PETALING JAYA (Sept 22, 2009) : A total of 587 patients with influenza-like illness (ILI) are being treated in 74 hospitals nationwide, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said today.
Of this, 169 patients are positive for A(H1N1) with 28 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“Twenty-six of those in ICU are from the high risk category, including nine children below five, two pregnant women and six obese patients,” he said in a statement from the Health Ministry yesterday.
The death toll for Influenza A(H1N1) in Malaysia remains at 77 as no new deaths were reported today.
The 77th death case reported on Saturday involved a 15-year-old asthmatic from Kedah. She died on Sept 11 but her death was only reported to the Health Ministry on Sept 18.
According to the ministry's statement, the girl had sought out-patient treatment from Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim in Sungai Petani, Kedah on Sept 7 after suffering from fever, cough and flu.
However her symptoms did not improve and she was brought back to hospital four days later on Sept 11. The girl was referred to the ICU and given antiviral treatment.
However, the patient died six hours later due to severe pneumonia with H1N1 infection, compounded by secondary bacterial infection.
The next day, her throat swab sample confirmed that she was infected with the virus.
Globally, the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report showed that as of Sept 18, the total number of cases worldwide has exceeded 296,471 with at least 3,486 deaths.
Mohd Ismail said the public must adhere to the Health Ministry’s advice in preventing, delaying and controlling H1N1 transmission in the community.
“The best way for those with ILI symptoms to prevent from spreading the virus is to stay home and rest after receiving symptomatic treatment and conduct self-monitoring while keeping a distance from family members or housemates,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment