Parasitic infections among orang asli (aborigine) in the cameron highlands, Malaysia

In April 2004, an outbreak of acute diarrheal illness occurred among the Orang Asli (aborigine) in the Cameron Highlands, Pahang State, Peninsular Malaysia, where rotavirus was later implicated as the cause. In the course of the epidemic investigation, stool samples were collected and examined for i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 415 - 419
Main Authors:	LOKMAN HAKIM, S, CAN, C. C, MALKIT, K, MY NOOR AZIAN, CHONG, C. K, SHAARI, N, ZAINUDDIN, W, CHIN, C. N, SARA, Y, LYE, M. S
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Bangkok Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network 01-05-2007 Central Coordinating Board, SEAMEO-TROPMED Project
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Animals Biological and medical sciences Child Child, Preschool General aspects Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Infectious diseases Malaysia - epidemiology Medical sciences Parasitic diseases Parasitic Diseases - epidemiology Parasitic Diseases - physiopathology Population Groups Population Surveillance - methods Asia Malaysia Infection Aboriginal Tropical medicine Parasitosis Mountain
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Summary:	In April 2004, an outbreak of acute diarrheal illness occurred among the Orang Asli (aborigine) in the Cameron Highlands, Pahang State, Peninsular Malaysia, where rotavirus was later implicated as the cause. In the course of the epidemic investigation, stool samples were collected and examined for infectious agents including parasites. Soil transmitted helminthes (STH), namely Ascaris lumbricoides (25.7%), Trichuris trichiura (31.1%) and hookworm (8.1%), and intestinal protozoa, which included Giardia lamblia (17.6%), Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar (9.4%), Blastocystis hominis (8.1%) and Cryptosporidium parvum (2.7%), were detected. Forty-four (59.5%) were infected with at least one parasite, 24 (32.4%), 12 (16.2%) and 8 (10.8%) had single, double and triple parasitic infections, respectively. STH were prevalent with infections occurring as early as in infancy. Giardia lamblia, though the most commonly found parasite in samples from symptomatic subjects, was within the normally reported rate of giardiasis among the various communities in Malaysia, and was an unlikely cause of the outbreak. However, heavy pre-existing parasitic infections could have contributed to the severity of the rotavirus diarrheal outbreak.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0125-1562