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Fulltext Occurrence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts in the river water of two recreational areas in Selangor, Malaysia

Azman J, Init I, Wan Yusoff WS

Trop Biomed, 2009 Dec;26(3):289-302.
PMID: 20237443 MyJurnal

This study is the first report on the occurrence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts in recreational rivers water from Malaysia. It was carried out in water samples at two rivers, 'Sungai Congkak' and 'Sungai Batu', located in Selangor State. The occurrence of both Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum (oo)cysts was higher in Sungai Congkak (50% or 15/30 and 10% or 3/30 respectively) than Sungai Batu (16% or 5/30 and 3.3% or 1/30 respectively). The mean density of cysts/L was 0.72 in Sungai Congkak and 0.023 in Sungai Batu, and that of oocysts/L was 0.023 in Sungai Congkak and 0.0033 in Sungai Batu, showing that the occurrence of Giardia was higher and more frequent than Cryptosporidium in both rivers. Sungai Congkak also showed higher faecal coliforms count (ranging from 0.48x10³ to 73x10³ CFU/100 mL) than Sungai Batu (0.41x10³ to 16x10³ CFU/100 mL). On the other hand, the Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts and faecal coliforms were more concentrated at the downstream station, followed by midstream and upstream stations which might be due to human factors where settlements and recreation areas were located around and between midstream and downstream stations. The (oo)cysts and faecal coliforms also increased during public holidays due to the significantly higher number of visitors (bathers) compared with the week days. All the parameters (physical, faecal coliforms and rainfall) did not show consistent significant correlation (based on r values of Pearson correlation analysis) with both protozoa, therefore these parameters are not suitable as indicator for the presence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium (oo)cysts in both rivers.
Fulltext Clinical analysis of foreign-born patients with tuberculosis found in Malaysia

Nissapatorn V, Kuppusamy I, Wan-Yusoff WS, Anuar AK

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2005 May;36(3):713-21.
PMID: 16124444

In this retrospective study, we investigated 263 foreign patients who were diagnosed as having tuberculosis at the National Tuberculosis Center (NTBC) from January 2001 to December 2002. The age range was 14-72 years, with a mean of 33.3 +/- 9.95 years. The study subjects were predominantly males (60%) and females comprised 40%, where the greater impact of tuberculosis was observed in the young and active ones (up to 34 years of age), than middle-age (up to 54). A significantly higher percentage of these patients were from the Southeast Asian countries (87%) and particularly occurred in single male (47.5%) and married female (71.4%) patients (p<0.05). We also found that tuberculosis was significantly higher in female (50.5%) and male (64%) with smoking laborers (p<0.05). Fever (70%), cough (90.5%) and BCG vaccination status showed a significantly higher percentage in male patients (p<0.05), whereas lymphadenopathy (22%) was found in a significantly higher percentage in females (p<0.05). Overall, pulmonary disease (94.3%) occurred more commonly in males and the pleura (3.2%) was the most common site of disseminated tuberculosis. By contrast, the lymph node (11.4%) and miliary (4.8%) forms were the more common extrapulmonary tuberculosis in females. More males had higher percentage of treatment completed at > or = 6 (38%) and > or = 9 (13.3%) months in pulmonary tuberculosis, whilst, more females showed higher percentage of treatment completed (8.7%) in extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Surprisingly, more women showed non-compliance to the anti-tubercular therapy than their counterpart in this study.
Polypeptides associated with in vitro cyst formation of Blastocystis hominis

Init I, Mak JW, Top S, Zulhainan Z, Prummongkol S, Nissapatorn V, et al.

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2003 Dec;34(4):727-32.
PMID: 15115079

The objective of this study was to characterize the polypeptides associated with cysts of Blastocystis hominis. This form is believed to be infective and plays a role in parasite resistance to anti-B. hominis drugs currently used for treatment of Blastocystis associated diarrhea. Cysts were induced through in vitro culture of the parasite in complete medium supplemented with bacterial extract with trypticase, metronidazole or doxycycline. SDS-PAGE analysis showed almost similar polypeptide patterns of parasite extracts obtained from in vitro cultured parasites before and after exposure with the three supplements. Polypeptide bands at 76, 58.5, 48, 45, 40, 38, 32, 25 and 22 kDa were constantly seen in all antigenic preparations and no specific cyst-associated polypeptide was present. However, on immunoblot analysis, 3 out of 16 blastocystosis human sera identified a cyst-associated polypeptide at 60 kDa in all parasite extracts prepared from cultures with the three supplements. In addition, there were associated morphological changes detected in these parasites stained with acridine orange and observed under fluorescence microscopy. Metronidazole induced cyst forms (reddish cells) as early as 12 hours post-exposure; more cyst production (with stronger immunoblot bands) occurred after 24 hours exposure. However, cysts rupture with release and destruction of B. hominis daughters cells occurred after 48 hours exposure. Doxycycline induced less cyst-like forms at 24 hours (weaker 60 kDa band) and less destruction of the cysts (60 kDa band still present at 72 hours post exposure). Bacterial extract and trypticase also induced cysts at 12 hours with increasing numbers up to 72 hours exposure (corresponding increase in intensity of 60 kDa band from samples harvested at 12 to 72 hours post exposure) without any sign of deleterious effect on the parasite.
Fulltext Distribution of mosquito larvae in various breeding sites in National Zoo Malaysia

Muhammad-Aidil R, Imelda A, Jeffery J, Ngui R, Wan Yusoff WS, Aziz S, et al.

Trop Biomed, 2015 Mar;32(1):183-6.
PMID: 25801269 MyJurnal

Mosquitoes are principal vectors of major vector-borne diseases. They are widely found throughout urban and rural areas in Malaysia. They are responsible for various vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria, filariasis and encephalitis. A total of 158 mosquito larvae specimens were collected from the National Zoo, Malaysia, from 11 types of breeding habitats during the study period from end of May 2007 to July 2007. Aedes albopictus was the predominant species (35.4%), followed by Tripteroides aranoides (26.6%), Lutzia halifaxii (11.4%), Aedes alboscutellatus (10.1%), Aedes caecus (8.9%), Armigeres spp. (4.4%), Malaya genurostris (2.5%) and Culex vishnui (0.6%). It is important to have a mosquito free environment in a public place like the zoo. Routine larval surveillance should be implemented for an effective mosquito control program in order to reduce mosquito population.
Fulltext Spatial pattern of 2009 dengue distribution in Kuala Lumpur using GIS application

Aziz S, Ngui R, Lim YA, Sholehah I, Nur Farhana J, Azizan AS, et al.

Trop Biomed, 2012 Mar;29(1):113-20.
PMID: 22543611 MyJurnal

In the last few years in Malaysia, dengue fever has increased dramatically and has caused huge public health concerns. The present study aimed to establish a spatial distribution of dengue cases in the city of Kuala Lumpur using a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial statistical tools. Collation of data from 1,618 dengue cases in 2009 was obtained from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). These data were processed and then converted into GIS format. Information on the average monthly rainfall was also used to correlate with the distribution pattern of dengue cases. To asses the spatial distribution of dengue cases, Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN) Analysis was applied together with spatial analysis with the ESRI ArcGIS V9.3 programme. Results indicated that the distribution of dengue cases in Kuala Lumpur for the year 2009 was spatially clustered with R value less than 1 (R = 0.42; z-scores = - 4.47; p < 0.001). Nevertheless, when this pattern was further analyzed according to month by each zone within Kuala Lumpur, two distinct patterns were observed which include a clustered pattern (R value < 1) between April to June and a dispersed pattern (R value > 1) between August and November. In addition, the mean monthly rainfall has not influenced the distribution pattern of the dengue cases. Implementation of control measures is more difficult for dispersed pattern compared to clustered pattern. From this study, it was found that distribution pattern of dengue cases in Kuala Lumpur in 2009 was spatially distributed (dispersed or clustered) rather than cases occurring randomly. It was proven that by using GIS and spatial statistic tools, we can determine the spatial distribution between dengue and population. Utilization of GIS tools is vital in assisting health agencies, epidemiologist, public health officer, town planner and relevant authorities in developing efficient control measures and contingency programmes to effectively combat dengue fever.
Fulltext Enzymatic and molecular characterization of insecticide resistance mechanisms in field populations of Aedes aegypti from Selangor, Malaysia

Leong CS, Vythilingam I, Liew JW, Wong ML, Wan-Yusoff WS, Lau YL

Parasit Vectors, 2019 May 16;12(1):236.
PMID: 31097010 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3472-1

BACKGROUND: Dengue is a serious public health problem worldwide, including in Selangor, Malaysia. Being an important vector of dengue virus, Aedes aegypti are subjected to control measures which rely heavily on the usage of insecticides. Evidently, insecticide resistance in Ae. aegypti, which arise from several different point mutations within the voltage-gated sodium channel genes, has been documented in many countries. Thus, this robust study was conducted in all nine districts of Selangor to understand the mechanisms of resistance to various insecticides in Ae. aegypti. Mosquitoes were collected from dengue epidemic and non-dengue outbreak areas in Selangor.
METHODS: Using the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bottle assays, the insecticide resistance status of nine different Ae. aegypti strains from Selangor was accessed. Synergism tests and biochemical assays were conducted to further understand the metabolic mechanisms of insecticide resistance. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing of the IIP-IIS6 as well as IIIS4-IIIS6 regions of the sodium channel gene were performed to enable comparisons between susceptible and resistant mosquito strains. Additionally, genomic DNA was used for allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR) genotyping of the gene to detect the presence of F1534C, V1016G and S989P mutations.
RESULTS: Adult female Ae. aegypti from various locations were susceptible to malathion and propoxur. However, they exhibited different levels of resistance against dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and pyrethroids. The results of synergism tests and biochemical assays indicated that the mixed functions of oxidases and glutathione S-transferases contributed to the DDT and pyrethroid resistance observed in the present study. Besides detecting three single kdr mutations, namely F1534C, V1016G and S989P, co-occurrence of homozygous V1016G/S989P (double allele) and F1534C/V1016G/S989P (triple allele) mutations were also found in Ae. aegypti. As per the results, the three kdr mutations had positive correlations with the expressions of resistance to DDT and pyrethroids.
CONCLUSIONS: In view of the above outcomes, it is important to seek new tools for vector management instead of merely relying on insecticides. If the latter must be used, regular monitoring of insecticide resistance should also be carried out at all dengue epidemic areas. Since the eggs of Ae. aegypti can be easily transferred from one location to another, it is probable that insecticide-resistant Ae. aegypti can be found at non-dengue outbreak sites as well.
Fulltext First report of brown widow spider sightings in Peninsular Malaysia and notes on its global distribution

Muslimin M, Wilson JJ, Ghazali AR, Braima KA, Jeffery J, Wan-Nor F, et al.

J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis, 2015;21:11.
PMID: 25995738 DOI: 10.1186/s40409-015-0010-2

The brown widow spider (Latrodectus geometricus Koch, 1841) has colonised many parts of the world from its continent of origin, Africa. By at least 1841, the species had successfully established populations in South America and has more recently expanded its range to the southern states of North America. This highly adaptable spider has been far more successful in finding its niche around the world than its famous cousins, the black widow, Latrodectus mactans, found in the south-eastern states of North America, and the red-back, Latrodectus hasselti, found mostly in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.