Precautionary steps taken at influenza-hit school
GEORGE TOWN: Penang has stepped up its monitoring of the Influenza A outbreak after 18 students from two classes in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Li Hwa in Butterworth contracted the strain within a week.
As a precautionary measure, the state public health authorities have given home leave to all the students in the two classes for 11 days and ordered that the entire school be sanitised to prevent the spread of the infectious disease.
According to medical reports, the virus originated from birds and some mammals before it mutated and began to affect humans.
State health committee chairman Dr Afif Bahardin confirmed the cases at a press conference, saying the flu outbreak has been endemic in Penang for a while and that his own child had recently contracted it.
He said transmission of the virus seems to affect more adolescents and that the role of pediatricians during this time is especially important.
Proper reporting and notification on the outbreak have been communicated to all public health facilities as well as private medical practitioners, he said.
“I do not have the figures on the number of cases that have been detected but the local health authorities are working on it.”
He called for parents to be vigilant and constantly monitor the health of their children.
Unlike the common cold, the Influenza A variant, which tends to mutate fast compared with other variants, usually starts with a sudden onset of symptoms like coughing, stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, fever, headache, fatigue, chills and body aches.
Afif said he has been told there is adequate medication to combat the spread as health authorities have stockpiled vaccines to be administered if the outbreak becomes severe.
According to Afif, the best prevention measures to take are getting flu inoculations, washing hands regularly, avoiding large crowds, wearing face masks and staying indoors if a fever develops.
Afif will liaise with the state public health department for further updates.
In the meantime, he said there is no directive to screen passengers at Penang’s entry points as the virus is believed to have originated from a domestic source.
In Johor, state health director Dr Aman Rabu said there are no signs of an outbreak so far.