A (H1N1) flu: Malaysia confirms 6th case in student returned from US
By ROYCE CHEAH and NG CHENG YEE
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia confirmed its sixth case of Influenza A (H1N1) in a student who arrived here on June 3 from New York on flight MH091.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that passengers and crew were being traced for home quarantine.
Liow urged all Malaysians to be vigilant and continue practising good hygeine in order to prevent an outbreak via local transmission.
"Everyone must understand their responsibility and take care of themselves.
“This is so there is no chance for the virus to spread locally."
Liow said the ministry would also be issuing pamphlets and putting up posters to remind the public on what precautions to take when going overseas.
He said that this included wearing a mask and washing hands regularly.
Liow also commended the quick action of passengers aboard MH091 who had responded to the ministry, noting that scans at the airports were not a foolproof way of detecting the virus.
"The symptoms may manifest itself later," he said at a press conference after a working visit to the National Heart Institute Friday.
Earlier in Putrajaya, Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said that a total of 61 people who came into contact with confirmed influenza A (H1N1) patients were undergoing home quarantine.
He said 35 of them were those who came into contact with the student who had travelled back from the United States on June 1 while 26 others had contact with the two German tourists infected with the virus.
The 23-year-old male student was on board Malaysia Airlines’ Flight MH091 while the other two were German tourists, aged 30 and 32, who travelled from Singapore on AirAsia’s flight AK702 on Wednesday.
Dr Ismail said the three were still undergoing treatment and in stable condition.
“There were 276 passengers and crew members on board MH091 and so far, 71 of them have been traced in Malaysia.
“Of the 78 passengers and crew members on board AK702, 20 of them have been found,” he said.
He said those from MH091 would be put under home quarantine until Monday while those from AK702 would be released on Wednesday.
Two people who came into contact with the influenza A patient in Hong Kong were released from home quarantine Friday. Dr Ismail said the tracking of other passengers was still ongoing and he appealed to those involved to contact the ministry at 03-8881 0200 or 03-8881 0300.
He said that on Thursday, the ministry received 22 notifications of those who experienced influenza A symptoms, with two being the German tourists.
“All these cases have been admitted to the isolation wards at five designated hospitals for treatment and investigation.
“Besides the two confirmed cases, 12 of them have been tested negative for the virus while eight others are still waiting for their test results,” he said.
On Thursday, Dr Ismail said 15,013 passengers from affected countries had been screened.
“A total of 10,859 of them were screened at air entry points, 2,140 at sea entry points and 2,014 at land entry points,” he said, adding that two cases were referred to hospital for further examination.
Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/5/nation/20090605150721&sec=nation
