Albendazole, a benzimidazole derivative, was administered as a single dose of either 400 mg or 600 mg to two groups to ascertain the efficacy, tolerance and safety of the regimens. At a dose of 400 mg, a cure rate 35/36 (97%) against Ascaris was found. At 600 mg, the cure rate was 21/30 (70%), significantly lower than the 400 mg rate. Against Trichuris, albendazole at 400 mg had a cure rate of 21/48 (44%), at 600 mg there was a cure rate of 29/43 (67%). Mild side effects were noted in 7 individuals. Whether the moderate increase in efficacy against Trichuris and the loss of efficacy against Ascaris improves the cost:benefit ratio must be left to the prescriber of the drug.
The high morbidity and mortality caused by smoking is a major public health problem today. Smoking prevention has been acknowledged and identified as a long-term measure to overcome this problem. This is a longitudinal knowledge; attitude and practice (KAP) study among form five students over l year. The response rate at follow‘up was 251/337 (74.5 %). The smoking prevalence changed after 1 year (from 29.7% to 26. 7%) after one year. The male to female smoking rates were 52.1% to 3.1% respectively. Students who smoke were found to have a positive attitude as well as poor knowledge of the risks of smoking. The initiation risk factors identified were being male and having a friend who smokes Positive peer influence also contributed to smoking cessation after a period of one year. Holistic measures that stress on micro macro and approaches such as health education programe to enhance knowledge of smoking hazards and community participation ( cooperation of school, family and community member) should be fomtulated in order to reduce initiation of smoking among the adolescents. Quit smoking programmes must also be readily available.
Peningkatan mutu penjagaan kesihatan menyaksikan peningkatan populasi wargatua di Malaysia. Antara gejab yang menjejaskan taraf kesihatan wargatua adalah rnorbiditi akibat amalan merokok. Meskipun pelbagai kajian tentang merokok telah dijalankan di negara ini, namun ttclak banyak yang berkaitan dengan amalan merokok di kalangan wargatua di Malaysia. Perbezaan faktor sosio ekonomi dan pengetahuan tentang amalan merolook di kalangan 850 responden lelaki berusia 60 tahun dan ke atas yang mengambil bahagian di dalam kajian peringkat kebangsaan sempena Kempen Cara Hidup Sihat 2002 dikaji. Maklumat tentang status merokok, pengetahuan dan sikap diperolehi melalui temubual bersemuka menggunakan borang soal selidik berstruktur. Prevalen merokok di kalangan responden adalah 39.2%. Prevalen diclapati paling tinggi di kalangan golongan bertaraf sosio ekonomirendah. Pengetahuan tentang bahaya amalan merokok berbeza mengikut status perokok. Perokok mempunyai pengetahuan yang lebih rendah, sikap yang lebih negatif tentang amalan merokok serta tanggapan risiko penyakit akibat amalan merokok yang lebih rentlah berbanding dengan bekas perokok dan yang tidak pemah rnerokok. Amalan merokok merupakan masalah yang masih membelenggu wargatua lelaki di negara ini. Prevalen merokok di kalangan wargatua Malaysia pada kadar 39 .2% adalah birth tinggi jikidibandingkanhdengan Amerika Syarikat (12%) dan China (26%). Program anti merokok yang mementingkan peningkatan pengetahuan dan sokongan kepada mereka yang ingin berhenti merokok dasar wargatua. Ini untuk meningkatkan kualiti kehidupan wargatua dengan mencegah penyakit kronik berkaitan dengan merokok.
An analysis was carried out on a total of 883 cold chain monitor (CCM) cards, which had been attached to batches of poliomyelitis, measles, DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) and hepatitis B vaccines, during their transport and storage from the central store in Kuala Lumpur to Kelantan, a state in north-eastern Malaysia; 234 freeze watches attached to hepatitis B vaccines were also analysed. The monitor cards and freeze watches were observed at six levels between the central store and the periphery during distribution of the vaccines, and a colour change in any of the four windows (A, B, C, D) on the CCM cards or the freeze watches was recorded. In addition, 33 unopened vials of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), collected from refrigerators in 29 health facilities in Kelantan, were tested for potency using the tissue culture infective dose 50 (TCID50) method; 14 of them (42%) did not meet the WHO criteria for potent vaccines. The results showed that at the final destination 13.4% of all cards remained white while a colour change to blue was observed in 65% in window A, 16.6% in window B, and 4.4% in window C; none had turned blue in window D indicating that the vaccine had not been subjected to temperatures > or = 34 degrees C for 2 hours. All but 2 of the 234 freeze watches had turned purple, which indicates exposure of the hepatitis B vaccines to temperatures below 0 degree C. These results will assist health planners to correct the weaknesses identified in the cold chain system.
A total of 1131 Police Field Force personnel were screened serologically for schistosomiasis in Malaysia. A total of 150 (13.3%) were tested positive or borderline. Stool samples from 75 of these cases were however all negative for schistosome eggs. This survey suggests that Police Field Force personnel may be agents for propagating the schistosome life cycle in Malaysia.
The Students' Resilience and Interpersonal Skills Development Education (STRIDE) is a preventive drug education programme. The rational of this programme is that preventive drug education has to begin early in age, before the development of social attitudes and behaviour of students. A pre and a post intervention surveys were performed to evaluate the impact of this programme. Nine schools from three states were identified to participate in the intervention. These schools were selected based on their locations in high-drug-use areas (where the prevalence of drug use exceeds 0.5% of the student population). The new intervention curriculum was put into practice for three months in the nine schools. The overall scores obtained by each respondent to assess their knowledge on drugs and its implications were analysed. The results showed that the programme made a positive impact from the pre to post intervention programme by using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test (p < 0.05). A high percentage of the questions showed significant evidence through the McNemar matched pair Chi-Squared test with Bonferonni correction that there were positive shifts in the answers by comparing the pre and post intervention results (p < 0.05). Recommendations have been discussed with the Ministry of Education to integrate this programme into the national primary school curriculum.
This study aims to determine the level of knowledge and to understand their attitude towards smoking and secondly to determine how sociodemographic background, smoking status and knowledge on the health risks of smoking contribute toward the development of such attitude. A total of 10,545 respondents age 18 years and above across Malaysia were interviewed. Results indicated that level of knowledge and attitude varied by gender, education level, smoking status, age, ethnicity and smoker category. Smokers' low education, poor knowledge on the dangers of smoking and being males had more positive or greater impact on their attitudes towards smoking. Formulation and implementation of a holistic programme aimed at increasing knowledge and attitude change that accounts for sociodemographic background of the population is recommended in order to bring down smoking rates and thus reduce smoking related health problems in this country.
Rodents were collected from five wet markets (Chow Kit, Dato Keramat, Setapak, Jinjang and Kepong) in Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory between March to April 2006. Ninety seven rats were trapped using wire traps measuring 29 x 22 x 50 cm baited with fruits, coconuts, dried fish or sweet potatoes. A total of 17 different species of parasites were identified from three species of rats out of which 11 (65%) were identified to be zoonotic. The helminths identified from the urban rats were nematodes- Capillaria hepatica, Gongylonema neoplasticum, Heterakis spumosa, Heterakis sp., Masterphorus muris, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, Physolaptera sp., Pterogodermatis sp., Rictularia tani and Syphacia muris; cestodes- Hymenolepis nana, Hymenolepis diminuta, Hymenolepis sabnema, Hymenolepis sp., Raillietina sp. and Taenia taeniaeformis, and acanthocephalan- Moniliformis moniliformis. The following parasites are of potential medical importance: C. hepatica, G. neoplasticum, R. tani, S. muris, H. diminuta, H. nana, Raillietina sp. and T. taeniaeformis.
Mesosomes of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 treated with antibiotics were examined morphologically under the electron microscope. The Transmission Electron Microscope Rapid Method was used to eliminate the artifacts due to sample processing. Mesosomes were seen in all the antibiotic treated bacteria and not in the control group. The main factor that contributes to the formation of mesosomes in the bacteria was the mode of action of the antibiotics. The continuous cytoplasmic membrane with infolding (mesosomes) as in the S. aureus ATCC 25923 is therefore confirmed as a definite pattern of membrane organization in gram positive bacteria assaulted by amikacin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin and oxacillin antibiotics. Our preliminary results show oxacillin and vancomycin treated bacteria seemed to have deeper and more mesosomes than those treated with amikacin, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Further research is needed to ascertain whether the deep invagination and the number of mesosomes formed is associated with the types of antibiotic used.
Smoking among adolescent is a public health concern in Malaysia. Multiple studies on smoking prevalence and its related factors have been conducted in Malaysia, however, they were specific to either urban or rural areas alone. Studies in mixed settlement areas (urban, rural, land development area) had not been intensively investigated. This study reports the prevalence, demographic and factors related to smoking amongst form four students in the district of Kota Tinggi, Johor. A cross-sectional study of 16-year old secondary school students in Kota Tinggi district was conducted using two-stage stratified, proportionate sampling in July 2005. The study instrument used was a validated structured questionnaire on smoking and its related factors. Smoking prevalence was found to be 29.7%. More than 50% of male students were smokers. Prevalence was highest in FELDA (Federal Land Development Authority) settlement areas. Smoking was associated with having a brother or friend who smokes and poor academic performance. The study revealed that smoking prevalence was high, especially among male students in land development schemes. This situation will contribute to high smoking-related health problems in the future if proper preventive measures are not taken accordingly.
A hospital-based case-control study of viral encephalitis was carried out at Port Dickson Hospital, in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Between March and May 1999, 69 clinically diagnosed viral encephalitis cases and 31 controls were interviewed. Job histories on pig farming activities were assessed by a group of epidemiologists and veterinary surgeons. Results show that among clinical cases of viral encephalitis, 52 (75.4%) cases were diagnosed to have Nipah virus infection based on positive serology for antibodies to the cross-reacting Hendra virus antigen. The Nipah virus encephalitis was significantly associated with a history of working in pig farms (p < 0.001, OR = 196.0, 95% CI = 20.4-4741.6), history of contact with animals (p < 0.001, OR = 38.3, 95% CI = 8.2-209.0) and with history of direct contact with pigs (p = 0.002, OR = 34.4, 95% CI = 2.6-1,024.4). The Nipah virus infection was also significantly associated with history of feeding/cleaning pigs (p < 0.001, OR = 102, 95% CI = 11.9-2,271.5). These results provide evidence that involvement in pig farming activities is significantly associated with the risk of getting Nipah virus infection. They are potential risk factors for Nipah virus transmission in the major pig-producing area of Bukit Pelandok, Port Dickson Negeri Sembilan.