METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted of patients attending the following 4 health care services: medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and chiropractic. The study ran from July to November 2018. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and reported using descriptive statistics. Variables included demographic characteristics and awareness of the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2016 (Act 775).
RESULTS: We obtained 440 responses, 186 (42.3%) from men and 254 (57.7%) from women, with ages ranging from 18 to 81 years. The majority of respondents (97.3%) were Malaysian from the non-Malay ethnic group. Almost half (47.5%) of the respondents had a bachelor's degree. The awareness of the traditional and complementary medicine law governing chiropractic was low (4.8%). Binary logistic regression revealed marital status as the only significant predictor of awareness of the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act, with married individuals showing higher awareness (adjusted odds ratio: 2.77; 95% CI, 1.38-5.58).
CONCLUSION: For this sample of adults, the awareness of the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2016 governing chiropractic was found to be low. As the regulation of chiropractic is still new in Malaysia and other Asian countries, efforts are needed to increase public awareness to ensure the safety and quality of chiropractic services.
METHODS: A total of 394 nasopharyngeal swabs were collected prospectively from children age 0-5 years old with ARTIs from hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. Respiratory viral panel (RVP) assay was used to identify the viral aetiology of respiratory infections.
RESULTS: From a total of 394 samples, the positive detection rate was 79.9% (n=315). A total of 15 types of RNA viruses and a single type of DNA virus were detected. Enterovirus/rhinovirus (n=112, 28.4%), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (n=85, 21.6%), adenovirus (n=64, 16.2%), human bocavirus (n=34, 8.6%), and human metapneumovirus (n=29, 7.4%) were the five predominant viruses. Enterovirus/rhinovirus and RSV constituted most of the viral respiratory infections among young children, especially among children less than 1 year old. No coronavirus was detected among children between 3 and 5 years old. Co-infection caused by 2 or 3 respiratory viruses were detected in 52 patients (13.2%). Enterovirus/rhinovirus, adenovirus, and human bocavirus demonstrated pronounced seasonality. The infection rate peaked during mid-year, while the lowest activity occurred during early of the year.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of molecular assay as a routine diagnostic in the hospitals can improve the diagnosis and management of respiratory tract infections among children.