Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

[Arkanoid Legent]

An opinion letter written to The Star from a local doctor :

"Friday July 2, 2010

Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1


I want to urgently bring to the attention of the public that the H1N1 virus threat is not over yet and still thriving in some areas.

There is an epidemic in a private hospital in the Klang Valley right now, with several patients getting the infection after being admitted into the hospital and even two deaths, including a woman who after a normal delivery in the hospital caught the virus in the hospital.

Half of the staff and nurses tested positive for the virus and were given treatment and some were admitted. The only action taken by the hospital was to ask all staff members to wear masks.

What about the patients and visitors entering and staying there? Why has there been no testing or warning to the patients and visitors entering the hospital?

Enquiries to the Health Department and the hospital drew a blank, citing the Official Secret Act ? no information to be given to the public.

There is a big cover-up. When previously there were cases and deaths in schools and institutions, there were public announcements and naming of the schools and institutions and their closure.

Is this the way to control the H1N1 infection from spreading? What is the standard protocol to control the spread of the virus to the public?"


- Something fishy is going on by the looks of this letter, especially when it is written by a doctor. Does anyone has any other links with regards to this claim? I will write to Malaysia's Ministry of Health with regards to this but I'm pretty sure I will not get a reply.

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145451

Tetano, Tonka and Roro have been very thorough in their compilation of published fatalities but I still cannot find media reports of fatalities numbered 83, 84 or 85.

If this has been brewing away for a couple of months could he be referring to the young woman whos' mother had also died, back in April?

He said the 29-year-old was 36 weeks pregnant and admitted to the hospital due to pregnancy complications.

"At the same time, she was also showing symptoms of ILI and was tested positive for H1N1. Tamiflu treatment was given almost immediately to the woman, the same day a caesarean section was conducted to save her baby.

"After the surgery, the woman was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) but she suffered a complication known as Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome and died yesterday," he said.

Liow said the premature baby, however, was tested negative for H1N1 and was currently in stable condition at the ICU.

The woman was admitted to Melaka Hospital

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144223&highlight=staff+selangor

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

I haven't found any identifying information on those three either. Fatality 82 was reported on May 5th, the next reported fatality was May 21st, but the total was then reported as 86.
I believe that the mother and daughter were fatalities 79 and 80 - see this thread;
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144223

 

[Arkanoid Legent]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Kiwibird / Roro,

As you can see from the email below which I have sent much much earlier, they (MOH) have failed to reply me in anyway with regards to the unexplained fatalities :

" RE : Request for data on fatalities reported due to H1N1 in Malaysia‏
From:
Sent: Friday, 21 May, 2010 4: 51 AM
To: ******@moh.gov.m (edited)

Dear Dr. Rose / CPRC,

I have read today's H1N1 update (21st May 2010) and noticed that you have listed 85 as the total number of fatalities as to date. However the last time the fatalities was updated on th 7th May 2010, it was listed that 82 was the total number.

In the space of 2 weeks, the fatalities has risen by 3. Now here's my questions :

1) Why was the 3 additional fatalities were not reported in your daily updates??
2) Where is the details of these fatalities??
3) Why are your daily updates getting too simplified from day to day??

I appreciated your hard work on keeping us the Malaysian public updated with the latest information, but don't you think so that we deserve to know the "truth" and more? Please reply to my inquiry as I am a concerned Malaysian citizen.

Thank you very much."

 

[tetano]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Current Situation of Influenza A (H1N1) 23 April 2010

The Ministry of Health has received three (3) reports H1N1 in dead today. However, only one (1) case only death caused by Influenza A (H1N1) and two (2) cases the cause of death was not caused by direct infection of H1N1. This brings the cumulative number of H1N1 deaths to date is 79.


Current Situation of Influenza A (H1N1) 24 April 2010

The Ministry of Health has received three (3) reports H1N1 in dead today. However, only one (1) case only death caused by influenza A (H1N1), and two (2) cases the cause of his death was not caused by direct infection of H1N1. This brings the cumulative number of H1N1 deaths to date is 80.

Current Situation of Influenza A (H1N1) 29 April 2010

The Ministry of Health has received two (2) reports H1N1 in dead today. However, only one (1) case only death caused by influenza virus A (H1N1), while one (1) cases the cause of death was not caused by direct infection of H1N1. This brings the cumulative number of H1N1 deaths to date is 81.

Current Situation of Influenza A (H1N1) May 5, 2010

Ministry of Health has received one (1) report in today's H1N1 death caused by influenza virus A (H1N1). This brings the cumulative number of H1N1 deaths to date 82 people.


Current Situation of Influenza A (H1N1) May 22, 2010


Ministry of Health has received one (1) reports of deaths due to H1N1 influenza virus A (H1N1). This brings the cumulative number of H1N1 deaths to date 86 people.

There is a gap between May,5 and May, 22

 

[tetano]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

May be one is the teacher reported on May,18


Malacca teacher dies from H1N1


MALACCA: A 50-year-old teacher from Batu Berendam near here died from influenza A (H1N1) yesterday.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Malaysian cases are also listed in the database here;
http://ft100.dabbledb.com/publish/f...b3d1-5c9d658e7adc/malaysiah1n1fatalities.html

This season starts at MY78

I have included official and unofficial fatalities.

From going back through, I see that the mother and daughter were not officially counted.

<iframe src="http://ft100.dabbledb.com/publish/flutrackersdatabaseforindividualah1n1cases/9934de13-6902-4ece-b3d1-5c9d658e7adc/malaysiah1n1fatalities.html?embed=true" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>

 

[sharon sanders]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Thank you everyone for following this.

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

RoRo - Thank you!:tiphat::tiphat: (Above and beyond the call of duty!)

There is an epidemic in a private hospital in the Klang Valley right now, with several patients getting the infection after being admitted into the hospital and even two deaths, including a woman who after a normal delivery in the hospital caught the virus in the hospital.

Half of the staff and nurses tested positive for the virus and were given treatment and some were admitted. The only action taken by the hospital was to ask all staff members to wear masks.

Malacca Hospital is a public hospital and the mother and daughter did not attend a private hospital before admission.

Serdang in Selangor is the only reported hospital with staff having h1n1 and it is public.

Must be unpublished cases this doctor is referring to!

 

[Arkanoid Legent]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Hi Guys,

I think the mystery private hospital which was mentioned by the doctor is revealed by the Ministry of Health in today's H1N1 update. See appendix 1, item no. 3 :

Hospital Pantai Indah, Ampang Selangor : It's a private hospital in the Klang Valley and the report mentions 16 Staff members H1N1 positive, almost half of them being admitted.

I hope the "mystery" is solved.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Malaysia : Too little done to prevent spread of H1N1

Wednesday July 14, 2010
Ministry doing all it can to check spread of H1N1


I REFER to the letter ?Too little done to prevent the spread of H1N1? (The Star, July 2).

The Health Ministry conducted investigations and found several statements in the letter about half of the staff in a private hospital in the Klang Valley being tested positive for H1N1 and several patients getting infected after being admitted as well as two deaths to be inaccurate.

On June 10, the ministry received notification of one death involving a patient who was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a private hospital. A review by medical experts confirmed that the direct cause of death was not due to H1N1 even though the PCR test was positive on May 31. There was no other report of H1N1 related deaths from the hospital.

On June 28, the ministry received information about an influenza like illness (ILI) cluster occurring in the private hospital. Case investigation and active case detection was conducted immediately on the same day. It was found that one of the hospital?s staff working in the ICU where the deceased was treated was found to be positive of H1N1 on June 18, eight days after the patient died.

Subsequent screening of the staff found that altogether 16 were found to be positive for H1N1. All of the affected staff were given anti-viral treatment and medical leave and their conditions are stable. The last case from this cluster was detected on June 25. The management has since conducted daily temperature screening of the staff. We have not received reports of patients being infected after admission in the hospital in this cluster.

Currently, the transmission of pandemic H1N1 is already in the community in Malaysia as well as globally.

The Ministry has in place standard protocol related to the prevention and control measures of H1N1 at various phases of the pandemic. Our efforts to control the pandemic have been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation.

The Ministry has always been transparent in reporting new H1N1 cases and clusters in its regular weekly press statements which are posted on our website. The allegation about a cover up is baseless as this cluster was reported in the epidemiological week from June 27 to July 3, and will be incorporated in the press statement for the week.

Medical practitioners and the general public are encouraged to obtain information on the current H1N1 situation as well as the preventive measures taken to prevent the spread of the H1N1 virus through the dedicated website http://h1n1.moh.gov.my or call the hotline (03-88810200 or 03-88810300).

TAN SRI DR ISMAIL MERICAN,
Director-General of Health.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/7/14/focus/6657412&sec=focus