Aims: Trichoderma is a soil borne mycoparasitic fungus which comprises a number of fungal strains that act as biocontrol agent. In this present study have investigated the diversity of Trichoderma in different cultivated soils in state of Kelantan. The effectiveness of biocontrol agent of isolated Trichoderm species was evaluated against the phytopathogen of Pyricularia oryzae, Fusarium oxysporum, and Ganoderma boninense. Methodology and results: The identification experiment was carried out on the basis of morphological characteristics as colony appearance, shapes and size of conidia, the branching patterns of conidiophores and phialides. Then, the effectiveness of biocontrol agent of Trichoderma species against the pathogens was tested in plate assay experiment. A total of 11 isolates were obtained from three different cultivated soils from Jeli (J), Machang (M) and Pasirmas (P). Morphological studies data identified as two groups of Trichoderma species as Trichoderma harzianum, and T. koningii. All the isolates showed the antagonistic activity against the pathogens while T. harzianum strain THMPA1 showed highest antagonistic activity of 80.00% against P. oryzae and in T. koningii strain TKMPA3 group showed highest antagonistic activity of 69% against P. oryzae. Conclusion, significance and impact of study: Among the 11 isolates of Trichoderma, the species of T. harzianum strain THMPA1 was the best as biocontrol agent against P. oryzae. Thus, diversity of Trichoderma species study is important to find promising species isolation of Trichoderma species which will be influenced in future to sustainable crop production and maintain green environment.

Introduction: Caregivers and parents are important to the healthy development of children. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and oral health practice among caregivers of children with disabilities. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among caregivers in three special boarding schools in Kuantan, Pahang, who cared for 7 to 17 years old disabled children using self-administered questionnaires. Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-square test were used to analyse the data. Results: Most caregivers were female (73.2%). The overall mean knowledge score was 87.75%. All of caregivers have agreed that sugary or sticky food and drinks can cause caries and toothbrushing for children is important for oral health. All of the caregivers possess secondary educational level where 75% of the caregivers with tertiary educational level assist the children while brushing teeth. However, 71.9% of caregivers with tertiary educational level and 45% of caregivers with secondary educational level had shown poor oral health practice since they were frequently giving sweet food to the children. Surprisingly, most of the caregivers with secondary educational level (95.2%) and caregivers with tertiary educational level (85%) thought children with disabilities can brush their teeth independently. Conclusion: Despite having adequate oral health knowledge among the caregivers in the special needs boarding schools, their attitude and oral health practice however were not up to the necessary standards. The implementation of oral health promotion related programmes in the special needs boarding schools must be taken into consideration in order to tackle the oral health problems of children with disabilities.

To study the characteristics of paediatric patients admitted to two non-COVID-19 teaching hospitals before and during the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia. The retrospective study was performed in two phases (before MCO between February to March 2020, and during MCO lockdown between March to April 2020) in two teaching hospitals on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Hospitalized children <18 years were included and those coming for elective procedures or oncology treatment were excluded. The clinical data were retrieved from both hospitals’ admission records. There was a total of 496 and 191 admissions to two teaching hospitals on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, respectively. A significant reduction in the number of non-COVID-19 hospital admissions was seen in both hospitals. For Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, the daily hospital admissions were reduced with a mean of 10 (before MCO) to 7 (during MCO) admissions/day (95% CI 1.54,7.54, p=0.001). In Sultan Ahmad Shah Medical Centre, a reduction in hospital admission was seen from 5 (before MCO) to 3 (during MCO) admissions/day (95% CI 0.61, 3.15, p=0.005). Our study observed a general drop in non-COVID-related respiratory illnesses and infectious disease cases during the MCO period. There were significant differences in neurological (p=0.029) and accident (p = 0.001) cases admissions observed between the two periods. Public health social distancing has indirectly reduced the non-COVID-19 related cases in the hospital settings with an increase in accidental injuries among the children during the MCO period.
COVID-19