Pathology crossword competition: an active and easy way of learning pathology in undergraduate medical education.

Introduction: In line with the trend to engage students in active learning, it is imperative to introduce new strategies that make learning more interesting, especially in undergraduate curricula. This study aimed to determine students' performance and perception in pathology crosswords as an active way of learning and to assess their ability to memorise difficult terms in pathology.

Methods: A crossword competition in pathology was conducted for two batches (year 2009 and 2010) of Phase 2 medical students in Malaysia.

Prevalence of asthma, eczema and allergic rhinitis: two surveys, 6 years apart, in Kota Bharu, Malaysia.

Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of asthma, eczema, and allergic rhinitis in school children in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, and in so doing to determine the differences in symptom prevalence rates of asthma, and atopic diseases in Kota Bharu school children between 1995 and 2001.

Methodology: In two studies (1995 and 2001), year one primary school (PS) pupils (6-7 years old) and secondary school (SS) year two pupils (13-14 years old) were randomly selected from the district of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia. In 1995, 3939 PS children and 3116 SS children participated, and in 2001 3157 PS children and 3004 SS children participated.

Prevalence of wheeze, night cough and doctor-diagnosed asthma in pre-school children in Kota Bharu.

While many studies of the prevalence of wheeze have been conducted in schoolchildren, there have been few in pre-school children. Most children with asthma develop symptoms before the age of 5 years and many pre-school wheezers continue to wheeze in the early school years. Among the latter, those children who continue to wheeze at school age have poorer lung function than those who don't.

Orbital abscess due to acute ethmoiditis in a neonate.

Orbital complications due to ethmoiditis are not uncommon in children. However, they are very rare in infants. A case of orbital abscess due to acute ethmoiditis in a 10 days old boy is reported.