First report of mermithid parasitism (Nematoda: Mermithidae) in mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from Lao PDR

Unidentified mermithid nematodes were found in the abdominal cavity of three species of Anopheles mosquitoes from LAO PDR. This is a first record of mermithid nematodes in adult mosquitoes from Lao PDR. Two worms were found in each adult host and the infection was more prevalent in the northern region compared to the south.

A fatal case of anaphylactic shock caused by the lesser banded hornet, Vespa affinis indosinensis in peninsular Malaysia

The hornets are a group of venomous stinging insects that at times cause human death. A fatal case of a child stung by the lesser banded hornet Vespa affinis indosinesis is reported. Though often covered by the mass media, this constitutes the first scientifically reported case.

Review of forensically important entomological specimens in the period of 1972 - 2002

Forensic entomological specimens received by the Unit of Medical Entomology, IMR., from hospitals and the police in Malaysia in the last 3 decades (1972 - 2002) are reviewed. A total of 448 specimens were received. From these, 538 identifications were made with the following results: Eighteen species of cyclorrphaga flies were identified consisting of Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) 215 cases (47.99%), Ch. rufifacies (Masquart) 132 (29.46%), Ch. villeneuvi Patton 10 (2.23%), Ch. nigripes Aubertin 7 (1.56%), Ch. bezziana Villeneuve 4 (0.89%), Ch. pinguis (Walker) 1 (0.22%), Chrysomya sp. 47 (10.49%), Sarcophaga sp. 28 (6.25%), Lucilia sp. 21 (4.69%), Hermetia sp. 15 (3.35%), He. illucens (Linnaeus) 1 (0.22%), Hemipyrellia ligurriens (Wiedemann) 3 (0.67%), Hemipyrellia sp. 2 (0.45%), Ophyra spinigera 1 (0.22%), Ophyra sp. 6 (1.34%), Calliphora sp. 24 (5.36%), Synthesiomyia nudiseta (Wulp) 1 (0.22%) and Eristalis sp. 1 (0.22%). Other non - fly insect specimens are Pthirus pubis (Linnaeus) (Pubic louse) 2 (0.45%) and Coleoptera (Beetles) 1 (0.22%). Ch. megacephala and Ch. rufifacies were the commonest species found in cadavers from different ecological habitats. Sy. nudiseta is an uncommon species, thus far found only on cadavers from indoors. Sy. nudiseta is reported for the second time in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 329 cases (73.44%) had a single fly infestation, 109 cases (24.33%) had double fly infestation and 10 cases (2.23%) had triple fly infestation. Five cases (1.12%) had eggs and 3 cases (0.67%) had larval stages that were not identifiable. No arthropods were retrieved from cadavers in 8 cases (1.79%). In conclusion, although large number of fly species were found on human cadavers, the predominant species are still those of Chrysomya.

Susceptibility of Culex sitiens to Japanese encephalitis virus in peninsular Malaysia

The susceptibility of Culex sitiens to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus was examined in the laboratory. Cx. sitiens became infected with JE virus on day 8 and subsequently it is able to transmit the virus when it takes a blood meal. Both parts of the experiment were carried out using artificial membrane feeding technique.

Lung cancer health care needs assessment: patients' and informal carers' responses to a national mail questionnaire survey

The objective of this study was to describe patients' and informal carers' perceptions of care received and services offered following a diagnosis of primary lung cancer. We prepared a prospective, national, mail questionnaire survey of 466 patients with a diagnosis of primary lung cancer and a lay carer of their choice. The setting was 24 randomly chosen hospitals throughout the UK, from a range of urban (n = 11) and rural settings (n = 13). The majority (76%/159) of responders were recipients of care from cancer units. Two hundred and nine patients (45%) with primary lung cancer and 70 (15%) lay carers completed questionnaires. The main results that we found were that key areas of unmet need were most apparent during periods away from acute service sectors, with as few as 40% of patients reporting having received as much help as they needed from community services. The greatest onus of care for patients fell to lay carers, but only 29% of patients identified their lay carers as having needs in relation to their illness. Where patients received all their diagnostic tests in one hospital they were significantly more likely to wait less time between first seeing their general practitioner (GP) and being told their diagnosis (P = 0.0001) than patients who had to attend more than one hospital during their diagnostic work-up period. Fifty per cent of patients reported experiencing some degree of breathlessness even at rest, but only 15% reported having received any advice on living with it. Less than a quarter (23%) of hospital consultants identified anxiety as a key problem for patients with lung cancer, but 66% of patients identified it as such. Hospital staff largely overlook the needs of informal carers, who derive support from a small, mainly community oriented group of professionals, but accessing help is problematic and is dependent on local resources and a need to be proactive. Our conclusions are that developments in service provision for patients with lung cancer and their informal carers need to focus on six key areas: development of strategies to encourage patients to present earlier to their GP; ongoing evaluation of rapid diagnostic clinics; development and evaluation of a lung cancer care coordinator role; evaluation of innovations in delivery of nursing care in the community; development of local guidelines to facilitate equitable access to palliative care and social services; and evaluation of supportive strategies targeted at lay carers.

Cancer nursing practice development: understanding breathlessness

This paper considers methodological and philosophical issues that arose during a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial of a new nursing intervention to manage breathlessness with patients with primary lung cancer. Despite including a diverse range of instruments to measure the effects of the intervention, the uniqueness of individuals' experiences of breathlessness were often hidden by a requirement to frame the study within a reductionist research approach. Evidence from the study suggests that breathlessness is only partly defined when understood and explored within a bio-medical framework, and that effective therapy can only be achieved once the nature and impact of breathlessness have been understood from the perspective of the individual experiencing it. We conclude that to work therapeutically we need to know how patients interpret their illness and its resultant problems and that this demands methodological creativity.

Fatigue in advanced cancer -- meaning before measurement?

The fatigue experienced by patients with advanced cancer has received little attention either in clinical practice or amongst researchers. To date, attention has been directed at the fatigue experienced by patients receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, with little being directed at the experiences of patients with advanced cancer within the context of a rapidly declining health status. In light of the paucity of information available to inform practice a study was undertaken to explore the nature and impact of fatigue as experienced by 15 patients with advanced cancer, a relative or friend of their choice, and health care professionals involved with their care. The aims were threefold: (i) to gain further understanding of this debilitating problem from divergent perspectives; (ii) to identify potential intervention strategies to be evaluated in future studies; and (iii) to attempt to inform palliative care research methodology where previously poorly understood and inadequately articulated symptoms, such as the fatigue of advanced cancer, are addressed. This paper focuses on issues relating to the third of the three study aims. Seven men and eight women with a variety of cancers, predominantly breast, ovarian, lung and prostate cancer were interviewed. Demographic data, disease history, biochemical markers, weight, nutritional status and medication profile were also recorded. Patients completed visual analogue scales (VAS) recording perceptions of severity of fatigue and pain, and distress caused by the fatigue, during the previous week. Each patient also completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Following verbatim transcription, taped interviews were subject to processes derived from thematic content analysis, and Glaser and Strauss' constant comparative method. Case note data, VAS and HADS were subject to descriptive statistics. Each participant within this study articulated the importance of addressing the struggle of finding meaning in something as inherently disabling as the fatigue experienced. This led to the conclusion that valid and reliable measurement of complex facets of terminal illness is dependent on extrapolating meaning before undertaking measurement. This paper, drawing on patient focused data, sets out to support that assertion.

Perceptions of health care need in lung cancer. Can prospective surveys provide nationally representative data?

This paper considers the potential of a prospective questionnaire survey to provide nationally representative data of perceptions of health care need. The paper focuses on methodological problems encountered during the study, reserving the discussion of key findings to further publications. Data were gathered from patients with lung cancer, lay carers and professionals from 24 randomly selected hospitals throughout the UK. A number of factors had an impact on the survey's potential to provide nationally representative data. These included an unanticipatedly high death rate of patients registered in hospitals as being in receipt of treatment or follow-up care. Of a potential sample of 785 patients identified as being alive by the participating hospitals prior to data collection, 319 (41%) were found to have died after checking with general practitioner surgeries. As a consequence of consultants declining to participate, or where they did not reply to any correspondence, eight hospitals were withdrawn from the study on the grounds of inability to gain access to a representative sample of patients. In conclusion, a retrospective design, supplemented by the views of patients would have ensured greater success in terms of patient response rate (45%) and representativeness of data. Nevertheless, the survey represents a first attempt at undertaking a national assessment of patients with lung cancer and has provided rich data drawn from patients' experiences of living with a diagnosis of lung cancer and its treatment.

Nursing, morality, and emotions: phase I and phase II clinical trials and patients with cancer

This article reflects three nurses' views of the moral dimensions of their work in caring for patients receiving phases I and II of cancer clinical trials in a dedicated cancer clinical trials unit (CCTU). The nurses took part in a semistructured, tape-recorded, group interview in which they talked about any aspect of their work that they felt demonstrated its ethical or moral dimensions. The nurses were not employed as research nurses, but had chosen to specialize in cancer and palliative care in a CCTU environment. Three key themes emerged from the interview: being valued and moral distress; caring in a climate of scientific research; and care, cure, and consequences for moral reasoning. Working in an environment suffused with moral conflicts can be painful and damaging for the professionals involved. It would appear that if nurses are to function effectively, they need to be proactive in promoting an exploration of the role that emotions play in moral decision making and in examining the contribution of emotions to what they care about and why. A commitment to a shared understanding and valuing of divergent ethical reasoning in and across professional cultures of care and research paradigms also appears to be necessary. The terms "ethics" and "morals" are used interchangeably throughout this article.

Multicentre randomised controlled trial of nursing intervention for breathlessness in patients with lung cancer

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of nursing intervention for breathlessness in patients with lung cancer.

DESIGN

Patients diagnosed with lung cancer participated in a multicentre randomised controlled trial where they either attended a nursing clinic offering intervention for their breathlessness or received best supportive care. The intervention consisted of a range of strategies combining breathing control, activity pacing, relaxation techniques, and psychosocial support. Best supportive care involved receiving standard management and treatment available for breathlessness, and breathing assessments. Participants completed a range of self assessment questionnaires at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks.

SETTING

Nursing clinics within 6 hospital settings in the United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS

119 patients diagnosed with small cell or non-small cell lung cancer or with mesothelioma who had completed first line treatment for their disease and reported breathlessness.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Visual analogue scales measuring distress due to breathlessness, breathlessness at best and worst, WHO performance status scale, hospital anxiety and depression scale, and Rotterdam symptom checklist.

RESULTS

The intervention group improved significantly at 8 weeks in 5 of the 11 items assessed: breathlessness at best, WHO performance status, levels of depression, and two Rotterdam symptom checklist measures (physical symptom distress and breathlessness) and showed slight improvement in 3 of the remaining 6 items.

CONCLUSION

Most patients who completed the study had a poor prognosis, and breathlessness was typically a symptom of their deteriorating condition. Patients who attended nursing clinics and received the breathlessness intervention experienced improvements in breathlessness, performance status, and physical and emotional states relative to control patients.

A four year review of acute viral hepatitis cases in the east coast of peninsular Malaysia (1994-1997)

A total of 1,157 sera from jaundiced patients with clinical and biochemical evidence of liver disease received from government hospital in Kelantan and Terengganu, during the period from 1994 to 1997, were investigated to determine the cause. Hepatitis A virus was found to be the main cause in 26.1% (24/92) of symptomatic clinical hepatitis cases in 1994, 47.8% (63/132) in 1995, 66.4% (613/923) in 1996 and 20% (2/10) in 1997. Sera received in 1996 were also tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D and hepatitis E. 1.4% (13/923) anti-bodies were found to be positive for HBc IgM indicating recent HBV infection, 5.4% (50/923) for total HCV Ab, 0.9% (8/923) for total HDV Ab and 0.4% (4/923) for anti-HEV IgM. This study shows that HAV is still a major problem in Kelantan and Terengganu, and there is a need to identify effective strategies for prevention and control in these two states.

Developing nursing research with people

This paper explores issues surrounding the role and capacity of research to inform practice. Through a consideration of three research projects undertaken by cancer nurses, some questions concerning nurse-led research and practice development initiatives are raised. Philosophical tenets of collaborative inquiry and action research from the basis of the exploration, articulating the essence of the way in which the research endeavours described, were undertaken. It is an attempt at describing research that moves away from traditional approaches that have so often depersonalised those involved.

Studies on animal schistosomes in Peninsular Malaysia: record of naturally infected animals and additional hosts of Schistosoma spindale

Surveillance studies on cercarial dermatitis were carried out in paddy growing areas in Peninsular Malaysia. It was observed that dermatitis in paddy planters occurred in paddy fields which were cultivated using animals such as bafflos or fields where domestic animals were allowed to graze during the off planting season as these animals harbored the parasite. The causative agent of cercarial dermatitis was Schistosoma spindale. A total of 215 small mammals trapped from Alor Setar and 126 trapped from Labu were examined for the schistosome. In Alor Setar Bandicota indica, Rattus argentiventer and Rattus rattus diardii were the only wild mammals found to be infected with the parasite, while in the Labu areas only Rattus tiomanicus jalorensis was positive for the schistosome. The occurrence of S. spindale in R. argentiventer and R.r. diardii in Alor Setar and in R.t. jalorensis in Labu constitute new host and geographic distribution records of the schistosome.

What do cancer patients identify as supportive and unsupportive behaviour of nurses? A pilot study

Social support has been claimed to have positive effects on a variety of outcomes, including physical health, mental well-being and social functioning, and yet, its nature, meaning and measurement are still being debated in the literature. This pilot study set out to identify, within the theoretical framework of the social support literature, supportive and unsupportive nurse behaviours as perceived of by eight hospitalized patients diagnosed with a haematological malignancy. The findings of the semi-structured interviews appear to suggest that emotionally supportive behavior patterns are the most frequently identified helpful nurse interactions reported by individuals with cancer, followed by informationally supportive behavior. The most frequently identified unsupportive nurse behaviours were those perceived of as being devoid of an emotional component. Tentative conclusions for practice are drawn from these findings and considerations for future research are presented. In accordance with work by Dunkel-Schetter (1984) the terms supportive and unsupportive are operationalized throughout this paper as the more familiar terms helpful and unhelpful.

Social support and the patient with cancer: a consideration of the literature

Although the nature, meaning and measurement of social support are still being debated in the literature, it has been claimed to have positive effects on a variety of outcomes, including physical health, mental well-being and social functioning. However, an intention to help on the part of the support provider is not sufficient to ensure that one is actually supportive, either as a professional or within one's own personal network. Past research indicates that social support is beneficial to cancer patients in adjusting to the stress of the disease and yet, because of the intense fears and stigma associated with it, those who have cancer may be especially likely to experience problems in obtaining adequate support. Without an appreciation of the complexity of support elicitation and support provision, nurses caring for patients with cancer and for their relatives may, however unintentionally, undermine one of the strongest potential resources people have in coping with the disease-the social relationship.

Seroprevalence of Sarcoptes scabiei var canis antibodies among aborigines in peninsular Malaysia

The Aborigines or Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia who are still seminomadic are known to have a close association with dogs. In this study, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect anti-Sarcoptes scabiei var canis antibodies in this community as a measure of exposure to the mite. Out of 312 Orang Asli tested, 24.7% were positive for polyvalent anti-Sarcoptes antibodies. No significant difference was found between the positive rates in males (26.1%) and females (23.6%). Only 1.9% were positive for IgA and none was positive for IgE anti-Sarcoptes antibodies. Since there were very few patients with clinical manifestation of scabies, there is a possibility that continuous exposure to the dogs mite confers cross-protective immunity in the community against human scabies.

Oral problems in advanced cancer

Despite the unquestionable relevance of ensuring effective oral care for patients with advanced cancer, inadequate research activity has been directed towards developing and evaluating specific mouth care regimes for this group of seriously ill patients. The prevalence of the problems experienced by these individuals is well known and ensures that we have a clear picture of the areas where practice development is urgently needed. This paper presents a critique of research-based oral care interventions through a consideration of the management of the following problems: coated mouth and tongue; dry mouth; infection (fungal, viral, bacterial); pain; altered taste. Where possible, research findings are presented, but for many of the areas of care it is possible only to offer guidelines based upon an understanding of the normal structure and function of the oral cavity, the agents and tools currently in use, and practice-based evidence. There is an urgent need for a coordinated body of research activity within this field.

Host tissue reaction to Gnathostoma malaysiae (Nematoda: Gnathostomidae) in Rattus surifer Miller

The occurrence of adult Gnathostoma malaysiae in Rattus surifer and R. tiomanicus in Malaysia has been reported but there are no known reports on the host tissue reactions. This paper reports on the gross pathology caused by G. malaysiae in a red spiny forest rat, R. surifer and the tissue reactions caused. A tumor-like growth was located on the mid-stomach wall in a female rat captured in Gunung Bachock, Kelantan, Malaysia. This growth consisted of four tunnel-like structures containing sanguinopurulent fluid and leukocytes and this structure led into a central canal. The tissue surrounding the tumor was greatly inflamed and there was localized gastritis. The tunnel-like structure was surrounded by dense fibrotic tissue. The stomach wall was devoid of superficial epithelium and smooth muscle but mucinous glands were present. The midregion of the fibrotic scar contained eggs of G. malaysiae which had evoked a strong tissue reaction and were surrounded by pus. Blood vessels were empty, dilated and had undergone vasculitis and thrombosis.

Two new species of Moniliformis (Acanthocephala: Moniliformidae) from Malaysia

Moniliformis tarsii n. sp. was found in Tarsius bancanus. It is unique in possessing 11-12 longitudinal rows of 6-7 hooks each. Hooks 2 and 3 are conspicuously enlarged, 41-55 microns long. Moniliformis echinosorexi n. sp. differs from all other species in having 12-15 rows of 11-13 hooks that are 34-36 microns long, and in having a proboscis receptacle 1.2-2.0 mm long. Several new host records for M. moniliformis are presented.