The Section of Bacterial Infections pays special attention to emerging and reemerging bacterial diseases that are prevalent or are broken out in Asian countries. We study the molecular epidemiology of enteric or systemic bacterial infections. Moreover, in collaboration with the National Institute of Health, Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, we develop detection and identification techniques for the diagnosis of bacterial diseases.
It has been reported that pneumonia, tuberculosis, and acute diarrheal diseases are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates in Thailand. Consequently, in the Program of Promotion of Research Network for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases during the 2010-2014 fiscal years, we prioritize research on enteric infectious diseases in Thailand that are caused by Vibirio cholerae and diarrheagenic E. coli.
In addition, Streptococcus suis, which is generally pathogenic and frequently isolated from diseased pigs, has been found to cause several systemic (zoonotic) infectious diseases in humans, namely meningitis, infective endocarditis, and toxic shock-like syndrome. This has mainly been observed in Asian countries, including Northern Thailand. We survey this emerging zoonotic infection closely, and elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of S. suis infections.
Cholera surveillance in the border of Thailand and Myanmar