The high prevalence of BV in this study may necessitate adequate screening of pregnant women with abnormal vaginal discharge in order to give appropriate treatment and avoid complications associated with it.

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BackgroundPhysical inactivity has been acknowledged as a public health issue and has received increasing attention in recent years. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the barriers to physical activity among Malaysian men. These barriers were analyzed with regards to sociodemographic factors, physical activity level, BMI and waist circumference.MethodsSubjects in this study included 308 Malay men and 422 Chinese men aged 20 years and older. Subjects completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and a questionnaire on barriers to physical activity, categorized into personal and psychological, physical and social environment barriers. Weight, height and waist circumference were also measured and BMI was calculated.ResultsDescriptive analyses showed that 79.3% of subjects were married, 52.1% had secondary educational level, 68.8% were still working, and 39.7% had household income between RM1500 to RM3500. The perception that other recreational activities with family and friends were more fun was the most frequently reported barrier, followed by weather, lack of discipline, lack of free time, lack of money, and lack of friends. Marriage status, educational level, household income, BMI, and physical activity status were shown to be associated with perceived barriers.ConclusionsTo increase participation in physical activity, policy makers should consider significant personal, social and environmental barriers when developing appropriate intervention programmes. Health-promoting strategies that increase awareness, knowledge, skills and motivation related to physical activity are required.

The pharmacologic parameters and toxicity of netilmicin (6 mg/kg/day) given once daily (qd) or thrice daily (tid) for the treatment of urinary tract infections were studied in a randomized prospective study of 60 cancer patients. The overall efficacy was 96%. Nephrotoxicity, assessed by the measure of urinary excretion of phospholipids, was lower for the patients receiving the qd regimen than for those receiving the tid regimen. Elevation of serum creatinine (20% over baseline) occurred in one patient receiving the qd regimen and in three receiving the tid regimen. Cochleotoxicity, assessed by pure-tone audiometry (250 to 18,000 Hz) occurred in one patient receiving the qd regimen and none receiving the tid regimen. Concentrations in sera were measured on days 1 and 5. No significant accumulation was observed in either group. Median serum bactericidal titers, expressed as reciprocal values (percentage of the sera with a titer .8), were measured against 25 test organisms in samples collected 6 h after the administration of netilmicin and were, for the qd group, 16 (82%) against members of the family Enterobacteriaceae and <2 (8%) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and for the tid group, 4 (57%) against members of the Enterobacteriaceae and <2 (0%) against P. aeruginosa. The rate of killing in serum was rapid (2 to 3 log in 2 h against P. aeruginosa; 3 to 5 log in 2 h against members of the Enterobacteriaceae) and correlated with the sampling time and hence the concentration in serum of netilmicin. The duration of the postantibiotic effect in serum depended also on the strain and the sampling time of the serum.Gram-negative infections are a major cause of morbidity in cancer patients, especially when they are neutropenic. Treatment of these infections consists of the administration of a broad-spectrum P-lactam antibiotic often in combination with an aminoglycoside. The use of combination therapy is advocated for infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa and is particularly important when microorganisms resistant to the 3-lactam antibiotic are responsible for the infection. A favorable outcome in patients with gram-negative bacillary bacteremia or pneumonia treated with aminoglycosides is related directly to the initial peak concentration in serum (20, 21) and to achieving a ratio of initial peak serum concentration to the MIC for the offending pathogen of greater than 6:1 (19). These observations confirm previous studies on the predictive value of the serum bactericidal titer on the outcome of gram-negative bacillary bacteremia (26,33). In addition, a prolonged postantibiotic effect (PAE) has been observed with aminoglycosides in vitro and in experimental infections (31,32). The main side effects of aminoglycosides are ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity (4,8,17,28). Studies in animals (1,11,16,23,34) have suggested that both nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity are lower when the daily dose is given as a single administration rather than in two or three divided doses over 24 h. A prospective study comparing netilmicin given onc...

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Background: There are several species of mosquitoes that readily attack people, and some are capable of transmitting microbial organisms that cause human diseases including dengue, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis. The mosquitoes of major concern in Malaysia belong to the genera Culex, Aedes, and Armigeres. Objective: To study the host-seeking behavior of four Malaysian mosquitoes commonly found in urban residential areas in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: The host-seeking behavior of Aedes albopictus, Armigeres kesseli, Culex quinquefasciatus, andCulex vishnui was conducted in four urban residential areas in Fletcher Road, Kampung Baru, Taman Melati, and University of Malaya student hostel. The mosquito biting frequency was determined by using a bare leg catch (BLC) technique throughout the day (24 hours). The study was triplicated for each site.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic infectious and contagious zoonotic disease of domestic animals, wild animals, and humans. It poses a public health threat and economic losses due to abattoir condemnation of infected carcasses during meat inspection of slaughtered animals. Bovine tuberculosis is widespread in Africa including Nigeria affecting both cattle and humans, particularly Northern Nigeria. A prospective survey was conducted from June to August 2013 in the three Zonal abattoirs of Bauchi State, Nigeria. A total of 150 structured close-ended questionnaires were administered to abattoir personnel to assess their level of awareness of bTB. This study was aimed at determining the level of public health awareness, attitude, and practices of abattoir workers of bTB in Bauchi State, Nigeria. There was a statistically significant association between respondents' awareness of bTB and their occupational status, age, and duration of exposure to cattle carcasses (P < 0.05); the odds of being aware of bTB were 9.4, 7.3, and 2.1, respectively. In conclusion, these demonstrate the urgent need for public health authorities to intervene in bTB control. The risk of bTB transmission as indicated by the personnel's practices and awareness levels in Bauchi State could be prevented through the use of protective clothing (PPEs).

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