Frontliners to be vaccinated first

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: Some 200,000 frontliners -- doctors, nurses, the police and immigration officers -- will be the first to receive the new influenza A (H1N1) vaccine when it is available here.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia was currently in talks on the right dosage, amount and cost with World Health Organisation (WHO)-dedicated firms in the United States and Europe.
"Once we get the fully-licensed vaccine, we will first focus on our frontliners for immunisation," he said after attending a graduation programme for Epidemic Intelligence Service here yesterday.
He was responding to a WHO statement that the flu was unstoppable and recommended immunisation of health workers once it was available.
Frontliners worldwide are placed as high-risk group who come into contact with infected patients first and therefore, might transmit the virus to others.
Other high-risk groups are children, pregnant women, and those with chronic health conditions, including asthma and renal failure.
Acknowledging that "the virus is here to stay", Liow said the ministry would isolate serious cases while others with mild H1N1 would be asked to self quarantine at home for a week.
"Except for schools where children are more sensitive to the outbreak, we will contain the virus by closing down the school or the infected classroom."
In Putrajaya, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said 696 patients or 86 per cent of the 804 confirmed H1N1 cases nationwide had recovered from the infection.
The ministry recorded 32 more cases in the past 24 hours yesterday, of which 12 were local infections and the rest, imported cases.
"There has been no report on clustering of infection cases within the past 24 hours, and the last H1N1 cluster case reported was the group of six Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) students in Malacca who got infected.
"These six patients are now receiving anti-viral treatment while 60 of the UiTM students are in home quarantine," he said, adding that the infection outbreak was under control.
Ismail also said the three schools that were shut down to avoid the clustering of H1N1 cases would resume classes as usual today.
The three schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Sulaiman 1, Kuala Terengganu; Sekolah Menengah Aminuddin Baki, Kuala Lumpur, and SK Intan Baiduri, Gombak.