The Sero-Prevalence and Genetic Study for the Infectious Diseases and Metabolic Syndrome in Solomon Islands

KMUH plan a series of medical services to Solomon Islands with the expectation that the health and medical standard in Solomon Islands can be improved by medical interaction and the use of high-tech medical instruments. By collecting data from Solomon Islands, KMUH can better understand the health needs, the characteristics of diseases, and the basic health information of Solomon Islanders so that the strategies and the operation goals for further improvement will be more explicit for KMUH's medical teams.

The medical service and study project can be divided into two parts: (1) health screening for the community and (2) clinical diagnosis and treatment for patients at NRH. The health screening includes a questionnaire, stool parasitic screening and blood laboratory tests. In the questionnaire, height, weight, waist line, health behavior and habit, and past history are investigated. In the laboratory tests, parasite screening, Malaria rapid check, Flavivirus including dengue virus and Japanese virus, the seroprevalence of Rickettsia, HIV test, Diabetes, gout, cardiovascular risk factors, and fungal infection are included. A total of 800 subjects will participate in this study. The collected samples are venous blood (20ml/per subject) and stool in order to conduct the related tests mentioned above.

As for the collection of target patients, KMUH will cooperate with NRH in the Solomon islands to collect two kinds of blood samples: the blood samples of confirmed malarial cases and those of cases suspicious of Flaviviral, Rickettsial,and Leptospiral infections. The expected received cases are 600 each year. The blood samples of confirmed malarial cases will be used for pathogen identification and drug resistance analysis. The blood samples suspicious of Flaviviral(dengue virus, Japanese encephalitis virus), Alpha-viral(Chikungunya virus, Ross river virus), Rickettsial, and Leptospiral infections will be used for the following tests of either one, including ICT (immuno- chromatographic test) rapid test, ELISA, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and the isolation and identification of pathogens. The venous blood samples (20ml/per subject) will be used to conduct related tests mentioned above. At the same time, the subjects will also have to fill out a related questionnaire which includes height, weight, waist line, heath behavior and habit, and past history, etc. For the confirmed malarial cases, the frequency of blood drawing will start from the diagnosed day, and the 3rd, the 7th , the 14th, the 21st , and the28th days after treatment, with total six times sampling. The blood samples will be used to identify malaria pathogen types and conduct drug resistance analysis.

Inclusion criteria

• For community participants: Health volunteers who are willing to join this study (including the stool and blood testing) after explanation and sign the informed consents.
• For hospital cases: The patients ,who were suspicious of malaria, leptospirosis, Alpha-viral(Chikungunya virus, Ross river virus), and flavivirus infections (dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis..ect) by the attending physicians, will be informed about this study by drawing blood samples if they agree to participate.

Exclusion criteria

• The participants whose stool or blood samples were in-adequate or missing will be excluded from this study.
• The participants whose documented personal information is fake or cannot be identifiable will also be excluded from this study.