JE outbreak due to peculiarity of lifestyle in Sarawak: Subramaniam

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry has today confirmed that a seven-year-old boy has contracted Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam, said he had received the report on Tuesday and the Sarawak Health Department was taking the necessary measures to prevent the virus from spreading.
He said JE outbreaks happened from time to time in the state due to the "peculiarity of the lifestyle" in Sarawak.
"We have received the report yesterday. We will keep a close tab on the case," Subramaniam said during a press conference after officiating the 11th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain (ISPP) at the Shangri-La Hotel here.
A Facebook posting that claimed a seven-year-old boy contracted with JE was being widely shared among netizens.
The posting includes a notice issued by the Samarahan division health office dated July 4.
The notice addressed to a secondary school in Kota Samarahan was to notify the school's headmaster of the incident involving the mosquito-borne virus in Taman Sentoria.
The notice also said the health office would conduct checks to vet children and youth below 15 for status of the vaccination for the virus from June 24 to July 8.
Other places listed in the notice are Taman Sentoria, Taman Stakan Waja, Taman Stakan Jaya, Taman Stakan Perdana, Kampung Stakan Melayu, Kampung Pengkalan Kuap, Kuap Cina, and nearby localities.
Meanwhile, the ISPP is the premier meeting for scientists and clinicians from many health disciplines with a shared focus on paediatric pain.
This is the first time the symposium is held in Asia.
There are more than 450 delegates from 43 countries attending the conference that consists of 12 plenary lectures, 90 workshops in the three-day event which started on Thursday.
Subramaniam said the government was planning to create a "pain-free" services for all its hospitals by 2020.
He said the characteristics of pain-free hospitals included a good paediatric infrastructure, complete with expert team and agents to provide that pain-free treatment.
"Currently, hospitals in Selayang, Ipoh, and Putrajaya are equipped with the facilities. These are the pilot project of the pain-free hospitals. We have 12 public hospitals in the country and we hope that all hospitals, including the private hospitals, will be equipped with these facilities by 2020," he said.