ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Fadzilah Mohd Nor1,2, Shafiq Aazmi3 , Tengku Shahrul Anuar4, Azdayanti Muslim1, Muhammad Nazri Aziz5, Nabila Ibrahim5, Mohd Fakharul Zaman Raja Yahya3, Siti Nabilah Zainuri3 and Farida Zuraina Mohd Yusof2,3
1Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sungai Buloh Campus, Jalan Hospital, Sungai Buloh, 47000 Selangor, Malaysia.
2Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, 42300 Selangor, Malaysia.
3School of Biology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
4Centre for Medical Laboratory Technology Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam Campus, 42300 Selangor, Malaysia.
5Lablink (M) Sdn. Bhd, 14(129) Jalan Pahang Barat, Off Jalan Pahang, 53000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Article Number: 8012 | © The Author(s). 2023
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2023;17(1):180-192. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.17.1.07
Received: 04 August 2022 | Accepted: 09 December 2022 | Published online: 24 January 2023
Issue online: March 2023
Abstract

Infectious gastroenteritis is endemic globally and caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites. The study determined the epidemiological pattern of infectious gastroenteritis within selected urban areas in Malaysia. Analysis of 745 laboratory requests was conducted based on FilmArray gastrointestinal assay and socio-demographic details from suspected cases in KPJ hospitals in Klang Valley, Malaysia, between 2016 to 2020. Descriptive analysis and Fisher-Freeman-Halton Exact testing were performed to ascertain the relationship between socio-demographics with the type of infections. Of 745 requests, 288 (38.7%) were caused by one etiological agent (mono-infection), while the remaining 334 (44.8%) were due to more than one agent (co-infection). Mono-infection was significantly higher among adolescents (n=9; 47.4%) and young adults (n=37; 40.2%) in comparison to adults (n=18; 35.3%). Whereas co-infection was significantly higher in infants (n=216; 49.2%). Mono-infection was mainly caused by bacteria (n=194/288; 67.4%) with Salmonella spp. was prevalent (16.6%), followed by EPEC (12.5%), Campylobacter spp. (11.9%) and Norovirus (10.5%). The co-infections (n=334) were identified with a combination of EPEC and the following bacteria or viruses (Norovirus=38, Campylobacter spp.=30, Salmonella spp.=26, EAEC=22, Rotavirus=19, Adenovirus=10). The month of August to October was recognised as the peak season for infectious gastroenteritis. The present findings may indicate contamination of infectious agents to the food supply and food processing chain as well as reduced hygiene in food sanitation leading to foodborne health issues, particularly among the children in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Keywords

Private Healthcare, Gastroenteritis, Film Array Gastrointestinal Assay, Klang Valley, Malaysia

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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.