{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,13]],"date-time":"2025-11-13T21:59:19Z","timestamp":1763071159812},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,7]],"date-time":"2021-04-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1617753600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title><jats:p>Dire COVID-19 expectations in the Lower Mekong Region (LMR) can be understood as Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam have stared down a succession of emerging infectious disease (EID) threats from neighboring China. Predictions that the LMR would be overwhelmed by a coming COVID-19 tsunami were felt well before the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic had been declared. And yet, the LMR, excepting Myanmar, has proved surprisingly resilient in keeping COVID-19 contained to mostly sporadic cases. Cumulative case rates (per one million population) for the LMR, including or excluding Myanmar, from January 1 to October 31 2020, are 1,184 and 237, respectively. More telling are the cumulative rates of COVID-19\u2013attributable deaths for the same period of time, 28 per million with and six without Myanmar. Graphics demonstrate a flattening of pandemic curves in the LMR, minus Myanmar, after managing temporally and spatially isolated spikes in case counts, with negligible follow-on community spread. The comparable success of the LMR in averting pandemic disaster can likely be attributed to years of preparedness investments, triggered by avian influenza A (H5N1). Capacity building initiatives applied to COVID-19 containment included virological (influenza-driven) surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, field epidemiology training, and vaccine preparation. The notable achievement of the LMR in averting COVID-19 disaster through to October 31, 2020 can likely be credited to these preparedness measures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.20-1499","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,28]],"date-time":"2021-01-28T17:42:23Z","timestamp":1611855743000},"page":"1519-1525","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["The Impact of Preparedness in Defying COVID-19 Pandemic Expectations in the Lower Mekong Region: A Case Study"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"104","author":[{"given":"Andrew","family":"Corwin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"1Global Health Program, Faculty of Public Health, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tanarak","family":"Plipat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2Office of the Deputy-Director General, Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rattanaxay","family":"Phetsouvanh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"3Office of Director-General, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao PDR;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mayfong","family":"Mayxay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"4Institute of Research and Education Development (IRED), University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Lao PDR;"},{"name":"5Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Welcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU), Mahosot Hospital, Vientiane, Lao PDR;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Phonepadith","family":"Xangsayarath","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"6National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology (NCLE), Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Laos PDR;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Le Thi","family":"Quynh Mai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"7National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), Hanoi, Vietnam;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sophal","family":"Oum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"8University of Health Sciences, Phnom Penh, Cambodia;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Md Abdul","family":"Kuddus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"9Department of Mathematics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh;"},{"name":"10Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2795","container-title":["The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/104\/4\/article-p1519.xml","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/downloadpdf\/journals\/tpmd\/104\/4\/article-p1519.xml","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,7]],"date-time":"2021-04-07T12:36:45Z","timestamp":1617799005000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ajtmh.org\/view\/journals\/tpmd\/104\/4\/article-p1519.xml"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,7]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4"},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4269\/ajtmh.20-1499","relation":{},"ISSN":["0002-9637","1476-1645"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0002-9637","type":"print"},{"value":"1476-1645","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,7]]}}}