Objective: Primary toxoplasmosis is usually subclinical, but in severely immunocompromised patients, it may be life0threatening. For this reason, it is important to monitor situations related to non-noticeable diseases among foreign arrivals in the country. In this study, we aimed to survey toxoplasmosis among migrants from Indonesia to Malaysia. Methods: In a prospective observational study, a serological evaluation on toxoplasmosis among 336 Indonesian migrants was conducted in a plantation and a detention camp. A study-subject information sheet was used to obtain demographic information and venous blood samples for the serological study to determine Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM antibodies. The control group was composed of 198 local Malaysians working in the same plantation and detention camp. Results: The age of study participants ranged from 19-45 years ( geometric mean 29.9). One hundred and thirty-eight legal Indonesian workers (42%) were found positive for IgG and twenty workers (6%) were positive for IgM. The high prevalence rate of 54.4% among the illegal Indonesian migrants is significantly higher than that for local Malaysian workers and detainees from other countries (P<0.05). No significant difference in the prevalence rate was noted among the migrants or local workers when they were grouped according to agricultural and non-agricultural occupations (p>0.05).Conclusion: The continuous introduction of these infections may, in the long term, influence the epidemiology and further compromise efforts in control and prevention. A routine screening for toxoplasmosis may be indicated for sub-groups of migrants in this country.

ntroduction: Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) is becoming increasingly popular among cancer patients worldwide. While health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in relation to cancer outcomes has attracted global attention, there are few studies on CHM use and HRQoL among cancer patients in Malaysia. This study attempted to determine the association between use of CHM, including the types, reasons, and beliefs, and HRQoL among Malaysian cancer patients. Methods: cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 cancer patients (60 male and 60 female) recruited from government oncology clinics in Johor state. A purposive non-probability sampling was applied to recruit respondents. Results: Use of CHM was reported by about half of the patients (49.2%). Common types of CHM used included Chinese herbal extracts (27.5%), Sabah snake grass (12.2%), and ginger (11.5%). The median score for overall belief in CHM significantly differed between CHM users (71.7%) and non-users (65.0%) (p<0.001). The HRQoL was generally reported as ‘good’ with high scores for overall functioning scales and low scores for symptom scales. However, no significant difference in HRQoL between CHM users and non-users was noted. ‘Social Functioning’ scores between both groups showed a significant difference (p < 0.001) with respect to sex, with females scoring higher than males. No significant association was noted between CHM use and socio-demographic characteristics except for sex. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of self-prescription of CHM among the cancer patients studied. Nonetheless use of CHM did not show any significant difference in terms of quality of life among CHM users.

Introduction: Appropriate oral health knowledge is essential to enable parents to be responsible for the oral health care of their children especially those with special needs. This study aimed to determine the oral health knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of parents and cariogenic food intake of their non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate children (NSCLP) compared to non-cleft children. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected parents with children aged 1 to 6 years at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia and Kota Bharu Dental Clinic. A face-to-face interview using a validated questionnaire on oral health KAP and cariogenic food intake of their children was done. Data were analysed by using IBM SPSS version 22.0. Results: Sixty-four Malay parents with NSCLP (n=33) and non-cleft (n=31) children were recruited. The mean (SD) percentage score of oral health knowledge of parents in both groups (NSCLP and non-cleft) was fair, 59.5%(11.85) and 62.0%(15.00), P=0.4722; oral health attitude was good, 78.0% (9.30) and 80.2% (15.40), P=0.504; but oral health practice was poor 33.8% (5.94) and 36.1 (8.44), P=0.220. The cariogenic food frequency score was significantly higher in noncleft children; 40.2(10.32) compared to NSCLP children, 34.8(9.46), P=0.032. Conclusion: Parents of both groups had fair knowledge and good attitude but poor oral health practice. Cariogenic foods were consumed more by the non-cleft children. Oral health awareness among the parents needs to be strengthened towards good oral health attitude and practice and non-cariogenic food choices for the betterment of oral health status of their children.