Se Asian J Trop Med
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A survey was conducted to document and bring attention to the use of smokeless tobacco among rural Kadazan women in Sabah, East Malaysia. Of the 472 women interviewed, 59.5% had used tobacco among the ingredients that they habitually chewed. ⋯ The high prevalence of smokeless tobacco use is easily maintained as tobacco is cheap, locally produced and its use is socially accepted. The low level educational status of the women compounds the problem and intervention programs to curb this form of tobacco use is warranted.
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Se Asian J Trop Med · Jun 1995
PCR to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in sputum samples from treated leprosy patients with putative tuberculosis.
In this study of leprosy patients with putative tuberculosis, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), one of the most reliable and sensitive molecular diagnostic methods, was carried out for the specific detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA. Sputum samples from 43 patients at Baba Baghi Leprosarium in Iran were tested. The DNA extraction method was based on the lysing and nuclease-inactivating properties of guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN) together with the nucleic acid binding properties of diatoms or silica particles. ⋯ In total, 14% of the patients in this study were found to be PCR positive for M. tuberculosis. No positive results were found by direct microscopy for acid fast bacilli (AFB) and culture. It was thought probable that the positive PCR results indicated the tuberculosis (TB) in such treated leprosy patients.