The Collaboration has given the first objective descriptions in Laos of melioidosis, typhoid, scrub and murine typhus and spotted fever, sporotrichosis, Cryptococcal meningitis, Japanese encephalitis virus infection, hepatitis E and the occupational hazards of inland fisherman, such as Edwardsiella tarda and Aeromonas hydrophilia septicaemias.

We have demonstrated that the antibiotic resistance patterns of Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (the cause of typhoid) isolated in Laos are different from those in adjacent countries. Unlike adjoining Vietnam and Thailand the organisms are mostly sensitive to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and co-trimoxazole.

Data from our description of the causes, and organism sensitivity pattern, of community-acquired septicaemia have been used to develop the nationally endorsed first evidence-based antibiotic policy for Laos.

Infantile beri-beri is a largely forgotten disease, caused by inadequate vitamin B1 (thiamin) intake of breastfeeding mothers. It appears to be a major cause of infant death in Laos and we are therefore investigating risk factors for clinical and cryptic beriberi, estimating the prevalence of biochemical thiamine deficiency in different areas of Laos and developing rapid tests for the diagnosis of this lethal condition.

We co-ordinate an infectious disease consultancy service at the hospital and manage the long term follow up of patients with rickettsial disease and melioidosis as a clinical service and to document the incidence of relapse/reinfection for these diseases.

The new Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust-Oxford Infectious Disease Centre, kindly funded by the Wellcome Trust, was opened in March 2008. This is a national centre for clinical care, research and training in infectious disease. It is equipped with a 30 bed ward, including a high dependency unit and isolation rooms, serology, molecular medicine laboratories and a Biosecurity Level 3 laboratory for rickettsial and viral culture.