Banh dau xanh (mung bean cake) (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Dishes not only demonstrate the skillfulness and resourcefulness of a
homemaker and special features of each locality, but also reflect the cultural identity of each nation. A country with
tropical agriculture, Vietnam is home to thousands of
unique farm produce that serve as ingredients for a myriad of dishes.
The Eastern land, as Hai Duong was formerly called, has long been famous for its specialities. Once coming here, visitors will never fail to buy Ke Sat dry pancake, Thanh Ha lychee, and especially “banh dau xanh” (mung bean cake) and “banh gai” (glutinous rice cake dyed black with a concoction of pinnate leave) of Ninh Giang township as present for their relatives back home. Those presents themselves can tell tourists about the land they have just visited and the skillfulness of local people since the specialities illustrate this land’s unique cultural identity that can be found nowhere else in Vietnam
Abstract
Central nervous system (CNS) infection is a serious neurologic condition, although the etiology remains unknown in >50% of patients. We used metagenomic next-generation sequencing to detect viruses in 204 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with acute CNS infection who were enrolled from Vietnam hospitals during 2012–2016. We detected 8 viral species in 107/204 (52.4%) of CSF samples. After virus-specific PCR confirmation, the detection rate was lowered to 30/204 (14.7%). Enteroviruses were the most common viruses detected (n = 23), followed by hepatitis B virus (3), HIV (2), molluscum contagiosum virus (1), and gemycircularvirus (1). Analysis of enterovirus sequences revealed the predominance of echovirus 30 (9). Phylogenetically, the echovirus 30 strains belonged to genogroup V and VIIb. Our results expanded knowledge about the clinical burden of enterovirus in Vietnam and underscore the challenges of identifying a plausible viral pathogen in CSF of patients