Because of heavy dependence on groundwater for drinking water and other domestic use, microbial contamination of groundwater is a serious problem in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. This study investigated comprehensively the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in shallow well groundwater in the Kathmandu Valley by applying DNA microarray analysis targeting 941 pathogenic bacterial species/groups. Water quality measurements found significant coliform (fecal) contamination in 10 of the 11 investigated groundwater samples and significant nitrogen contamination in some samples. The results of DNA microarray analysis revealed the presence of 1-37 pathogen species/groups, including 1-27 biosafety level 2 ones, in 9 of the 11 groundwater samples. While the detected pathogens included several feces- and animal-related ones, those belonging to Legionella and Arthrobacter, which were considered not to be directly associated with feces, were detected prevalently. This study could provide a rough picture of overall pathogenic bacterial contamination in the Kathmandu Valley, and demonstrated the usefulness of DNA microarray analysis as a comprehensive screening tool of a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria.

Although 91% of 12–23-month-old children in Indonesia received at least one immunization in 2013, only 76% completed DTP3 immunization. This percentage is below the UNICEF and WHO recommended standards. Thus, this study aims to investigate trends, spatial disparities, and social determinants related to low coverage of DTP3 immunization in Indonesia. Using a multilevel approach, we analyzed data from 305,090 12–23-month-old children living across approximately 500 districts in Indonesia to study demand and supply factors determining DTP3 immunization status. We examined unique, nationally representative data from the National Socioeconomic Survey (Survei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional or Susenas) and Village Potential Census (Potensi Desa or Podes) from 2004 to 2016. The percentage of children receiving complete DTP3 immunization increased from 37.8% in 2004 to 75.9% in 2016. Primarily income, parity status, and education, showed influence on DTP3 coverage. Among individual-level factors, the presence of a professional birth attendant was the most influential factor. At the district level, the factors varied. Low progress in DTP3 immunization status in Indonesia is due to huge disparities across the country’s islands, in the density of health services, and in household socioeconomic status.

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Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in Japan. Many factors influence this cancer, one of which is circadian rhythm disruption. Our research investigated the correlation between singlenucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Period 3 (PER3) (rs2640908), which is one of the circadian genes, and colorectal cancer in the Japanese population. Methods: The study participants consisted of 121 cases and 197 controls. DNA was extracted from participants' peripheral blood cells, and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PCR-RFLP) was performed to detect genotypes of PER3. Results: Participants with T/T genotype were at lower risk of developing colorectal cancer than participants with C/ C genotype (adjusted ORs = 0.32 (95% CI: 0.15-0.63)). When stratified by gender and smoking status, T/T genotype were associated with a decreased susceptibility to cancer in males only (adjusted ORs: 0.23 (95% CI: 0.09-0.59)), T/T genotype were also associated with a decreased susceptibility to cancer among both smokers and non-smokers. Conclusions: A significant association was found between the T allele of PER3 polymorphism and a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, especially in males. Smoking status showed no association with the relationship between PER3 genotype and CRC carcinogenesis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide threat in many aspects, making developing countries with scarce primary health care and medical services more vulnerable. Evaluation of the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic, sociodemographic variables, and medical services provides useful information to take countermeasures to stop the infection spread and could mitigate the damage. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between the spread of COVID-19 and sociodemographic variables, medical services, and the transportation system in Myanmar. MethodologyThis study was a cross-sectional study and was conducted using data on COVID-19 cases from August 20, 2020 to January 31, 2021 in Myanmar. We evaluated the association between the COVID-19 cases and 13 independent variables that were sociodemographic, medical services, and transportation system factors using simple linear regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis in three phases (increasing (from August 20 th to October 10 th ), stable (from October 11 st to December 4 th ) and decreasing phases (from December 5 th to January 31 st )) on the infection timeline. ResultsIt was found that the population density was parallelly associated with COVID-19 cases. On the other hand, among the medical services factors, the number of doctors was parallelly associated with COVID-19 cases and the number of nurses was inversely related to COVID-19 cases. ConclusionsThe result indicated that a high population density area was a risk factor for the increase of COVID-19 cases. This supported the worldwide countermeasures to deal with the spread of the infection, such as social distancing, banning large gatherings, working from home, and implementing quarantine procedures for suspected individuals to reduce person-to-person contact. Finally, at least in Myanmar, employing a large number of nurses could reduce the emergence of new COVID-19 cases. We believe that our study can make valuable contributions to tackling future epidemics like COVID-19 not only in Myanmar but also in other developing countries.