Death were more commonly expected of those with pre-morbid coditions, or the extreme of age, but of the last 2 deaths, young people were involved... yikes!
PUTRAJAYA, July 29 — A 20-year-old Malaysian women died from Influenza A(H1N1) yesterday, bringing the number of deaths since the contagious flu outbreak in this country to four.
Director-general of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said the victim died at 9.40am at the Melaka Hospital due to severe community-acquired pneumonia, and samples taken from her throat yesterday showed she had Influenza A(H1N1).
“She had been having fever, sore throat and cough since July 16 and although her condition worsened, she only sought treatment at Melaka Hospital on July 26 where her chest X-ray showed that she had pneumonia.
“The same day at 8.30pm, she was transferred to the intensive-care unit when she had breathing difficulty and required a ventilator to breathe. On Monday, the patient developed complications, including “septicaemia secondary to community-acquired pneumonia, acute renal failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome” and died at 9.40am yesterday,” he told reporters, here, today.
Dr Mohd Ismail who had earlier chaired the 10th meeting of the Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic Technical Committee, said the rising number of deaths from the disease in this country was worrying, especially when the victims sought treatment late or the doctors failed to detect the infection early.
Hence, he said, the meeting today decided that all medical practitioners, whether at the public and private hospitals or clinics, must have an index of suspicion for pneumonia cases which must be investigated for possible Influenza A(H1N1) infection.
“Throat swabs must be taken from severe pneumonia cases at the hospitals to be tested for the disease, patients given anti-viral treatment and the history of their influenza-like illness and Influenza A(H1N1) infections noted.
“I hope after four deaths (from the disease), people will be more alert. If you don’t feel well, if you have symptoms like breathing difficulty, put on a face mask and seek treatment early.
“All this shows that we (doctors) need to really strengthen our examination techniques. When the patient comes, you listen well to the history, and if the history shows respiratory symptoms, you examine the respiratory in detail.
“But this is not happening, so we are alerting the doctors to examine all patients thoroughly, especially those with respiratory symptoms and unusual clinical features,” he said.
Dr Mohd Ismail said all severe pneumonia cases due to suspected Influenza A(H1N1) must be given influenza anti-viral medicine with the doses increased.
He said laboratory tests for Influenza A(H1N1) which so far could only be done at the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) and Sungai Buloh Hospital would be extended to government hospitals in the states and as such, they would be given training and the facilities.
He disclosed that 21 private hospitals had been supplied with enough influenza anti-viral medicine to treat patients with the disease and suspected cases.
“We will top up the supply from time to time, so there is no more excuse for the private hospitals to push the patients to the government hospitals,” he said.
On the current situation, he said 47 new cases had been reported nationwide and all these were locally transmitted.
The new cases have brought the total number of cases so far to 1,266 including the four deaths. Of the figure, 574 or 45 per cent are imported cases while 692 were locally transmitted.
Dr Mohd Ismail said 1,233 cases or 97 per cent had recovered, and 24 cases receiving anti-viral treatment at the hospitals and nine at home.
On the global situation, he said 169,753 cases with 1,125 deaths had been reported in 159 countries as at this morning, an increase of 6,038 cases with 100 deaths since yesterday. – Bernama
PUTRAJAYA, July 29 — A 20-year-old Malaysian women died from Influenza A(H1N1) yesterday, bringing the number of deaths since the contagious flu outbreak in this country to four.
Director-general of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said the victim died at 9.40am at the Melaka Hospital due to severe community-acquired pneumonia, and samples taken from her throat yesterday showed she had Influenza A(H1N1).
“She had been having fever, sore throat and cough since July 16 and although her condition worsened, she only sought treatment at Melaka Hospital on July 26 where her chest X-ray showed that she had pneumonia.
“The same day at 8.30pm, she was transferred to the intensive-care unit when she had breathing difficulty and required a ventilator to breathe. On Monday, the patient developed complications, including “septicaemia secondary to community-acquired pneumonia, acute renal failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome” and died at 9.40am yesterday,” he told reporters, here, today.
Dr Mohd Ismail who had earlier chaired the 10th meeting of the Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic Technical Committee, said the rising number of deaths from the disease in this country was worrying, especially when the victims sought treatment late or the doctors failed to detect the infection early.
Hence, he said, the meeting today decided that all medical practitioners, whether at the public and private hospitals or clinics, must have an index of suspicion for pneumonia cases which must be investigated for possible Influenza A(H1N1) infection.
“Throat swabs must be taken from severe pneumonia cases at the hospitals to be tested for the disease, patients given anti-viral treatment and the history of their influenza-like illness and Influenza A(H1N1) infections noted.
“I hope after four deaths (from the disease), people will be more alert. If you don’t feel well, if you have symptoms like breathing difficulty, put on a face mask and seek treatment early.
“All this shows that we (doctors) need to really strengthen our examination techniques. When the patient comes, you listen well to the history, and if the history shows respiratory symptoms, you examine the respiratory in detail.
“But this is not happening, so we are alerting the doctors to examine all patients thoroughly, especially those with respiratory symptoms and unusual clinical features,” he said.
Dr Mohd Ismail said all severe pneumonia cases due to suspected Influenza A(H1N1) must be given influenza anti-viral medicine with the doses increased.
He said laboratory tests for Influenza A(H1N1) which so far could only be done at the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) and Sungai Buloh Hospital would be extended to government hospitals in the states and as such, they would be given training and the facilities.
He disclosed that 21 private hospitals had been supplied with enough influenza anti-viral medicine to treat patients with the disease and suspected cases.
“We will top up the supply from time to time, so there is no more excuse for the private hospitals to push the patients to the government hospitals,” he said.
On the current situation, he said 47 new cases had been reported nationwide and all these were locally transmitted.
The new cases have brought the total number of cases so far to 1,266 including the four deaths. Of the figure, 574 or 45 per cent are imported cases while 692 were locally transmitted.
Dr Mohd Ismail said 1,233 cases or 97 per cent had recovered, and 24 cases receiving anti-viral treatment at the hospitals and nine at home.
On the global situation, he said 169,753 cases with 1,125 deaths had been reported in 159 countries as at this morning, an increase of 6,038 cases with 100 deaths since yesterday. – Bernama
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