BackgroundHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) cause serious health problems and have an impact on the Indonesian economy. In addition, the rapid epidemic growth of HIV is continuing in Indonesia. Commercial sex plays a significant role in the spread of HIV; therefore, in order to reveal the current HIV prevalence rate among commercial sex workers (CSWs), we conducted an epidemiological study on HIV infection among CSWs residing in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province of Indonesia with large communities of CSWs.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe prevalence of HIV infection among 200 CSWs was studied. In addition, the subtype of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and the prevalence of other blood-borne viruses, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and GB virus C (GBV-C), were studied. The prevalence rates of HIV, hepatitis B core antibody, hepatitis B surface antigen, anti-HCV antibodies and anti-GBV-C antibodies were 11%, 64%, 4%, 0.5% and 0% among CSWs involved in this study, respectively. HIV-1 CRF01_AE viral gene fragments were detected in most HIV-positive samples. In addition, most CSWs showed low awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and had unprotected sex with their clients.Conclusions/SignificanceThe HIV prevalence rate among CSWs was significantly higher than that among the general population in Indonesia (0.2–0.4%). In addition, CSWs were at a high risk of exposure to HBV, although chronic HBV infection was less frequently established. Our results suggest the necessity of efficient prevention programs for HIV and other blood-borne viral infections among CSWs in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Adequate global vaccine coverage during an influenza pandemic is essential to mitigate morbidity, mortality, and economic impact. Vaccine development and production needs to be sufficient to meet a vast global demand, requiring international cooperation and local vaccine production capacity, especially in resource-constrained countries. The use of adjuvants is one approach to augment the number of available vaccine doses and to overcome potential vaccine shortages. Appropriately selected adjuvant technologies can decrease the amount of vaccine antigen required per dose, may broaden or lengthen the conferred protection against disease, and may even allow protective single-dose vaccination. Here we describe a technology transfer collaboration between Switzerland and Indonesia that led to the establishment of a vaccine formulation platform in Surabaya which involved the transfer of equipment and expertise to enable research and development of adjuvanted vaccine formulations and delivery systems. This new Indonesian capability aims to facilitate local and regional access to know-how relating to adjuvanted vaccine formulations, thus promoting their application to local vaccine developers. In this review, we aim to share the “lessons learned” from this project to both support and inspire future scientific collaborations of a similar nature.

IntroductionIndonesia kick-started the big project of COVID-19 vaccination program in January 2021 by employed vaccine to the president of Indonesia. The outbreak and rapid transmission of COVID-19 have endangered the global health and economy. This study aimed to investigate the full-length genome mutation analysis of 166 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates as 12 January 2021.MethodsAll data of isolates was extracted from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) EpiCoV database. CoVsurver was employed to investigate the full-length genome mutation analysis of all isolates. Furthermore, this study also focused on the unlocking of mutation in Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates S protein. WIV04 isolate that was originated from Wuhan, China was used as a virus reference according to CoVsurver default. All data was visualized using GraphPad Prism software, PyMOL, and BioRender.ResultsThis study result showed that a full-length genome mutation analysis of 166 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates was successfully discovered. Every single mutation in S protein was described and then visualised by employing BioRender. Furthermore, it also found that D614G mutation appeared in 103 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates.ConclusionTo sum up, this study helps to observe the spread of the COVID-19 transmission. However, it would like to propose that the epidemiological surveillance and genomics studies might be improved on COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

Background Indonesia has started the big project of COVID-19 vaccination program since 13 January 2021 by employing the first shot of vaccine to the President of Indonesia as the outbreak and rapid transmission of COVID-19 have endangered not only Indonesian but the global health and economy. This study aimed to investigate the full-length genome mutation analysis of 166 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates as of 12 January 2021. Results All data of the isolates were extracted from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) EpiCoV database. CoVsurver platform was employed to investigate the full-length genome mutation analysis of all isolates. This study also focused on the phylogeny analysis in unlocking the mutation of S protein in Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates. WIV04 isolate that was originated from Wuhan, China was used as the virus reference according to the CoVsurver default. The result showed that a full-length genome mutation analysis of 166 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates was successfully generated. Every single mutation in S protein was described and then visualized by utilizing BioRender platform. Furthermore, it also found that D614G mutation appeared in 103 Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates. Conclusions To sum up, this study helped to observe the spread of COVID-19 transmission. However, it also proposed that the epidemiological surveillance and genomics studies might be improved on COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

The emergence and the widespread of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) demands an accurate detection method to establish a diagnosis. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) is accounted for the perfect point of reference in detecting this virus. The notion that this virus also invades the male reproductive tract requires further investigation to prove the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the semen. This investigation was designed to detect SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 survivors semen. This study design was a cross-sectional examination and conducted between November 2020 and March 2021 in the Andrology Unit of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital and Professor Nidom Foundation, both located in the City of Surabaya, Indonesia. The sample was 34 male participants aged above 18 years old and had been confirmed COVID-19 by nasopharyngeal swab PCR test. Part of the semen was taken for real-time PCR testing with the QuantStudio 5 Applied Biosystem (AB) PCR machine and the kits utilized were the STANDARD M nCOV Real-Time Detection Kit and mBioCov-19 RT-PCR Kit. Furthermore, the mean of participants ages was 35.74 years old with 25% of them had had a history of primary infertility and 21.8% of secondary infertility. From the real-time PCR COVID-19 of the semen examination, this investigation found that 27 participants had been negatives (74.4%), six inconclusive (17.6%), and one positive (3%) of SARS CoV-2. In summary, SARS-CoV-2 could be found in the semen of COVID-19 survivors. This should be a concern for the potential impact of COVID-19 in male fertility and the possibility of transmission reproductively.