The earliest report of a dengue epidemic in the Malaysian Peninsula was from Singapore in 1901 (More, 1904). S. Kae' in 1902 described the next epidemic in Penang. In March 1954, an outbreak of febrile illness was reported at the Methodist Girls' School, Kuala Lumpur, from which dengue viruses were first isolated in Malaysia and identified as dengue type 1.2 However, the first report of the sinister dengue fever with haemorrhagic manifestations was made only in 1962 from Penang Island (Rudnick et al, 1965).3Parameswaran4 in 1965 described the clinical features seen in 41 cases admitted into the children's ward in the Penang General Hospital. Several of the early isolates were of dengue type 2. (Copied from article).
Elizabeth Fee was a remarkable and influential public health historian, whose personal and professional trajectories led her to speak truth to and about power in public health, past and present. Born in Northern Ireland in 1946 to Irish-Methodist missionary parents, Liz's childhood brought her into contact with peoples and struggles across the globe. At just five weeks of age, she was whisked away by her parents to civil war-era China, where she lost hearing in one ear from an untreated bout with scarlet fever. In midchildhood, she attended school in Malaysia, after which her family returned to Belfast. There, she came of age amid festering political and religious violence, learning firsthand that history is told and retold by protagonists and witnesses, oppressors and oppressed. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print April 18, 2019: e1-e4. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305065).
Religion has been shown to be salutary on health, and a possible link between religion and positive health outcomes is diet. Research has shown that religiosity is associated with better diet but most studies were conducted in a multi-denominational context, which might be confounded with theological differences. This study examined the relationship between religiosity and diet within a homogenous group of believers. Data from survey of 574 Seventh-Day Adventists residing in West Malaysia, aged 18-80, were analyzed using multiple regressions. While none of the religious variables were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake, a higher level of religiosity was associated with a better dietary habit and vegetarian status. The mixed relationship between religiosity and diet suggest that further research is needed to explore how religion might influence the diet of adherents.