H1N1 Public Apathy

This is my third posting on H1N1. Earlier I wrote that if H1N1 cannot be controlled because of local transmission, then we can foresee that the number of cases would climb up rapidly. Hence, we are told that we now have more than 2000 confirmed cases. What is surprising is that death toll have reached 38. As of yesterday, the WHO has recorded about 208,155 confirmed cases in 174 countries with 1,688 deaths, which brings the average mortality rate in H1N1 to about 0.5 - 0.8 percent. With 2000 cases, we are talking about 10 to 16 deaths. Here in Malaysia, we are talking about mortality rate that is nearly 4 times more than the accepted norm of 0.5percent. This is a cause of concern to the authorities and the rakyat.

In any infectious disease outbreak, controlling the source of infection is of paramount importance. Hence, the individual plays an important role in order to contain the disease. Public apathy in Malaysia is frightening. The level of cleanliness in public places leaves much to be desired. In a lot of shopping centres and offices, don’t hope to find soap in the public toilet. It is indeed sad that Hong Kong had done a better job in maintaining cleanliness of public amenities from public lift to toilet. Even public toilets in hotels in Malaysia, KLIA and LCCT have no soap. I have also read in the papers today that in Subang Airport, there was no soap found in the public toilet. The MOH has been advising the public to wash their hands regularly with soap to prevent viruses, but without soaps in public toilets, how are we going to contain the disease? Not only that, the public lifts are also not cleaned regularly, let alone sanitized. An infected person would have infected a lot of places in the course of his travelling and daily contact. Hence, one of the first rules in containment of infectious disease is cleanliness of premises which are frequently used by the public.

There is also a lack of public education or the education itself is not reaching the target group. The awareness should start from the schools. The MOH should not just close down schools whenever someone is infected with the H1N1 and send the children home. The children will just regard the closing down of the schools as school holidays for them. It is better for MOH to teach school children on self-cleanliness and to avoid close contact with other children by wearing masks.

The high mortality rate in Malaysia has also raised panic among the public who are now rushing to get the anti virals to protect themselves. However, the anti-virals must be taken with caution. It has its harmful side effects, especially on some children where it will cause nausea and vomiting, leading to dehydration and other sickness. Therefore, parents must be extra careful when it comes to the anti-virals because it will promote resistance, of which will weaken the body’s immune system and cause it vulnerable to fight any flu virus. Besides that, many are concerned about the late diagnosis of the doctor for H1N1. Many believed that the deaths from H1N1 were caused by late diagnosis from the doctors. This perception has to change. Doctors have to equip themselves with updated information from the WHO in order to make the right diagnosis. There is no excuse since there is enough publicity to alert doctors on the H1N1.

We must all keep in mind that it takes two to tango. Without the cooperation from the public, the government itself is unable to contain the disease. Hopefully both the government and the public will continue to stay alert to prevent further spread of the disease.

公众对H1N1已麻木不仁？

这是我第三篇关于H1N1流感的文章。我之前说过，如果我们无法控制本土感染趋势，确诊病例必将飙升。世界卫生组织昨天证实全球174个疫区国家的累计病例已激增至20万8千155宗，1千688人死亡，死亡率约0.5－0.8％巴仙。回到大马，我国的H1N1病例已超过2千宗，死亡人数高达38人，死亡率是世卫数据的四倍，值得当局和公众高度关注。

要控制任何传染疾病，控制感染源头最为关键，而每个人都有发挥的角色。不过，一些人民却表现得漠不关心，这种态度让人担忧。公共场所的清洁和卫生水平仍不理想，许多购物商场、办公楼，甚至是机场及一些酒店的厕所也没有准备肥皂。卫生部不断提醒人民勤洗手以防病毒，在卫生设施欠奉的情况下，如何遏防疫情？不仅如此，公共升降机也没有定时清理，更不用说进行消毒。受感染者公开活动，通过与人接触能迅速传染他人。因此，维持公共场所的清洁和卫生是防疫的首要条件。

此外，缺乏公众教育和抗疫宣导，或讯息无法递及目标群体，也是我国抗疫过程面对的另项一问题。教育和醒觉应从学校做起，当校内证实有学生受感染，卫生部不该只把病童送回家或关闭学校。学生会把学校关闭现象当成放假。相反的，卫生部应该教导学生保持个人清洁卫生，以及戴上口罩以避免密切接触。

H1N1流感死亡率偏高使大马人民一度陷入恐慌，纷纷抢购抗流感药物。然而，所以人们必须谨慎服用。抗流感药物具有副作用，尤其会导致孩童感到恶心、呕吐甚至脱水等其他不适。家长们必须额外小心，一旦服用过量将削弱人体的免疫能力，无法对抗任何流感的病毒。

另一方面，大家也极度关注医生对H1N1流感的诊断。许多人认为医生延诊导致一些人死于H1N1流感。人们必须摒弃这种观念，而医生们也需密切跟进世卫公布的疫情讯息，以迅速进行确诊。

我们须知，抗疫工程需要双向的配合。没有人民的充分合作，政府无法遏制疫情。希望政府和人民继续保持警觉，协力灭抗流感。