Materia Medica Malaysiana

New Straits Times Online :: National: "KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10: Malaysia is safe from any re-emergence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome from Singapore as the recent case there has been classified as non-SARS.


Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said, however, that the ministry would continue its surveillance for a possible outbreak here through its clinics and hospitals nationwide.

Routine testing of samples from hospital patients is being conducted to keep watch should the virus re-appear locally.

The ministry is also on the look-out for global outbreak patterns through the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the media, he said at a Press conference after the ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting today.

“Since July 7, there have been no new SARS cases in the world. The chain of transmission in humans has been stopped.

“I briefed the Cabinet today and they have been assured that Malaysia continues to be SARS-free and faces no threat from Singapore,” he said.

Johor and Sarawak, meanwhile, have reactivated precautionary mea-sures at their entry points and in healthcare facilities.

On the 27-year-old Singaporean who tested positive for the coronavi-rus, Chua said he did not meet WHO’s criteria to qualify as a SARS case.

Although the patient had the virus and fever, he did not have respiratory problems and his three chest X-rays were found clear of infection.

WHO’s definition now states that a SARS case must fulfil both laboratory testing (for the virus) and all clinical criteria (fever, shortness of breath, respiratory problems and signs of pneumonia in chest X-rays).

With these criteria, the WHO has dropped the use of the words “sus-pected” and “probable” in classifying SARS cases.

Cases are now either SARS or non-SARS. The new defi-nition was issued after the end of the epidemic earlier this year.

“Malaysia agrees with WHO’s defi-nition of the case in Singapore and as such, we have no cause for alarm.”

He said WHO adopted the new definition because the virus had been isolated and was now identifiable.

He added that he spoke to the republic’s Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan today and cleared up the mis-conception that the Singaporean patient was a “confirmed” SARS case as initially reported.

On why the patient had the coronavirus but was not classified as having SARS, Chua said it was similar to the way certain bacteria resided in people’s bodies but did not infect them.

He said the patient was now recovering at the Tan Tock Seng Hos-pital’s Communicable Disease Centre.

Malaysia was also keen to find out how the patient contracted the virus, since it was not a human-to-human transmission.

The patient, a post-doctoral stu-dent, had been working in a laboratory environment doing research on the West Nile virus and was not known to have had access to any SARS virus samples.

Asked if there was a need for the ministry to revive its SARS operations room, impose travel bans, and use thermal scanners at national entry points, Chua said it was not necessary.

He said the ministry had confidence in Singapore’s stringent measures and that bilateral co-operation on preven-ting the disease’s spread was strong.

Meanwhile, a statement from the Consumers Association of Penang said the ministry should act swiftly and not adopt a wait-and-see approach.

CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the ministry should be prepared to order specific actions such as screen-ing Singaporeans who enter Malaysia.