Epidemic troubleshooters, team set up to prevent sudden outbreaks

When EV71 encephalitis struck Sarawak in 1997, 53 children died. There were 105 deaths in 1999 when Nipah encephalitis hit parts of peninsular Malaysia.
Both epidemics caught health authorities unawares, with little by way of an early warning system to prevent outbreaks of such newly-emerging infectious diseases.
Today, Malaysians can rest easy over the possibility of sudden outbreaks of infectious diseases, thanks to a team of epidemiologists whose sole task is to help identify and arrest such a problem early.
The Epidemic Intelligence Programme, styled after the United States’ Epidemic Intelligence Service, plays a pivotal role in keeping such diseases at bay.
Health Ministry Communicable Disease Control Division director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said seven EIP Fellows had graduated and were serving at national, state and district levels.
They are among 10 selected in 2002 to undergo training for the role.
A second batch of six EIP fellow began the 18-month training last year.
EIP is run by the Infectious Disease Research Centre (IDRC), Public Health Institute and selected international health consultants.
"We hope to be able to prevent newly-emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases landing on our shores. This has become our top priority," Dr Ramlee said.
The EIP Fellows will establish the profile of viruses detected, and notify the relevant authorities and initiate appropriate action to prevent epidemics.
They will operate like Interpol in collecting information from various international sources.
He said Malaysia would never forget the lessons of the EV71 and Nipah encephalitis outbreaks.
Dr Ramlee said Malaysia was, therefore, better prepared to handle the global SARS outbreak in 2003.
He said health authorities were now strengthening their capacity to arrest the repercussions of the protracted regional avian influenza outbreak in wild birds and poultry.
He said health professionals and workers were being updated in knowledge and practices involving infectious diseases.
Medical teams from infectious disease and isolation wards in hospitals had been identified and trained to handle patients in the event of an outbreak.
"Infection control committees have been set up in hospitals to oversee the overall infection control activities and to make changes when needed," he said.
Dr Ramlee added that infectious outbreak and rapid response guidelines were used as materials in training public health professionals and workers.
He added that laboratory professionals and technicians were also trained locally and abroad.
Source