Migrant Workers in Malaysia: Current Implications of Sociodemographic and Environmental Characteristics in the Transmission of Intestinal Parasitic Infections

Abstract

A cross-sectional study of intestinal parasitic infections amongst migrant workers in Malaysia was conducted. A total of 388 workers were recruited from five sectors including manufacturing, construction, plantation, domestic and food services. The majority were recruited from Indonesia (n = 167, 43.3%), followed by Nepal (n = 81, 20.9%), Bangladesh (n = 70, 18%), India (n = 47, 12.1%) and Myanmar (n = 23, 5.9.2%). A total of four nematode species (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis and hookworms), one cestode (Hymenolepis nana) and three protozoan species (Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium spp.) were identified. High prevalence of infections with A. lumbricoides (43.3%) was recorded followed by hookworms (13.1%), E. histolytica/dispar (11.6%), Giardia sp. (10.8%), T. trichura (9.5%), Cryptosporodium spp. (3.1%), H. nana (1.8%) and E. vermicularis (0.5%). Infections were significantly influenced by socio-demographic (nationality), and environmental characteristics (length of working years in the country, employment sector and educational level). Up to 84.0% of migrant workers from Nepal and 83.0% from India were infected with intestinal parasites, with the ascarid nematode A. lumbricoides occurring in 72.8% of the Nepalese and 68.1% of the Indian population. In addition, workers with an employment history of less than a year or newly arrived in Malaysia were most likely to show high levels of infection as prevalence of workers infected with A. lumbricoides was reduced from 58.2% to 35.4% following a year’s residence. These findings suggest that improvement is warranted in public health and should include mandatory medical screening upon entry into the country.

Trichuris trichiura Infection in North Korean Defector Resulted in Chronic Abdominal Pain and Growth Retardation

“…6 Occasionally, sporadic cases occur in non-endemic, developed areas, because of immigration. 2 Therefore, to date, coming across a patient with parasite infection of T. trichiura in South Korea is highly rare in South Korea. However, North…”

“…1 However, a few sporadic infections have been reported in non-endemic, developed countries, mainly in cases of immigrants. 2 Commonly, T. trichiura infection does not cause specific symptoms, except only patients with heavy infection. Severe colonic infection causes mucoid diarrhea, rectal prolapsed, and iron deficiency anemia, often resulting in growth retardation.…”

An appreciation of Professor John Lewis

“…Further zoonotic studies were also undertaken in feral hosts in the Middle East and Far East, where Toxocara cati was dominant in feral cat populations from Qatar (Abu-Madi et al, 2010) and Peninsular Malaysia (Mohd Zain et al, 2013). Research on the epidemiology of zoonotic infections continues to thrive, with funding from the University of Malaya and the Ministry of Health, Kuala Lumpur on implications of socio-demographic determinants and environmental characteristics on the transmission of parasitic infections, including Toxocara and Toxoplasma, in migrant workers of Peninsular Malaysia (Sahimin et al, 2016(Sahimin et al, , 2017.…”

Socio-demographic influences on the prevalence of enteric helminth and protozoan infections in newly arrived migrant workers in Qatar

“…Enteric infectious diseases continue to be a major public health problem especially in low-and middleincome populations (1,2). Intestinal parasitic infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality particularly in developing countries (3) and prevalence is known to be closely related to the educational levels of subjects, environmental factors, sanitary conditions, socio-economic status, inadequate medical care and lack of access to safe drinking water supplies (4)(5)(6). Studies have also shown that social and economic contexts are important determinants of human health, including diseases caused by parasitic organisms (2).…”