Another award recipient this year is Dr Wandee Varavithya of the Paediatrics Department at Ramathibodi Hospital, She was credited for her outstanding research on the oral feeding of salt-sugar solution to cure acute childhood diarrhoea.

The Network consists of two laboratories. One, at Bangkok's Mahidol University, is led by Dr Prida Malasit of the Molecular Biology Unit at Siriraj Hospital's Faculty of Medicine. The other, at Chiang Mai University, is led by Dr Nopporn Sittisombut of the Faculty of Medicine's Microbiology Department and Dr Watchara Kasinrerk of the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences' Clinical Immunology Department.

The Network studied dengue viruses transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to humans, mostly children aged five to nine. Prida said there was no preventive vaccine for the disease, which can cause a patient to go into shock and die if not treated rapidly.

The researchers discovered a way to detect non-structural protein NS1 - created by dengue viruses and released into blood vessels - during the period that children suffered with high fever in the first 1-4 days after infection, he said.

The protein-detection method could be developed into an early diagnosis to determine if a child was suffering from severe dengue fever - and thus prevent shock, Prida said.

The method - proven successful in lab trials - is currently being developed into a strip-test kit for wider usage, he said. If it succeeds, the test kit would be the first of its kind, he said.

Currently, dengue fever diagnosis is done by looking for the antibody created by the patient's immune system to fight invading viruses. This can only be done after a lapse into shock, or 5-7 days after infection.

"Our method can figure it out before children go into shock. This discovery can be regarded as the first in the world," Prida said.

The Network's diagnosis method has obtained a patent in Thailand and is currently in the patent application process in Germany and the United States.

The disease is a major health problem in Thailand. Last year there were 46,829 recorded cases with 59 deaths.

Award recipient Wandee said she had discovered a salt-sugar formula to re-hydrate children with acute diarrhoea, by mixing 0.7 grams of salt and 10 grams of sugar (two teaspoons) into a glass of water.

Previously, acute diarrhoea patients were treated by intravenous saline drips, which often failed to re-hydrate them fast enough.

Mayuree     Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation