University of the Philippines Manila

About: University of the Philippines Manila is a education organization based out in Manila, Philippines. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 2218 authors who have published 2357 publications receiving 88781 citations. The organization is also known as: UPM.

Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory function defects among Para rubber wood sawmill workers in the south of Thailand

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the associations between respiratory symptoms and pulmonary defects of Para rubber sawmill workers in the South of Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 687 workers in Para rubber wood sawmills and a subset of sawmill workers from four factories participated in spirometric measurements and personal dust samplings. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore risk factors pulmonary impairment. The exposed workers had higher respirable wood dust exposure (0.902 mg/m3) compared with the unexposed groups (0.185 mg/m3). The exposed group had significantly higher prevalence than the unexposed group for chest tightness (odds ratio (OR) = 2.79) and shortness of breath (OR = 2.27). The ventilatory function values (FEV1 and FVC) were lower for the exposed group compared with the unexposed group (2.41 vs 2.55 L/s and 2.91 vs 3.01 L/s, respectively). The results suggest that sawmill factories using Para rubber tree wood should implement appropri...

A molecular epidemiologic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among Filipino patients in a suburban community in the Philippines.

Abstract: Background The Philippines is designated as one of the high tuberculosis (TB) burden countries by WHO. We conducted a molecular epidemiologic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates collected from patients consulting at the health clinics in the city of Santa Rosa, Laguna, a suburban community in the Philippines. Methods A total of 116 M. tuberculosis isolates were characterized and genotyped using spoligotyping and 15 loci of variable number of tandem repeats of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (15 MIRU-VNTR). The strains were then compared with the international spoligotyping database (SpolDB4). Cluster analyses were done using 15 MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping. Results Majority of the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were young (18-29 year age group at 41.4%) and male (62.1%). 86/116 (74.1%) were sputum-smear positive and 43/116 (37.1%) had severe pulmonary tuberculosis. When the genotyping results were compared to the SpolDB4, there were 10 identified Spoligo-International-Types (SITs) with SIT 19 as the predominant SIT (89/116, 76.7%). 10 out of 116 (8.6%) did not match any SIT in the SpolDB4. The distribution of strains according to major M. tuberculosis clades was as follows: EAI2_Manilla (101/116, 87.1%; U 2/116, 1.7%; LAM2 1/116, 0.9%; EAI3_Ind 1/116, 0.9%; MANU2 1/116, 0.9%. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, there was no significant association shown between the EAI2_Manilla clade and SIT with patient characteristics such as sex and age groups as well as bacillary load based on sputum-smear positivity and severity of pulmonary tuberculosis. Using logistic regression, no patient characteristic, as well as bacillary load or severity of TB, were significant predictors for clade or SIT. Based on the molecular typing method used, spoligotyping identified 4 clusters and 20 genotypes (16 unique strains) with a Hunter-Gaston discrimination index (HGDI) of 0.409. 15 MIRU-VNTR identified 16 clusters and 69 genotypes (53 unique strains) with an HGDI of 0.960. The combination of spoligotyping and 15 MIRU-VNTR identified 11 clusters and 79 genotypes (68 unique strains) with the highest HGDI at 0.970. High case rate of TB among young people in this community suggests the high transmission rate of infection. However, in the absence of significant association between clustering and age, the interpretation of observed high cluster rate warrants caution, and requires further molecular and epidemiological observation. Conclusion This is the first molecular epidemiology study to show the distribution of genotypes of the M. tuberculosis strains, systematically and prospectively sampled, of the patient population in a suburban community in the Philippines. The combination of spoligotyping and 15 MIRU-VNTR identified 11 clusters and 79 genotypes (68 unique strains) with the highest HGDI at 0.970. High case rate of TB among young people in this community suggests the high transmission of infection. However, in the absence of significant association between clustering and age, the interpretation of observed high cluster rate warrants caution, and requires further molecular and epidemiological observation.

Implementation of Telemedicine Services in Lower-Middle Income Countries: Lessons for the Philippines

Abstract: Regardless of the promising potential of telemedicine to address healthcare problems, especially in lower-middle income countries, its success rate has been unsatisfactory and many telemedicine services fail to sustain their implementation shortly after initial funding or after a pilot phase. Therefore, it is important to document existing models of telemedicine implementation in these countries, to identify commonalities and extract experiences that would be useful for implementers, policy makers and future researchers. This review seeks to review and describe the experience of Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) in implementing telemedicine services. Evidence extracted from the included studies were analysed through a narrative synthesis which suggests a multi-sectoral approach for implementing telemedicine. It highlights the importance of education, financing options, policy, technology, governance, and partnership, in the wider picture of a sustainable telemedicine implementation among developing countries such as the Philippines. Moreover, the literature reveals both top-down and bottom-up approach for successful telemedicine implementation. These approaches include strengthening the local health workers and integrating telemedicine into the health system. Studies included in this review have been helpful, but there is an obvious lack of studies with high level of evidence that can yield generalisable, thus findings must be inferred with prudence. Even so, this review described and summarised the data which allowed description of factors and lessons in the implementation of telemedicine in LMICs.

Coding-Complete Genome Sequences of 23 SARS-CoV-2 Samples from the Philippines

Abstract: Here, we report the coding-complete genome sequences of 23 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) samples from the Philippines. Sequences were obtained from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive patients. Mutation analysis showed the presence of the D614G mutation in the spike protein in 22 of 23 genomes.