There are about 620 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Bangladesh. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Concomitant administration of multiple vaccines, including live attenuated immunizations, is safe and effective. Some restrictions apply for live vaccines; administering a live-virus vaccine within 4 weeks after administration of another live-virus vaccine can decrease immunogenicity to the second administered vaccine. Thus, it is recommended that live-virus vaccines should be administered the same day or ≥4 weeks apart. Data on co-administration of the currently available whole-cell killed Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCVs) with other oral vaccines, specifically, oral polio vaccines (OPV) is lacking. Although the risk of immunological interference due to co-administration of live vaccines with non-live vaccines is considered small if at all, a theoretical concern of interference has been raised. Given the substantial geographic correlation between polio- and cholera-affected and at-risk areas, which include some of the world's most impoverished and hard-to-reach populations, a strategy of co-administration of OCV with OPV to children targeted to receive OPVs has the potential to optimize the use of limited resources and improve coverage for both vaccines. The manufacturer recommendation for a two-week interval between administration of OPV and OCV precludes an integrated campaign or routine use in which OCV could be co-administered with OPV.
Treatment failure of Spondyloarthropathies (SpA) leads to marked functional disability, higher rates of morbidity, mortality and poor quality of life. In TB endemic countries effective and safe drugs are to be in hand to manage this group of patients. The aim of this study will be to evaluation the risk of tuberculosis and other infections in refractory SpA patients treated with tofacitinib. After having consent 174 adults will be enrolled. Follow up period will be 9 months (visits 0, 1, 3, 6 and 9). Study subjects (87) will receive tofacitinib (5 mg 12 hourly). Control patients will get etanercept (50 mg subcutaneously every 7 days interval for 1st month then 50 mg in 15 days interval for 2nd month then 50 mg every 21 days interval till final visit. Treatment efficacy assessment tool will be BASDAI, ASDAS-ESR, ASDAS-CRP and ASQoL for quality of life. Occurrences of tuberculosis and serious infection will be the primary end point of this study. The quantitative variables like ESR, CRP, BASDAI, ASDAS-ESR, ASDAS-CRP and ASQoL scores will be computed as mean and SD. Occurrences of TB and infection will be expressed in number and percentage. In between groups according to data distribution, students't test or ManWhitny U test will be done. The P value <0.05 will be considered significant. Each patient will enjoy every right to participate or refuse or even withdraw from the study at any point of time. Anonymity and data confidentiality will be maintained strictly. Ethical clearance will be obtained from Institutional Review Board (IRB) of BSMMU. The expected utility of this study will be; a) reporting on occurrence of TB and other infections in SpA patients with tofacitinib and etanercept, b) if identified safe and effective physician can use the agents without fear, c) for dose spacing of etanercept the cumulative dose will be low might make the drug affordable and also reduce the risk of TB and other infections, d) for spaced follow up schedule there will be minimized physician visit, lab testing etc.
It has been observed that despite administration of apparently adequate thyroid hormone replacement in hypothyroid patients, many of them experience persistent fatigue and fatigue-related symptoms. Carnitine transports long chain fatty acids into the mitochondria whereupon the high energy source (ATP) becomes synthesized. Levocarnitine administration reduced fatigue related symptoms in hypothyroid patients receiving thyroid hormone replacement. The present study deals with alleviation of fatigue in hypothyroid patients by carnitine supplementation.
Diarrhea is the 2nd leading cause of death in under-five children. When diarrhea continued for 14 days or more it is known as Persistent Diarrhea (PD). In low and middle income countries (LMIC), 3%-23% of acute diarrheal episodes turn to PD. PD causes 32-62% of all diarrheal deaths in LMIC, and >25% in Bangladesh in contrast to 0.8% is caused by acute diarrhea. The prevalence of PD varied from 6.3 to 16.4 %. However, no larger prospective study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of green banana in the management of PD among children older than 6 months.An open-labeled randomized controlled clinical trial is designed to assess the efficacy of green banana mixed full strength rice suji, and full strength rice suji alone compared to 3/4th strength rice suji in the management of persistent diarrhea (PD) in children aged > 6 months to 36 months in the Dhaka Hospital of icddr,b.
It is estimated that over 200 million children under 5 years of age in developing countries are not attaining their developmental potential (e.g., neurobehavioral development) primarily because of poverty and associated health, nutritional deficiencies, and unstimulating home environment. Child's Neurobehavioral development consists of several interdependent domains of sensory-motor, cognitive-language, and social-emotional function. Experiences in the first few years of life are of particular importance because vital development occurs during this period. Early under nutrition, iron-deficiency, environmental toxins, stress, and poor stimulation and social interaction can affect brain structure and function. Stunting, inadequate cognitive stimulation, iodine deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia are identified as key risk factors, where the need for cognitive intervention is urgent, that prevent millions of young children from fulfilling their developmental potential and neurobehavioral development. It is clear that underprivileged children require not only good health, nutrition, and wealth but also supportive and caring environments and cognitive stimulation for their optimum neurobehavioral development as in the case of Bangladesh. Cognitive function and self-esteem of mothers is crucial for having the optimum outcome from intervention. However, little is known regarding the importance of mother's cognitive ability influencing different domains of her children's neurobehavioral development. This is how, the investigators plan to measure the maternal cognitive function and to assess the neurobehavioral development of underprivileged children. The investigators will enroll 200 mothers and children as a sample of the present study. Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development will be used along with other interview scales.
The primary purpose of the proposed research is to establish Reference Values (RVs) for micronutrients (MN) and macronutrients in human milk. The investigators' research to date has revealed highly variable milk MN concentrations among populations, and very low values in some low income countries (LICs) likely caused by poor maternal status and/or diet but RVs are needed to interpret these values. During the past year the investigators conducted a review of human milk nutrient composition, and formed a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) which developed the current proposal. Here, the investigators are conducting a longitudinal project on well-nourished women and infants. The Mothers, Infants and Lactation Quality (MILQ) study is a multi-center cohort project, investigating breast milk nutrient composition in well-nourished women across the first 8.5 months of lactation in four different populations. The countries involved are Denmark, Brazil, Bangladesh and The Gambia. Exclusive breastfeeding is an eligibility criterion up until the second post-partum study visit (between 1 - 3.4 months postpartum), with the exception of the first week after delivery. Other data collected on mothers and infants, including maternal and infant nutrient intake and status, morbidity, milk volume, and infant development, will inform interpretation and support application of the results. While the priority is to develop RVs for MN, other analyses will include human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and proteins, and free amino acids (FAA) in infant plasma. Thus, with the samples obtained the investigators will perform (a) laboratory analyses of milk, plasma and urine nutrients to construct RVs for global application, (b) analyses of HMOs and proteins in milk, and (c) metabolomic analysis of FAA and other metabolites in infant plasma. By request of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), colostrum and fecal microbiota samples will also be collected and stored for later analyses.
To examine the impact of health determinants at the individual (e.g. health related behaviors) and societal level (e.g. environmental factors, health related policy, quality of health systems) on health outcomes (e.g. death, non-communicable disease development) across a range of socioeconomic and health resource settings. Additional components of this study will examine genetic factors for non-communicable diseases. This will be examined both through a cross sectional component, and prospectively (cohort component).
1. Burden: In global perspective, it is estimated that the lives of 150,000 women could be saved each year worldwide with access to sufficient family planning services. It is indicated that only 26 percent women received four or more antenatal care (ANC) visits during their pregnancies, while 67.7 percent received at least one ANC during their pregnancies which are the great challenges for ensuring safe motherhood in the country. As a part of safe motherhood, it is estimated that only 28.8 percent deliveries are being conducted in health facilities in the country. In case of postnatal care (PNC), from 2008 to 2010, only 27 percent of women received PNC for their last deliveries from a medically-trained provider within two days of their delivery. Despite the tremendous success of expanded programme on immunization (EPI) in Bangladesh, a substantial number of children are not fully vaccinated under EPI as data shows 82 percent were fully vaccinated by the age of 12 months. 2. Knowledge gap: Use of technology for covering all or major components of primary health care (PHC) is yet to be developed and tested in Bangladesh. Further, no such initiative has yet been taken focusing community clinic (CC) to ensure equity of services in Bangladesh. 3. Relevance: At present in Bangladesh, the CCs cater the services on family planning, maternal neonatal and child health (MNCH), health education for the rural people by using e-health strategy as the community health care provider (CHCP), newly recruited staff of community clinic are equipped with internet connected laptop service. So, updated technology for updating information, follow up and referral in primary health care can be used to increase the utilization of health services. Hypothesis (if any): Use of smart phones by community level healthcare providers will increase utilization of reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP), MNCH, integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI), EPI and other PHC services at rural communities in Bangladesh. Objectives: To develop and test a mechanism as well as assess the impact of mHealth strategy to improve RH and FP, MNCH, IMCI, EPI and other PHC services in rural communities of Bangladesh. Methods: The service delivery personnel who are providing the services to the community people at different levels (community clinic, union health and family welfare centre, upazila health complex) will be equipped with smart phones having the facilities for text messages, voice messages as well as internet and data capturing. Training on handling of the smart phones, data capturing and monitoring will be provided to service providers in each upazila. They will be trained to input, edit, verify and monitor the data on different services through the software installed in their smart phones. The community clinic management and support groups will be oriented and motivated on mobile phone based registration, notification and referral to the health facilities. Outcome measures/variables: This will be a quasi-experimental pre-post design study and evaluation will be done through comparing antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), and contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) and EPI coverage before and after its implementation in the study versus comparison areas. The study will be conducted over a period of 30 months.
Burden: According to Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey 2014, prevalence of stunting in under-five children is 36%. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is prevalent in about 3% of them. In absolute numbers, about 450,000 children suffer from SAM while several million children suffer from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Knowledge gap: Investigators have already demonstrated that children with SAM have immature gut microbiota that is partially corrected with treatment. Through our earlier studies conducted in Bangladesh,investigators now also have idea about beneficial microbiota and food ingredients that support proliferation of these beneficial microbiota. Which composite food is better for children with SAM and MAM is not known. Hypothesis (if any): The central hypothesis of our ongoing Breast Milk, Gut Microbiome and Immunity (BMMI) initiative proof of concept phase is that healthy growth in infancy and early childhood requires normal functional maturation of the gut microbiota. Related hypotheses are that (i) persistent defects in the development of this microbial 'organ' are causally related to stunting as well as the metabolic, immunologic and cognitive manifestations of undernutrition; and (ii) new approaches for durable repair of this microbiota immaturity including Microbiota-Directed Complementary Foods (MDCF) will provide a way to improve clinical outcomes. Objectives: 1. Test 5 MDCF prototypes and nominate a lead MDCF formulation that has the greatest effect in promoting the representation of a broad range of age-discriminatory taxa and that has acceptable organoleptic properties. This nominated lead will be advanced to a fully powered clinical POC study in children with post-SAM MAM in 2018. 2. Determine whether once daily administration is as effective as twice daily administration of the lead MDCF in repairing microbiota immaturity. 3. Assess the durability of repair of immaturity by the lead MDCF by including a 4 week post-intervention phase in the final pre-POC study design. 4. Determine what effect enteropathogen burden (determined by PCR-based analysis of fecal samples) has on responses of age-discriminatory taxa to MDCFs, and reciprocally, the effect of MDCFs on enteropathogen burden. Methods: Investigators will conduct 3 Pre-POC studies in 12-18 month old children with MAM (Weight-for-Length Z-score, WLZ: between <-2 to -3) and stunting (Length-for-Age Z-score, LAZ: between <-2 to -3) over the course of approximately two years. The investigators will use a stratified randomization procedure based on age (i.e.2 levels: 12-15 months and >15-18 months) to prevent imbalance between the treatment arms. This study will be undertaken at Mirpur area of Dhaka city. The investigators will design and produce 5 MDCF prototypes at the icddr,b Food Processing Laboratory in sufficient quantities for clinical studies (3 MDCF prototypes for study 1 and 2 MDCF prototypes for study 2). These formulations will be matched in energy density and micronutrient content of ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSFs) used for MAM in Bangladesh and other countries, and will meet all other requirements for a complementary/supplementary food for 12-18 month old children with MAM and stunting.
Background (brief): The global burden of depression accounts for 2.5% of global DALYs, and in South Asia the estimate is 13.3 % of DALYs per 100,000 populations. Mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have reported higher level of depression than mothers of children with other developmental disorder and the prevalence of ASD is high in Asian countries. In Bangladesh 16% of adults suffer from depression and a recent study conducted in Bangladesh has documented a high prevalence of depression among mothers of children with ASD (45%). Mothers are the life time care givers of children with ASD, and a high burden of depression is likely negatively impact on the ability of the mothers to provide care to children at home. Mental health is not addressed in Bangladesh and there is scarcity of qualified providers. Objectives: The investigators propose to pilot the feasibility of a package intervention including implementation of mental health care and home based training program for the mothers of children with ASD integrated in the regular activities of the special schools that offer ASD care in Dhaka city in Bangladesh. Methods: The study will be conducted in 2 selected special schools over 15 months. In the first stage, the investigators will set up the study in two schools and identify various stakeholders for qualitative assessment of the barriers of implementing the intervention at the institutional level, individual level, family level, provider level, policy maker level and at the level of the state. Research staff will identify mothers 18 years of age or older who has a child with ASD between 3 and 17 years of age enrolled in the school. Following consent, data collector will obtain data and assess current major depressive episode (MDE) of the eligible mothers following a standard diagnostic tool (SCID-I). All mothers diagnosed as having MDE will be invited to participate in the intervention (intervention mothers) and the investigators will assess the performances in children with ASD by applying ASD Diagnostic Check-list (ADCL). In the second stage, investigators will implement interventions over 4-6 months, including (a) implementing mental health care services at the selected schools targeting the intervention mothers, and (b) organizing training sessions of the intervention mothers for supporting child care at home for enhancing child performances. Every month a psychiatrist will visit each school for providing necessary advice and treatment to the intervention mothers or suggest referral to hospital care, if necessary. One special educator will be deployed at each school who will organize structured training sessions for educating the intervention mothers by using BCC materials developed and validated by icddr,b in the local setting. The special educators will conduct multiple group sessions including 5-8 mothers in each group for covering the 6 modules over 2 weeks time, and follow up intervention mothers at home every month for conducting refresher's training, documenting the need of additional training supports, and linking mother with an ASD expert for helping mothers taking a decision. In stage 3, investigators will conduct post intervention qualitative survey with various stakeholders who would be involved with implementing the intervention and participated in the baseline qualitative survey. End line assessment will be conducted of current major depressive episode (MDE) among all mothers and assess the performance of the children of intervention mothers in order to assess the impact of the training at home. Outcome measures/variables: The primary outcome of the study is to assess the feasibility of institutionalizing the combined intervention of mental health care supports and the home based training program of the mothers who would be diagnosed as having major current major depressive episode. The primary outcome will be assessed by obtaining the perspectives of various stakeholders. The following parameters will be assessed for measuring feasibility of the proposed intervention. Acceptability, Adaptability, Demands, Practicality, Implementation, Integration The secondary outcomes will include estimating the impact of the combined interventions on the prevalence rate of maternal depression (MDE), individual performances of children, and cost of intervention. Adaptation of the proposed strategy, if feasible will help the mothers of children with ASD become skilled workforces for filling in the gap of the special educators in resource poor settings, and extension of these services to more children with ASD.