Exploring community needs in combating aedes mosquitoes and dengue fever: a study with urban community in the recurrent hotspot area.

Background: Aedes mosquitoes are the main vector of dengue infection, a global health threat affecting millions of people annually. Conventional prevention and control methods against dengue outbreaks have only achieved marginal success. Recognizing the complex issue at hand, a multilevel participatory approach is crucial.

Exploring community behaviours and stakeholder challenges in engaging communities with dengue prevention behaviour in Malaysia: implementation research for a qualitative study with a community-based participatory research design.

Objectives: To use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) design to explore local community behaviours and stakeholders' challenges in engaging communities in dengue prevention behaviours in Hulu Langat, Selangor, Malaysia.

Design: This CBPR design in implementation comprised in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Themes were identified from the data with inductive and deductive thematic analysis.

Bio-Fabrication of Silver Nanoparticles Using Fruit Peel Extract (CAFPE) and the Role of Plant Extract in the Synthesis.

The green synthesis of silver nanoparticles has been proposed as an eco-friendly and cost-effective substitute for chemical and physical methods. The aim of this study was to synthesize and characterize silver nanoparticles using the peel extract of fruit, and to determine the possible phytochemical constituents' presence in the plant extracts that might be responsible for the synthesis. fruit peel extraction was followed by phytochemical studies of secondary metabolites, FTIR analysis confirmation of functional groups, and GC-MS analysis.

Impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on children in Malaysia.

The impacts of climate change and degradation are increasingly felt in Malaysia. While everyone is vulnerable to these impacts, the health and wellbeing of children are disproportionately affected. We carried out a study composed of two major components.

Evaluation of a mosquito home system for controlling Aedes aegypti.

Background: Dengue is a significant public health issue that is caused by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. The current vector control methods are unable to effectively reduce Aedes populations and thus fail to decrease dengue transmission.

The toxicity of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors to larvae of the disease vectors Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae.

The control of mosquitoes is threatened by the appearance of insecticide resistance and therefore new control chemicals are urgently required. Here we show that inhibitors of mosquito peptidyl dipeptidase, a peptidase related to mammalian angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), are insecticidal to larvae of the mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles gambiae. ACE inhibitors (captopril, fosinopril and fosinoprilat) and two peptides (trypsin-modulating oostatic factor/TMOF and a bradykinin-potentiating peptide, BPP-12b) were all inhibitors of the larval ACE activity of both mosquitoes.

Prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among Orang Asli schoolchildren in Pos Senderut, Pahang, Malaysia.

The current study determined the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among the Orang Asli schoolchildren in Pos Senderut, Pahang, Malaysia. The overall intestinal protozoan infection rate was 85% (261 out of 307). The highest prevalence rates were due to Entamoeba coli (24.

Acute and subacute oral toxicity of Litsea elliptica Blume essential oil in rats.

Litsea elliptica Blume has been traditionally used to treat headache, fever, and stomach ulcer, and has also been used as an insect repellent. The acute and subacute toxicities of L. elliptica essential oil were evaluated orally by gavage in female Sprague-Dawley rats.

Study of heavy metal levels among farmers of Muda Agricultural Development Authority, Malaysia.

Heavy metals, particularly cadmium, lead, and arsenic, constitute a significant potential threat to human health. This study was conducted to determine the levels of cadmium, lead, and arsenic in nail samples from farmers at Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA), Kedah, Malaysia, and evaluate factors that can contribute to their accumulations. A total of 116 farmers participated in this study.

The effect of Piper aduncum Linn. (Family: Piperaceae) essential oil as aerosol spray against Aedes aegypti (L.) and Aedes albopictus Skuse.

The bioefficacy of Piper aduncum L. essential oil formulated in aerosol cans was evaluated against Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in a simulated room. The aerosol spray test was based on the Malaysian test standard for aerosol (MS 1221:1991UDC 632.

Infestation with the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae) among students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This paper reports six male undergraduate students living at a local university hostel who were infested with cat fleas (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae: Ctenocephalides felis felis) in February 2009. All of them suffered from maculopapular rashes and severe pruritus after the bites. Investigation revealed the presence of a stray cat in the hostel building; five of the students had a history of contact with the cat.

Repellency of essential oil of Piper aduncum against Aedes albopictus in the laboratory.

The repellent activity of Piper aduncum essential oil against Aedes albopictus was investigated under laboratory conditions with human volunteers. The lowest median effective dose (ED50) value was 1.5 microg/cm2 at 60 sec of exposure when compared to 90 sec (2.

Toxic effects of Litsea elliptica Blume essential oil on red blood cells of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Litsea elliptica Blume leaves have been traditionally used as medicinal herbs because of its antimutagenicity, chemopreventative and insecticidal properties. In this study, the toxic effects of L. elliptica essential oil against Sprague-Dawley rat's red blood cells (RBCs) were evaluated.