The objectives of this study is to evaluate subjective symptoms and neurobehavioral performances among workers exposed to lead and its relation with blood lead levels. The methodology of this study was restricted to 141 Malaysian battery manufacturing factories male workers with mean (SD) age of 35.2 (9.6) years, years of employment 9.1 (7.1), current blood lead concentration 40.5 (16.8) μg/dl were given WHO neurobehavioral core test battery. Results showed that highly exposed group blood lead level (high ≥ 40 μg/dl) performed less well in 4 of 13 responses reported higher subjective symptoms of weakness of lower limbs and anorexia. Significant correlation was found between blood lead and Digit Symbol, Digit Forward, Digit Backward, Aiming Pursuit Test and Trail B. Regression analysis showed reduction in cognitive, memory and concentration functions at ≤ 30 μg/dl blood lead levels with maximum lead effect at Digit symbol’s score at 40 μg/dl. In conclusion, this study is consistent with the larger body of neurobehavioral tests in lead exposure and has proven the ability of these tests in detecting low level of lead toxicity.
A descriptive study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of Blastocystis hominis in children aged between 1-12 years old from randomly selected villages in Alor Gajah district Melaka. The sampling was carried out from 1st to 7th of July of 2006. A total of 48 faecal samples were obtained from the children in those studied villages. The faecal specimens were examined by direct saline wet moun, formalin ethyl acetate concentration and trichrome staining method. It was found that 45.8% (22 out of 48) of the examined children were infected with Blastocystis hominis . Based on the results, the cumulative prevalence of three methods used showed that Blastocystis hominis infection in female children higher compared to male children. Whilst the schooling children aged of 6 to 12 years had a higher prevalence than pre school children at the age of 1-5 years. In term of diagnosis, formalin ethyl acetate concentration method showed prevalence of detection at 60.9%. It was followed by direct saline wet mount (43.5%) and trichrome staining at 34.8%.
A food premise’s sanitation level can be reflected by the cleanliness of its food contact surfaces. Contaminated food
contact surfaces along with poor handling methods by food handlers may increase the risk of foodborne diseases
through cross-contamination events. This study aimed to assess the microbiological contamination levels on food contact
surfaces of 12 residential college cafeterias in a local university and its correlation with the cafeteria’s premise grade.
The presence of selected indicator and pathogenic microorganisms (total viable count (TVC), total coliform, Escherichia
coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Shigella spp.) on food contact surfaces were also determined. Cutting
boards, knives and utensils (cutleries, bowls and plates) that were used for ready-to-eat food were sampled for this study.
The cafeteria’s premise grade was obtained based on the food premise inspection report by the university Health Centre.
Three cafeterias have significantly higher (p < 0.05) bacterial counts (TVC) as compared to the international standard (1
log CFU/cm2
). E. coli was only found in 2 cafeterias while Salmonella spp. was only detected on 7 of the cafeterias. Cutting
boards were identified as the most contaminated food contact surface whereas utensils were the least contaminated. There
was only a weak correlation between the microbiological levels on food contact surfaces and the cafeteria’s inspection
grade (r = 0.02 p > 0.01). This study demonstrated that the sanitation level of food contact surfaces in the residential
college cafeterias was only average. Improvements need to be done to increase the sanitation level of the cafeterias, thus
assuring the safety of the food for consumers.
Substantial studies reported musculoskeletal disorders among the working population in the developed country, however, a limited number of studies were conducted in Malaysia. The objective of this cross sectional study was to determine the physical activity risk factors for low back pain among automotive workers in Selangor. Modified Risk Factors Questionnaire (RFQ) was used to assess physical activity with the occurrence of low back pain. The significant physical activities associated with the 12 months point prevalence are lifting weight (
Dengue fever is considered as one of the most common mosquito borne diseases worldwide. Dengue outbreak detection can be very useful in terms of practical efforts to overcome the rapid spread of the disease by providing the knowledge to predict the next outbreak occurrence. Many studies have been conducted to model and predict dengue outbreak using different data mining techniques. This research aimed to identify the best features that lead to better predictive accuracy of dengue outbreaks using three different feature selection algorithms; particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA) and rank search (RS). Based on the selected features, three predictive modeling techniques (J48, DTNB and Naive Bayes) were applied for dengue outbreak detection. The dataset used in this research was obtained from the Public Health Department, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The experimental results showed that the predictive accuracy was improved by applying feature selection process before the predictive modeling process. The study also showed the set of features to represent dengue outbreak detection for Malaysian health agencies.
Introduction It is well known that low back pain among working population is a global
problem throughout the world. However, the current situation of occupational
low back pain in Malaysia is still vague due to limited number of studies
conducted locally.
Objective A cross sectional study was conducted among three automotive industry
workers in Selangor, Malaysia from October 2010 to April 2011.
Methods This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors of low back pain
among automotive industry workers performing manual material handling
tasks using self-administered questionnaire survey.
Results A modified Standardised Nordic Questionnaire was used to assess low back
pain problem, to obtain personal and psychosocial risk factors information.
The prevalence of low back pain showed increment in the point prevalence of
57.9%, 49.5%, and 35.1 % for 12 months, one month, and of 7 days
respectively. Working hour, frequency of overtime, stress at work, work
pace, and faster movement were found to be significantly associated with the
12 months prevalence for low back pain.
Conclusions This finding indicates that psychosocial risk factors are associated to the
occurrence of low back pain.
Air pollution has been widely known to have an influence on health of the general population.
Air pollution can result from natural causes, human activities and transboundary air pollution.
Weather and climate play crucial role in determining the pattern of air quality. In recent years,
air pollution and recurrent episodes of haze has become a major concern in Malaysia.
Surveillance data on concentrations of main air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, (CO2),
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM10)
were found to be higher during the haze days and this may have an impact on health of the
community as reflected by an increase in hospital admissions particularly the respiratory and
cardiovascular diseases.
Dengue is a disease propagated by vectors namely Aedes spp. mosquitoes. One of the effective approaches to control dengue is through integrated vector management and intervention programs. COMBI or Communication for Behavioral Impact is a strategic approach to control the Aedes population as well as dengue cases. This study was conducted at Taman Desa Kolej, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, an suburban residential area to determine the effectiveness of COMBI, by using questionnaire and entomological survey as well as implementation of an intervention program. We carried out activities such as the establishment of COMBI promoter team, clean up events, talk shows with the residential community and distributed pamphlets containing information about dengue. Results indicated significant difference (p
Kajian ekologi nyamuk merupakan kajian yang penting dalam merangka sesuatu aktiviti kawalan penyakit bawaan nyamuk. Satu kajian ekologi nyamuk Aedes telah dijalankan di Senawang, Negeri Sembilan dari Julai 2009 hingga Febuari 2010. Senawang terletak di pinggir bandaraya Seremban yang merupakan kawasan perindustrian kecil dan sederhana dengan jumlah penduduk yang padat. Kajian ekologi vektor ini bertujuan menentukan komposisi nyamuk secara keseluruhan terutamanya kepadatan populasi Aedes, masa kemuncak gigitan nyamuk, mengenal pasti kehadiran tempat pembiakan nyamuk dan menentukan hubung kait antara nyamuk Aedes dengan faktor persekitarannya seperti suhu, kelembapan relatif, halaju angin dan curahan hujan. Pensampelan nyamuk Aedes menggunakan empat kaedah iaitu perangkap cahaya (CDC), tangkapan nyamuk berumpan kaki (BLC), ovitrap dan kajian Aedes. Terdapat dua spesies nyamuk di lokasi kajian yang didominasi oleh Ae. albopictus (93.29%) dan Ae. aegypti (0.11%). Terdapat dua masa kemuncak gigitan nyamuk Ae. albopictus iaitu awal pagi (0700-0900 pagi) dan lewat petang (jam 1700-1900). Suhu persekitaran, kelembapan relatif dan kelajuan angin didapati mempunyai kaitan dengan gigitan nyamuk Aedes pada perumah (p < 0.05). Taburan hujan didapati tidak mempunyai hubungan dengan kepadatan nyamuk Aedes (r = -0.137, n =6 , p > 0.05). Kepadatan nyamuk Ae. albopictus adalah tinggi di lokasi kajian dengan Indeks Ovitrap 100% bagi kesemua stesen. Kajian Aedes mendapati daripada 30 bekas yang positif larva, 93.33% daripadanya didominasi oleh Ae. albopictus. Kajian ini menunjukkan kepadatan Ae. albopictus adalah tinggi dan berpotensi membawa penyakit demam denggi dan chikungunya di lokasi kajian. Penjagaan persekitaran perlu ditekankan kepada masyarakat setempat untuk mengawal penyebaran penyakit-penyakit tersebut.
Penyakit denggi merupakan penyakit bawaan vektor yang menjadi salah satu ancaman utama kesihatan awam di Malaysia. Pemetaan taburan kes denggi daripada aspek reruang-masa boleh menjadi kaedah yang berguna dalam menilai risiko denggi kepada masyarakat. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk memetakan taburan reruang dan reruang-masa kes-kes denggi di dalam daerah Seremban, dijalankan dengan Sistem Maklumat Geografi (GIS) khususnya analisis reruang dan reruang-masa. Analisis taburan reruang menggunakan Indeks Moran, purata kejiranan terdekat (ANN) dan anggaran kepadatan Kernel. Analisis reruang-masa ditentukan dengan indeks kekerapan, jangka masa dan intensiti untuk mengenal pasti kawasan berisiko denggi mengikut masa. Sejumlah 6076 kes denggi dicatatkan di Pejabat Kesihatan Daerah Seremban dari tahun 2003 hingga 2009. Kadar insiden denggi adalah tinggi pada tahun 2003, 2008 dan 2009 dengan nisbah denggi : denggi berdarah adalah 21.6:1. Indeks Moran menunjukkan kes denggi berlaku dalam pengelompokan dengan skor Z adalah 16.384 (p=0.000). Analisis ANN dengan 0.264 (p= 0.000) dengan purata jarak insiden antara kes denggi di dalam kawasan kejiranan adalah 55 m. Anggaran kepadatan Kernel menunjukkan lokasi kawasan panas kes denggi tertumpu di Nilai dan Ampangan. Analisis reruang masa dengan purata nilai tertinggi indeks kekerapan, jangka masa dan intensiti masing-masing melebihi 0.023, 0.614 dan 0.657 di kawasan berisiko tinggi denggi di Nilai, Seremban dan Ampangan. Pengawalan denggi perlu diberi tumpuan kepada kawasan berisiko tinggi ini.