KUCHING: Sarawak control of Japanese encephalitis (JE) through vaccinating infants aged nine and 21 months since 2001 is being studied and could be used as a model for other states in curbing the disease.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said Sarawak was the only state in the country to use vaccination to stop the spread of JE and the measure had proven to be successful.
“Sarawak has great experience in managing this virus and we will see whether the same method could be applied in other states,” he said.
He said this at a media conference during his working visit to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) here yesterday which was also attended by State Health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan and SGH director Dr Chin Zin Hing.
“To us giving vaccination to infants in Sarawak was a correct move because if that was not done we strongly feel the number of cases reported in Sarawak could be even higher,” he said.
However, before any decision to adopt the method in other states, including Penang which reported JE cases recently, it was necessary for everyone to exercise better mosquito control he said.
“Mosquitoes have been identified to be the agent for the spread of JE virus to human being and because of that we have formed a committee which comprises Health Ministry, Veterinary Department and Local Authorities to conduct holistic measures to destroy mosquitoes,” he said.
Commenting on the eight JE cases reported in the state recently, the minister said that it was not alarming compared with the situation the state experienced a few years back.
“We believe those affected could have missed out the vaccination or they were born before 2001 when the vaccine was first used,” he said.
On dengue cases in the state, he considered Sarawak as the safest state because it had yet to have any outbreak which had happened in states in Peninsular Malaysia.
“If you compare Sarawak with Selangor or some other states in Peninsular Malaysia for that matter, the number of cases reported here is still very minimal,” he added.
He said the situation in Selangor was worst with about 2,300 cases being reported weekly and up to now the disease has claimed 87 lives.
He stressed that apart from Selangor, Federal Territory and Johor were also facing similar problem due to their dense population.