Dengue has been a public health concern for many years in Malaysia. Having knowledge on the current circulating dengue serotypes and population of vector mosquitoes is key in controlling outbreaks and future outbreak predictions. The current study reports the first study on detecting dengue virus serotypes in the Aedes mosquito population in Sibu and Miri divisions of Sarawak. Mosquito samples were collected at selected localities from September 2016 to December 2017. Localities were selected mainly focussing on urban residential areas. The mosquitoes collected comprises of the field-caught adults and immatures collected from artificial and natural water containers. Collected mosquitoes were identified to species level and screened for the presence of dengue virus using conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) was identified in 3 pools of field-caught female Aedes albopictus adults collected from Jalan Tong Sang, Sibu, Sibu Lake Garden, and Taman Ceria, Permyjaya, Miri, respectively. DENV-2 was also detected in one pool of adult male Ae. albopictus emerged from immatures collected from Taman Ceria, Permyjaya, Miri. The findings in this study revealed that Ae. albopictus was the main species colonizing the study areas, and the current circulating dengue virus serotype was DENV-2. This study also reports the first natural evidence of transovarial transmission of dengue in the natural population of Ae. albopictus within the study area and provides information as reference for further vector-pathogen studies.
The decision by the patients to disclose traditional and complementary medicine (TCM) use to their doctor is an important area to be explored. This study aimed to determine the disclosure of TCM use and its associated factors to medical doctor among primary care clinic attendees in Kuching Division, Sarawak. It was a cross-sectional study using questionnaire, interviewer administered questionnaire. A total of 1130 patients were screened with 80.2% reporting using TCM. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being female (AOR = 3.219, 95% CI: 1.385, 7.481), perceived benefits that TCM can prevent complication of illness (AOR = 3.999, 95% CI: 1.850, 8.644) and that TCM is more gentle and safer (AOR = 4.537, 95% CI: 2.332, 8.828), perceived barriers of not having enough knowledge about TCM (AOR = 0.530, 95% CI: 0.309, 0.910), patient dissatisfaction towards healthcare providers being too business-like and impersonal (AOR = 0.365, 95% CI: 0.199, 0.669) and paying more for healthcare than one can afford (AOR = 0.413, 95% CI: 0.250, 0.680), and accessibility of doctors (AOR = 3.971, 95% CI: 2.245, 7.023) are the predictors of disclosure of TCM use. An open communication between patients and doctor is important to ensure safe implementation and integration of both TCM and medical treatment.
Study site: Klinik kesihatan, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia