Two Students Die Of Suspected Typhoid Fever In Kelantan

KOTA BAHARU, March 4 (Bernama) -- Two girl students of the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) in Kuala Krai near here have died, the cause of which has yet to be ascertained but is suspected to be typhoid fever.
Siti Nazirah Said of Kampung Titian Baru in Marang, Terengganu, died on Feb 4 while Amni Izzati Abdul Ghani, also 14, of Kampung Bukit Kuang II in Kemaman, Terengganu, died last Thursday.
More than 500 students from Kelantan were allowed to return to their homes last Thursday after the death of the second student, a spokesman of the college said Saturday, adding that more than 100 students from Terengganu and Pahang remained at the college pending the school holidays which begin next Friday.
The spokesman said four students were admitted to hospital -- two here and one each in Pasir Mas and Kuala Krai -- and were discharged after treatment.
Kelantan Director of Health Services Datuk Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Maher, when contacted, declined to say whether the students had died of typhoid or dengue fever.
"I will call a press conference tomorrow. I have not checked the report but the department did not order the closure of the college," he said.
Meanwhile, the families of the dead students have expressed disappointment as to why the actual cause of their deaths had not been disclosed to them.
They claimed that the hospital informed them that the cause of the deaths had yet to be determined.
Ghani Sulong, father of Amni Izzati, said he hoped that the authorities of the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital would give them the information immediately and not cover up the matter if her daughter's death was due to a dangerous disease.
"It is impossible for the hospital not to know the cause (of her death). If it is a dangerous disease, they must let the people know. I can't understand how there can be two sudden deaths in the college. They should also take immediate action. If the college has to be closed, they must do that," he said when contacted at his home in Kuala Terengganu.
Student Siti Nazirah's mother, Hatijah Muda, 52, when met at her home in Marang, said the hospital had cited her daughter's death as due to dengue haemorrhagic fever or lung infection.