Giardiasis, a gastrointestinal disease caused by Giardia intestinalis is endemic in Malaysia. The prevalence rate has been reported to range from 1.4% to 11.1%. The present study was undertaken between 1992-1994 in three health districts in three states viz. Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Selangor. Seven thousand five hundred and fifty seven (7557) primary school children between the ages of 6-12 years from the lower socio-economic groups were screened. The prevalence was 0.21%. The study suggests that improved water supply, toilet facilities and sanitation have lowered the prevalence of a waterborne disease in the areas surveyed.
An outbreak of Chikugunya (CHIK) fever occurred among the fishing community in Bagan Pancor, Perak. The outbreak was laboratory confirmed within 48 hours after the receipt of the specimens. Fifty-three patients' serum samples were submitted for laboratory investigation and 47 (88.7%) were confirmed to be positive for CHIK infection by RT-PCR, and/or virus isolation, and/or in-house immunoflourescent test. RT-PCR and virus isolation were the tests of choice for patients with illness of four days or less and detection of CHIK specific IgM for those with more than four days of fever. The nucleic acid sequence based on the 354- and 294-bp of the nsP1 and E1 genes of the CHIK virus detected from pools of adults Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were identical to those CHIKV virus isolated from humans in the same locality. Phylogenetic analysis of the CHIK virus based on the 257 nts partial E1 gene indicates that Bagan Panchor's strain was closely related to the first CHIK virus isolated during the outbreak in Klang in 1998.