Development and validation of a cognitive, affective and behaviour questionnaire on pet-associated zoonotic diseases (CAB-ZDQ).

Background: Zoonoses among household pets are recognized as disease and infections transmitted between animals and humans. World Health Organization-estimated zoonotic diseases have contributed about one billion cases of illness and millions of mortalities every year. Despite the emerging and re-emerging zoonotic disease, most pet owners are unaware of the risks posed by their pets.

Applying a Constrained Optimization Portfolio Model to Aid Prioritization of Public Health Interventions in Malaysia.

Objectives: Countries have constrained healthcare budgets and must prioritize new interventions depending on health goals and time frame. This situation is relevant in the sphere of national immunization programs, for which many different vaccines are proposed, budgets are limited, and efficient choices must be made in the order of vaccine introduction.

Methods: A constrained optimization (CO) model for infectious diseases was developed in which different intervention types (prophylaxis and treatment) were combined for consideration in Malaysia.

The Potential Cost Effectiveness of Different Dengue Vaccination Programmes in Malaysia: A Value-Based Pricing Assessment Using Dynamic Transmission Mathematical Modelling.

Background: Dengue disease poses a great economic burden in Malaysia.

Methods: This study evaluated the cost effectiveness and impact of dengue vaccination in Malaysia from both provider and societal perspectives using a dynamic transmission mathematical model. The model incorporated sensitivity analyses, Malaysia-specific data, evidence from recent phase III studies and pooled efficacy and long-term safety data to refine the estimates from previous published studies.

Viral Aetiology of Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance Cases, before and after Vaccine Policy Change from Oral Polio Vaccine to Inactivated Polio Vaccine.

Since 1992, surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases was introduced in Malaysia along with the establishment of the National Poliovirus Laboratory at the Institute for Medical Research. In 2008, the Ministry of Health, Malaysia, approved a vaccine policy change from oral polio vaccine to inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). Eight states started using IPV in the Expanded Immunization Programme, followed by the remaining states in January 2010.