Echovirus 7 associated encephalomyelitis.

Background: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is endemic in Malaysia. In 1997, a large outbreak of enterovirus 71 (EV-71) associated HFMD resulted in 41 deaths due to severe left ventricular dysfunction and central nervous system infection with extensive damage to the medulla and pons. The clinical presentation in all these patients were rapid cardio-respiratory decompensation leading to cardiac arrest.

Mammographic image quality and exposure in South East Asia.

Generally there is a significant delay before optimized performance of mammography is fully realized in the developing countries. To evaluate the status of mammographic performance, a survey of mammographic image quality and exposure was performed in nine hospitals from four selected South East Asian countries. The entrance exposure on the surface of the American College of Radiology (ACR) mammographic phantom (ACR-RMI model 156) was made using both thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and an ionization chamber.

Retrospective study of Aeromonas infection in a Malaysian urban area: a 10-year experience.

Aims: To describe the patterns of isolation of Aeromonas spp. and the resulting spectrum of infection, intestinal and extra-intestinal,from infants and children in an urban area in a hot and humid country from SoutheastAsia.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective review of all bacterial culture records from children below 16 years of age, from the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from January 1988 to December 1997.

Recurrent abdominal pain and consulting behaviour among children in a rural community in Malaysia.

Aim: To look at predictors of consulting behaviour among children with recurrent abdominal pain in a rural community in Malaysia.

Subjects And Methods: A sample of 1462 school-children aged between 9 and 15 years were randomly selected from all schools in Kuala Langat, a rural district in Malaysia. Those with recurrent abdominal pain, defined according to Apley's criteria, were recruited and divided into consulters and non-consulters.

Sexual issues of the disabled: implications for public health education.

Sexuality of persons with spinal cord injury has received increased attention especially in the Western countries. However, in the local context, studies pertaining to the sexuality of the disabled are almost nil. This paper utilized a qualitative approach in assessing sexual knowledge, attitudes and practices of persons with spinal cord injury.

Tioman virus, a novel paramyxovirus isolated from fruit bats in Malaysia.

A search for the natural host of Nipah virus has led to the isolation of a previously unknown member of the family Paramyxoviridae. Tioman virus (TiV) was isolated from the urine of fruit bats (Pteropus hypomelanus) found on the island of the same name off the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia. An electron microscopic study of TiV-infected cells revealed spherical and pleomorphic-enveloped viral particles (100--500 nm in size) with a single fringe of embedded peplomers.

Safety considerations in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

MRI is now an important diagnostic tool in medical management. There are numerous safety issues to be considered by the clinicians prior to requesting an MRI examination for their patients. These include those related to the magnetic field, gradient magnetic fields, the patient and contrast medium.

Extra-intestinal non-typhoidal Salmonella infections in children.

Extra-intestinal non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) infections are uncommon in developed countries but common in developing ones. The risk factors, clinical features and outcome of children admitted to the Department of Paediatrics, University of Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur from 1978 to 1998 with extra-intestinal NTS infections were reviewed. All positive cultures of NTS, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, urine, synovial, pericardial and other body secretions (except stools), were included.

MR imaging features of Nipah encephalitis.

Objective: The newly discovered Nipah virus causes an acute febrile encephalitic illness in humans that is associated with a high mortality. The purpose of this study is to describe the MR imaging findings of Nipah encephalitis.

Materials And Methods: MR imaging of the brain was performed in 31 patients with Nipah encephalitis divided into three groups.

Nipah virus: a recently emergent deadly paramyxovirus.

A paramyxovirus virus termed Nipah virus has been identified as the etiologic agent of an outbreak of severe encephalitis in people with close contact exposure to pigs in Malaysia and Singapore. The outbreak was first noted in late September 1998 and by mid-June 1999, more than 265 encephalitis cases, including 105 deaths, had been reported in Malaysia, and 11 cases of encephalitis or respiratory illness with one death had been reported in Singapore. Electron microscopic, serologic, and genetic studies indicate that this virus belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae and is most closely related to the recently discovered Hendra virus.

An in vitro study comparing two different film-screen combinations in the detection of impacted fish bones.

Dried fish bones from eight species of Malaysian fish were placed in an animal cadaver at four sites (tonsil, valleculae, larynx and oesophagus) and radiographed using a double and a single film-screen combination. The use of the single film-screen combination resulted in visibility of all fish bones placed in the larynx, two of which were not visible on the double film-screen combination. There was a 50% increase of the visibility of the fish bones in the oesophagus using the single film-screen combination.