Rashidul Haque

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh | ICDDR,B · Laboratory for Parasitology

Background: The use of azithromycin reduces maternal infection in women during planned cesarean delivery, but its effect on those with planned vaginal delivery is unknown. Data are needed on whether an intrapartum oral dose of azithromycin would reduce maternal and offspring sepsis or death. Methods: In this multicountry, placebo-controlled, ran...

Background: Cryptosporidium spp are responsible for significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in under-five children. There is no vaccine, thus a focus on prevention is paramount. Prior studies suggest that person-to-person spread may be an important pathway for transmission to young children. Here we describe a longitudinal cohort study of 10...

Objectives: To determine COVID-19 antibody positivity rates over time and relationships to pregnancy outcomes in low-middle income countries (LMICs). Design: With COVID-19 antibody positivity at delivery as the exposure, we performed a prospective, observational cohort study in seven LMICs during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Setting: The study...

Background Stunting is a global health problem affecting hundreds of millions of children worldwide and contributing to 45% of deaths in children under the age of five. Current therapeutic interventions have limited efficacy. Understanding the epigenetic changes underlying stunting will elucidate molecular mechanisms and likely lead to new therapie...

Accurate and early diagnoses are prerequisites for prompt treatment. For coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is even more crucial. Currently, choice of methods include rapid diagnostic tests and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using samples mostly of respiratory origin and sometimes saliva. We evaluated two rapid diagno...

Background Bangladesh has reduced malaria incidence and mortality by over 75% between 2010 and 2020. Widespread long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) distribution and use is one of the measures responsible for this success. Recalcitrant malaria hotspots within the Chittagong Hill Tracts districts suggest important drivers of malaria risk may remain...

Fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2) and 3 (FUT3) may influence host biological functions. We aim to assess the relationship between maternal and child FUT2 (Secretor) and FUT3 (Lewis) status with growth, body composition, gut health and histologic features in Bangladeshi children. We conducted a case–control study where secretor and Lewis status were ascer...

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has recently posed a threat to global health by spreading at a high rate and taking millions of lives worldwide. Along with the respiratory symptoms, there are gastrointestinal manifestations and one of the most c...

Background. Cryptosporidium spp are responsible for significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in under-five children. There is no vaccine, thus a focus on prevention is paramount. Prior studies suggest that person-to-person spread may be an important pathway for transmission to young children. Here we describe a longitudinal cohort study of 100...

Background Understanding pathogen-specific relationships with climate is crucial to informing interventions under climate change. Methods We matched spatiotemporal temperature, precipitation, surface water, and humidity data to data from a trial in rural Bangladesh that measured diarrhea and enteropathogen prevalence in children 0-2 years from 201...

Objective: We sought to understand knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19 in pregnant women in seven low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Design: Population-based prospective, observational study SETTINGS: Study sites in DRC, Kenya, Zambia, Bangladesh, India (two sites), Pakistan, and Guatemala POPULATION AND SAMPLE: Preg...

Objective: On a population basis, we assessed medical care for pregnant women in specific geographic regions of six countries before and during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in relationship to pregnancy outcomes. Design: Prospective, population-based study. Setting: Communities in Kenya, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,...

Secretor status refers to the ability of an individual to secrete blood group antigens into body fluids and onto the different epithelial surfaces. Concurrent findings have demonstrated an association of the secretor status of children with susceptibility to a plethora of enteropathogens. We aimed to determine a possible association of secretor sta...

Escherichia coli (E. coli) pathotypes are the most common cause of diarrhea, especially in developing countries. Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) is presumed to be the result of infection with one or more pathotypes and can affect intestinal health and childhood growth. We sought to investigate the association of E. coli pathotypes infection...

Escherichia coli (E. coli) pathotypes are the most common cause of diarrhea, especially in developing countries. Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) is presumed to be the result of infection with one or more pathotypes and can affect intestinal health and childhood growth. We sought to investigate the association of E. coli pathotypes infection...

Objectives: We sought to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women regarding COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy in 7 low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Design: Prospective, observational, population-based study SETTINGS: Study areas in 7 LMICs: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, Democratic Republic of the Congo...

Social cognition skills and socioemotional development are compromised in children growing up in low SES contexts, however, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unknown. Exposure to psychosocial risk factors early in life alters the child’s social milieu and in turn, could lead to atypical processing of social stimuli. In this study, w...

Background The application of molecular diagnostics has identified enteric group adenovirus serotypes 40 and 41 as important causes of diarrhea in children. However, many aspects of the epidemiology of adenovirus 40/41 diarrhea have not been described. Methods We used data from the eight-site MAL-ED birth cohort study to describe site- and age-spe...

Children in low-to-middle-income countries often suffer from multiple enteric infections in their first few years of life, many of which have the potential for long-lasting effects. These children are already likely to be malnourished and underweight, and chronic intestinal disturbances exacerbate these conditions.

Dysregulations in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway are associated with several human anomalies. We aimed to elucidate possible implications for potential aberrations in the mTOR pathway with childhood malnutrition. We analyzed the activity of phospho-mTORC1 and the expressions of several mTOR pathway genes, namely: MTOR, TSC1, LAMTO...

Bifidobacterium longum subspecies detected in infant stool have been associated with numerous subsequent health outcomes and are potential early markers of deviation from healthy developmental trajectories. This analysis derived indicators of carriage and early colonization with B. infantis and B. longum and quantified their associations with a pan...

Background: Diarrheal illness is a leading cause of antibiotic use for children in low- and middle-income countries. Determination of diarrhea etiology at the point-of-care without reliance on laboratory testing has the potential to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use. Methods: This prospective observational study aimed to develop and externally va...

ABSTRACT Emerging resistance to artemisinin drugs threatens the elimination of malaria. Resistance is widespread in South East Asia (SEA) and Myanmar. Neighboring Bangladesh, where 90% of infections occur in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs), lacks recent assessment. We undertook a prospective study in the sole district-level hospital in Bandarban,...

Over 300 million children grow up in environments of extreme poverty, and the biological and psychosocial hazards endemic to these environments often expose these children to infection, disease, and consequent inflammatory responses. Chronic inflammation in early childhood has been associated with diminished cognitive outcomes and despite this esta...

Since the global withdrawal of Sabin 2 oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) from routine immunization, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has reported multiple circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks. Here, we generated an agent-based, mechanistic model designed to assess OPV-related vaccine virus transmission risk in...

Background Despite the availability and success of live-attenuated oral vaccines, rotavirus (RV) remains the leading cause of pediatric gastroenteritis worldwide. Next-generation vaccines targeting RV VP8∗ are under evaluation, but the role of VP8∗-specific antibodies in human immunity to RV and their potential as immune correlates of protection re...

ccurate diagnosis at the right moment is the prerequisite for treatment of any disease. Failure to correctly diagnose a disease can result in highly detrimental effects, unmistakably a crucial factor during the COVID-19 pandemic. RT-PCR is the gold standard for COVID-19 detection while there are other test procedures available, such as LAMP, X-Ray,...

Background Poor growth in early childhood has been considered irreversible after 2–3 years of age and has been associated with morbidity and mortality over the short-term and with poor economic and cognitive outcomes over the long-term. The MAL-ED cohort study was performed in eight low-income settings with the goal of evaluating relationships betw...

The first years of life are a sensitive period of rapid neural and immune system development vulnerable to the impact of adverse experiences. Several studies support inflammation as a consequence of various adversities and an exposure negatively associated with developmental outcomes. The mechanism by which systemic inflammation may affect brain de...

Low birth weight (LBW) is associated with a higher risk of neonatal mortality and the development of adult-onset chronic disease. Understanding the ongoing contribution of maternal hemoglobin (Hgb) levels to the incidence of LBW in South Asia is crucial to achieve the World Health Assembly global nutrition target of a 30% reduction in LBW by 2025....

Group A rotaviruses (RVA) remain a leading cause of pediatric diarrhea worldwide, in part due to underperformance of currently approved live-attenuated, oral vaccines in low-and-middle income countries. Improved immune correlates of protection (CoP) for existing oral vaccines and novel strategies to evaluate the performance of next-generation vacci...

Background: Anemia is one of the major public health problems that affected 2.36 billion individuals worldwide in 2015. Half of all causes of anemia are iron or other nutrient deficiency anemia (WHO, 2015). Currently available treatment options for anemia include iron or other nutrient supplementation, nutritional interventions in the form of food...

Background: Anemia is one of the major public health problems that affected 2.36 billion individuals worldwide in 2015. Half of all causes of anemia are iron or other nutrient deficiency anemia (WHO, 2015). Currently available treatment options for anemia include iron or other nutrient supplementation, nutritional interventions in the form of food...

Introduction: Small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is common in children from low-income countries and has been cross-sectionally associated with growth stunting. We sought to determine whether SIBO was associated with poor growth and neurodevelopmental in a longitudinal analysis. Methods: We measured SIBO by glucose hydrogen breath test...

Molecular diagnostic methods improve detection of Shigella yet their ability to detect Shigella drug resistance on direct stool specimens is less clear. We tested 673 stools from a Shigella treatment study in Bangladesh, including 154 culture-positive stools and their paired Shigella isolate. We utilized a TaqMan Array Card that included qPCR assay...

Diminished physical growth is a common marker of malnutrition and it affects approximately 200 million children worldwide. Despite its importance and prevalence, it is not clear whether diminished growth relates to brain development and general cognitive ability. Further, diminished growth is more common in areas of extreme poverty, raising the pos...

Background Stunting is a condition in which a child does not reach their full growth potential due to chronic undernutrition. It arises during the first 2 years of a child’s life and is associated with developmental deficiencies and life-long health problems. Current interventions provide some benefit, but new approaches to prevention and treatment...

Objectives Studies involving less sensitive conventional microscopy and culture-based approaches have identified distinct differences in diarrheal etiology in childhood malnutrition. Our study involved the use of an advanced molecular biology technique, the TaqMan Array Cards (TAC), to elucidate the diarrheal etiology among young infants with sever...

Rotavirus remains a leading cause of pediatric diarrhea worldwide, in part due to underperformance of currently approved live-attenuated, oral vaccines in low-and-middle income countries (LMIC). Improved immune correlates of protection (CoP) for existing oral vaccines and novel strategies to evaluate the performance of next-generation vaccines are...

Background Diarrheal illness is a leading cause of antibiotic use for children in low- and middle-income countries. Determination of diarrhea etiology at the point-of-care without reliance on laboratory testing has the potential to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use. Methods This prospective observational study aimed to develop and externally val...

We conducted a longitudinal study of cryptosporidiosis from birth to three years of age in an urban slum of Dhaka Bangladesh. Fecal DNA was extracted from monthly surveillance samples and diarrheal stool samples collected from 392 infants from birth to three years. A pan-Cryptosporidium qPCR assay was used to identify sub-clinical and symptomatic c...

The emergence of resistance to artemisinin drugs threatens global malaria control. Resistance is widely seen in South East Asia (SEA) and Myanmar, but not comprehensively assessed in Bangladesh. This is due to lack of measuring parasite clearance times in response to drug treatment, a gold standard used to track artemisinin resistance (AR), in the...

Background: Stunting is a condition in which a child does not reach their full growth potential due to chronic undernutrition. It arises during the first two years of a child's life and is associated with developmental deficiencies and life-long health problems. Current interventions provide some benefit, but new approaches to prevention and treatm...

Studies of infants growing up in high-income countries reveal developmental changes in electroencephalography (EEG) power whereby socioeconomic factors - specifically, lower SES and lower income - are associated with lower EEG power in infants aged newborn to nine months. In the current paper we explore relationships of spectral EEG power across th...

Infection with Helicobacter pylori is a global health issue, and rapid and accurate testing is a key to diagnosis. We aimed to assess the performance of two novel enzyme immunoassays (EIA), the H. PYLORI QUIK CHEK™ and the H. PYLORI CHEK™ assays, for the detection of H. pylori antigen in stool. Patients from five geographically diverse sites across...

Background: genetic susceptibility to infection is mediated by numerous host factors, including the highly diverse, classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, which are critical genetic determinants of immunity. We systematically evaluated the effect of HLA alleles and haplotypes on susceptibility to 12 common enteric infections in children du...

We conducted a longitudinal study of cryptosporidiosis from birth to three years of age in an urban slum of Dhaka Bangladesh. Fecal DNA was extracted from monthly surveillance samples and diarrheal stool samples collected from 392 infants from birth to three years. A pan-Cryptosporidium qPCR assay was used to identify sub-clinical and symptomatic c...

Background: The protozoan parasites in the Cryptosporidium genus cause both acute diarrheal disease and subclinical (i.e. non-diarrheal) disease. It is unclear if the microbiota can influence the manifestation of diarrhea during a Cryptosporidium infection. Methods: To characterize the role of the gut microbiota in diarrheal cryptosporidiosis, t...

Background Soil-transmitted helminths and Giardia duodenalis are responsible for a large burden of disease globally. In low-resource settings, household finished floors (eg, concrete floors) might reduce transmission of soil-transmitted helminths and G duodenalis. Methods In a prospective cohort of children nested within two randomised trials in r...

Shigella is a leading cause of moderate-to-severe diarrhea globally and the causative agent of shigellosis and bacillary dysentery. Associated with 80-165 million cases of diarrhea and over 13% of diarrheal deaths, in many regions Shigella exposure is ubiquitous while infection is heterogenous. To characterize host-genetic susceptibility to Shigell...

Diminished physical growth is a common marker of malnutrition and it af- fects approximately 200 million children worldwide. Despite its importance and prevalence, it is not clear whether diminished growth affects brain development and neurocognitive outcomes. Further, diminished growth is more common in areas of extreme poverty, raising the possib...

Background Diarrheal pathogens have been associated with linear growth deficits. The effect of diarrheal pathogens on growth is likely due to inflammation which also adversely affects neurodevelopment. We hypothesized that diarrheagenic pathogens would be negatively associated with both growth and neurodevelopment. Methods We conducted a longitudi...

Abstract Background: Quality assurance (QA) is a process that should be an integral part of research to protect the rights and safety of study participants and to reduce the likelihood that the results are affected by bias in data collection. Most QA plans include processes related to study preparation and regulatory compliance, data collection, da...

Introduction: The persistent increase of resistance to existing antimalarials underscores the needs for new drugs. Historically, most of the successful antimalarial are derived from plants. The leaves of the S. cymosum is one of the plant materials used by traditional healers in malaria-endemic areas in Bangladesh for treatment of malaria. Here, we...

Background Arboviral diseases, including dengue and chikungunya, are major public health concerns in Bangladesh where there have been unprecedented levels of transmission reported in recent years. The primary approach to control these diseases is to control the vector Aedes aegypti using pyrethroid insecticides. Although chemical control has long b...

Background The Global Network for Women's and Children’s Health Research (Global Network) conducts clinical trials in resource-limited countries through partnerships among U.S. investigators, international investigators based in in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and a central data coordinating center. The Global Network’s objectives includ...

Background The Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research (Global Network, GN) has established the Maternal Newborn Health Registry (MNHR) to assess MNH outcomes over time. Bangladesh is the newest country in the GN and has implemented a full electronic MNH registry system, from married women surveillance to pregnancy enrollment and...