Krong Chbar Mon

This research aims to help families in Cambodia transition from traditional cooking methods that use wood or charcoal to electric induction stoves. It evaluates the safety, affordability, and long-term sustainability of induction cooking while studying how different strategies encourage households to adopt and regularly use these stoves. The study also investigates whether switching to induction cooking reduces household air pollution, which is linked to serious health problems like heart and respiratory diseases. Participants receive high-quality electric induction cookstoves with two burners and compatible cookware, all equipped with cloud-connected data loggers to track usage. The study is conducted across 65 peri-urban villages using various strategies such as direct sales, subsidies, and community promotion to support stove adoption. Researchers collect data on stove use and household air pollution levels before and after intervention, aiming to understand the costs and benefits of these approaches. Households provide consent and designate a primary cook who participates in the study. Researchers monitor stove use via data loggers and measure air pollution inside homes. Participants also share information through surveys and interviews about their cooking habits and experiences. The study's main outcomes include measuring how many households purchase induction stoves and the proportion of meals cooked without biomass fuels over 18 to 30 months after the intervention.

Vector-borne diseases, caused by bites from infected insects like mosquitoes and ticks, result in nearly one million deaths per year and are increasing, especially in Southeast Asia. In Cambodia, these diseases may account for about 10% of fevers, but many cases go undiagnosed due to limited diagnostic resources. Researchers aim to better understand these illnesses and find new ways to detect and study them using advanced genetic testing methods. The study enrolls people aged 2 months to 65 years who have a fever of at least 38 degrees Celsius, those diagnosed with infections by specific concerning pathogens, and close contacts of those infected. Participants will provide medical history and demographic information, and children will be weighed to ensure safe blood sampling. Blood tests and nasal swabs (for those with respiratory symptoms) are collected to identify pathogens using metagenomic sequencing technologies. If a highly concerning pathogen is found, follow-up samples and testing of close contacts may occur. Participants will answer questionnaires about their health and travel history. They may be contacted for optional follow-up blood and nasal swab samples 1-2 weeks and/or up to 3 months after enrollment. The study monitors the presence of infectious agents to better describe the febrile disease landscape in Cambodia and assess the impact of vector-borne and emerging pathogens using advanced genomic tools.

Researchers are investigating immune responses in people with dengue and sepsis to better understand serious dengue disease. The study will compare blood samples and clinical data from hospitalized patients with dengue-like illness, sepsis patients, and healthy individuals. This observational study aims to reveal how the immune system changes as dengue progresses or improves, focusing on specific immune cells and responses that have not been well studied before. The study will enroll 200 hospitalized patients with dengue-like symptoms, 30 patients with sepsis, and 10 healthy volunteers. Blood samples will be collected from sepsis and dengue patients at enrollment, day 1, and day 3, while dengue patients will have an extra sample taken on day 21. Healthy participants will provide one blood sample at enrollment. This schedule allows researchers to track immune changes over time in different groups. Participants will undergo clinical evaluations and multiple blood collections during the study. Researchers will analyze immune cells, cytokines, and other markers to compare mild/moderate and severe dengue cases and sepsis. Key outcomes include measuring certain neutrophil types, immune enzyme levels, and protein expression from enrollment through day 3. The study will last through these sample collections, with no mention of long-term follow-up beyond day 21 for dengue patients.