Antibody Response Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Malaysian Cancer Patients and Healthy Individuals.

Introduction: There is a lack of real-world evidence on direct comparisons between COVID-19 vaccines in multiethnic low- and middle-income settings. Cancer patients have an impaired vaccine response due to the disease itself or the effects of treatment. Hence, identifying the best vaccine to use for cancer patients is important.

Roles of probiotics against HPV through the gut-vaginal axis.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus, whose persistent infection is the main reason for invasive cervical cancer (ICC), which is the fourth most common type of cancer in women, with more than 500 000 new cases every year. After infection, various alterations occur in the host, facilitating the virus's evasion of immune system clearance and promoting its proliferation. Oral probiotic consumption can influence the whole body's immunity, inflammatory reflection, neural, endocrine humoral, metabolic pathways and other organs by adjusting the components of gut microbiota (GM).

Seroevidence of SARS-CoV-2 spillback to rodents in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have originated from a spillover event, where the virus jumped from bats to humans, leading to an epidemic that quickly escalated into a pandemic by early 2020. Despite the implementation of various public health measures, such as lockdowns and widespread vaccination efforts, the virus continues to spread. This is primarily attributed to the rapid emergence of immune escape variants and the inadequacy of protection against reinfection.

Detection of novel coronaviruses from dusky fruit bat (Penthetor lucasi) in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Background: Sarawak has one of the highest diversity of fruit bats species (family Pteropodidae) in Malaysia, with 19 species described. Most coronavirus (CoV) studies have mainly focused on insectivorous bats, resulting in a lack of information on CoVs present in frugivorous bats. In addition, bat CoV surveillance activities are lacking in Malaysia.

Serosurveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals in Sarawak, Malaysia.

SARS-CoV-2 is a zoonotic betacoronavirus that was first reported at the dawn of 2019 in Wuhan, China and has since spread globally, causing an ongoing pandemic. Anthroponotic transmission was reported early, with confirmed infections reported in 26 species to date, including dogs and cats. However, there is a paucity of reports on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to companion animals, and thus, we aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in dogs and cats in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Emergence of equine-like G3 and porcine-like G9 rotavirus strains in Sarawak, Malaysia: 2019-2021.

Rotavirus is the leading causative viral agent of pediatric acute gastroenteritis globally, infecting mostly children 5 years old and below. Data on rotavirus prevalence in Malaysia is scarce, despite the WHO's recommendation for continuous rotavirus surveillance, and has underestimated the need for national rotavirus vaccination. Characteristics of the current rotavirus strains in Malaysia have to be determined to understand the rotavirus epidemiology and vaccine compatibility.

Prevalence of haemosporidia in Asian Glossy Starling with discovery of misbinding of Haemoproteus-specific primer to Plasmodium genera in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Background: Plasmodium, Haemoproteus and Leucocytozoon are three mainly studied blood parasites known to cause malarial and pseudomalarial infections in avian worldwide. Although Sarawak is a biodiversity hotspot, molecular data on blood parasite diversity in birds are absent. The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of blood parasite in Asian Glossy Starlings (AGS), an urban bird with high population density in Sarawak and to elucidate the phylogenetic relationship with other blood parasite.

Factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention among university students: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia.

Vaccination is crucial in controlling the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that triggered the pandemic, but herd immunity can only work with high vaccination coverage in the population. This study aims to measure the COVID-19 knowledge level and determine the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination intention among university students in Malaysia. A cross-sectional online survey was carried out with 1,274 Malaysian university students in July 2021.

Antibody dynamics post-Comirnaty and CoronaVac vaccination in Malaysia.

Several vaccines have been fast-tracked through clinical trials to mitigate the progression of the SARS‑CoV‑2 pandemic. We analyzed sequential blood samples from 314 recipients of Comirnaty and CoronaVac in East Malaysia for the spike-binding IgG (IgG-S), nucleocapsid-binding IgG (IgG-N), spike-binding IgM (IgM-S) and serum vitamin D (VitD). A subset of samples was analyzed for the neutralizing antibodies (Ig-RBD).

Ecological surveillance of bat coronaviruses in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Objective: Coronaviruses (CoVs) are natural commensals of bats. Two subgenera, namely Sarbecoviruses and Merbecoviruses have a high zoonotic potential and have been associated with three separate spillover events in the past 2 decades, making surveillance of bat-CoVs crucial for the prevention of the next epidemic. The study was aimed to elucidate the presence of coronavirus in fresh bat guano sampled from Wind Cave Nature Reserve (WCNR) in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

One Health Perspectives on Emerging Public Health Threats.

Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper.

Rodent Species Distribution and Hantavirus Seroprevalence in Residential and Forested areas of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Rodents belong to the order Rodentia, which consists of three families in Borneo (i.e., Muridae, Sciuridae and Hystricidae).

Generation and epitope mapping of a sub-group cross-reactive anti-respiratory syncytial virus G glycoprotein monoclonal antibody which is protective in vivo.

Passively administered antibodies to conserved epitopes on the attachment (G) glycoprotein of human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) have potential in the immunoprophylaxis of human infections. This study set out to generate monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) recognizing all prevalent lineages of HRSV and capable of immunoprophylaxis in mice. Two murine MAbs of broad specificity for prevalent virus strains were generated by immunization of mice with hRSV of sub-group A followed by selection of hybridomas on recombinant G glycoprotein from a sub-group B virus.

Incorrect identification of recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 as human enterovirus 71: improved primers for the specific detection of human enterovirus 71 by RT PCR.

Background: Human enterovirus 71 has emerged as an important pathogen in the Asia Pacific region and it is important to be able to make a rapid and specific diagnosis for outbreak control. Recent Asian strains of Coxsackievirus A16 have changes in the VP1 gene which causes mispriming of widely used primers for human enterovirus 71 specific identification.

Methods: Local strains of Coxsackievirus A16 were sequenced in the VP4 and VP1 genes and using sequence alignment tools, an improved set of primers were designed for specific identification of human enterovirus 71.