Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah
KUCHING: The Health Ministry (MoH) has revealed that there was a sharp increase in conjunctivitis cases nationwide based on their monitoring activities conducted from Sept 15 to Sept 21.
According to MoH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, there was a 51.4 per cent increase in conjunctivitis cases from 266 cases to 403 cases recorded for the period as compared with the average cases recorded from the period of between June 30 and Sept 7.
Apart from conjunctivitis, Dr Noor Hisham said there was also a 3.5 per cent increase in asthma from 1,222 cases to 1,265 cases during the time period of Sept 15 to Sept 21 as compared with the cases recorded from the time period of June 30 to Sept 7.
Despite asthma and conjunctivitis registering an increase in the number of cases, Dr Noor Hisham said the cases involving Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) showed a 9.6 per cent decline from 8,258 to 7,465 cases during the same time period.
MoH is currently monitoring haze-related diseases at 33 of the ministry’s facility known as the Sentinel Haze Facility with diseases monitored include asthma, conjunctivitis and URTI are being monitored by the ministry.
“We had to conduct monitoring activities following the readings taken from the Department of Environmental Quality (DoE)’s air quality reading stations which recorded a recording moderate level air quality reading (Air Pollutant Index – API) at 24 stations, unhealthy level air quality reading at 42 stations and one very unhealthy air quality reading in one station as of 8pm on Sept 22,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also commented that MoE also noticed that from Sept 15 to 21, there were 17 areas that recorded extremely unhealthy API readings from DoE’s stations namely Kulim Hi-Tech, Balik Pulau, Minden, Taiping, Johan Setia, Klang, Shah Alam, Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya, Batu Muda, Nilai, Tangkak, Sibu, Sarikei, Sri Aman, Samarahan and Kuching as compared to three areas in from Sept 8 to 14 namely Samarahan, Kuching and Johan Setia.
Although no DoE station had recorded hazardous API reading on from Sept 15 to 21, Dr Noor Hisham said there was one station which recorded such reading which was Sri Aman during the time period of Sept 8 to 14.
Thus, MoH would like to advise members of the public especially high-risk group such as children, elderly people, smokers, those exposed to outside air and those with diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, heart disease and allergies to take precautionary measures in order to reduce the health effects of haze.
For information on preventive measures to reduce the health effects of haze, members of the public can visit the MoH’s website at http://www.moh.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/183 to obtain the information.
Apart from that, members of the public were also encouraged to stay up to date on the haze situation and check the API readings at their respective localities by visiting the DoE’s portal at http://apims.doe.gov.my/ and follow the recommendations of the authorities for each reading range.