Background Social stigma against persons infected with COVID-19 is not uncommon. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experience of social stigma among COVID-19 positive patients and their family members. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted between April to June 2020 in Malaysia. Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 for at least 1 month and their family members who were tested with negative results, Malaysian and aged 18–65 years old were purposively sampled. Cold call method was employed to recruit patients while their family members were recruited by their recommendations. Telephone interviews were conducted with the participants after obtaining their verbal consent. Results A total of 18 participants took part in this study. Three themes emerged from the interviews: (Ι) experience of stigmatization, (ΙΙ) perspective on disease disclosure, and (ΙΙΙ) suggestion on coping and reducing stigma. The participants expressed their experiences of being isolated, labelled, and blamed by the people surrounding them including the health care providers, neighbours, and staff at the service counters. Some respondents expressed their willingness to share their experience with others by emphasizing the importance of taking preventive measure in order to stop the chain of virus transmission and some of them chose to disclose this medical history for official purpose because of fear and lack of understanding among the public. As suggested by the respondents, the approaches in addressing social stigma require the involvement of the government, the public, health care provider, and religious leader. Conclusion Individuals recovered from COVID-19 and their families experienced social stigma. Fear and lack of public understanding of the COVID-19 disease were the key factors for non-disclosure. Some expressed their willingness to share their experience as they perceived it as method to increase public awareness and thereby reducing social stigma. Multifaceted approaches with the involvement of multiple parties including the government, non-governmental organization as well as the general public were recommended as important measures to address the issues of social stigma.

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This commentary shares the experience of a hospital pharmacy department in providing healthcare services during the COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia. During this pandemic, the medication delivery system is redesigned to minimize contact among patients and the health care providers. Also, the remote medication monitoring system was implemented to deliver pharmaceutical care for inpatients. Communication technology was used to assist the pharmacist in medication counseling. QR codes to access videos demonstrating the use of devices were made available for patients. Pharmacists were also tasked with the procurement of personal protective equipment and medications needed requiring special approval from the Ministry of Health.

Background During the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, antibiotic usage among COVID-19 patients was noted to be high in many countries. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibiotic usage and factors affecting antibiotic usage among COVID-19 patients during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Methods This was a cross-sectional study that involved reviewing medical records of COVID-19 Malaysian patients aged 12 and above who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and received treatment in 18 COVID-19 hospitals from February to April 2020. A minimum sample of 375 patients was required. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors associated with antibiotic usage. Variables with p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results A total of 4043 cases were included for analysis. The majority of the patients (87.6%) were non-smokers, male (65.0%), and had at least one comorbidity (37.0%). The median age was 35 years (IQR: 38). The prevalence of antibiotic usage was 17.1%, with 5.5% of them being prescribed with two or more types of antibiotics. The most frequent antibiotics prescribed were amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (37.8%), ceftriaxone (12.3%), piperacillin/tazobactam (13.3%), azithromycin (8.3%), and meropenem (7.0%). Male patients (adjusted OR 1.53), who had a comorbidity (adjusted OR 1.36), associated with more severe stage of COVID-19 (adjusted OR 6.50–37.06), out-of-normal range inflammatory blood parameters for neutrophils, lymphocytes, and C-reactive protein (adjusted OR 2.04–3.93), corticosteroid use (adjusted OR 3.05), and ICU/HDU admission (adjusted OR 2.73) had higher odds of antibiotic use. Conclusions The prevalence of antibiotic usage in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic was low, with amoxicillin/clavulanic acid as the most common antibiotic of choice. The study showed that clinicians rationalized antibiotic usage based on clinical assessment, supported by relevant laboratory parameters.

The sex-divergent pharmacokinetics and interaction of tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib with paracetamol was evaluated in male and female mice. Mice (control groups) were administered 60 mg/kg PO sunitinib alone or with 200 mg/kg PO paracetamol (study groups). Sunitinib concentration in plasma, brain, kidney and liver were determined and non-compartmental pharmacokinetic analysis performed. Female control mice showed 36% higher plasma sunitinib AUC, 31% and 27% lower liver and kidney AUC and 2.2-fold higher AUC in brain (all p < 0.001) and had lower liver- and kidney-to-plasma AUC ratios (p < 0.001) than male control mice. Paracetamol decreased 29% plasma AUC (p < 0.05) in male mice and remained unchanged in female mice. In male and female mice, it decreased liver (15%, 9%), kidney (15%, 20%) and brain (47%, 50%) AUC (p < 0.001) respectively owing to 52% brain uptake efficiency reduction in female mice (p < 0.01). Sunitinib displayed sex-divergent pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution and DDI with potential clinical translatability for the treatment of brain tumor and RCC patients.

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Introduction: Medication errors are more likely to occur in chronically ill children, who are highly dependent on caregivers for medication administration. This study aimed to explore the issues related to medication safety among pediatric outpatients in Malaysia from the caregivers’ perspective. Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted between May and June 2018 at a pediatric clinic of a regional referral hospital. Caregivers of children who (1) were under 6 years of age and (2) had hypothyroidism, epilepsy, thalassemia, asthma, or other chronic diseases were recruited via purposive sampling. Each selected disease was represented by at least 3 caregivers, who were identified from the medical records of their children. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with each of them, facilitated by a semi-structured interview guide. All the interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. Results: A total of 15 mothers with a median age of 34 years were interviewed. Three themes emerged from the interviews: (I) actual experiences with medication errors, (II) underlying risk factors for medication errors, and (III) recommendations to improve medication safety. Several cases of administration errors, including missed doses and self-decided dose adjustment, were detected. Furthermore, the caregivers were found to have inadequate understanding of the medications in general. Conclusions: While children were shown to be consistently exposed to medication errors at home in Malaysia, the recommendations of the caregivers, including the use of written instructions and a diary, could be effective strategies to improve the out-of-hospital medication safety in children.

Background Prolonged neonatal jaundice (PNNJ) is often caused by breast milk jaundice, but it could also point to other serious conditions (biliary atresia, congenital hypothyroidism). When babies with PNNJ receive a routine set of laboratory investigations to detect serious but uncommon conditions, there is always a tendency to over-investigate a large number of well, breastfed babies. A local unpublished survey in Perak state of Malaysia revealed that the diagnostic criteria and initial management of PNNJ were not standardized. This study aims to evaluate and improve the current management of PNNJ in the administrative region of Perak. Methods A 3-phase quasi-experimental community study was conducted from April 2012 to June 2013. Phase l was a cross-sectional study to review the current practice of PNNJ management. Phase ll was an interventional phase involving the implementation of a new protocol. Phase lll was a 6 months post-interventional audit. A registry of PNNJ was implemented to record the incidence rate. A self-reporting surveillance system was put in place to receive any reports of biliary atresia, urinary tract infection, or congenital hypothyroidism cases. Results In Phase I, 12 hospitals responded, and 199 case notes were reviewed. In Phase II, a new protocol was developed and implemented in all government health facilities in Perak. In Phase III, the 6-month post-intervention audit showed that there were significant improvements when comparing mean scores of pre- and post-intervention: history taking scores ( p < 0.001), family history details ( p < 0.05), physical examination documentation ( p < 0.001), and total investigations done per patient (from 9.01 to 5.81, p < 0.001). The total number of patient visits reduced from 2.46 to 2.2 per patient. The incidence of PNNJ was found to be high (incidence rate of 158 per 1000 live births). Conclusions The new protocol standardized and improved the quality of care with better clinical assessment and a reduction in unnecessary laboratory investigations. Trial registration Research registration number: NMRR-12-105-11288 . Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12887-019-1550-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.