Social expectations and government incentives in Malaysia's COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

High vaccination rates are integral to reducing infection and severity rates of COVID-19 infections within a community. We examine the role of social expectations in COVID-19 vaccination take-ups and its interaction with potential government actions in Malaysia. We find that individuals' expectations of others in their social groups towards vaccination predicts those individuals' vaccination registrations. Using a vignette experiment, we examine the extent of normative expectations in normalizing pro-vaccination behavior beyond an individual's reference group. We find that unless moderated by a high level of public trust, individuals prefer punitive policies as a way to increase vaccination rates in their communities.

Bite envenomation by Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae: Theridiidae) spiders in Malaysia.

We report two confirmed human bite cases by Lactrodectus geometricus , also known as the brown widow spider. These are the first reported bite envenomation incidents by L. geometricus in Malaysia. The incidents occurred in Tawau, Sabah and Paka, Terengganu. Both men were bitten on their ear while putting on motorcycle helmets. The spiders appeared to have nested in the helmets. The dead specimens were collected and sent to the Invertebrate and Vertebrate Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Universiti Malaya for identification. The species identity was confirmed by DNA barcoding.

Bite envenomation by Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae: Theridiidae) spiders in Malaysia

@#We report two confirmed human bite cases by Lactrodectus geometricus, also known as the brown widow spider. These are the first reported bite envenomation incidents by L. geometricus in Malaysia. The incidents occurred in Tawau, Sabah and Paka, Terengganu. Both men were bitten on their ear while putting on motorcycle helmets. The spiders appeared to have nested in the helmets. The dead specimens were collected and sent to the Invertebrate and Vertebrate Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Universiti Malaya for identification. The species identity was confirmed by DNA barcoding.

Feeding behavior of Mimomyia (Etorleptiomyia) luzonensis (Ludlow, 1905) (Diptera, Culicidae) in Peninsular Malaysia.

Mosquitoes are vectors of various human diseases in the tropics including yellow fever, dengue, malaria and West Nile virus. Mosquitoes can act as vectors between wildlife and humans, which is particularly important for diseases where wild animals serve as reservoirs of parasites in the absence of human infections. Research has mainly focused on the medical impacts of Anopheles, Aedes, Mansonia and Culex, however, very little attention has been directed towards other mosquito genera, especially those which act as vectors of diseases of wildlife. We have observed adults of Mimomyia (Etorleptiomyia) luzonensis (Ludlow, 1905) feeding on a toad, Ingerophrynus parvus, near an oil palm plantation settlement in Setia Alam, Selangor state, Peninsular Malaysia. Mimomyia is known to feed on reptiles and amphibians, and is a documented vector of several arboviruses, including West Nile virus. The observation of Mimomyia feeding on a common toad near a human settlement highlights a need to understand the relationships between mosquitoes, toads and humans from an ecological perspective. We report on-site observations of the feeding habit of Mimomyia; the first records from Malaysia.

Identification of rickettsiae from wild rats and cat fleas in Malaysia.

Rickettsioses are emerging zoonotic diseases reported worldwide. In spite of the serological evidence of spotted fever group rickettsioses in febrile patients in Malaysia, limited studies have been conducted to identify the animal reservoirs and vectors of rickettsioses. This study investigated the presence of rickettsiae in the tissue homogenates of 95 wild rats and 589 animal ectoparasites. Using PCR assays targeting the citrate synthase gene (gltA), rickettsial DNA was detected in the tissue homogenates of 13 (13.7%) wild rats. Sequence analysis of the gltA amplicons showed 98.6-100% similarity with those of Rickettsia honei/R. conorii/R. raoultii (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae). Sequence analysis of outer membrane protein A gene (ompA) identified Rickettsia sp. TCM1 strain from two rats. No rickettsia was detected from Laelaps mites, Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Haemaphysalis bispinosa ticks, and Felicola subrostratus lice in this study. R. felis was identified from 32.2% of 177 Ctenocephalides felis fleas. Sequence analysis of the gltA amplicons revealed two genotypes of R. felis (Rf31 and RF2125) in the fleas. As wild rats and cat fleas play an important role in the enzoonotic maintenance of rickettsiae, control of rodent and flea populations may be able to reduce transmission of rickettsioses in the local setting.

Oxyspiruriasis in zoo birds.

Oxyspiruriasis caused by the bird eyeworm, Oxyspirura mansoni, a thelaziid nematode, in three species of pheasants, 3 Chrysolophus pictus (golden pheasant), 7 Lophura nycthemera (silver pheasant) and 9 Phasianus colchicus (common pheasant) in Zoo Negara Malaysia are reported. Birds with the disease were treated with a solution of 0.5% iodine or 0.5% lysol. Antistress powder for 4 days in water and non-strep vitamin powder in water was also provided. Control measures included removal of the cockroach intermediate host, Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Surinam cockroach) from the vicinity of the birds. The golden pheasant is a new host for O. mansoni in peninsular Malaysia.

Domiciliary cockroaches found in restaurants in five zones of Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory, peninsular Malaysia.

The following domiciliary cockroaches were collected from restaurants in five zones of Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory, Malaysia using 1L glass beaker traps baited with ground mouse-pellets: Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) (n = 820), Periplaneta brunnea Burmeister (n = 46), Blattella germanica (Linnaeus) (n = 12504), Supella longipalpa (Fabricius) (n = 321), Symploce pallens Stephens (n = 29) and Neostylopyga rhombifolia (Stoll) (n = 5). The following bacteria were isolated from 10 cockroach specimens: Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. rhinoscleromatis and Serratia liquefaciens from 5 B. germanica; Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var. anitratus, Citrobacter diversus/amalonaticus, Escherichia vulneris and K.p. pneumoniae from 3 P. brunnea; and Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter agglomerans 4, Escherichia adecarboxylate, E. vulneris, K. p. pneumonia, K. p. rhinoscleromatis and Proteus vulgeris from 2 P. americana.

Prenatal exposure to chronic mild stress increases corticosterone levels in the amniotic fluid and induces cognitive deficits in female offspring, improved by treatment with the antidepressant drug amitriptyline.

Prenatal stress and associated in utero exposure to elevated levels of stress hormones can adversely affect the development of the central nervous system, thereby increasing the risk of mental illnesses in later life. Here, we examined the impact of prenatal exposure to chronic mild stress (CMS) on locomotion, anxiety-related behaviour, cognition and hippocampal serotonergic neurotransmission in juvenile and adult B6D2F2 mice, and whether antidepressant treatment in adulthood could reverse the observed behavioural disturbances. Pregnant B6D2F1 female mice were either subjected to CMS or left undisturbed until parturition. Three-week and 7-week-old male and female offspring were assessed in the open-field, novel object recognition and contextual fear conditioning tests. Hippocampal levels of serotonin and its major metabolite were then quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. Some prenatally-stressed adult females were treated with amitriptyline (20mg/kg/day in drinking water) for 10 days, from the day prior to onset of behavioural testing. In a separate experiment, amniotic fluid was collected from stressed and non-stressed dams on gestational (G) days 13 and 18 to quantify levels of corticosterone. We found that prenatal CMS specifically impaired learning and memory performance in adult females. Amitriptyline elevated hippocampal serotonin levels and attenuated these cognitive deficits. Corticosterone levels in the amniotic fluid were increased by CMS on G13 but by G18, the levels in non-stressed dams reached those of stressed dams. These results suggest that female mice are particularly vulnerable to the adverse developmental effects of prenatal stress which can be improved by appropriate treatment strategies including antidepressants.

A ten year (1999-2008) retrospective study of amoebiasis in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This is a ten year (1999-2008) retrospective study of amebiasis in patients admitted to UMMC. A total of 34 cases were analyzed. The most common were amebic liver abscess 22(65%) and the rest were amoebic dysentery 12(35%). Majority of the cases occurred among Malaysians 29(85%), with Chinese 14(41%), followed by the Malays 9(26%) and the Indians 6(18%). Foreigners made up of one Indonesian, one Pakistani and three Myanmarese and constituted 5(15%) of the total cases. Males 24(71%) were more commonly affected. Most of the cases occurred between the age group of 40-49 years, 8(23%) and 60 years and above, 8(23%). Age group of 20-50 years constituted 20(60%) of the cases. The most common clinical presentations were fever with chills and rigors 26(76%), diarrhoea 20 (59%), right hypochondrium pain 17(50%), abdominal pain 17(50%), hepatomegaly 16 (47%) and jaundice 7(20%). All were discharged well after treatment except for one case of death in a 69-year-old Chinese male with amebic liver abscess.