1.Prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection among children admitted to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan
Asady Abdullah ; Soraya Ismail ; Marsitah ; Oothuman Pakeer
The Medical Journal of Malaysia 2019;74(6):468-471
Introduction: Cryptosporidium spp. is identified as an
important cause of diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality
worldwide particularly in children below five years of age
and immunocompromised individuals. Infections are
present among cattle and humans. Until now, there is no
report on its prevalence in humans in Kuantan. The aim of
this study is to record the prevalence and associated risk
factors of Cryptosporidium spp. infection among children
admitted to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA),
Kuantan.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among
children admitted to the Paediatrics ward in HTAA between
December 2017 and May 2018. Faecal samples were
examined using wet smear and Modified Ziehl-Neelsen
(MZN) staining techniques. Data on demography and
hygiene practices was collected using a pretested
questionnaire, and analysed using SPSS version 22.
Results: One hundred thirty five children (95.6% were of
Malay ethnicity) were included in the study. The overall
prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection was 25.2%.
The prevalence was slightly higher in females (28.1%) than
males (23.1%). The prevalence was higher than expected.
This study showed that some risk factors namely children’s
age and trash disposal methods were significantly
associated with Cryptosporidium spp. infection (p˂0.05).
Conclusion: Higher prevalence could possibly be due to an
outbreak of this infection or until now undetected
2. Latent tuberculosis infection among medical students in Malaysia
Maha ABDULLAH ; Ummi Nadira DAUT ; Siti Aishah DAUD ; Nor Afifi Mohd ROMLI ; Marsitah Abdul JALIL ; Noorelina MUHAMMAD ; Safarina Mohammad ISMUDDIN ; Masriana HASSAN
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2019;12(4):181-184
Objective: This study aimed to determine prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection among medical students and tuberculosis exposure at the health facilities. Methods: A cross-section of study year 1 (n=68) and year 5 (n=75) medical students in a local university were recruited for latent tuberculosis infection testing using QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus and a questionnaire analyzed for multivariate risk. Results: The majority of the study were vaccinated with BCG. None of year 1 medical students were positive for latent tuberculosis infection, however, six (8.0%) year 5 students were tested positive for latent tuberculosis infection. A higher incidence of year 5 medical students claimed to be exposed to tuberculosis at health facility (65.3% vs. 4.4%) and a higher percentage reported contact with tuberculosis case over the preceding year compared to year 1 students (30.7% vs. 8.8%). Conclusion: We observed a higher incidence of latent tuberculosis infection and higher exposure to tuberculosis in health facilities among year 5 medical students. Baseline screening and monitoring for progression to tuberculosis infection may benefit tuberculosis management programs.