Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Are We Ready For 2nd Wave ??


I spent my last weekend attending this event organised by Malaysian Medical Association, took place in Renaissance Hotel. A good turn up from the participants and the opening ceremony was done by our Health Minister. This was supposed to be the first conference to involve the general practioners, health sites and KKM with regards to H1N1 issue.

The main agenda was to educate everyone with the current situation of the virus , the expectation of second wave of the pandemic and the multiple vaccine developement. It is my responsibilty to write something here for the benefit of all.

WE ARE NOT OVER YET ! Here are some of the Q and A that i would love to highlight :

1. When do we anticipate the 2nd wave ? What is the importance ?

Following a pandemic, 2nd wave is expected to happen after 6 months following 1st wave. By an estimation from WHO, if we do not do anything to prepare and based on our death rate now, if 2nd wave hits us badly, thousands will die. It is expected beginning in winter or the rainy season in temperate countries ( do you notice the rainy season is about to start ????)

2. How about the detection of the H1N1 ?

The best will be Nasal swab, throat swab and analyzed by RT-PCR . The kit for Rapid Test
varied in its accuracy ranging from a mere 20 % to 80 %

3. When do the vaccine come to our shore ?

It is expected that we 'll get the vaccine by the end of the year. It has been postulated that America has assigned 90 % of the production , followed by France . and the remaining to other countries. One of the known complication is Gullain Barre Syndrome.


4. Is it a deadly virus ??

Most of the cases are mild and self-limiting... almost 99 % recovered with or without treatment.


5. What is the treatment ?

2 options. Tamiflu (oseltamivir) is an oral tablet 75 mg twice daily for 5 days. Even the GP's sell it at RM80 the cheapest now. Tamiflu resistance already been reported . ANother option is Relenza (Zanamivir) in an inhaler form (not for asthmatic patient)



I met with my ex-HUKM colleagues. One of them has already become infectious disease consultant. Congrats ! It is time for me too to get my consultantship too.. he he. A road tour in
Kedah state to complete before Raya and other continous plan for H1N1 made my life busier.
I just think that KKM still fail (big time !!) to value us with our hard work and that brings a GOODBYE to KKM from the brilliant doctors sometimes.




8 comments:

Kedahan said...

I was just wondering doc, and it is a silly question actually. :P
Do you wear a mask in public place? Kena pakai ke tak payah doc?

Bookwormz said...

second wave of the pandemic hitting the shore, but not the common senses of our people eh?

SYUKS said...

Kedahan :
Are u in Kedah ? Well...you are advised to wear of you have flu symptoms....and it is up to you if you want to wear it if you are asymptomatic... But the 3 ply surgical mask helps in reducing rate of transmission.

Rani :
hey u ! need to visit your blog too.... Yeah..educating the public is the way to make them understand

CATZ said...

hi doc,

thanks for sharing the info.
takut juga.
as precaution, ke mana2 catz mmg bawa mask.especially now pi tmpt public ramai org tgh musim shopping.
paksa mak ayah, adik2 semua pakai mask. langkah berhati2...walau org tgk rasa pelik, but i dont care. dah pakai mask bukan org kenall..heheh.
tapi tu lah sedihnya, ramai yg masih tak faham, and buat tak kisah.
i went to carefour, with mask. the staff at carefour said " eh..knp nak pakai2 topeng ala zoro ni...adik saya, sedara saya banyak study kat US, obersea, derang ok je kat sana..tak payah pakai2 mask bagai ni..".
saya speechless...ehm..
dan saya terkejut when some people ckp.."MALAYSIA agak over do dlm memperkatakan isu H1N1, sebba negara lain relax je, takdelah kecoh2.."..ohh....samada amik mudah tak ikuti perkembangan, or they are just ignorant people..

btw,
selamat menyambut aidil fitri,
maaf zahir dan batin.
:)

Ekin said...

syuks.. how abt the prevention... ?say for those who were infected before.. virus nih tak mati kan.. it just hiding.. if it has something.. it will trigger our syst gak kan?

i read somewhere before.. that any viruses, once it is becoming more intelligent... probably the style of attacking pun lain.. is it true? (sounds like alien attacking earth... grrrr)

Ms B said...

syuk,

Wish you salam aidil fitri. May you have a blessed eid with your loved ones.

Wahidah said...

Selamat hari raya syukkk

sazza said...

thanks for writing it in FAQ - style.short & simple explaination,maybe just few things I need to google up.
i can curi this for my class..yayyyy
thanks again gorgeous!