Professor of Microbiology and Immunology Dr Narisara Chantratita is involved in both teaching and research. She teaches students from the Diploma, MSc and PhD courses at the Bangkok School of Tropical Medicine and is the Principal Investigator on two current melioidosis projects.
In her research she works with international colleagues from the University of Washington, USA and the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit as well as having strong connection to the Thai research community.
Her primary research area is melioidosis, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. She is especially interested in the development of improved methods of diagnosis and treatment for this neglected tropical disease.
While melioidosis infections have taken place all over the world, Southeast Asia and northern Australia are the areas in which it is primarily found. In the United States, the bacteria that causes melioidosis has been identified in Mississippi, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In 2022, an investigation by state partners and CDC discovered the bacteria that causes melioidosis, B. pseudomallei, in the environment in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi. This was the first time B. pseudomallei was detected in the continental United States. It is unclear how long B. pseudomallei has been in the environment and where else it may be found in the U.S.; however, modeling suggests that the environmental conditions found in the Gulf Coast States are conducive to its growth.
Reference : Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)