographics data. We measured neutralizing antibodies using a surrogate virus neutralization assay. The 554 study parti...

Background Talaromycosis (penicilliosis) is an invasive fungal infection and a major cause of HIV-related deaths in Southeast Asia. Guidelines recommend induction therapy with amphotericin B deoxycholate, however treatment with itraconazole has fewer toxic effects, is easier to administer and is less expensive. Our recent randomized controlled tria...

Background Genotype 6 is the most genetically diverse lineage of hepatitis C virus (HCV), and predominates in Vietnam. It can be treated with sofosbuvir with daclatasvir (SOF/DCV), the lowest costing treatment combination globally. In regional guidelines, longer treatment durations of SOF/DCV (24 weeks) are recommended for cirrhotic individuals, co...

Background: Early identification of severe dengue patients is important regarding patient management and resource allocation. We investigated the association of ten biomarkers (VCAM-1, SDC-1, Ang-2, IL-8, IP-10, IL-1RA, sCD163, sTREM-1, ferritin, CRP) with the development of severe/moderate dengue (S/MD). Methods: We performed a nested case-control...

Background: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a major public health concern in the Asia-Pacific region. Most recent HFMD outbreaks have been caused by enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16), CVA10, and CVA6. There has been no report regarding the epidemiology and genetic diversity of CVA16 in Vietnam. Such knowledge is critical t...

Abstract Background Drug-resistant falciparum malaria is an increasing public health burden. This study examined the magnitude of Plasmodium falciparum infection and the patterns and predictors of treatment failure in Vietnam. Methods Medical records of all 443 patients with malaria infection admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases between J...

The evolution of influenza viruses is fundamentally shaped by within-host processes. However, the within-host evolutionary dynamics of influenza viruses remain incompletely understood, in part because most studies have focused on within-host virus diversity of infections in otherwise healthy adults based on single timepoint data. Here, we analysed...

Background Early identification of severe dengue patients is important regarding patient management and resource allocation. We investigated the association of ten biomarkers (VCAM-1, SDC-1, Ang-2, IL-8, IP-10, IL-1RA, sCD163, sTREM-1, ferritin, CRP) with the development of severe/moderate dengue (S/MD). Methods We performed a nested case-control...

Background: Long-term neurocognitive outcomes following first-line suppressive anti-retroviral therapy (ART) remain uncertain for individuals with HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) co-infection. The study examined neurocognitive performance before and after 72 weeks of ART using repeated multivariate analyses and latent trajectory models. Methods: One hund...