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Blastocystis sp. has been considered as an opportunistic intestinal parasite particularly in immunocompromised patient. Recent findings of the predominance of Blastocystis subtypes infection in the clinical disease with its interaction with gut microbiota in the hosts will be discussed accordingly. A total of 57 eligible studies, published from 2010 to October 2020 from a broad search in electronic databases were accessed. The studies showed that bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhoea were among the common symptoms in Blastocystis sp. infection in the immunocompromised patients. However, asymptomatic and healthy individuals were also infected by the Blastocystis sp. with higher prevalence among healthy individuals. Specifically, Blastocystis sp. ST3 were most frequently discovered among immunocompromised patients (IBS, cancer, transplant, HIV/AIDS, dengue) followed by ST1 and ST2. Despite most studies suggesting that Blastocystis sp. promote a healthy gut, a few studies had suggested otherwise. Blastocystis sp. colonisation may modify the gut microbiota with the reduction of beneficial bacteria phyla such as Firmicutes and Bacteroides. Although there was a positive association between Blastocystis sp. subtypes and clinical diseases, more studies are needed. To understand the pathogenicity of Blastocystis sp., their interactions with the gut microbiota communities in humans are properly discussed.

SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to remain infectious on surfaces from hours to days depending on the surface type and environmental factors. The presence of virus on the cloth surface may pose a risk of disease transmission during use and handling. This study aimed to investigate the virucidal effect of hydrogen peroxide against SARS-CoV-2 virus on several types of fabrics. The SARS- CoV-2 virus at a concentration similar to viral load from a throat swab of a positive COVID patient was used to test the virucidal effect of hydrogen peroxide at different concentrations and different time points on different types of fabrics using VERO E6 cell culture. This study showed that the SARS-Cov2 soaked on different types of fabrics was killed within 30 s of exposure to hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide showed a potent virucidal effect on SARS CoV-2 on different types of fabrics.

Wearing a face mask has become mandatory when going out in public. Besides hand washing and physical distancing, wearing a face mask is a preventive measure used to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, many people do not comply with the rules and have difficulties in wearing masks. This study aims to evaluate current knowledge on the importance of face masks and identify factors contributing to discomfort in wearing face masks. Using a Google form survey, the study was conducted among 155 medical students of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). Data revealed 99.4% of the participants agreed on the importance of wearing masks and 92.35% respondents mentioned compliance in wearing masks. However, only 63.9% reported feeling comfortable while wearing a surgical mask. Certain factors were found to contribute to the discomfort of wearing face masks, such as feeling hot (77.4%), excessive sweating (76.1%), hard to breathe (67.7%) and trapping of odours (67.1%). Most of the respondents (84.5%) agreed that a change or alteration could be made to the current face mask design to make it more comfortable. During this COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of wearing masks has been well-realized by society. However, there remain several challenges associated with wearing them. Therefore, inventors should strive towards the innovation of a more comfortable and easy-wearing mask in order to enhance better compliance among users.

The COVID-19 is difficult to contain due to its high transmissibility rate and a long incubation period of 5 to 14 days. Moreover, more than half of the infected patients were young and asymptomatic. Virus transmission through asymptomatic patients is a major challenge to disease containment. Due to limited treatment options, preventive measures play major role in controlling the disease spread. Gargling with antiseptic formulation may have potential role in eliminating the virus in the throat. Four commercially available mouthwash/gargle formulations were tested for virucidal activity against SARS-CoV-2 in both clean (0.3 g/l BSA) and dirty (0.3 g/l BSA + 3 mL/L human erythrocytes) conditions at time points 30 and 60 s. The virus was isolated and propagated in Vero E6 cells. The cytotoxicity of the products to the Vero E6 was evaluated by kill time assay based on the European Standard EN14476:2013/FprA1:2015 protocol. Virus titres were calculated as 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50/mL) using the Spearman-Karber method. A reduction in virus titer of 4 log10 corresponds to an inactivation of ≥ 99.99%. Formulations with cetylperidinium chloride, chlorhexidine and hexitidine achieved > 4 log10 reduction in viral titres when exposed within 30 s under both clean and dirty conditions. Thymol formulations achieved only 0.5 log10 reduction in viral titres. In addition, salt water was not proven effective. Gargle formulations with cetylperidinium chloride, chlorhexidine and hexetidine have great potential in reducing SAR-CoV-2 at the source of entry into the body, thus minimizing risk of transmission of COVID-19.

Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) have become a major pandemic and a gruesome burden worldwide. The infection is easily spread through respiratory droplets from infected individuals during coughing, sneezing or talking. People in their vicinity, within 1-meter distance, can get infected by breathing contaminated air and touching the contaminated surfaces or hands. WHO encouraged the use of facemasks in the community, together with regular hand washing with soap and social distancing to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. However, with the many types of facemasks available in the markets, it remains debatable as to which ones are the most effective in curbing the transmission of the disease. This paper reviews available literature on the types of face masks, their effectiveness in filtering droplets and the advantages and disadvantages of using disposable and fabric masks. As found out, the most superior mask is the N95 type, with a filtration rate of 95% of 0.3 micron particles. However, for respiratory droplets, which particle size is from 5 to 10 microns, a surgical mask is adequate with a filtration rate of 90% of 3 micron particles. Due to disposal and cost concerns, surgical masks are recommended to be used only by health care workers. Three-layer cotton masks offer almost the same filtration rate as surgical mask and are recommended by WHO to be used in the community to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. Surgical masks and 3-layered cotton masks are effective in preventing droplet transmission from infected to healthy individuals. To prevent COVID-19, the public should be reminded continuously on the proper use and disposal of masks, regular hand washing and physical distancing.

This study aims to identify the level of difficulty, discrimination and errors based on symbols, graphs andproblem-solving in mathematics achievement. The participants consisted of 315 grade 10 students randomlyselected from eight secondary day schools situated in the state of Kedah, Malaysia. The mathematics written testconsisted of 15 open-ended items with five items each for symbols, graphs and problem-solving and all the itemswere analyzed using the difficulty and discrimination index. Semi-structured clinical interviews were alsocarried out among 20 selected students to identify the errors they had made in mathematics. In the contentanalysis, the descriptor code key was used to identify conceptual, careless, problem- solving and value errors.The findings showed that item 4 (Standard Form) of the symbols, item 6 (Linear Equation) of the graphs, anditem 15 (Line & Plane in 3 Dimension) of the problem-solving was the most difficult item in mathematics. All ofthese items had a good discrimination as well as difficulty index. Content analysis showed that 52 (57%)students made conceptual errors, 22 (24%) made careless errors, 12 (13%) made problem-solving errors and 5(6%) made value errors. The major reasons given for errors made were a lack of understanding, procedures beingforgotten, negligence in transcribing information from the question, carelessness and guesswork. This study hasimplications for the student learning process and understanding graphs because graphs are widely used in dailylife to manage, communicate and analyze information.

Introduction T spiralis infection leads to a T cell-dependent enteropathy characterised by villus atrophy, crypt hyperplasia and an increase in Paneth and goblet cells. Paneth cells express a number of antimicrobial peptides and proteins. Our aim was to investigate changes in the expression of cationic antimicrobial peptides and proteins that are normally expressed by Paneth cells. Methods Small intestinal epithelial cells were isolated from control mice and those infected with T spiralis . Concentrated cell extracts (in acetic acid) were studied by acid urea-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (AU-PAGE) and Western blot analysis. Samples with similar protein concentrations were used to assess antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli , after 5 h of incubation at 37°C, using the following equation: antimicrobial activity = [(OD620 of control solution−OD620 of sample)/OD620 of control solution] ×100. Results The establishment of infection with the nematode was confirmed by the presence of worms in the small intestinal lumen, changes in mucosal architecture and increase in Paneth and goblet cell numbers. In contrast to controls, AU-PAGE analysis of Paneth cell-containing small intestinal epithelial cell extracts from T spiralis -infected mice showed two prominent bands. AU-PAGE-Western blot and amino acid sequence analyses identified one of these bands to be secretory phospholipase A2. Sequences for cryptdins were detected in the second prominent band. Acid extracts of epithelial cells isolated from T spiralis -infected mice showed significantly greater antimicrobial activity, compared to those from control mice [mean 54.7 (SEM 8.7)% vs 7.3 (3.5)%; p=0.001]. Conclusion Following T spiralis infection, there was an increase in small intestinal epithelial expression of secretory phospholipase A2 and cryptdins. Enhanced production of these Paneth cell-derived peptides is likely to mediate greater antimicrobial activity against luminal bacteria in T spiralis -infected small intestine. Competing interests None declared.