BackgroundThis study focused on evaluating the fumigation scheme and identifying problems encountered during the operation in the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration area.MethodsTen district health officers working in different fumigation teams of the dengue outbreak control programme around Bangkok had participated in an in-depth interview. Five predetermined themes, including (i) dengue surveillance and control strategy, (ii) quality and availability of equipment, (iii) delays, (iv) human resources, and (v) area coverage, and other emerging themes were addressed during the interviews.ResultsAlthough the staff seemed to know the operation protocol of the dengue surveillance and control programmes well, they encountered some difficulties in accessing households for proper spraying, and a lack of human and material resources, especially during an outbreak. Other emerging themes concerned inefficient communications among the sectors from hospital to district offices, leading to inaccurate or missing patient addresses for spraying, and the lack of community networks and public cooperation for the dengue control programmes.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that coordination among the relevant health sectors to acquire accurate and timely information about dengue cases is essential. Involving community networks should help to improve public engagement with and participation in the surveillance and outbreak control programmes.

Background: Zoonoses are an increasing concern worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. People with close contact with animals are at high risk for contracting and transmitting the zoonotic diseases. Objectives: To determine health literacy of livestock farmers toward biosecurity to prevent zoonotic diseases. Methods: This cross-sectional mixed-methods study was conducted in Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam, where livestock and farming are the main occupation. The questionnaire survey was submitted to 218 farmers who have close contact with livestock. In addition, 8 farmers were invited to an in-depth interview to further explore the health literacy. Results: Half of the participants were men. The average age (standard deviation) of the participants was 49.3(11.5) years. The median years with experience in farming was 15 years. The majority (82.0%) of the participants had moderate health literacy level regarding zoonoses. Improper use of antibiotics was referred by 58.0% of participants, including antibiotic use as feeding supplements (34.0%) and the use of human antibiotics to treat sick animals (24.0%). Many participants were unaware of zoonotic prevention measures and due to this had practices such as not wearing protective equipment (60.0%), an absence of acaricides to prevent vector infestations (52.0%), an absence of disinfection measures (42.0%), low rate of rabies vaccination (54.0%), and do not quarantining sick animals (38.0%). In-depth interviews revealed great concern among farmers about a collective lack of participation from local veterinarians, health workers, and government authorities in zoonoses-prevention efforts. Statistical models showed that farm scale, ethnic groups, and perceived income were associated with the overall health literacy about zoonoses. Conclusion: Comprehensive health education related to zoonotic diseases is recommended to improve overall knowledge, including routes of transmission, symptoms and consequences of diseases, and antibiotic usage. In addition, guidance should be provided to farmers on how to treat sick animals, the appropriate use of antibiotics, and waste management. Local veterinarians and health workers are important contact points and should work closely with the farmers to prevent zoonotic diseases.

A cross-sectional study of 400 patients attending sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics at The Venereal Diseases and AIDS Centers, Regional 2, Thailand, was conducted from January to December 1996 in order to investigate the antibody prevalence to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to describe some epidemiological characteristics among HIV and HCV co-infected individuals. The studied patients were interviewed and their blood specimens were collected for determining anti-HIV and anti-HCV antibodies. The results revealed that the prevalence of anti-HIV among studied patients was 25%, while 7.5% were positive for anti-HCV. The positivity of both antibodies present in the same individuals was 3.3% (13/400 cases). The highest prevalences of anti-HIV, anti-HCV and both antibodies were found in studied patients aged 20 years or less. Patients with primary education, or lower, had relatively higher prevalence of anti-HIV and/or anti-HCV than those with higher level education. A relatively higher prevalence was found among commercial sex workers and labourers. Among 13 HIV and HCV co-infected individuals, there were four cases who had histories of sexual contact without condom use, but no history of parenteral contact. The rest (9/13) had histories of both parenteral contact and sexual contact without condom use.

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Acculturation is conceptualized through the use of the term adaption to life in a foreign environment, it has also been shown to influence knowledge, attitudes that shape and influence physical, mental and health behaviors. The purpose of this study is to simultaneously examine associations between factors predicting and academic acculturation among international graduate students. The study is conducted on international graduate students at Mahidol University who enrolled and studying in all graduate programs. Data was collected during the second semester in the first year from all international students studying Master degree, Doctoral degree and Diploma program in the Graduate School. Total 192 selfadministered questionnaires were returned. The multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the association between factors and academic acculturation. The result of this study showed the variables, the better their perceived on own health and the more age were significantly related to the academic acculturation (b= 0.61, p < 0.01 and b= 0.22, p < 0.05, respectively). Further research should be conducted to investigate class satisfaction, comparison on acculturation and more University expansion in Thailand. 