STUDY DESIGN: For this study, data of weekly new cases of influenza and COVID-19 were obtained from official platforms for non-parametric statistical analysis.
METHODS: This study compared the influenza occurrences before and after the onset of COVID-19 using the Mann-Whitney U-test and explored Spearman's correlations between COVID-19 and influenza incidences after the onset of COVID-19.
RESULTS: It shows that influenza incidences before and after the onset of COVID-19 were significantly different and that influenza cases have significantly reduced after the onset of COVID-19. The weekly cases of influenza and COVID-19 were significantly and negatively correlated.
CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the co-benefits of COVID-19 control measures and alleviates the concern for the risk of COVID-19 and influenza co-infection.
METHODS: A modified susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered compartmental model was developed that included two sequential incubation and infectious periods, with stratification by clinical state. The model was further stratified by age and incorporated population mobility to capture NPIs and micro-distancing (behaviour changes not captured through population mobility). Emerging variants of concern (VoC) were included as an additional strain competing with the existing wild-type strain. Several scenarios that included different vaccination strategies (i.e. vaccines that reduce disease severity and/or prevent infection, vaccination coverage) and mobility restrictions were implemented.
RESULTS: The national model and the regional models all fit well to notification data but underestimated ICU occupancy and deaths in recent weeks, which may be attributable to increased severity of VoC or saturation of case detection. However, the true case detection proportion showed wide credible intervals, highlighting incomplete understanding of the true epidemic size. The scenario projections suggested that under current vaccination rates complete relaxation of all NPIs would trigger a major epidemic. The results emphasise the importance of micro-distancing, maintaining mobility restrictions during vaccination roll-out and accelerating the pace of vaccination for future control. Malaysia is particularly susceptible to a major COVID-19 resurgence resulting from its limited population immunity due to the country's historical success in maintaining control throughout much of 2020.
DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive study.
SETTING: Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.
PARTICIPANTS: All patients with congenital facial cleft deformities from 2005 to 2019 were retrieved from the Plastic Surgery OR Registry. All characteristics in interest were individually tabulated and evaluated. Four cases were reviewed and discussed.
OUTCOME: Prevalence of true MCL.
RESULTS: Out of the 494 patients included in the study, only 4 (0.81%) were affected with a median cleft, and the prevalence of true median cleft was hence determined to be 3 (0.61%) among the cleft population.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence of the true MCL is rare which makes it hard to categorize these clefts, and the surgical protocol needs to be established for the definitive treatment.
METHODS: A series of meticulous planning, healthcare staff training, advocacy, and community engagement activities were conducted by the Penampang District Health Office. Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) and monovalent Oral Polio Vaccine were administered over the period of 1 year via these methods: house to house, drive-through, static, and mobile posts. The targeted group was 22 096 children aged 13 years and below.
RESULTS: Polio SIAs in Penampang managed to achieve more than 90% coverage for both bOPV and mOPV. The overall vaccine wastage was reported to be 1.63%. No major adverse reaction was reported.
CONCLUSION: High vaccine uptake during Polio SIAs in Penampang was attributed to good inter-agency collaboration, community engagement, intensified health promotion activities, and drive-through vaccination campaign.