Diphtheria in Kedah under control, no new cases recorded

SUNGAI PETANI: The diphtheria outbreak in Kedah is under control and no new cases have been recorded until last night, with the confirmed cases remaining at eight.
Kedah Health director, Datuk Dr Norhizan Ismail said the cases included that of seven siblings from the Paya Nahu Flats, here, which killed a two-year-old boy on June 22, while the other case involved a foreign migrant child in Taman Nilam, Langkawi.
On the siblings, he said the 10-month-old boy was now in stable condition but still warded at the intensive care unit of Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital while his five other siblings who were treated at Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital, were allowed to return home.
"The affected six-year-old boy in Langkawi has also been allowed to return," he said in a statement to Bernama, today.
Dr Norhizan said the Langkawi District Health Office and Kuala Muda District Health Office had meanwhile been carrying out diphtheria prevention and control activities.
"The activities in Langkawi which involve active case detection (ACD) have detected eight contact persons at home, and all are in good health and given chemoprophylaxis for treatment."
Meanwhile, he said, the ACD activity at a kindergarten here found that 20 of the 22 children had complete immunisation while the other two cases were being verified.
He added that the search for children eligible for immunisation among the residents of Taman Nilam managed to detect five and these children were given immunisation.
"At the Paya Nahu Flats, 146 of the 179 children under the age of seven years have received complete immunisation, 10 to receive it today while 23 are not eligible yet."
Dr Norhizan advised parents to check their children's health card to ensure that they have received complete immunisation.
On a related matter, he said the Health Ministry was always monitoring to ensure the save use of medications including vaccines.
"For public information, before vaccines are commercially marketed for use, they are exhaustively tested on thousands of people through clinical studies and stringently monitored to ensure safety for the users.
"The Health Ministry's drugs control authority will register or approve a vaccine which has been verified to be safe before it can be used in Malaysia and included in the immunisation programme.
"Therefore, the public should not be worried about immunisation for their children which is to prevent infection and spread of contagious diseases," he said. — Bernama