Sunday April 2, 2006
Villagers down with measles-like disease
BY SYLVIA LOOI
PANTAI REMIS: Many Chinese families will be busy gathering at their ancestral homes to observe Qing Ming (All Souls Day) today.
But one family in Bagan Panchor near here will not be taking part in the age-old practice as many villagers are down with Chikungunya – a measles-like disease.
Koh Kim Heoh, 54, said she had told her five children in Singapore not to return home after many villagers were infected about two months back.
“My children wanted to come home but I said no because I didn’t want them to be exposed to the disease,” she said after Sitiawan assemblyman Ngeh Koo Ham and Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming visited the villagers yesterday.
YOUNG VICTIM: Teoh Sie Er, a Year Five pupil of SJK (C) Yen Min in Bagan Panchor near Pantai Remis, showing the red patches on her arm Saturday.
The grandmother of seven said her husband was infected about a month ago but had since recovered.
“I was spared as I was away for more than a month visiting my children in Singapore,” she added.
Fisherman Tan Kaw Kee, 55, said he had not been going out to sea since he contracted the disease.
“I can’t even squat properly,” he said, adding that his livelihood was at stake.
Ngeh said the disease may be linked to the unhygienic conditions in the village.
“In the past century, there has not been a proper sewerage and waste disposal system, forcing villagers to dump their sewerage and rubbish into the river,” he said.
Ngeh called for a massive gotong-royong to clean up the village.
According to Bernama, the Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control Director Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that Chikungunya, a viral disease, was not life threatening.
Chikungunya is an urban disease resembling dengue and is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes mosquito.
The name Chikungunya refers to a stooped posture developed as a result of arthritic symptoms of the disease.
“This is the first time that we have detected a Chikungunya outbreak in this country since 1999,” Dr Ramlee said.
That time 27 people were infected in Port Klang, Selangor.
Nga said the most recent case was when 30 pupils of SJK (C) Yen Min and a teacher were infected after the disease surfaced two months ago.
The rural health clinic has been swamped by villagers seeking treatment for the illness.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/4/2/nation/13848509&sec=nation
Villagers down with measles-like disease
BY SYLVIA LOOI
PANTAI REMIS: Many Chinese families will be busy gathering at their ancestral homes to observe Qing Ming (All Souls Day) today.
But one family in Bagan Panchor near here will not be taking part in the age-old practice as many villagers are down with Chikungunya – a measles-like disease.
Koh Kim Heoh, 54, said she had told her five children in Singapore not to return home after many villagers were infected about two months back.
“My children wanted to come home but I said no because I didn’t want them to be exposed to the disease,” she said after Sitiawan assemblyman Ngeh Koo Ham and Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming visited the villagers yesterday.
YOUNG VICTIM: Teoh Sie Er, a Year Five pupil of SJK (C) Yen Min in Bagan Panchor near Pantai Remis, showing the red patches on her arm Saturday.
The grandmother of seven said her husband was infected about a month ago but had since recovered.
“I was spared as I was away for more than a month visiting my children in Singapore,” she added.
Fisherman Tan Kaw Kee, 55, said he had not been going out to sea since he contracted the disease.
“I can’t even squat properly,” he said, adding that his livelihood was at stake.
Ngeh said the disease may be linked to the unhygienic conditions in the village.
“In the past century, there has not been a proper sewerage and waste disposal system, forcing villagers to dump their sewerage and rubbish into the river,” he said.
Ngeh called for a massive gotong-royong to clean up the village.
According to Bernama, the Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control Director Datuk Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that Chikungunya, a viral disease, was not life threatening.
Chikungunya is an urban disease resembling dengue and is a relatively rare form of viral fever caused by an alphavirus that is spread by mosquito bites from the Aedes mosquito.
The name Chikungunya refers to a stooped posture developed as a result of arthritic symptoms of the disease.
“This is the first time that we have detected a Chikungunya outbreak in this country since 1999,” Dr Ramlee said.
That time 27 people were infected in Port Klang, Selangor.
Nga said the most recent case was when 30 pupils of SJK (C) Yen Min and a teacher were infected after the disease surfaced two months ago.
The rural health clinic has been swamped by villagers seeking treatment for the illness.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/4/2/nation/13848509&sec=nation