KUALA LUMPUR, 4 June 2009: A Malaysian student who returned from the US after a holiday has become the third person to have contracted Influenza A(H1N1) in the country.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said the 23-year-old student arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) on Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 at 7.15am on Monday.
“He did not experience any fever on arrival at KLIA but began to experience fever and cough yesterday and was subsequently admitted to the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital, Seremban for treatment,” Ismail said in a statement here today.
Microscopic view of influenza virus particles
(Pic by DR FA Murphy, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention; source: ah1n1.com) The student was confirmed to have contracted Influenza A(H1N1) by the Institute of Medical Research at 4am today, and was in stable condition with the necessary treatment being administered, added Ismail.
Following this latest case, Ismail urged the 276 passengers and crew who were on board flight MH091 to contact the Health Ministry for further advice and on the need for home quarantine.
Ismail said the ministry managed to trace all 14 of the closest contacts of the patient through the cooperation of his family and that all of them were now under home quarantine.
“They consist of 10 family members and friends who had called on him since he returned from the US while the four others are the people he came into contact with when seeking medical help, which includes the medical officer,” he said.
He said 24 suspected influenza AH1N1 cases were reported nationwide yesterday involving people arriving in the country from countries affected by the pandemic.
The patients involved were admitted into isolation wards at five referral hospitals for the disease and all except the case of the student tested negative for the virus, he said.
With the latest notifications, suspected cases of Influenza AH1N1 in the country so far total 411 with 398 cases proving negative and three positive.
As for cases under home quarantine, the number stands at 18 including those who came into contact with the student while the other four involve people who were in contact with a confirmed case in Hong Kong.
According to the World Health Organisation, the number of confirmed cases of the disease stands at 19,535 with 117 deaths across 67 countries. Overnight, 1,833 cases were recorded with two deaths while four new countries — Egypt, Lebanon, Luxembourg and Nicaragua — reported the presence of Influenza A(H1N1) in their respective countries. — Bernama
