Mohd Rohaizat Hassan

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia | ukm · Department of Community Health

Introduction Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is a non-human simian malaria that threatens Southeast Asian rural communities. Studies indicate that non-compliant bednet usage, travelling into the forest and working as farmers and rubber tappers put communities at risk for infection. Despite guidelines, malaria incidence increases yearly and has become a...

Introduction: Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare but lethal infection of the brain caused by a eukaryote called Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri). The aim of this review is to consolidate the recently published case reports of N. fowleri infection by describing its epidemiology and clinical features with the goal of ultimately dissem...

Background: Polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) are one of the polio eradication pillars in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) that increased the immunization coverage and made progress towards polio eradication. However, socioecological challenges faced during SIAs contribute to suboptimal campaign quality. The aim of t...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has still affected many countries around the world. While several studies have been published substantially regarding the risk factors of severe COVID-19 infection, less is known about the factors associated with COVID-19 infection among rural populations. This study aims to determine the characteristics...

Rabies, a neglected viral zoonosis disease, impose a major public health and veterinary importance. There is limited attention to the role of wild animals as sylvatic reservoirs of the rabies virus. Thus, this systematic review aims to identify various types of animals with rabies infection, determine the prevalence of rabies virus in animals, and...

Background In the last decade Plasmodium knowlesi has been detected in humans throughout South East Asia. The highest risk groups for this infection are males, adults and those performing forest-related work. Furthermore, asymptomatic cases of P. knowlesi malaria have been reported including among women and children. Methods Pubmed, Scopus and the...

Background Children are at higher risk of influenza virus infection, and it is difficult to diagnose. They are also responsible for the transmission of influenza because of their longer viral shedding compared to adults. In Malaysia, studies on influenza in children are scarce, and as a result, policy decisions cannot be formulated to control the i...

Plasmodium knowlesi malaria infection in humans has been reported throughout southeast Asia. The communities at risk are those living in areas where Macaque monkeys and Anopheles mosquito are present. Zoonotic malaria control is challenging due to the presence of the reservoir host and the possibility of human-vector-human transmission. Current con...

Background: Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is a zoonotic infection that affects rural communities in South East Asia. Although the epidemiology of the disease has been extensively researched, the voices of individuals within affected communities often go unheard. Here, we describe a study that explores the importance of gatekeepers in conducting rese...

Depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) among adolescents have become a public health concern. The aim of this study was to develop, implement, and measure an IMB-based health education intervention module for reducing DAS among adolescents in boarding schools in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. A single-blinded cluster randomised control tria...

Aim: To compare the diagnostic ability of glaucoma parameters measured by the optical coherence tomography (OCT) in normal, preperimetric glaucoma (PPG) and perimetric glaucoma (PG) patients. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study includes 127 eyes of 127 subjects. Patients were divided into PPG (51 eyes), PG (46 eyes), and normal con...

BACKGROUND: Climate change will affect the transmission of malaria by shifting the geographical space of the vector. AIM: The review aims to examine the climate change modeling approach and climatic variables used for malaria projection. METHODS: Articles were systematically searched from four databases, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and SAGE. Th...

Dengue remains a public health concern due to limited curative treatment and safe vaccine availability. Prevention by individual is utmost necessary but its practice is still lacking. Perceived risk to disease has been reported to exert a good effect on health behaviour change. However, limited evidence showed its relationship towards attitude and...

Mass drug administration (MDA) has been implemented as a tool to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. Acceptability among susceptible populations is crucial to achieving MDA effective coverage. This systematic review aims to present and systematically determine the factors associated with the acceptability of MDA. Articles related to factors associated...

BACKGROUND: Few studies have assessed the burden of tropical diseases among migrants into non-endemic countries. AIM: This study aimed to systematically review the existing data of the prevalence of tropical diseases globally, including neglected tropical diseases globally. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors conducted a systematic review reporting...

Background Primary prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is possible in at-risk populations, and prevention programmes have been shown to be effective in real-world scenarios. Despite this evidence, diabetes prevalence has tripled in recent decades and is expected to reach 700 million patients by 2045, making it one of the leading causes of...

Aim Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are one of the most common infections worldwide. The current study aimed to determine what the current STD prevention programs are and their effectiveness. Subject and methods A systematic review of the literature was done for a period of 10 years (2009–2019) in two databases (PubMed and Cochrane) based on P...

Considerable efforts and concurrent studies have been made to substantiate the control of tuberculosis (TB). The control was not achieved significantly, as the stigma is one of the significant barriers to controlling tuberculosis. It hampers the TB treatment’s determined targeted completion. However, despite countless measures to improve therapy co...

BACKGROUND: Dengue fever outbreaks have been an important public health issue causing high morbidity and mortality, and serious economic effects, particularly in Asia. Control strategies are a challenge to be implemented due to a variety of factors. However, new approaches such as Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti have been shown to successfully low...

Despite the reduction in the number of cases of human malaria throughout the world, the incidence rate of knowlesi malaria is continuing to rise, especially in Southeast Asia. The conventional strategies for the prevention and control of human malaria can provide some protection against knowlesi malaria. Despite the numerous studies on the risk fac...

Zika virus (ZIKV) has had a history in Malaysia since its first isolation in 1966. However, it is believed that the immunity status among forest fringe communities has been underreported. We conducted cross-sectional surveillance of forest fringe communities from 10 Orang Asli villages and their peripheral communities in Perak, Pahang, and Sabah in...

Background The aim of Malaysia to eliminate malaria nationwide by 2020 seems need to be prolonged. Whilst Malaysia has successfully eliminated human malaria transmission, simian malaria parasites such as Plasmodium knowlesi , P . cynomolgi , P . inui and P . cynomolgi are the emerging cause of malaria in humans. The epidemiological study of simian...

A novel coronavirus, COVID-19 is responsible for the current outbreak of pneumonia. As of 16 September 2021, a total of 2,049,750 COVID-19 cases were recorded in Malaysia. In this study, we aimed to describe a cluster of COVID-19 cases among non-clinical staff in a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. We obtained epidemiological and clinical...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major nosocomial pathogen that causes severe morbidity, mortality and high medical expenses in many hospitals worldwide. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of MRSA nosocomial infection, its associated factors, and its antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. This was a retrospect...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the globe and disrupted various aspects of psychological wellbeing, more so in frontline workers. Research on assessing the seroprevalence of COVID-19 has been scarce; in addition, there are limited studies assessing the association between the seroprevalence of COVID-19 and psychological distress. Therefore, t...

Introduction Plasmodium knowlesi malaria is a zoonotic mosquito-borne disease with complex epidemiology. According to the WHO, the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases require community participation to increase coherence between malaria interventions and sustainable public health programmes. We describe a participatory research (PR) des...

Scabies is one of the most common itchy dermatoses, mainly in vulnerable age groups such as young children and the elderly. Although rarely fatal, it can lead to several severe complications. Its occurrence has been attributed to low-income countries, low socioeconomic level, lack of knowledge of scabies and preventive health behaviors, overcrowdin...

Background: Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is an effective method for preventing rabies, a highly fatal infection in exposed persons. Malaysia is currently using the purified Vero cell rabies vaccine (PVRV). Nonetheless, there are other commercially available vaccine types and regimens. This systematic review aimed at comparing the effectiveness o...

Purpose: Handgrip strength (HGS) is indicative of overall physical health among older adults. A decrease in HGS may be associated with an increased risk of disease. The aim of this study is to determine the factors associated with HGS among older adults in Malaysia. Patients and methods: One thousand two hundred four (1204) participants from urb...

Uncontrolled drug and substance use (DSU) may pose unprecedented threats to nation building and a country’s socioeconomic development. Despite considerable efforts made and resources used to address DSU concerns, Malaysia has seen a significant annual rise in cases of DSU. The bulk of the reported cases originate from youth between the ages of 15 a...

In South-East Asia (SEA), there has been an increase in the trend of detected and reported cases of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in the last few decades. This higher transmission rate within SEA countries is attributed to the distribution of the Macaque, banded leaf monkeys, and Anopheles mosquito in this region. This study aims to propose a concept...

The increasing incidence of P. knowlesi malaria infection among humans is a public health threat. This zoonotic disease is challenging to eliminate owing to the presence of animal reservoirs. Understanding the factors such as the community's belief, social context, drivers, and barriers can provide insights into malaria preventive behavior. It is c...

Introduction. Dengue remains a public health threat. Clarifying the characteristics of future threats and prioritising intervention towards the highest risk potential can help to control and prevent dengue outbreaks. However, obtaining a consensus from panels of experts is certainly challenging due to the relative subjectivity of experience. Theref...

Objectives: Plasmodium knowlesi is a non-human parasite that causes zoonotic disease in humans. This systematic review aims to highlight and summarize studies describing human behaviors and activities that expose humans to mosquito bites. Design: English entries in PubMed, Web of Science, and Science Direct from 2010 to 2020 were systematically pe...

Objectives: Japanese encephalitis ( JE) is one of the major mosquito-borne infectious diseases in the Western Pacific region, accounting for 20%–30% of mortality cases. The JE virus (JEV) seroprevalence fluctuations indicate that continuous research is important for prevention and control activities. By mapping JEV seroprevalence by age stratificat...

This dataset presents a cross-sectional survey and was conducted to assess the knowledge on Zika Virus infection among adults in Sabah. The data were collected from December 2019 to February 2021, 274 adults living in forest fringe communities were interviewed by trained personnel and have completed the distributed questionnaires. SPSS version 27.0...

Introduction: Aedes species is a common vector that causes various types of infection. One of the factors that can affect their distribution is the climate change. Identifying the components of climate change that can affect this distribution and how they affect it can aid in predicting and controlling the Aedes species distribution. Methods: Syste...

Introduction The issue of decriminalization of medical marijuana has gained public attention globally due to the decisions of various governments in developed and developing countries who have decriminalized marijuana for medical purposes. The action was the result of the change in perception towards medical marijuana use, which is now believed to...

The re-emerging of vaccine preventable diseases is a global public health burgeoning issue. The incompleteness of vaccination or low uptake rate is due to low awareness of the importance of vaccines, forgetfulness, poor counselling, and health education from the healthcare providers. Mobile phone messaging reminder was one of the most studied inter...

Introduction: During the second wave of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, Malaysia reported several COVID-19 clusters related to healthcare workers. Thus, addressing and understanding the risk of exposure in healthcare workers is important to prevent future infection and reduce secondary COVID-19 transmission within the healthcare se...

Background Similar to other coronaviruses, COVID-19 is transmitted mainly by droplets and is highly transmissible through close proximity or physical contact with an infected person. Countries across the globe have implemented public health control measures to prevent onwards transmission and reduce burden on health care settings. Social or physica...

Background Drug abuse is detrimental, and excessive drug usage is a worldwide problem. Drug usage typically begins during adolescence. Factors for drug abuse include a variety of protective and risk factors. Hence, this systematic review aimed to determine the risk and protective factors of drug abuse among adolescents worldwide. Methods Preferred...

Zika has re-emerged as a pandemic between year 2007-2018. Research progress on Zika is much slower in the Asia region compared to America counterpart and there is much under-reporting and inadequate preparedness for any future Zika outbreak. A review of current disease management policies/guidelines can provide evidence-based information to improve...

Background: Scrub typhus is an infectious disease with potentially fatal consequences. It is caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi and transmitted to humans via the bites of infected larval mites (chiggers). Scrub typhus is one of the most neglected and severe diseases despite its easy treatment. Delay in diagnosis and treatment is not uncommon, resulti...

Background: In limited-resource countries, the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be measured using data taken from blood donors. This study aimed to determine the HBV infection seroprevalence and its associated factors among blood donors in Sana'a Governorate, Yemen. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 people...

Despite several guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and national authorities, there is a general increase in the number of healthcare workers (HCWs) contracting tuberculosis. This review sought to evaluate the compliance of the HCWs toward tuberculosis preventive measures (TPMs) in their workplace. Both electronic databases...

Every year influenza epidemic causes about 3 – 5 million severe respiratory infections and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide. Among them about 28,000 – 111,500 (11 – 22%) children under 5 years old die because of influenza-related acute lower respiratory tract infections. This review aims to explore the burden, risk factors and seasonality relate...

Background: The insecticides used widely has led to resistance in the vector and impose a challenge to vector control operation. Objectives: This review aims to analyse the distribution of insecticide resistance of dengue vectors in South East Asia and to describe the mechanism of insecticide resistance. Methods: Literature search for articles...

Objectives: Lymphatic filariasis is among neglected tropical diseases in Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Regions. It causes high morbidity due to a permanent disability that affects the lymphatic system drainage among those who were infected. The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis launched by the World Health Organization to elim...

Introduction: Neuromelioidosis is a rare complication of melioidosis caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a Gram-negative bacterium commonly found in soil and surface water. Although cerebral involvement of melioidosis comprises only 4% of total complications, it significantly impacts mortality and morbidity. This study aims to perform a systematic...

Malaysia has been considered an industrialized country and there is a demand for manpower in low-skilled jobs which usually filled by migrant workers. Therefore, this study focused to identify the level of alcohol consumption and its associated factors particularly among Nepali migrant workers in Shah Alam, Selangor. A cross-sectional study using a...

Introduction: The community-based intervention was proven as one of the best approaches in combatting malaria. It is widely used to reduce malaria cases worldwide. A multisectoral approach must be made to ensure the success of the intervention. Therefore, this study is aimed is to determine the effectiveness of community-based intervention for mala...

The severity of childhood diarrhoea is linked with poor socioeconomic status, unhygienic living environment, and caregiver's behaviour. This study is to determine the risk factors and economic burden associated with diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age. A case-control study using convenience sampling method with 105 cases and 105 controls was...

Introduction: Information on the clinical characteristics of local patients with confirmed COVID-19 is limited. This study aims to report the clinical characteristics of 147 patients admitted and receiving treatment at a teaching hospital. Methodology: Patients' socio-demographic and epidemiological data, clinical features, laboratory findings a...

Introduction: National strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic consisted mostly of social distancing measures such as lockdowns, curfews, and stay-home guidelines, personal protection such as hand hygiene and mask wearing, as well as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. Whilst policy interventions were broadly similar across the globe, there...

Introduction/background Dengue fever remains a public health threat despite being preventable. A solution to the constant problem of dengue infection will require active intervention and a paradigm shift. Assessing perceived risk and correlating it with the attitude and practice of the community will help in designing appropriate measures. However,...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major public health threat. Therefore, CRC screening uptake has been a focus with the established precancerous lesion and the strong association of early detection with staging and survival of the disease. However, CRC screening is relatively low in many countries. This article briefly discussed the current situation of...

Colorectal cancer (CRC)-screening reduces mortality, yet remains underutilized. The use of electronic media (e-media) decision aids improves saliency and fosters informed decision-making. This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of CRC-screening promotion, using e-media decision aids in primary healthcare (PHC) settings. Three da...

Background Occupational injuries are among the most important workplace issues. This study aims to determine the safety climate and prevalence of occupational injuries in the small-scale manufacturing industry. Methods A cross-sectional study with ten small scale manufacturers participated accounting for a total of 300 respondents. Data were colle...

Introduction Smoking is a major public health significant and a leading preventable cause of premature mortality. Assisting smoking cessation is important due to potential positive health impacts. The establishment of “Quit Smoking Clinics” reflect a great commitment by the health authority to reduce the national burden of smoking prevalence. Aim...

Introduction: type 2 diabetes mellitus has become a global public health crisis. The increment in the cases has contributed significantly to the parallel increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. This paper aimed to analyse the relationship between lipid profile, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) with the glycaemic control...

The COVID -19 pandemic has hit the world for a period of a year and a half; it has been a triple crisis, with medical, economic, and psychological consequences. After 18 months of going through a pandemic, this includes not only facing the transmission of SARS CoV-2 virus but also restricted movements. Communities are now facing pandemic fatigue st...

Purpose This study aims to validate the English version of a WHO-adapted questionnaire: Zika infection awareness/knowledge questionnaire using a unique dual-approach validation model. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional pilot study of 30 adult respondents in Malaysia completed the self-administered questionnaire on knowledge and percepti...