Serdang Hospital Research Articles

Biodiversity and clinico-demographic characteristics of human rhinoviruses from hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract infections in Malaysia

BackgroundThere is accumulating evidence that human rhinovirus (HRV) causes acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI). Recently, HRV-C was identified as a new species of HRV, but its spectrum of clinical disease is not well understood. ObjectivesWe investigated the molecular epidemiology, demographic and clinical characteristics of HRVs among hospitalized children with ALRIs. Study designOne hundred and sixty-five nasopharangeal aspirates taken from children <5 years hospitalized with ALRTIs in Serdang Hospital, Malaysia, were subject to reverse transcriptase-PCR for HRV. Phylogenetic analysis on VP4/VP2 and 5′-NCR regions was used to further characterize HRV. Other respiratory viruses were also investigated using semi-nested multiplex RT-PCR assay. Clinical parameters were analyzed between HRV, RSV and IFV-A mono-infections and between HRV species. ResultsHRV was detected in 54 (33%) patients for both single (36 samples) and multiple (18 samples) infections, 61.1% (22/36) represents HRV-A strains while the remaining 14 HRV-C. Strain P51was the first reported representative of HRV98. The majority of the single HRV cases were in the second half of infancy; HRV-C occurred among older children compared with HRV-A. HRV children were admitted significantly earlier and less febrile than RSV and IFV-A infection. HRV-C infected children were more likely to have rhonchi and vomiting as compared to HRV-A. Pneumonia was the most common discharge diagnosis followed by bronchiolitis and post-viral wheeze in HRV patients. ConclusionOur study showed high prevalence of HRVs and detection of HRV-C among hospitalized children with ALRTIs in Malaysia. Analysis of clinical parameters suggested specific features associated with HRVs infections and specific HRV groups.

Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection from Cervical Swabs of Normal Women in Southern Selangor, Malaysia

Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection from Cervical Swabs of Normal Women in Southern Selangor, Malaysia A.R. Nurul Asyikin1,∗, R. Rozita2, C.K. Ng3, W.H. Wan Hamilton4, B.C. Tan5, M. Rusinahayati 2, P.P. Chong1 1 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM, Malaysia 2 Department of Obstetric and Gynecology, Faculty Of Medicine and Health Sciences, UPM, Malaysia 3 Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Kajang Hospital, Kajang, Malaysia 4 Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, Serdang Hospital, Serdang, Malaysia 5 Britannia Women and Children Specialist Centre, Kajang, Malaysia

Candida isolates from pregnant women and their antifungal susceptibility in a Malaysian tertiary-care hospital.

Objective:Pregnant women are susceptible to vaginal colonization and infection by yeast. The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of Candida spp in high vaginal swabs of pregnant women and their antifungal susceptibility.Methods:High vaginal swab samples received from Serdang Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia during 2011 initially had microscopic examination, Gram-staining and fungal culture. These were finally confirmed by growth in chromogenic medium (CHROMagarCandida; Difco BBL, USA) and commercial biochemical identification kit (API 20C AUX; bioMérieux, Lyon, France). Antifungal susceptibility was performed by E-test method.Results:Out of 1163 specimens 200 (17.2%) candida spp were confirmed from high vaginal swabs of pregnant women. Candida albicans (83.5%) is the most common species detected followed by Candida glabrata (16%) and Candida famata (0.05%). All C. albicans and C.famata isolates were susceptible to fluconazole while C.glabrata isolates were dose dependent susceptibility. First and second trimester, and diabetes were considered significant factors in patients for the vaginal candidiasis (p < 0.001).Conclusions:In pregnant women, C. albicans was the frequently isolated yeast from high vaginal swabs. Routine screening and treatment are important of pregnant women regardless of symptoms.