BackgroundMalaria is a vector-borne parasitic disease which is prevalent in many developing countries. Recently, it has been found that Plasmodium knowlesi, a simian malaria parasite can be life-threatening to humans. Long-tailed macaques, which are widely distributed in Malaysia, are the natural hosts for simian malaria, including P. knowlesi. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of simian malaria parasites in long-tailed macaques in the district of Hulu Selangor, Selangor, Malaysia.MethodsA total of 70 blood samples were collected from Macaca fascicularis dwelling in the forest of Hulu Selangor by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. DNA was extracted using PureLink™ Genomic DNA Kits. Conventional and nested PCR were used to detect the genus and species of Plasmodium parasites respectively. In addition, phylogenetic analysis was carried out to confirm the species of Plasmodium parasites.ResultsThirty-five (50 %) of the 70 samples were positive for Plasmodium using genus-specific primers. These positive samples were then subjected to nested PCR targeting the 18S ribosomal RNA genes to detect all five simian malaria parasites: namely, P. knowlesi, Plasmodium inui, Plasmodium cynomolgi, Plasmodium fieldi, and Plasmodium coatneyi. All five species of simian malaria parasites were detected. Of these, P. inui was the predominant (65.7 %), followed by P. knowlesi (60 %), P. cynomolgi (51.4 %) P. coatneyi (45.7 %) and P.fieldi (2.9 %). A total of nine macaques had mono-infection with P. knowlesi (four), P. cynomolgi (two), P. coatneyi (two) and P. fieldi (one). Eleven of the macaques had dual infections while 12 had triple infections. Three macaques were infected with four species of Plasmodium. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the five species of Plasmodium parasites.ConclusionThis study has provided evidence to elucidate the presence of transmission of malaria parasites among the local macaques in Hulu Selangor. Since malaria is a zoonosis, it is important to determine the new control strategies for the control of malaria.

ObjectiveTo examine incidence of child marriage among displaced and host populations in humanitarian settings.DesignCross-sectional surveys.SettingData were collected in Djibouti, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq in the Middle East and in Bangladesh and Nepal in South Asia.ParticipantsAdolescent girls aged 10–19 in the six settings and age cohort comparators.Outcome measuresCumulative incidence of marriage by age 18.ResultsIn Bangladesh and Iraq, the hazard of child marriage did not differ between internally displaced populations (IDPs) and hosts (p value=0.25 and 0.081, respectively). In Yemen, IDPs had a higher hazard of child marriage compared with hosts (p value<0.001). In Djibouti, refugees had a lower hazard of child marriage compared with hosts (p value<0.001). In pooled data, the average hazard of child marriage was significantly higher among displaced compared with host populations (adjusted HR (aHR) 1.3; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.61).In age cohort comparisons, there was no significant difference between child marriage hazard across age cohorts in Bangladesh (p value=0.446), while in Lebanon and Nepal, younger cohorts were less likely to transition to child marriage compared with older comparators (p value<0.001). Only in Yemen were younger cohorts more likely to transition to child marriage, indicating an increase in child marriage rates after conflict (p value=0.034). Pooled data showed a downward trend, where younger age cohorts had, on average, a lower hazard of child marriage compared with older cohorts (aHR 0.36; 95% CI 0.29 to 0.4).ConclusionsWe did not find conclusive evidence that humanitarian crises are associated with universal increases in child marriage rates. Our findings indicate that decision-making about investments in child marriage prevention and response must be attuned to the local context and grounded in data on past and current trends in child marriage among communities impacted by crisis.

The novel coronavirus disease of COVID-19 is highly infested in the world and the first COVID-19 positive patient was on March 8, 2020 in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was related to the situation and relation of tests, infested, recovered, and death of people against COVID-19 of Bangladesh. The study was carried out from July 2021 to August 2021 (N=62 days) to observe the status of Bangladesh towards rampant COVID-19. Correlations were made using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The total tests, infection, recovered, and died were 5357294, 747761, 669995, and 11250; respectively in Bangladesh. The mean of tests, infested, recovered, and death of statistics was (35292.6452, and 38143.5806; 10856.2903, and 8101.0968; 8450.3871, and 11218.3871; 199.4194, and 177.7419) in July and August 2021. The percentage of COVID-19 tests, infested, recovered, and death was varied from (4.9244 to 1.0498 and 4.6754 to 2.0197; 4.4823 to 3.2699 and 6.3667 to 1.3367; 5.4725 to 1.4418 and 4.7810 to 1.1795; 4.1734 to 2.1352 and 4.7913 to 1.4519) July, and August in 2021. The positive correlation found between the date with the test, test with infested, recovered, and death of June 2021 by people where (R2= 0.0115, 0.6245, 0.0388 and 0.2917) and in August, the positive correlation found between the test with infested, recovered, and death (R2= 0.7099, 0.8988, 0.7211 and 0.6454) and the negative correlation found between tests with the date (R2= 0.6454). All the Spearman correlation was positive with moderate to strong relationships between the variables at the 0.01 level in two-tailed. The mean Spearman correlation for tests was 0.656 (0.551-0.758), for infested was 0.669 (0.433-0.818), for recovered was 0.564 (0.433-0.709), for death was 0.737 (0.685-0.818). More people infested and died in July-August, 2021 than the previous year. This study also indicated that there is moderate to strong relation among tests, infested, recovered, and death with COVID-19.