Third death as KK schools close

Shan Tao principal Goh Teck Seng assisted by vice-principal Then Yow Kiew displaying the notice of closure at the school’s main gate yesterday.

29th July, 2009

KOTA KINABALU: Malay-sia reported Tuesday the country’s third death due to Influenza A (H1N1), as three schools in Kota Kinabalu have been directed to close.

The latest victim was a 42 year-old local male who died at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur at 4.40 pm Monday.

In Kota Kinabalu, SRJK Shan Tao has been ordered to close for a week after at least three students were confirmed sufferers of the Influenza A (H1N1).

Its principal Goh Teck Seng yesterday confirmed that the school received a call from the health authority at about 11am to give the students a break until Aug 3, when lessons resume.

According to him, the school was said to have an infected student, who is in Primary 3 when he received a call from the department on Saturday.

On Monday, the school was visited by a team of medical personnel to screen the students where eight were found to have fever.

The body temperature of the eight students was about 38 degrees celcius. During the period, some parents saw the medical team and got worried.

Goh said that he decided to call a meeting with the teaching staff yesterday to decide on the next course of action.

“We also have a poor attendance today (yesterday) with some 300 absentees,” he said.

At the same time, he was also informed that two Primary 3 and 6 students were tested positive for the symptoms of the flu yesterday.

The two Primary 3 students are not from the same class, he added.

The school which has a student population of 1,700, also informed parents to take their children home for the day.

A parent yesterday confirmed that his daughter was told by the school that there would not be any classes till Monday (Aug 3).

Meanwhile in TENOM, Marutin Ansiung reported that a 16-year-old student who has just returned from Melaka has been confirmed to be a sufferer.

The boy from Kg Baru Jumpa had sought treatment at the district hospital after complaining of fever on Sunday.

District hospital director Dr Mohd Ferous in urging the public not to panic said yesterday that the boy has been given treatment and was allowed to stay at home.

“The boy had attended a cadet marching training in Melaka before he fell ill,” he said. A test swab was sent to the Bukit Padang general health lab and the test for Influenza A came out positive, he said.

Dr Ferous urged the public to visit the nearest health clinic if they have signs of fever.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that the latest victim was a 42-year-old Malaysian male who was confirmed of having the Influenza A (H1N1) on Thursday.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the man had been unwell since July 6 and had been seeking outpatient treatment from several clinics and private hospitals.

He said the man was later admitted to a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur on July 18 as his condition deteriorated and was diagnosed as having pneumonia, and while he was in the ward, he was found to be suffering from Diabetes Mellitus while an x-ray showed that he was suffering from pneumonia.

“On July 19, the patient was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as he was having breathing problems and needed to use the ventilator. As the case was becoming more acute, a throat sample was taken on July 22 and he was confirmed positive for Influenza A (H1N1) on July 23.

“However, the patient had suffered various complications and died on July 27 (yesterday) at 4.40 pm due to severe pneumonia with multiorgan failure 10 days after seeking treatment,” he told reporters here.

Liow, who expressed regret over the incident, said all clinics and hospitals in the country should take immediate steps in tracing patients infected with Influenza A (H1N1) so that immediate treatment could be given.

“From this case you can see that this patient has gone round a few clinics since he was not well from July 6 until July 18 when his condition was deteriorating, but yet the clinic didn’t take any swab sample for H1N1.

“So I would like to urge all clinics and hospitals to be vigilant, to be effective and to take immediate action and measures in any suspected influenza case. There are a lot of cases coming in with pneumonia but they have to test whether it’s H1N1. They have to take this immediate step,” he said.

On the current situation, Liow said 95 new cases of Influenza A (H1N1) had been detected, all of them being local cases among Malaysian citizens, of which 68 were from 19 new clusters, 22 cases from 11 existing clusters while five cases were sporadic or isolated ones.

He said the total accumulated cases had so far increased to 1,219 cases, of which 574 cases or 47 per cent were imported cases while the remaining 645 cases or 53 per cent were locally infected cases.