KUALA LUMPUR: Over 80% of the recent Influenza A cases were detected in schools and kindergartens, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The Health Minister stated that although the disease is seasonal, the ministry was closely monitoring the situation due to recent increases in cases, including the deaths of 11-year-old male students in Terengganu and Samarahan, Sarawak.
"83% of clusters were in schools and kindergartens. Of this, about 65.8% were in schools while about 17% in kindergartens," he said when answering a question raised by Suhaizan Kaiat (PH-Pulai) in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday. (Oct 16).
Later, at a press conference, Dr Dzulkefly said that 535 Influenza A clusters had been detected since the beginning of this year.
This includes 352 clusters in schools (65.8%), 35 in colleges and education centres (6.54%), 33 in private homes (6.1%), 6 in day care centres (1.1%), 10 in workplaces (1.9%) and 3 in prison (0.56%).
He added that Selangor (174), Putrajaya (103), and Johor (51) recorded the most clusters over the past two weeks, although the number of clusters has decreased recently.
"The week between Oct 12 and 16 saw the number of clusters reduce to 56.
"However, the spread of infections is still ongoing," he said.
He said the current H3N2 strain causes flu-like symptoms that can affect the respiratory system and, in severe cases, lead to encephalitis.
Dzulkefly said there are no plans to order schools to close or to require students to wear facemasks.
He said that the closure of a school or premises would only be carried out upon the advice of the health district authorities, after taking into account several factors.
"The closure of a school or premise is not just based on the number of cases but also several other factors.
"This includes seriousness of the outbreak, number of absentees and whether teaching will be disrupted," he said.
He said that the district health authorities would hold talks with the school in question and issue the necessary advice on actions to be taken.
He advised parents not to send their children to school if they have flu symptoms and to adopt good hygiene protocols to prevent the spread of the flu.
As a precaution, Dzulkefly said that the ministry would prepare plans for disaster zones if the flu outbreaks worsen.
On the deaths of the two 11-year-old students, Dzulkefly confirmed that they had contracted the Influenza A strain.
He said more tests are being done to determine the actual cause of death.
