Urban And Rural Inequality In Knowledge, Attitude And Practice On Haze Pollution Episode In Klang Valley, Malaysia

Introduction: Transboundary haze occurred was primarily derived from seasonal forest fires which has highly been concerned of the health effect on the local community. As awareness of the source and dangers of smoke haze spread, Malaysian government increa singly came under pressure from the public and civil society at the national, state, and district level to address the haze issues. However, the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) inequalities of urban and rural community could be a barrier in promoti ng awareness on haze. Objective: To determine the urban and rural inequality in KAP on haze. Methodology: A total of 400 urban and rural residents from Klang Valley was recruited to participate in this study. A validated survey form was used as the study i nstrument which composed of four parts: (1) Sociodemographic information, (2) Haze knowledge, (3) Attitude (concerns) during haze episodes, (4) Practices (protective behaviors) to prevent against the health effects of haze. Result: There were significant d ifferences of KAP on transboundary haze among urban - rural population. Urban population has higher knowledge and protective behaviors on hazes; however, both the rural - urban residents presented moderate levels of concerns on hazes. Conclusion: It is necessa ry to provide timely information (knowledge and practices) on haze to rural residents, at the same time, improve the urban residents’ concerns (attitudes) over the haze phenomenon. This will help to raise the overall awareness level to transboundary haze b y translating into a state of the resilient community.

Urban And Rural Inequality In Knowledge, Attitude And Practice On Haze Pollution Episode In Klang Valley, Malaysia

@#Introduction: Transboundary haze occurred was primarily derived from seasonal forest fires which has highly been concerned of the health effect on the local community. As awareness of the source and dangers of smoke haze spread, Malaysian government increasingly came under pressure from the public and civil society at the national, state, and district level to address the haze issues. However, the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) inequalities of urban and rural community could be a barrier in promoting awareness on haze. Objective: To determine the urban and rural inequality in KAP on haze. Methodology: A total of 400 urban and rural residents from Klang Valley was recruited to participate in this study. A validated survey form was used as the study instrument which composed of four parts: (1) Sociodemographic information, (2) Haze knowledge, (3) Attitude (concerns) during haze episodes, (4) Practices (protective behaviors) to prevent against the health effects of haze. Result: There were significant differences of KAP on transboundary haze among urban-rural population. Urban population has higher knowledge and protective behaviors on hazes; however, both the rural-urban residents presented moderate levels of concerns on hazes. Conclusion: It is necessary to provide timely information (knowledge and practices) on haze to rural residents, at the same time, improve the urban residents’ concerns (attitudes) over the haze phenomenon. This will help to raise the overall awareness level to transboundary haze by translating into a state of the resilient community.

Genotoxicity following Organophosphate Pesticides Exposure among Orang Asli Children Living in an Agricultural Island in Kuala Langat, Selangor, Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Agriculture is an important sector for the Malaysian economy. The use of pesticides in agriculture is crucial due to its function in keeping the crops from harmful insects. Children living near agricultural fields are at risk of pesticide poisoning. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the genotoxic risk among children who exposed to pesticides and measure DNA damage due to pesticides exposure. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study 180 Orang Asli Mah Meri children aged between 7 and 12 years were studied. They were all living in an agricultural island in Kuala Langat, Selangor, Malaysia. The data for this study were collected via modified validated questionnaire and food frequency questionnaire, which consisted of 131 food items. 6 urinary organophosphate metabolites were used as biomarkers for pesticides exposure. For genotoxic risk or genetic damage assessment, the level of DNA damage from exfoliated buccal mucosa cells was measured using the comet assay electrophoresis method. RESULTS: Out of 180 respondents, 84 (46.7%) showed positive traces of organophosphate metabolites in their urine. Children with detectable urinary pesticide had a longer tail length (median 43.5; IQR 30.9 to 68.1 µm) than those with undetectable urinary pesticides (median 24.7; IQR 9.5 to 48.1 µm). There was a significant association between the extent of DNA damage and the children's age, length of residence in the area, pesticides detection, and frequency of apple consumption. CONCLUSION: The organophosphate genotoxicity among children is associated with the amount of exposure (detectability of urinary pesticide) and length of residence in (exposure) the study area.

HTLV-I antibody study in normal individuals and unselected hospital patients in Malaysia.

A serological investigation for human T cell leukemia virus I (HTLV-I) infection was carried out at the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. A total of 626 sera from a non-patient population and 1,038 sera from unselected in-patients were screened for HTLV-I antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). 27/1664 (1.6%) were found to be reactive. However, on Western blotting, only 2 sera were confirmed positive, both showing reactions for the major core (p19 and p24) and the envelope (gp46) proteins. Both of the serum samples were from unselected hospital patients. Most of the remaining sera which were reactive on screening showed indeterminate results on Western blotting. These were further tested by radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) and none of these sera gave a positive reaction. Therefore, only 2/1038 (0.19%) unselected patients could be confirmed to have antibodies to HTLV-I. None of the normal individuals screened showed a positive Western blot result. Our data indicate that HTLV-I infection is present in our population, but at a low prevalence rate.

Dissociation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) from immobilised anti-HBsAg antibody in a two site immunoradiometric assay: its relevance to hook effect and recycled assay.

The mechanism of the hook effect in a two site immunometric assay of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was studied using a novel method. The results showed that HBsAg dissociated from immobilized anti-HBsAg at low as well as high doses of antigen (Ag). This probably was not due to lack of immobilized antibody (Ab) or dissociation of HBsAg non-specifically bound to the immobilized Ab. The dissociated Ag sequestered the labelled Ab in the second reaction and contributed to the decrease in percent binding (B%) of the assay and thus the hook effect. The dissociated Ag could contaminate the recovered pooled labelled Ab in recycled assay and give rise to high non-specific binding. Prolonged washing decreased the side reaction but also the B% of the assay.