MEDLATEC reporter leaves mark with practical research content at national conference on infectious diseases

At the national scientific conference on Infectious Diseases & HIV/AIDS held on November 1-2, representatives of the group of experts and doctors from the MEDLATEC Healthcare System contributed valuable reports to improve the capacity to diagnose and treat this group of diseases. The reports received the attention of many international and Vietnamese experts and doctors.

Prestigious medical discussion forum on infectious diseases

National scientific conference on Infectious Diseases & HIV/AIDS, organized by the Vietnam Association of Infectious Diseases and the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases (Dong Anh, Hanoi).

The conference takes place over 3 days (October 31 - November 2, 2024) with the participation of nearly 2,000 leading infectious disease experts, along with doctors from domestic and international medical facilities.

Receiving an invitation from the conference, MEDLATEC representatives from the Testing Center attended by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thai Son - Deputy Director of the Center, Former Head of the Department and Head of the Microbiology Department (103 Military Hospital, Military Medical Academy), MSc. Pham Van Ngai - Deputy Director of the Center, MSc. Doctor of Medicine Tran Huu Dat - Head of the Microbiology Department, MSc. Doctor of Medicine Mai Thi Trang - Microbiology Department, and other doctors working at the unit. This is a prestigious medical forum for exchanging knowledge, updating new methods in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases, and MEDLATEC actively participates every year.

MEDLATEC team of experts and doctors attended the conference

At this conference, more than 100 reports were presented, focusing on specialized topics on infectious diseases, typically: Report on Trends and Responses to Infectious Diseases in Vietnam, Viral Hepatitis and Cirrhosis, HIV/AIDS, Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance, Dengue Fever, Parasitic Diseases, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, New Techniques in Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, etc.

Golden tool for preventing neonatal infections caused by group B streptococcus

Attending the conference, the report “Post-proliferation PCR – An effective tool to prevent neonatal infections caused by group B streptococcus”, presented by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thai Son – Deputy Director of MEDLATEC Testing Center received the attention of many delegates.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thai Son presented a report at the conference.

Group B streptococcus is commonly found in the gastrointestinal, urinary, genital, and colon tracts of women, the report said. Pregnant women infected with group B streptococcus can transmit the infection to their fetuses through the bacteria being passed from mother to child during labor or rupture of membranes. This is one of the leading causes of infection and death in newborns.

Given these serious implications, in 2021, the American Society for Microbiology updated its guidelines for screening for group B streptococcus in pregnant women between 36 and 38 weeks (37 weeks and 6 days).

Currently, there are two main methods of testing for group B streptococcus commonly used: Identification culture and Real-time PCR.

In the report, the expert pointed out the study evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of Realtime-PCR for group B streptococcus after enrichment compared with the traditional culture identification method. Specifically as follows:

>> Identification culture:

• Can do antibiotic resistance test

>> Real-time PCR:

• Specificity equivalent to culture method

• Cannot do antibiotic test

The survey results of the rate of pregnant women positive for group B streptococcus in 2023 at MEDLATEC Healthcare System through culture was 16.69%, of which the rate of pregnant women screened positive for group B streptococcus through Real-time PCR was 25.5%.

Experts concluded that the Real-time PCR test method is suitable for screening, and is a golden tool for preventing neonatal infections caused by group B streptococcus; the culture method is used when antibiotic resistance is suspected.

Respiratory tract pathogens: Distribution and antibiotic resistance characteristics

Respiratory tract infections have high morbidity and mortality rates in many groups, especially children and the elderly. MEDLATEC Testing Center has received and analyzed thousands of respiratory tract specimens over the years.

MSc.BSNT Tran Huu Dat - Head of Microbiology Department, MEDLATEC Testing Center presented a report at the conference

MSc. Dr. Tran Huu Dat and his colleagues conducted a study on "Distribution rate and antibiotic resistance characteristics of common respiratory bacteria" . The doctor presented the research content at the conference as follows:

• Research subjects: 5338 respiratory tract specimens were tested for identification and drug resistance at MEDLATEC Testing Center without violating the exclusion criteria.

• Time: From 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2023.

At the conference, the doctor announced detailed research data and pointed out some conclusions after the research process including:

Distribution rate of respiratory pathogenic bacteria:

• The rate of respiratory tract specimens positive for pathogenic bacteria in the period 2022-2023 was 49%, mainly from sputum specimens (47.5%), throat swabs (23%) and nasopharyngeal swabs (15.9%).

• Gram-negative bacteria were the majority (70.4%) compared to gram-positive bacteria (29.6%).

• The proportion of bacterial strains isolated from respiratory tract specimens in men (60%) was higher than in women (40%).

• Bacteria isolated from respiratory specimens were mainly children aged 0-5 years old (42.1%), and people over 65 years old were 22.1%. Autumn and winter were the two seasons with the highest positive rate of bacteria isolated from respiratory specimens.

Some detailed characteristics of antibiotic resistance of common respiratory pathogens have been published.

The study not only helps provide information on the distribution and drug resistance of respiratory bacteria, but also provides data for antibiotic resistance monitoring and the development of more reasonable and effective treatment guidelines in the future.

Prevalence and distribution of high-risk HPV types causing cervical cancer

The third report MEDLATEC contributed within the framework of the conference on the topic of sexually transmitted infectious diseases "Rate and distribution of high-risk HPV types in clinical samples" , presented by MSc. Dr. Mai Thi Trang - Microbiology Department, MEDLATEC Testing Center.

MSc. Dr. Mai Thi Trang presented a report at the conference.

Doctors point out that HPV virus is the most common cause of sexually transmitted infections and is the cause of over 99% of cervical cancer cases.

There are more than 200 HPV genotypes that differ in genetic structure. Low-risk HPV (HPV LR) causes benign lesions such as genital warts, condyloma acuminata... High-risk HPV (HPV HR) includes 14 types that are the cause of cervical cancer and many other cancers.

Worryingly, all sexually active people can get HPV at least once, but usually the body's immune system will eliminate the virus after 1-2 years. With high-risk HPV, the time to eliminate the virus will be longer. The process from HPV infection to cancer cell formation usually lasts 15-20 years in healthy people and 5-10 years in immunocompromised people.

Therefore, prevention and early screening of cervical cancer risk is an urgent issue. Currently, HPV Genotype PCR testing is a popular method that can help accurately identify high-risk HPV strains that cause cervical cancer, even before HPV causes cell damage.

In the report, the doctor shared valuable research on the rate and distribution of high-risk HPV types causing cervical cancer conducted at the MEDLATEC Testing Center. Specifically as follows:

• Research subjects: Subjects with HPV Genotype HR test results and complete information on age, gender, and area of ​​residence.

• Time: From January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2023.

Accordingly, 03 important conclusions were pointed out through the research including:

• The overall HR HPV infection rate in women was 165%. The infection rates of HPV type 16, type 18 and 12 other types were 3.5%, 32% and 12.2%, respectively. The co-infection rate of 2 or more HR HPV types was 21%.

• HR HPV infection rates in women peak before age 25 and then decline with age.

• HR HPV infection rates were high in women in Thai Nguyen, Hai Phong and Vinh Phuc. HR HPV infection rates were lowest in Thanh Hoa, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang .

Within the framework of the conference, in addition to 03 reports presented directly by MEDLATEC experts, the poster report "Survey of the distribution of some sexually transmitted bacteria on samples taken at MEDLATEC Testing Center (2021-2023)" received the attention of many experts and doctors attending.

MEDLATEC team of experts and doctors took a souvenir photo at the research report poster of the Testing Center's authors

The information drawn from the painstaking, practical research process of the MEDLATEC team of experts, doctors and colleagues has certainly contributed to providing more useful professional knowledge to a large number of participating doctors, thereby improving the screening, early diagnosis and effective treatment of infectious diseases in Vietnam.

Source: https://medlatec.vn/tin-tuc/bao-cao-vien-medlatec-ghi-dau-an-voi-noi-dung-nghien-cuu-giu-thuc-tien-tai-hoi-nghi-benh-truyen-nhiem-toan-quoc