H1N1 still active despite no abnormality

2009/11/05

KUALA LUMPUR: The influenza A (H1N1) is still active in the community even though the monitoring activities found no abnormality, Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said today.

He said even the surveillance conducted at 619 clinics nationwide did not record any increase in influenza-like-illness (ILI) cases.

The death toll due H1N1 remained at 77 as there was no death reported last week.

Nevertheless, he said, 255 new ILI patients were admitted to hospitals, while 213 were discharged.

As at Oct 30, there were 446 ILI patients receiving treatment at 49 hospitals nationwide, including two in private hospitals.

"Of the total, only 11 patients or three per cent were tested positive for H1N1," he said in a statement here.

Dr Mohd Ismail said there was one cluster of ILI cases reported at Sekolah Menengah Agama Mahmudiah, Hulu Terengganu, last week.

However, laboratory tests found that the random samples taken at the school were not influenza A (H1N1) infections.

Globally, he said, over 440,000 confirmed cases of H1N1 had been reported, with 5,700 deaths as of Oct 24.

He said the H1N1 was still active and had shown an increasing trend in countries in the Northern Hemisphere like North America, Canada, Western Europe and East Asia.

Meanwhile, in countries in the Southern Hemisphere like Australia, New Zealand and South Asia, the cases showed an obvious declining trend, he added. - Bernama