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Fulltext Understanding the Slow COVID-19 Trajectory of Cambodia

Nit B, Samy AL, Tan SL, Vory S, Lim Y, Nugraha RR, et al.

Public Health Pract (Oxf), 2021 Nov;2:100073.
PMID: 33521738 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2020.100073

COVID-19 has resulted in large number of mortalities across the globe. However, Cambodia has recorded low number of COVID-19 cases with no death. A number of factors buttress the accuracy of this phenomenon such as significant support from international health partners, culture of wearing a face mask when sick, timely response of Cambodia's neighbouring countries, and the compliance of the general public to the restrictions. Cambodia started to take stringent measures and augmented efforts to initiate policies and plans to curb the spread of the virus, including but not limited to: closure of inbound and outbound borders, shutting down of schools, and banning religious activities, gatherings and meetings, with more than 50 people. Another source of success of Cambodia is extensive mass testing, complemented with contact tracing. A strategy called "box in" the virus was introduced. Healthcare workers were trained to help in contact tracing and detection at the community level. Measures enacted so far has helped Cambodia control the pandemic. Other countries could adopt and adapt to the policies and best practices of Cambodia. However, possibilities of new waves of the pandemic may affect the country, thus, the Cambodian government needs to be cautious when lifting restrictions to avoid explosion of new cases.
Fulltext Compliance of hand hygiene can play a pivotal role in limiting the spread of COVID-19 through public transportation

Arshad S, Albayat SS, Arshad MA, Jabbar A, Ullah I

Public Health Pract (Oxf), 2021 Nov;2:100216.
PMID: 34751260 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2021.100216
Fulltext Self-medication dilemma in dengue fever

Khan MA, Tahir MJ, Ameer MA, Nawaz RA, Asghar MS, Ahmed A

Public Health Pract (Oxf), 2022 Dec;4:100298.
PMID: 36570398 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2022.100298

This paper focuses on the trends of self-medication practices in treating symptoms that may lead to fatal complications in dengue. As dengue is a viral infection with increasing incidence, decision regarding its treatment is mostly affected by public health believes and practices to self-treat the condition by different home remedies, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs or using outdated prescription drugs that proved beneficial in the past experience. Poverty, lack of education, and poor access to health facilities pave the way for making such decisions. Future complications can be averted by raising awareness, counseling the patients and dispensing of pharmaceuticals with strict monitoring.
Fulltext Factors influencing the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan in 2021

Lubis R, Satria FB, Zaki RA, Nurjazuli N, Hendrati LY

Public Health Pract (Oxf), 2022 Dec;4:100311.
PMID: 36072129 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2022.100311

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic started over 2 years ago and spread rapidly throughout the world. The total number of cases and deaths is still increasing and the situation remains active across the globe. In the Asian region, COVID-19 vaccination began in early 2021; however, the COVID-19 situation remains uncertain. This study aims to compare the factors that influenced the COVID-19 pandemic situation in three countries in Asia (namely, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan) throughout 2021.
STUDY DESIGN: This ecological study utilises the data from the 'Our World in Data' website.
METHODS: In this study, the COVID-19 pandemic situation in each country is described by looking at the average daily number of deaths and cases per million population throughout 2021. A paired t-test was conducted to compare the significance of differences in the pandemic situation between 2020 and 2021. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccination profiles throughout 2021 were investigated. A multiple linear regression analysis was then performed to develop models to explain the factors influencing the COVID-19 pandemic situation in these three countries.
RESULTS: The COVID-19 pandemic situation in Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan in 2021 is significantly different from 2020. Malaysia had the highest COVID-19 vaccination coverage (79.4%), followed by Taiwan (78.5%) and Indonesia (58.3%). This study found that the following three factors consistently influenced the number of deaths and cases in these three countries [1]: positivity rate [2]; number of tests per 1000 population; and [3] number of tests per case.
CONCLUSIONS: Although the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic situations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan was different, it is significantly influenced by the quality and quantity of COVID-19 testing and screening, in addition to the vaccination programmes and restriction policies implemented in each country. As a result of the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to mutate, it is recommended that each country strengthen their comprehensive approach to have an effective and efficient coping strategy for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fulltext Trends in cataract surgery and healthcare system response during the COVID-19 lockdown in Malaysia: Lessons to be learned

Lim AW, Leong CT, Salowi MA, Lim YMF, Wong WJ, Hwong WY

Public Health Pract (Oxf), 2024 Jun;7:100469.
PMID: 38323125 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhip.2024.100469

BACKGROUND: Elective surgeries were suspended during the national lockdown in March 2020 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. We sought to evaluate the impact of the lockdown on cataract surgeries and suggest lessons for future outbreaks.
STUDY DESIGN: We conducted an interrupted time series analysis to examine rates of cataract surgery before and during the lockdown.
METHODS: We used national cataract surgical data between 2015 and 2021 from the Malaysian Cataract Surgery Registry. Segmented regression with a seasonally adjusted Poisson model was used for the analysis. Stratified analyses were performed to establish whether the effect of the lockdown on cataract surgeries varied by hospital designation, type of cataract service, sex, and age groups.
RESULTS: Cataract surgeries began falling in March 2020 at the onset of the lockdown, reached a trough in April 2020, and subsequently increased but never recovered to pre-lockdown levels. Cataract surgical rates in December 2021 were still 43 % below the expected surgical volume, equivalent to 2513 lost cataract surgeries. There was no evidence of a differential effect of the lockdown between COVID-19 designated and non-COVID-19 designated hospitals. The relative decrease in cataract surgical rates appears to have been greatest in outreach services and in people 40 years and older.
CONCLUSIONS: The lockdown caused an immediate reduction in cataract surgical rates to nearly half of its baseline rate. Despite its gradual recovery, further delays remain to be expected should there be no redistribution or increase in resources to support backlogs and incoming new cases.