PesTrapp mobile app: A trap setting application for real-time entomological field and laboratory study.

Diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika and chikungunya remain endemic in many countries. Setting and deploying traps to capture the host/vector species are fundamental to understand their density and distributions. Human effort to manage the trap data accurately and timely is an exhaustive endeavour when the study area expands and period prolongs. One stop mobile app to manage and monitor the process of targeted species trapping, from field to laboratory level is still scarce. Toward this end, we developed a new mobile app named "PesTrapp" to acquire the vector density index based on the mobile updates of ovitraps and species information in field and laboratory. This study aimed to highlight the mobile app's development and design, elucidate the practical user experiences of using the app and evaluate the preliminary user assessment of the mobile app. The mobile app was developed using mobile framework and database. User evaluation of the mobile app was based on the adjusted Mobile App Rating Scale and Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire. The process flows of system design and detailed screen layouts were described. The user experiences with and without the app in a project to study Aedes surveillance in six study sites in Selangor, Malaysia were elucidated. The overall mean user evaluation score of the mobile app was 4.0 out of 5 (SD=0.6), reflects its acceptability of the users. The PesTrapp, a one-stop solution, is anticipated to improve the entomological surveillance work processes. This new mobile app can contribute as a tool in the vector control countermeasure strategies.

PesTrapp mobile app: A trap setting application for real-time entomological field and laboratory study

@#Diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika and chikungunya remain endemic in many countries. Setting and deploying traps to capture the host/vector species are fundamental to understand their density and distributions. Human effort to manage the trap data accurately and timely is an exhaustive endeavour when the study area expands and period prolongs. One stop mobile app to manage and monitor the process of targeted species trapping, from field to laboratory level is still scarce. Toward this end, we developed a new mobile app named “PesTrapp” to acquire the vector density index based on the mobile updates of ovitraps and species information in field and laboratory. This study aimed to highlight the mobile app’s development and design, elucidate the practical user experiences of using the app and evaluate the preliminary user assessment of the mobile app. The mobile app was developed using mobile framework and database. User evaluation of the mobile app was based on the adjusted Mobile App Rating Scale and Standardized User Experience Percentile Rank Questionnaire. The process flows of system design and detailed screen layouts were described. The user experiences with and without the app in a project to study Aedes surveillance in six study sites in Selangor, Malaysia were elucidated. The overall mean user evaluation score of the mobile app was 4.0 out of 5 (SD=0.6), reflects its acceptability of the users. The PesTrapp, a one-stop solution, is anticipated to improve the entomological surveillance work processes. This new mobile app can contribute as a tool in the vector control countermeasure strategies.

Susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus isolated in Malaysian hospitals.

Isolates of 390 Staphylococcus aureus were tested against 13 different antibiotics by a disc diffusion method as recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS). Strains were isolated from blood (5.7%), cerebrospinal fluid (0.5%), respiratory tract (11.8%), pus and wound (73.3%), urine (1.8%), genital specimens (1.0%) and other specimens (4.3%). Only 4.6% of the isolates were fully susceptible to all the drugs tested. Resistance to penicillin was 94.1%, methicillin, 39.7%, chloramphenicol, 8.5%, ciprofloxacin, 29.2%, clindamycin, 2.1%, erythromycin, 45.9% gentamicin, 40.5%; rifampicin, 3.3% tetracycline, 47.2%, co-trimoxazole, 38.5%, mupirocin, 2.8%, fusidic acid, 3.6%. None of the isolates was resistant to vancomycin. The susceptibility of methicillin-resistant strains to erythromycin, gentamicin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin was low, while clindamycin, fusidic acid, mupirocin, and rifampicin remained active.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in raw and cooked food.

A total of 402 Escherichia coli isolates were obtained from a variety of food samples and screened for enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). Screening was carried out using 15 specific monovalent antisera from Murex Diagnostic Limited. A total of 19 E. coli isolates were serotyped as EPEC. The EPEC strains were shown to belong to 8 serotypes. Eight out of 19 EPEC strains belonged to serotype 018C:K77 (B21). Seventeen out of 19 of the EPEC strains were isolated from cooked food. The presence of E. coli in cooked food is an indicator of fecal contamination and a sign of unhygienic food handling. The presence of EPEC in food could be a potential source of food-borne outbreak. Hygiene training for every food-handler is a necessity.

Incidence of Listeria spp. in vegetables in Kuala Lumpur.

From April 1992 to September 1992, 280 samples of 10 different fresh vegetables, bought from four different market outlets in Kuala Lumpur were examined for the presence of Listeria spp. Most of the market produce were locally grown with the exception of carrots. The isolation procedure was based on the Food & Drug Administration method (modified) used for the detection of Listeria spp. Isolation media used were Listeria Selective medium and LiCl- phenylethanol-Moxalactam agars. The identification of isolates was by means of conventional biochemical tests and API Listeria identification system. Five out of the 280 samples showed Listeria contamination, Listeria monocytogenes was isolated in lettuce, sengkuang (Pachyrrhizus erosus) and selom Oenanthe javanica) and Listeria innocua was isolated from sengkuang (Pachyrrhizus erosus) and pegaga (Hydrocotyle asiatica).