Epidemiological study of human intestinal parasites in Sarawak, East Malaysia: A review
Intestinal parasitic infections are endemic in rural settings and may account for asymptomatic infections to various health complications. These infections are a cause of concern for communities of lower economic status, especially in developing countries. In Sarawak, indigenous populations resid...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35976/1/syatir1.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/35976/ https://msptm.org/vol-38-no-3-september/ https://doi.org/10.47665/tb.38.3.083 |
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| Institution: | Universiti Malaysia Sarawak |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Intestinal parasitic infections are endemic in rural settings and may account for asymptomatic
infections to various health complications. These infections are a cause of concern for
communities of lower economic status, especially in developing countries. In Sarawak,
indigenous populations residing in geographically inaccessible areas are socially and
economically disadvantaged. Through close association with nature, these populations are
prone to intestinal parasitism. Currently, scattered information has led to a continual state
of neglect at each level of parasitic infection control. This urges for a review of their
distribution and transmission based on previous reports to understand the pattern of the
diseases in the state which can further address the improvement of mass controlling
programs. A literature search was conducted to collect previous reports on human intestinal
parasites in Sarawak, East Malaysia from PubMed (Medline), SCOPUS, ScienceDirect and
Web of Science from January 2019 to March 2021. Extrapolating the current data in Sarawak
which is still considered limited, further interdisciplinary strategies are demanded to give
insights in the epidemiology and true prevalence of intestinal parasites in Sarawak. This
review addresses for redirection of attitude towards intestinal parasitic infections where it
should be given with ample attention by rural populations. In tandem to that, improvement
of rural livelihood such as standard of living and sanitation in Sarawak should be accredited
as part of the efforts to reduce the number of intestinal parasitic infections in the state. As
a control measure, mass deworming should be reconsidered especially to the rural
populations. |
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