If you do miss out the live chat about Influenza A (H1N1) with our Health Minister, here is the copy of it. Thanks to Copy & Paste! =D
Let's see how our Health Minister listens to the cry of the people.
10:42
The Star Online: Good morning. Thank you for joining The Star's live chat with Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. The topic for today is Influenza A(H1N1) and Datuk Seri has joined us to address some questions that you might have on the issue.
10:42
The Star Online: We are getting Datuk Seri ready in front of the laptop, so bear with us. We'll begin the session in a couple of minutes.
10:45
The Star Online: Good morning Datuk Seri. Thank you for joining us.
10:46
Datuk Seri Liow: Thank you. I am happy to share my views with all of you here
10:46
[Comment From Naluri Abdullah ] Sir, all deaths so far seem to have been related to pneumonia. Does H1N1 cause pneumonia?
10:47
Datuk Seri Liow: Yes, it does. It is one of the known complications.
10:48
[Comment From ajeez ] how serious the pandemic now?
10:49
Datuk Seri Liow:
The transmission is at the community level. It will be serious when it comes to sustained local transmission. We have to work together to prevent sustained local transmission.
10:49
[Comment From Nat ] Do you need to have fever before any other symptoms? The government hospital that I called informed me that no check up required until 1 week after coming back from Thailand because the virus is not detectable till a few days later. Is this true?
10:53
Datuk Seri Liow: The most common symptoms are fever, cough and sore throat. Not all patients have fever. Based on the current situation, about 95% of those infected had fever. Some may have diarrhea and vomiting in the extreme situation. The incubation period is between five and seven days. You only develop symptoms after this period. So, the government hospital was telling the truth and you only have to come for a check-up when you develop symptoms
10:53
The Star Online: Datuk Seri, this is a question sent in by email. Should I stop taking the LRT? So far, I’ve only observed 1 or 2 people wearing the face mask in the crowd of hundreds cramped in the LRT. How effective is the mask anyway?
10:54
10:57
Datuk Seri Liow:
People who have symptoms should avoid going to crowded places such as the LRT. If they have to go, then they should wear a face mask. The mask is effective for preventing transmission from an infected person to a close contact. I have no objection to you to wear a face mask. Make sure the mask is a three-ply and not the N95. This is because the N95 is for doctors and nurses to use in hospitals.
10:57
[Comment From Isbanez ] It seems that there are still a lot of Malaysians who doesnt takes this seriously, people are still travelling overseas like its nothing and quite ignorant when it comes to wearing mask. What will be the actions taken to change this situation?
11:00
Datuk Seri Liow: We want everybody to take ownership to this pandemic. The government has done its part to create awareness and preventive measures have been put in place. We urge the public to take part and follow the advice from the ministry especially the high-risk groups like the obese, pregnant women, diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung disease and the immuno-compromised persons like those who are on cancer treatment, on renal diaylisis and HIV
11:00
The Star Online: Dear Datuk Seri,Thank you for this Online live chat regarding Influenza A (H1N1). My family and I have purchased 5 tickets online from MAS to fly to Melbourne on 22/08/09 and coming back on 30/08/09. As the H1N1 flu has been getting worse lately, we are planning to postpone our holidays. We have called up MAS a few times to postpone but were told that they cannot do anything as they have not received any order from your ministry. What is your advice? SueOUG, Kuala Lumpur.
11:01
11:03
Datuk Seri Liow: Hi Sue, you can contact our ministry hotline at 03-88810200/300 or the nearest district health office to obtain a letter from us to reschedule your flight but not to refund it
11:03
[Comment From syukri ] I'm from UiTM. Our university mid-semester break had been brought forward due to the closure of UiTM Penang, Perak, and Melaka. Do you think the closure and early mid-sem break is necessary? My opinion is that those campuses closed will encouraged students to go home and brings the virus along with them to their community. So, I do not see any benefits in closing the campuses. What is your comment?
11:05
Datuk Seri Liow: Those with symptoms must stay back and quarantine themselves at the campus. Only those who are healthy are allowed to go back. The risk of transmission at university campuses are higher than the general public. So, when there are cases, then one of the measures is social distancing, which includes closing of the campus.
11:05
[Comment From SEM ] Sir. The virus is current spreading around school, isn't there any instruction given down to the school on how to prevent the virus spreading among the children? I have heard from those school that some school, even after the school got known comfirm cases, they still gathered together in the hall to give speeches about the school closure, isn't this even increase the chances of spreading? is there any measure as temperature taking once or twice per day for the school? is there any social distancing implemented for the school to minimize the contraction of the virus??
11:10
Datuk Seri Liow: The risk of transmission is higher because of close contact. When there is transmission in schools, we need to have social distancing. This includes no gatherings, no classes being held for a period of seven days. It is wrong for the school to gather the students for such briefings. The instruction should be given individually to the students involved. Students who have symptoms should stay at home and can rejoin after they are symptom-free. Schools can take temperatures of students if they are able to.
11:10
[Comment From Guest ] I went to government hospital because I was having flu like symptoms and fever. But the hospital turned me down and asked me to go to private hospital. The private hospital also turned me away because the hospital is full. What should i do now?
11:13
Datuk Seri Liow: How can this happen? Government hospitals should not be turning away patients. Please call the ministry hotline to give us more details on both hospitals.
11:13
The Star Online: The private clinics are not treating local transmissions effectively, if at all. So, how do we know, then, that what we are having is normal flu or H1N1 ? In widespread local transmission, the source is no longer definable. Nor Mastura Mokhtar
11:15
Datuk Seri Liow:
Hi Nur Mastura, the private clinic does not have the ability to test for the virus. They should refer the patient to the nearest hospital. To know the difference between normal flu and H1N1 please go to our website, http://h1n1.moh.gov.my
11:15
[Comment From Suriana ] My question: Are we screening for H1N1 patient with complication only? As on July 12, 2009 I came back from NZ and felt ill on July 14, 2009 with all the flu like symptoms (body ache, hi fever, head ache, sore throat) went to a private clinic first and they refered me to govt. hospital on July 15, 2009. Went there, they (doctors incharge) we are not screening anymore for H1N1, we only do screening for complication patient. What does it take to warrant a test then? As I am an MG (Myasthenia Gravis) patient since 1999 - 1st stage. Thank you.
11:24
Datuk Seri Liow:
Hi Suriana, you were right to go to the hospital/clinic when you had the symptoms. After the assessment by the dr, if the symptoms are mild, then they will treat you symptomatically. If you had developed any complications, you should be admitted for treatment. All cases of pneumonia should be screened for the virus.
11:24
[Comment From Sebastian (case 141) ] After tamiflu treatment how sure is the person still infected or not. After treatment there are no confirmation like retest to make sure the patient is 100% recover
11:26
Datuk Seri Liow: After you have been infected, you would have the antibody and do not need to be re-tested. The anti-viral is to help you recover. Take care
11:31
The Star Online: Now that we see rapic infection of this virus, is there any change in the way the first line of detection, for example, outpatient clinics treat each potential case. Up till now, we read of four deaths due to H1N1, why have this deths come in rapic succession? Are these new patients, or were they infected a while ago but could not recover or is it a new or more virulent strain of the virus. - Steven Sim
11:32
Datuk Seri Liow:
Hi Steven, once a person is infected, they develop the antibody and will not be infected again. This will protect them from risk of re-infection. Currenly, the virus has not mutated. IMR is monitoring this virus closely. The deaths were because they were late in getting treated.
11:32
The Star Online: I hope the data given are the true and current situation because I feel the public needs to be told the truth as to make them aware of the danger. Thank you again Diana Z Abidin (Shah Alam)
11:37
Datuk Seri Liow:
The data on the number of infections is being monitored on a daily basis both in the private and public sectors. We have come now to the mitigation stage where we are concentrating on treating those infected. The ministry has always been transparent with the public as this involves people's lives. We have gone through SARS, the Nipah virus and the avian flu together. And therefore we understand to be transparent. But we need the public participation to help prevent the virus from spreading any further
11:37
The Star Online:
This will be the last question from this live chat with Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
11:37
[Comment From annie lim ] so should we all get the tamilflu shots as prevention
11:44
Datuk Seri Liow:
The Tamifu is given only if you are a confirmed case, If you take it as a precautionary measure (prophylasis), then you will develop resistance to Tamiflu and this is not good as it cannot help you as and when you are infected. There is also a risk of side-effects. Thank you everyone for joining me today. Let's work together to fight this pandemic. Take care
11:44
The Star Online: Unfortunately, that is all the time we have with Datuk Seri Liow today. There were many more questions and comments posted but unfortunately, we are unable to pose them all to the Minister. We will, however, forward a copy of them to his office.
11:45
The Star Online: Thank you, Datuk Seri, for making time to join us and for addressing these questions today.
11:47
Datuk Seri Liow:
You are welcome. Please don't hesitate to contact me through my ministry's hotline. We will listen to your views and suggestions. We need to work together
11:47
The Star Online: We're sure they will. And thank you all for joining The Star Online today and being part of this livechat. Look out for the video and audio recordings of our interview with Datuk Seri Liow which will be uploaded soon. Have a good day.
Hope everyone will take the necessary precautions and try not to travel if possible. Health first..... travel later! Hopefully this will end soon.... =)
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