AimHealthcare workers have directly provided care for COVID-19 patients, and have faced many additional sources leading to poor mental health. The study aimed to investigate the mental health problems and related factors among healthcare staff in Vietnam.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional mixed methods study, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, was performed among 400 healthcare workers working at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and Ninh Binh General Hospital from the first day of treatment for COVID-19 patients to May 01, 2020.ResultsThe results showed that 8.0% of participants had stress, 17.5% of participants had anxiety, and 14.8% of participants had depression. Approximately 50% of participants reported that they had at least one of these symptoms. The findings illustrated that stress, anxiety, and depression were associated with the position in a hospital, health status during the COVID-19 pandemic, family members/relatives infected with COVID-19, physical and mental support from friends, family, and community, department, years of working, and the average work hours per day of healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19.ConclusionDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers who worked in the hospital providing treatment and care for COVID-19 patients dealt with mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression. It is necessary to promote mental health among healthcare workers, to contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam.

Background Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a challenge for clinicians treating patients with HIV/AIDS. CD4 counts can be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to determine several common etiologies of FUO stratified by CD4 count levels in HIV/AIDS patients. Methods A cross-sectional retrospective and prospective study was conducted in 195 HIV/AIDS patients with FUO admitted to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases from January 2016 to June 2019. Clinical parameters, immune status, and etiologies for each patient were recorded. Odds ratios were calculated to compare the distributions of common etiologies in groups with two different CD4 count levels: < 50 cells/mm3 and ≥ 50 cells/mm3. Results The proportions of opportunistic infections and noninfectious etiologies were 93.3% and 3.6%, respectively. Tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection (46.7%), followed by talaromycosis (29.2%) and Pneumocystis jiroveci (PCP) infection (20.5%). Tuberculosis was predominant in all CD4 level groups. Most patients with talaromycosis had CD4 counts below 50 cells/mm3. In total, 53.8% of the patients were infected by one pathogen. The risks of tuberculosis and talaromycosis in FUO-HIV patients were high when their CD4 counts were below 50 cells/mm3. Conclusions Opportunistic infections, especially tuberculosis, are still the leading cause of FUO in HIV/AIDS patients. Tuberculosis and Talaromyces marneffei (TM) infection should be considered in patients with CD4 cell counts < 50 cells/mm3. This study implies that guidelines for appropriate testing to identify the etiology of FUO in HIV/AIDS patient based on the CD4 cell count should be developed, thereby reducing resource waste.

Introduction Treatment of HCV infection with peginterferon and ribavirin results in a low sustained virologic response rate, but has a number of undesirable adverse effects. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) offer a high efficacy, low risk, and a short treatment time. However, the existence of resistance-associated mutations, particularly in the NS5B polymerase, can attenuate the efficacy of DAAs. The objective of this study was to identify amino acid changes in the NS5B gene linked to DAA resistance in treatment-naive Vietnamese chronic hepatitis C patients. Methods Blood samples and treatment data were collected from 100 HCV-infected patients hospitalized at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases between January and December 2020; the plasma was then isolated and stored at –80°C for molecular analysis. The NS5B gene fragments of 100 samples were amplified with specified primers and the nucleotide sequences were obtained using the Sanger sequencing system. The nucleotide sequences were then analyzed and compared to identify substitutions in the NS5B region. Results A total of 100 HCV isolates from patients were classified into three genotypes, including genotypes 1, 3, and 6. The NS5B sequence analysis revealed many amino acid mutations in all genotypes, although these mutations were not strongly associated with resistance to DAAs like S282T. Analytical data on ribavirin–resistance mutations revealed that Q309R was predominantly found in genotype 1a, D310N was mostly found in genotype 1b, and N244I, T329I, A333E were not observed. The following mutations were shown to be related with DAAs resistance: E237G, S282R, L320F, V321A, and V321I. Furthermore, NS5B-resistance mutations were not associated with clinical characteristics, long-term virological response, or improvements in clinical parameters (liver enzymes or liver fibrosis index). Conclusion Although NS5B mutations were found in treatment-naive Vietnamese patients, changes in the NS5B gene did not appear to be highly correlated with HCV ribavirin and DAA antiviral resistance.