‘No other special drug or antiviral medicine was used’ to treat 4-year-old girl, who has completely recovered from the coronavirus infection.
4-year-old girl from China in Langkawi hospital is first to be cured from infection
TWO Malaysians who returned from Wuhan, China, on an evacuation flight on Tuesday, tested positive for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the two, a father and his son, were among 105 individuals who were sent to a monitoring centre in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, after going through health screening at the Air Disaster Unit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
“Both individuals, aged 45 and 9, are receiving treatment at the isolation ward in Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban.
“They are in stable condition,” he said yesterday.
This brings the cumulative number of positive cases to 12. From the total, nine are Chinese nationals and three Malaysians.
Dr Dzulkefly said two individuals who did not pass their initial health screening upon arrival at KLIA had tested negative for the virus.
“The remaining 131 people on board the flight, including 26 government officers and flight crew, tested negative for 2019nCoV, and are under a 14-day observation period. ”
AirAsia Flight AK8256 carrying 107 Malaysians and their non-citizen family members touched down at KLIA early on Tuesday morning.
They were evacuated from Hubei province’s capital city, Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, which had killed nearly 500 and infected more than 20,000 people.
On the first confirmed Malaysian who contracted the disease, Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry had identified 74 people who had close contact with the 41-year-old man.
It was reported the man was in Singapore from Jan 16 to 23 for a conference, which was also attended by a delegation from China.
He had returned to Malaysia on Jan 23, developed a fever and cough, and sought treatment at a private hospital in Selangor before being referred to Sungai Buloh Hospital on Feb 2.
He tested positive for 2019-nCoV on Feb 3.
“We have traced 35 people who had close contact with him and taken samples from them.
“Subsequently, these who had close contact (with him) will be put under home surveillance,” said Dr Dzulkefly.
Reuters, meanwhile, reported that a 38-year-old South Korean man who came into contact with the Malaysian had been infected with the virus, according to tests done by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). The South Korean had a meal with the Malaysian, as well as several other South Koreans during the conference, South Korea’s Joongang
Ilbo newspaper reported. Singapore’s Health Ministry had, on Tuesday, said the meeting involving the Malaysian took place at the hotel where the conference was held, adding that the city-state was working to identify individuals who had close contact with the cases.
The report also said Singapore — one of the worst-hit countries outside China in the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) — has 24 cases of coronavirus, including local transmitted cases.
Dr Dzulkefly said those under home surveillance would be monitored by Health Ministry personnel and immediately admitted if they developed symptoms or if sample results tested positive.
On the 4-year-old girl from China who was admitted at a hospital in Langkawi, he said she was cured when they treated her symptoms. The girl is the first of 12 patients in Malaysia to have been completely cured from the infection.
Dr Dzulkefly said the girl, who was tested twice in a span of more than 24 hours, tested negative.
“No special drug or antiviral medicine was used. Medical experts have said the 2019-nCoV is self-limiting, whereby our antibodies will end the virus’ life cycle.
“So there is no special antiviral drug, but we have treated the patients here well. Even in China, more than 800 have recovered.
This, therefore, debunks the myth that once you contract the disease, you’ll go into a fatal state or get a bad prognosis. DATUK SERI DR DZULKEFLY AHMAD Health minister
“This, therefore, debunks the myth that once you contract the disease, you’ll go into a fatal state or get a bad prognosis,” he said, adding that the girl’s flight arrangements to return home to China were being taken care of by the Chinese embassy.
Dr Dzulkefly said most of the other patients were in stable condition and the ministry had been receiving regular updates from clinicians at Sungai Buloh Hospital.
“There are elderly patients who aren’t doing as well as the others, but their condition is not so much related to the disease per se.
“We’ve done tests and are monitoring their development.”
On viral photos showing Hazardous Materials Management Team (Hazmat) members and the police at the Petronas Twin Towers yesterday, Dr Dzulkefly clarified that the team was sent there as a precautionary measure.
This was after a Canadian teenager, 17, collapsed at Tower 3 about 11am yesterday.
“The immediate thing on our mind is the 2019-nCoV, but it can be very well be due to other conditions.
“Our immediate response was to ensure this was taken care of, which was why Hazmat personnel came in personal protective equipment outfits. We’re not taking any chances.”
He also said the teenager was brought to Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday and the ministry was awaiting a report from them.