Aims: The present study is aimed at determining the antiviral activity of Eleusine indica whole plant methanol extract. Methodology and results: Whole dried plants were extracted with methanol and the solvent was evaporated using a rotary evaporator. The crude methanol extract was previously shown to have antiviral activity towards herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) with selective index (SI = CC50 / EC50) of 12.2. The extract was further studied for the possible mode of action including pretreatment, attachment, penetration or virucidal activity. The observations suggested that E. indica crude methanol extract protects cells from HSV-1 infection, inhibits virus from docking to the surface of the cells and penetrating into the cells, as well as modifying virus through the virucidal effect. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Methanol extract of E. indica is safe with antiviral potential as a prophylactic agent, inhibits viral attachment, penetration and virucidal effect.
Herpesvirus 1, Human

Objective: To summarise the published research on teenage pregnancy in Malaysia, discuss the impact of the findings on clinical practice, and identify gaps in teenage pregnancy research in Malaysia. Methods: There were 31 articles related to teen pregnancy found after searching a database dedicated to indexing all original clinical research data published in Malaysia from year 2000 to 2014. Twenty-seven articles (including reports from the National Obstetrics Registry) were selected and reviewed on the basis of clinical relevance and future research implications. This literature review has been divided into eight sections: epidemiology, age at first marriage, adolescent fertility rate, unmarried childbearing, risk factors, maternal risks and neonatal outcome, future plan after delivery, and contraceptive use. Results: More than 19,000 births to teenage mothers were recorded each year between 2009 and 2011. Adolescent fertility rates were recorded at 6 births per 1000 women ages 15–19 years in 2013. Many of these births were from unwed pregnancies, which accounted for 1.99% of total deliveries. A majority of young mothers were willing to take care of their baby, although some of them planned to put their baby up for adoption. Risk factors for teenage pregnancy were found to be similar to those published in studies worldwide. Conclusion: More research is needed to better understand the issue of teen pregnancy. For the best results, collaborative studies among nationwide hospitals and institutions should be the way forward.
Pregnancy in Adolescence

This study aims to determine the prevalence and associated factors of sexual pain disorders among Malay women in Malaysia with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 347 women (174 nondiabetic and 173 diabetic subjects) who attended the diabetic clinic in a university hospital. Sexual pain disorders were assessed using the Pain sub scale of Malay Version of the Female Sexual Function Index (MVFSFI). Sociodemographic information of the subjects was collected with a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Prevalence of sexual pain disorders among Malay women with type 2 diabetes mellitus was 10.4% and the control group was 9.2% but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis did not find any relevant associated factor with sexual pain disorder. Conclusion: Sexual pain disorders among Malay women were not dependent on the diabetic status. Further studies with different population of diabetic patients are needed to confirm the results.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Women ; Malaysia

Aims: This study was aimed to evaluate in vitro antiviral activity of topical formulations incorporated with a styrylpyrone derivative (SPD) against Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1). Methodology and results: Two types of SPD-incorporated formulations (ointment and gel) were tested for their antiviral activity against HSV-1 clinical strain using plaque reduction assay on Vero cells. The antiviral activity was determined based on the percentage of plaque reduction occurred between treatment and control (non-treated infected cells). In this study, 10% SPD-gel (SPD = 0.004 mg) and 20% SPD-ointment (SPD = 0.003 mg) showed plaque reduction percentage of 87% and 79% respectively. Further evaluation on the ointment base, gel base (formulation without SPD) demonstrated less than 10% of antiviral activity while pure SPD at 0.0025 mg showed 81% of plaque reduction. These results indicated that the antiviral activity observed in both SPD-incorporated ointment and gel was mainly due to SPD regardless of formulation components. Furthermore, the antiviral activities observed in both SPD-incorporated products were also in agreement with the antiviral activity observed in pure SPD. Conclusion, significance and impact study: SPD-incorporated products retained the antiviral activity and can further be tested in animal model.
Herpesvirus 1, Human

Needlestick injury (NSI) is a serious occupational hazard against healthcare workers (HCWs) in a hospital setting with multiple implications, thus adherence to post-NSI management including follow-up protocol is crucial.This research was conducted to describe the distribution of NSI cases among HCWs working in Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH)’s hospital in Selangor and adherence to a follow-up protocol, as well as the factors related to it.This was a cross-sectional quantitative study reviewing retrospectively all notified NSI cases in January-September 2016. Data were taken from Sharps Injury Surveillance (SIS) system and analyzed into descriptive and analytical statistics.There were 143 notified NSI cases. The majority of the cases were female(76.2%), Malay(60.1%), medical doctors(56.6%) and in a medical-based department (44.8%). The median age of NSI cases was 27 years old (IQR:5) and median years of employment was 1.5 (IQR:4.5). Most cases happened in a ward setting (58.7%) involving contaminated (95.8%) hypodermic needle (43.4%), occurred mostly during the procedure of drawing blood (23.1%). Only 86.7% of NSI cases were source-known and some were tested positive with blood borne pathogens. However, no occurrence of seroconversion among the injured HCWs detected. The overall adherence rate to the follow-up protocol was 72.3%. Multiple logistic regression yielded significant association between age, gender, department, device contamination, procedure conducted and source HBV status with adherence to follow-up of post-NSI protocol. Further comprehensive studies involving more determinants such as therapy-related factors and potential interventions are needed to optimize adherence rate to the follow-up protocol post-NSI.
guideline adherence ; needlestick injuries ; health personnel ; post-exposure prophylaxis ; blood-borne pathogens

Dual competing responsibilities between work and family are the challenges faced by most of the healthcare staff. Ineffective handling of these responsibilities may contribute to absenteeism which further disrupt the quality of work and reduce customer satisfaction. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of job absenteeism and to identify the association between family responsibilities and job absenteeism among nurses in teaching hospital. This was a cross sectional study targeted to nurses working in medical and surgical field based in a hospital. Questionnaires were distributed using stratified random sampling. Those with working services of less than one year were excluded. The mean age was 35.9 (SD=6.44) years old. Majority were female (94.0%) and Malay (96.0%). The one-year prevalence of absenteeism was 78.0% and majority were due to emergency leaves. Taking care of elderly and no help obtained for taking care of child showed significant associations with job absenteeism which both yielded four times higher odds for being absent. Employees with additional family responsibilities should receive support by the organisation to prevent further job absenteeism among nurses.

Despite the advancements made in the knowledge and treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since it was first discovered, people living with HIV (PLWH) continue to be stigmatized. This paper presents the case of an HIV-infected patient who delayed the necessary treatment due to stigma and ultimately presented with AIDS. Through social support, however, he was able to overcome his internalized stigma; he was finally willing to start on antiretroviral treatment (ART). This case report addresses the effect of stigma on and the role of social support in the management of an individual with HIV.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to compare oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of patients treated with conventional, active self-ligating (ASL), and passive self-ligating (PSL) brackets in different therapeutic phases. METHODS: Sixty patients (mean age 18.3 years; 29 males and 31 females) requiring orthodontic treatment were randomly and equally assigned to receive conventional (Victory Series), ASL (In-Ovation R), or PSL (Damon 3MX) brackets. OHRQoL was measured with a self-administered modified 16-item Malaysian version of the Oral Health Impact Profile for immediate (soon after the visit) and late (just before the subsequent visit) assessments of the bonding and activation phases. Data were analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests. RESULTS: The PSL and ASL groups showed more immediate and late impacts in the bonding phase, respectively; the conventional group was affected in both the assessments. The first activation phase had similar impacts in the groups. After the second activation, the conventional group showed more immediate impacts, whereas the PSL and ASL groups had more late impacts. The commonly affected domains were "physical disability," "functional limitation," "physical pain," and "psychological discomfort." No significant differences in the prevalence and severity of immediate and late impacts on OHRQoL of the patients were noted in any therapeutic phase. CONCLUSIONS: No bracket system seems to ensure superior OHRQoL. This information could be useful for explaining the therapeutic phases, especially the initial one, and selecting the optimal bracket system based on the patient's preference.
Humans ; Male ; Oral Health ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Quality of Life*

Childhood obesity is a global epidemic, which leads to the increasing number of studies on genetic locations associated with obesity-related traits. Polymorphisms of insulin (INS) gene have been shown to be associated with obesity-related phenotypes in Europeans; while insulin receptor (INSR) gene has been associated with energy regulation. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the association between the INS (rs689) and INSR (rs3745551) gene polymorphisms with childhood obesity risk in a Malay childhood population. Normal weight (538) and overweight or obese (557) children aged 6-12 years old were genotyped using semi-automated Sequenom iPLEX® Gold. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from measured body weight and height. The rs689 (T/T: 0.006, A/T: 0.159 and A/A: 0.835) and rs3745551 (G/G: 0.054, A/G: 0.378 and A/A: 0.568) genotype distributions were consistent with Hardy Weinberg equilibrium. The T-minor allele frequency for rs689 was 8.6% and G-minor allele frequency for rs3745551 was 24.3%. Minor allele of INS gene polymorphisms significantly increased risk of obesity among Malay children (sex- and age-adjusted OR=1.580; 95%CI: 1.134-2.201). However, INSR gene polymorphisms were not significantly associated with childhood obesity. In conclusion, the polymorphisms of INS gene, rather than INSR gene, were associated with childhood obesity in the Malay population.
Pediatric Obesity ; Receptor, Insulin

OBJECTIVE: This randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the stability of mandibular arch orthodontic treatment outcomes between passive self-ligating and conventional systems during 6 months of retention. METHODS: Fortyseven orthodontic patients with mild to moderate crowding malocclusions not requiring extraction were recruited based on inclusion criteria. Patients (mean age 21.58 ± 2.94 years) were randomized into two groups to receive either passive self-ligating (Damon® 3MX, n = 23) or conventional system (Gemini MBT, n = 24) orthodontic treatment. Direct measurements of the final sample comprising 20 study models per group were performed using a digital caliper at the debonding stage, and 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after debonding. Paired t-test, independent t-test, and non-parametric test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A significant increase (p < 0.01) in incisor irregularity was observed in both self-ligating and conventional system groups. A significant reduction (p < 0.01) in second interpremolar width was observed in both groups. Mandibular arch length decreased significantly (p = 0.001) in the conventional system group but not in the self-ligating system group. A similar pattern of stability was observed for intercanine width, first interpremolar width, intermolar width, and arch depth throughout the 6-month retention period after debonding. Comparison of incisor irregularity and arch dimension changes between self-ligating system and conventional system groups during the 6 months were non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: The stability of treatment outcomes for mild to moderate crowding malocclusions was similar between the self-ligating system and conventional system during the first 6 months of retention.
Adult* ; Crowding ; Humans ; Incisor ; Malocclusion