KUALA LUMPUR: Parents have been advised to keep their sick children at home when school reopens tomorrow after a week-long break.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said parents should act more responsibly to ensure their children were healthy before going back to school in view of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.
"Children with fever or cough should stay at home until they have fully recovered.
"They may spread the virus to their friends if they still have the symptoms," he said in a statement yesterday.
Parents have been urged to seek immediate treatment for children with influenza-like illness (ILI) and to let them rest at home.
Schools have also been told to accept medical certificates for students with ILI or are confirmed positive for H1N1.
Dr Ismail said the public should also continue improving their personal hygiene and to practise social distancing by staying at least one metre away from another individual.
He said as of 9am yesterday, another death was reported, bringing the H1N1-related toll to 72.
Dr Ismail said a 49-year-old odd-job worker went to Malacca Hospital on Aug 13 for treatment after having fever, cough and bouts of vomiting for two days.
"He was immediately given anti-viral treatment and antibiotics, and was tested negative for tuberculosis, typhoid, dengue, leptospirosis and H1N1 on Aug 18.
"However, he became seriously ill due to lung infections," he added.
The man died the next day.
The post-mortem result on Monday revealed that he was H1N1 positive and that he died from severe pneumonia with septicaemic shock.
The last death reported was on Wednesday when a 24-year-old obese woman was confirmed positive for H1N1.
Dr Ismail said 280 patients out of 1,515 receiving treatment for ILI had been confirmed positive with the virus.
Of the total, 44 are in intensive care units, 36 of them are in the high-risk group.
As of yesterday, 285 patients had been discharged from hospitals.
No comments:
Post a Comment