Intestinal microsporidia is an emerging human disease caused by microsporidia. A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of microsporidia in patients with gastro-intestinal symptoms and to examine the clinical manifestations associated with intestinal microsporidiosis. A descriptive cross-sectional study using a well-structured questionnaire; a review of medical records was also undertaken. Positive stool samples were defined as presence of one or more pinkish-violet ovoid structures with a belt-like stripe under high power field (100x) using modified gram-chromotrope stain (MGC). A total of 353 faecal specimens of patients was examined and 100 patients were found to have positive stool samples for microsporidia. The overall prevalence of microsporidia was 28.3%. Acute and chronic diarrhoea were seen in 49.0% and 36.0% patients, respectively. The commonest clinical presentations were diarrhoea (85.0%) with 83.0% of patients having loose or watery stools, vomiting (75.0%), foul-smelling stools (60.0%), nausea (59.0%) and cramping abdominal pain (39.0%). The least common symptoms were fever (15.0%), mucous in stool (5.0%) and blood in stool (4.0%). This study concludes that the prevalence of microsporidia is still high (28.3%) and the majority of patients (93.0%) are symptomatic; the most common gastro-intestinal symptom is diarrhoea with loose or watery stools. Hence, it is recommended that a stool screening for microsporidia be done in selected patients presented with gastrointestinal symptoms.
Feces ; symptoms <1> ; Prevalence aspects ; Intestinal microsporidiosis ; Clinical

INTRODUCTION: Concerns have been increased about the use of mobile phones in hospitals as they may be vehicles for the transmission of hospital-acquired infections. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes with bleach-based wipes in decreasing bacterial colony counts of mobile phones of staff nurses. METHODS: Mobile phones of staff nurses in the UERM Hospital were assigned to be disinfected with 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes or bleach-based wipes. Mobile phones were swabbed using standard techniques before and after disinfection with 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes or bleach-based wipes. Post-disinfection colony counts were compared with baseline counts in each group and compared between the two test groups. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in the post-disinfection mean colony count compared with the mean baseline colony count in both the 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes (p < 0.001) and bleach-based wipes (p = 0.002) groups. The decrease in the 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes group was bigger (121,635 vs 85,769 CFU/mL). The mean post-disinfection colony count of the 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes was significantly lower (p = 0.007) than the other group. CONCLUSION Both 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes and bleach-based wipes are effective in decreasing bacterial colony counts of mobile phones of staff nurses. The alcohol wipes resulted in a greater decrease in colony count compared with the bleach wipes.