A previous study that we carried out confirmed that malnutrition is a problem amongst the young child population in the Lower Jimi Valley. This study begins to explore the cultural and traditional food beliefs in order to target the interventions of health services in reducing childhood malnutrition. The study was undertaken during maternal and child health clinics conducted on a foot patrol from Koinambe Health Centre in the villages of Kompiai, Komengwai, Kupeng, Injim and Kwiama. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with small groups of women to uncover beliefs regarding nutrition and feeding during pregnancy, infancy and childhood. This study has highlighted practices that nutritionally disadvantage young children. The four most significant are late weaning, restriction of foods, infrequency of feeding and the low priority given to children during meal times. It is suggested that it is the use, control and distribution of food, rather than its shortage, that contribute most significantly to the problem of childhood malnutrition in this area.
Food ; Valley ; Lower ; Childhood ; Malnutrition

Valley ; Surveys ; Immunization ; Age, NOS

Immunization ; Valley ; Childhood ; Surveys ; Papua New Guinea

Malnutrition is a significant problem in parts of Papua New Guinea, including the Lower Jimi Valley. There is evidence of specific nutritional deficiencies, such as endemic cretinism, but this study focused on protein-energy malnutrition. It found that, in the 1-4 year old population of three remote villages in the Jimi, only 26% were nutritionally normal, 65% were stunted, 7% were wasted and 2% were stunted and wasted. With respect to weight for age, 16% were 80-100% weight for age, 77% were 60-80% and 7% were < 60%. These figures are considerably higher than those of the National Nutrition Survey of 1982-1983; although the Survey data originated from the entire Jimi District rather than only the villages in this study, these findings suggest that malnutrition is a significant and worsening problem in the Lower Jimi Valley.
Valley ; Lower ; Malnutrition ; Papua New Guinea ; Western Herbs and Botanicals

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an acute, febrile zoonotic disease that is caused by the RVF virus (RVFV). RVF is mainly prevalent on the Arabian Peninsula, the African continent, and several islands in the Indian Ocean near southeast Africa. RVFV has been classified by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as a category A pathogen. To avoid biological safety concerns associated with use of the pathogen in RVFV neutralization assays, the present study investigated and established an RVFV pseudovirus-based neutralization assay. This study used the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) lentiviral packaging system and RVFV structural proteins to successfully construct RVFV pseudoviruses. Electron microscopy observation and western blotting indicated that the size, structure, and shape of the packaged pseudoviruses were notably similar to those of HIV lentiviral vectors. Infection inhibition assay results showed that an antibody against RVFV inhibited the infective ability of the RVFV pseudoviruses, and an antibody neutralization assay for RVFV detection was then established. This study has successfully established a neutralization assay based on RVFV pseudoviruses and demonstrated that this method can be used to effectively evaluate antibody neutralization.
Africa ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; HIV ; Indian Ocean ; Islands ; Methods ; Microscopy, Electron ; Product Packaging ; Rift Valley fever virus ; Rift Valley Fever ; Zoonoses

A sensitive reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed for rapid visual detection of Murray valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) infection. The reaction was performed in one step in a single tube at 63 °C for 60 min with the addition of the hydroxynaphthol blue (HNB) dye prior to amplification. The detection limit of the RT-LAMP assay was 100 copies per reaction based on 10-fold dilutions of in vitro transcribed RNA derived from a synthetic MVEV DNA template. No cross-reaction was observed with other encephalitis-associated viruses. The assay was further evaluated using spiked cerebrospinal fluid sample with pseudotype virus containing the NS5 gene of MVEV.
Base Sequence ; DNA Primers ; Encephalitis Virus, Murray Valley ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Limit of Detection ; Transcription, Genetic

Death due to firearm is more common in countries with higher gun ownership such as United States of America compared to countries with restrictive gun ownership such as European countries and Malaysia. However, the increasing number of shooting cases in Malaysia recently should not be overlooked. This study was carried out to investigate the incidence of firearm-related deaths and epidemiology in Klang Valley for 11-year period. The demographic data on the incidence of firearm-related deaths from 2006 to 2016 was collected retrospectively from four government hospitals in Klang Valley. 204 cases of firearm-related deaths were reported with irregular trend of the incidence throughout the 11-year period. The results revealed that most victims were male, aged between 30 to 34 years old and Malaysian citizen. Firearms fatalities were higher among Malaysian specifically Indian, as compared to non-Malaysian. Most firearms fatalities were homicides and took place during late night between 12.00 am to 5.59 am. The highest cause of death was head injury due to gunshot wound. It is hoped that this study will raise awareness to Malaysian citizen regarding firearm-related cases and to develop strategies to overcome the issue of gun violence in Malaysia with appropriate authorities.
firearm fatalities ; firearms epidemiology ; firearms demographic data ; gun violence Klang Valley ; gunshot wound