INFLUENZA cases continue to soar in Selangor, Pahang and Penang, mostly involving students and teachers.
With no signs of abating as of yesterday, several classes including one at a preschool have been closed for at least four days until the situation improves.
In Penang, state Education Department director Abdul Rashid Abdul Samad said 198 students from 96 schools have been reported to be infected as of yesterday. The highest number of cases recorded were from the northeast district and Seberang Prai Utara with 54 cases each.
Seberang Prai Selatan recorded 37 cases and Seberang Prai Tengah recorded 35, cases while the southwest region remains the lowest at 18.
“So far three classes have been closed. Two Year Two classes at SJKC Li Hwa, Butterworth will be closed until Jan 19, while a pre-school class from SK Pinang Tunggal will be closed until Jan 23,” Rashid said.
Seven teachers in the state have also been reported to be down with influenza.
Four of them were from the northeast district, while the other three were from Seberang Prai Utara, Seberang Prai Tengah and Seberang Prai Selatan.
At the moment, the state Health Department is monitoring influenza cases by using the influenza-like illnesses proxy indicator recorded from the selected sentinel clinics in the state.
In Selangor, the number of students infected by Influenza A and H1N1 saw a significant rise yesterday at 717, compared with the previous 387.
Selangor Education Department director Dr Mahanom Mat Sam said as of 9am yesterday, Petaling Perdana recorded the highest number involving 185 students from 62 schools, followed by 143 cases from 51 schools in Klang, 102 cases from 32 schools in Petaling Utama and 84 cases from 17 schools in Sepang.
In Gombak, 79 cases from 29 schools were recorded, followed by Hulu Langat (65 cases from
31 schools), Kuala Langat (27 cases from 11 schools), Hulu Selangor (18 cases from six schools), Sabak Bernam (nine cases from three schools) and Kuala Selangor (eight cases from six sch-ools).
She said all the students had received treatment at the clinics and hospitals and were reported to be in stable condition.
“They were given rest and advised to be quarantined at home for between three to seven days,” she said in a statement.
No schools in the state were ordered to close despite an increase in cases.
In Pahang, state Education Department director Datuk Dr Tajuddin Mohd Yunus said the influenza virus had infected 53 students and three teachers.