Toxoplasmosis, caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, is widespread throughout the world. The disease is of major medical and veterinary importance, being a cause of congenital disease and abortion in humans and in domestic animals.[1] In addition, it has gained importance recently due to toxoplasma encephalitis in AIDS patients.[2] T. gondii was discovered 100 years ago. Its identification was rapidly followed by the recognition that it was a human pathogen. During the past 100 years, the spectrum of diseases caused by this ubiquitous pathogen has expanded to include both congenital and acute infections as well as the recognition of diseases caused by this pathogen in the immune-compromised host. Recent data on behavioural changes in animals due to chronic toxoplasmosis is leading to research on the effect of this pathogen on the behaviour of humans.[3] Experimental studies on T. gondii have resulted in it becoming a model organism for studies on host pathogen interactions. Integration of clinical and experimental data on T. gondii should continue to lead to important insights into improvements in diagnosis for clinical management and vaccine development for control of toxoplasmosis.
Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases worldwide considering that 40% of the world’s population live in health risk areas and millions of febrile episodes due to malaria infection occur annually in children under the age of five in Africa alone and almost 3 million patients, primarily children, die each year. Among the various measures envisaged, to contain the disease, the concept of a vaccine to protect humans against malaria appears particularly attractive. The development of an effective malaria vaccine represents one of the most important approaches to provide cost-effective intervention, in addition to currently available malaria control strategies. Here, we review malaria as a public health problem and the status and promise in malaria vaccine development.
Kajian ini dilakukan untuk menentukan prevalens jangkitan Trichomonas vaginalis, di kalangan wanita yang berumur 20 hingga 59 tahun di Hospital Umum Sarawak melalui pemeriksaan ke atas lumuran Pap lazim. Prevalens jangkitan ini dikaji di kalangan lima kumpulan etnik utama iaitu kaum Iban, Cina, Melayu, Bidayuh dan Orang Ulu. Penyaringan dijalankan pada lumuran Pap lazim ke atas 300 sampel slaid yang telah diproses dan dicelup menggunakan pencelup Papanicolaou. Berdasarkan maklumat pada borang permohonan penyaringan lumuran Pap, tanda dan gejala jangkitan diambil kira sebagai petunjuk penting semasa penyaringan kerana melalui tanda dan gejala jangkitan, lumuran Pap mempunyai hubungan yang rapat kepada ciri-ciri gambaran sitomorfologi jangkitan yang berlaku ke atas sel epitelial sekiranya ianya mengalami jangkitan. Kategori umur untuk setiap golongan etnik juga dijadikan sebagai salah satu faktor pengukur bagi menilai tahap kekerapan jangkitan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan trikomoniasis mencatatkan jangkitan sebanyak 7.7% kes. Jangkitan berlaku pada kesemua kumpulan etnik dan lebih kerap ditemui pada golongan umur 20 hingga 29 tahun. Kesemua kes turut menunjukkan tanda dan gejala jangkitan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan kepentingan menjalani ujian lumuran Pap sebagai ujian mengesan jangkitan Trikomonas vaginalis selain saringan awal pengesanan kanser serviks.
A four-month cross-sectional study found five species of parasitoids parasitizing puparia of filth flies breeding at the Taman Beringin landfill in Kepong and a poultry farm in Sungai Pelek, Sepang, Selangor. Effect of monthly rainfalls towards density of flies and percentage of parasitoids emerging from collected puparia were also analyzed. Spalangia sp. was the most common, consisting of Spalangia endius Walker, S. cameroni Perkins and S. gemina Boucek. Other parasitoids collected were Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae Rondani and Exoristobia phillipinensis Ashmead. The parasitized fly hosts were Musca domestica Linn. and Chrysomya megacephala Fabricius. S. endius was the most common parasitoid attacking M. domestica at both locations. M. domestica was the most common fly found at the Sg. Pelek poultry farm whereas C. megacephala was the most numerous at the Taman Beringin landfill. During heavy rainfall month of November 2003, density of flies were high whereas the emerging parasitoids were low at both landfill and poultry farm. The present study revealed the endemic presence of parasitoids especially S. endius in both poultry farm and garbage landfill and the potential of the parasitoid species in fly control in Malaysia.
Dichloromethane and methanolic extracts of each plant were tested for their antiplasmodial activity on chloroquineresistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum (FCB strain), based on lactate dehydrogenase activity. Cytotoxicity was assessed with the MTT test on MRC-5 human diploid embryonic lung cells. Most extracts of ten selected plants used in Malay traditional medicine in Malaysia had activity in vitro. This supports continued investigations of traditional medicine in the search for new antimalarial agent. The compounds responsible for the observed antiplasmodial effects are under investigation.
The anatomical structures of the first, second and third instars of Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) were examined by light microscopy. Observations were documented on the three main characteristics; the cephalopharyngeal skeleton, anterior spiracle and posterior spiracle. The first instar larva bore cornuae of fairly pigmented delineation with slim hypostomal sclerite and distinct dental sclerite. First instar did not have obscured anterior spiracle but posterior spiracles were obscured with thin lining of opened peritreme. Intersegmental spines were evident. The second instar larva displayed a prominent anterodorsal process approaching closer to hypostomal sclerite while upper margin of the dorsal cornua was slightly pigmented. Each anterior spiracle consisted of nine to ten papillae, arranged in a single row. Peritreme of the posterior spiracle thick, opening at the end of peritreme was not wide and confined to two spiracular slits. The third instar larva showed a prominent arch of the ventral cornua with broad and bold appearance. It approached the dorsal cornua and became narrow at the incision median. The anterior spiracle consisted of a single row of nine to ten papillae while intersegmental spine could be identified with one to three dark pigmented tips. A dark pigmented and wide periterime was observed confining three short and thick spiracular slits while button was poorly pigmented. The most distinctive feature of this second and third instar larva was the slender, thorn-like tubercle with numerous spined tips on the middle line segment of the body. These findings provide identification features of C. rufifacies larvae instars.
Kajian ini dilakukan untuk menentukan prevalens jangkitan vaginosis bakteria di kalangan wanita yang berumur 20 hingga 59 tahun di Hospital Umum Sarawak, Malaysia melalui pemeriksaan ke atas lumuran Pap lazim. Prevalens jangkitan ini dikaji di kalangan lima kumpulan etnik yang utama iaitu kaum Iban, Cina, Melayu, Bidayuh dan kaum Orang Ulu. Penyaringan mikroskopi dijalankan ke atas 300 sampel slaid yang telah diproses dan dicelup menggunakan pencelup Papanicolaou. Berdasarkan kepada maklumat pada borang permohonan penyaringan lumuran Pap, tanda dan gejala jangkitan diambil kira sebagai petunjuk penting semasa penyaringan kerana melalui tanda dan gejala jangkitan, lumuran Pap mempunyai hubungan yang rapat dengan ciri gambaran sitomorfologi jangkitan yang berlaku ke atas sel–sel epitelium sekiranya ia mengalami jangkitan. Kategori umur untuk setiap golongan etnik juga dijadikan sebagai salah satu faktor pengukur bagi menilai tahap kekerapan jangkitan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan jangkitan vaginosis bakteria mencatatkan sebanyak 79.7% (239/300 kes). Jangkitan berlaku pada kesemua kumpulan etnik dan jangkitan lebih kerap ditemui pada golongan umur 20 tahun hingga 39 tahun. Majoriti kes (93.3%) menunjukkan tanda dan gejala jangkitan. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan kepentingan menjalani ujian lumuran Pap sebagai ujian mengesan jangkitan vaginosis bakteria selain saringan awal pengesanan kanser serviks.
Acanthamoeba spp. adalah patogenik dan berpotensi menyebabkan kebutaan melalui penyakit yang dikenali sebagai keratitis Acanthamoeba (AK) khususnya dalam kalangan pemakai kanta sentuh. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menilai kerentanan sista Acanthamoeba terhadap larutan disinfektan pelbagai guna kanta sentuh dengan menggunakan empat isolat Acanthamoeba iaitu dua isolat klinikal; HUKM 38, HKL 10 dan dua persekitaran; PBA 46 dan PBA 42. Lima jenis larutan disinfektan pelbagai guna; Complete®, Renu® fresh™, RevitaLens OcuTec®, Opti-Free® Express® dan Solo Care Aqua® telah diuji ke atas sista Acanthamoeba tersebut. Masa rendaman adalah berdasarkan masa yang disyorkan oleh pengeluar (4 jam dan 6 jam), 8 jam dan 24 jam. Setiap campuran sista dan larutan disinfektan kanta sentuh dipindahkan ke atas agar tanpa nutrien yang dilapisi Escherichia coli. Plat agar diperhatikan di bawah mikroskop songsang setiap hari sehingga hari ke-14 untuk melihat kehadiran trofozoit. Kelima-lima larutan disinfektan pelbagai guna kanta sentuh tidak efektif membunuh kesemua isolat sista Acanthamoeba yang diuji. Ini menunjukkan bahawa kebanyakan larutan disinfektan pelbagai guna kanta sentuh tidak mempunyai aktiviti anti-Acanthamoeba yang sangat diperlukan bagi mencegah jangkitan keratitis Acanthamoeba dalam kalangan pengguna kanta sentuh.
Effective disinfection of contact lenses is of paramount importance in the prevention of Acanthamoeba (AK). Therefore, this study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of the multi-purpose contact lens disinfecting solutions against Acanthamoeba cysts of four isolates comprising two clinical isolates; HS 5, HTH 73, and two environmental isolates; TTA 1 and TKA 14. Five multi-purpose contact lens disinfecting solutions; Complete®, Renu® fresh™, RevitaLens OcuTec®, Opti-Free® Express® and Solo Care Aqua® were tested on cyst of the four Acanthamoeba isolates. The soaking times were based on manufactures recommendations (4 and 6 h), 8 h and 24 h. Each mixture of the cysts and disinfecting solution was transferred onto non-nutrient agar seeded with Escherichia coli. The agar plates were examined under inverted microscope daily until day 14 to detect the presence of Acanthamoeba trophozoites. All 5 multi-purpose contact lens disinfecting solutions tested were ineffective at killing all Acanthamoeba cyst isolates tested. This indicates that most multi-purpose contact lens disinfecting solutions do not have anti-Acanthamoeba activity necessary to prevent keratitis amongst the contact lens wearers.
Key words: Acanthamoeba; effectiveness; Malaysia; multi-purpose contact lens disinfecting solution
An entomological study was conducted in Tanjung Sepat, Selangor, Malaysia in May until September 2007 revealing five species of butterflies (all from family Nymphalidae) were attracted to pig carcasses placed in an oil palm plantation. Euploea mulciber (Cramer 1777), Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus 1758), Elymnias hypermnestra (Linnaeus 1763), Mycalesis mineus (Linnaeus 1758) and Ypthima baldus (Fabricius 1775) came to the carcasses at different stages of decomposition. From this study, we know that nymphalid butterflies are attracted to carcasses but their roles are most probably unimportant in post-mortem estimation.