Polio Supplementary Immunization Activities During COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience from Penampang District, Sabah, Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: Polio Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) were carried out in the State of Sabah in response to the Vaccine Derived Poliovirus outbreak declared in December 2019. Prior to this, Malaysia had been polio-free over the past 27 years. This paper reported on the successful implementation of SIAs in the district of Penampang, Sabah, adapting (vaccine administration) to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A series of meticulous planning, healthcare staff training, advocacy, and community engagement activities were conducted by the Penampang District Health Office. Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) and monovalent Oral Polio Vaccine were administered over the period of 1 year via these methods: house to house, drive-through, static, and mobile posts. The targeted group was 22 096 children aged 13 years and below. RESULTS: Polio SIAs in Penampang managed to achieve more than 90% coverage for both bOPV and mOPV. The overall vaccine wastage was reported to be 1.63%. No major adverse reaction was reported. CONCLUSION: High vaccine uptake during Polio SIAs in Penampang was attributed to good inter-agency collaboration, community engagement, intensified health promotion activities, and drive-through vaccination campaign.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Diabetic Wound Care Management among Healthcare Professionals and Impact from A Short Course Training in Sabah, Borneo.

OBJECTIVE: Healthcare professionals with an advanced level of knowledge and skills on diabetic wound care management are needed to effectively manage complex wounds. This study aimed to determine the effects of an educational intervention to enhance the management of wound care among healthcare professionals. METHOD: This study was part of a quasi-experimental pre-post research design where 82 healthcare professionals were recruited and assigned to intervention and control groups. The participants in the intervention group attended two days of educational intervention training on diabetic wound care management, while there was no intervention in the control group. A questionnaire on knowledge, attitude, and practice was applied before and one-month post-intervention to both groups. RESULTS: Pre-test resulted in a low level of knowledge 72.1% and 74.4%, negative level of attitude 67.4% and 66.7%, and a moderate level of practice 79.1% and 76.9% in both intervention and control groups respectively. Post-test resulted in increasing levels of knowledge (76.7%), positive attitude (100%), and practice (76.7%) in the intervention group. At the same time, there was no significant change in the control group. Repeated Measure ANOVA for within-subject and between-subject effects resulted in a statistically significant p-value of 0.001 for knowledge, attitude, and practice after the educational intervention. CONCLUSION: Health professionals have only a moderate level of knowledge on diabetic wound care management. It is important to improve this level by specific trainings and by using a good training module.