Liow: Don’t take flu lightly

Star: PETALING JAYA: Influenza A (H1N1) in Malaysia has turned deadly and the people need to increase their guard against the disease that has claimed four lives in the country so far, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai warned.
He said the public had the impression that the influenza was not deadly and that they could easily recover from it if infected.
“That is why they do not have any urgency to take more precautionary measures. But now I want to take away the perception that it it is mild.
“The public should know that it can cause death and we already have four so far,” Liow stressed.
He had been asked what the main problem was in controlling the spread of the influenza in Malaysia during an interview in The Star Online Live Chat in Studio V at 1 Utama shopping centre here yesterday.
Liow said the public would be more compelled to take precautionary measures such as washing hands, wearing masks to prevent transmission and practising social distancing if they understood the dangers of the virus.
Nevertheless, he said the country was handling the pandemic well despite having more than 1,200 cases and the ministry had managed to slow down the transmission rate.
“We are still at a stage where the influenza is spread in clusters and not at a sustained local transmission level whereby patients are infected continuously,” Liow said.
On the possibility of a second wave hitting the world due to the coming winter season in the northern hemisphere, he said the World Health Organisation had warned against it but nobody knew what to expect.
“We do not know how it will develop, especially since it is a new virus. Currently it has a low mortality rate of 0.4 to 0.5% but its transmission is from man to man, which is very fast,” he said.
“Even at a low mortality rate, the number of deaths may increase and this is our worry. A lot is unknown and we will need to conduct more research and be prepared. We cannot take this for granted,” Liow said.
On the influenza vaccine that is expected to be ready by the end of the year, Liow said the ministry planned to purchase it for frontliners first as it was very costly to provide vaccine for the entire population.
“At the moment, it would cost us RM7mil for 200,000 doses. We will see how the pandemic spreads. If the vaccine can prevent the spread, then we will consider vaccinating everybody,” he said.
Liow added that all vaccine production firms must ensure that the medicine would be safe for consumption and that the companies should ask for a warranty or guarantee from the supplier.
“If there is even one death caused by the vaccine, the consumer can sue the company,” he said.
After the interview, Liow told The Star that the ministry would set up more laboratories to test the influenza A (H1N1) virus.
“We need more facilities,” he said, adding that labs would be set up at the state level to test for the virus.