Three MAS passengers cleared of A(H1N1)
Published: May 18, 2009 5:24 AM | Updated: May 18, 2009 9:27 AM
Three passengers from a Malaysia Airlines flight from Newark to KL which had carried two people who had been confirmed positive for influenza A(H1N1) has been given the all-clear sign today.
Three passengers from a Malaysia Airlines flight from Newark to KL which had carried two people who had been confirmed positive for influenza A(H1N1) has been given the all-clear sign today.
The three were among 119 passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from Newark, New Jersey, to KLIA via Sweden on May 13.
The three of them - one woman from Johor Baru and two from Kuching - were removed from their quarantine in government hospitals today.
In Johor Baru, the woman was quarantined at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) yesterday afternoon after developing fever. She however tested negative for the A(H1N1) virus today.
Johor Health Department director Dr Mohd Khairi Yakub said the woman was now placed in an open ward and expected to be discharged soon.
According to a Bernama report, the woman had been on home quarantine with three other passengers, two men and a woman, since Friday before she developed fever.
"The three other passengers are being home quarantined until Wednesday," he said.
Khairi also said that two foreigners, who were vacationing at one of the islands in the state, had been quarantined at their hotel since Saturday.
He said they had yet to show any symptoms of the viral infection but the health department would be monitoring them closely.
Seven in home quarantine in Sarawak
And in Kuching, Sarawak, two passengers of flight MH091 who were admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital have also tested negative for the A(H1N1) virus.
Housing and Public Health Assistant Minister Dr Soon Choon Teck said the duo, a man and a woman in their 20s, were cleared after tests showed that they had not been infected by the virus.
The woman, who was admitted to an isolation ward on Saturday and the man yesterday after both developed a fever, were among nine passengers from Sarawak who boarded flight MH091.
"There is no more suspected H1NI cases at present," Soon told today.
Soon said the remaining seven passengers were now under home quarantine for seven days.
He said the authorities had successfully traced all the nine passengers from the state, who were told to seek treatment immediately if they felt unwell.
The high risk flu reached the Malaysian shores on Friday with a passenger from the flight being admitted in the Sungai Buloh Hospital, in Selangor for treatment.
The next day, his friend who was in the same flight was admitted in Penang and tested positive for influenza A(H1N1).
She had travelled to Penang from KLIA via AirAsia and health authorities are now urging all passengers in that flight to come in for checks. They are looking for 76 passengers from both the Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia flights.
Free of local transmission by Wed
In another development, Deputy Health Director-General Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that Malaysia can be declared free of local transmission of the A(H1N1) virus in two days if there are no local cases detected during the period.
He said this was based on the calculation on the virus' incubation period, which is seven days from the day the first case was detected on May 13.
"So far there are no signs of the virus spreading locally," he said, adding that the two cases detected so far involved people returning from overseas.
"After May 20, we can declare that Malaysia is free of local transmission of the virus," he was reported to have said by Bernama.
Ramlee said the country, however, could not declare yet that it was free of the virus because infection could still occur on people returning to the country from overseas.
He added that a total of 111 people had been admitted to isolation wards in hospitals but all were tested negative, except in two cases involving a male student and his friend who had returned from Newark, US.
He said that the two were recovering well and that their families, who were under quarantine, were also healthy.
VIDEO l 2.25 MINUTES
The three were among 119 passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 from Newark, New Jersey, to KLIA via Sweden on May 13.The three of them - one woman from Johor Baru and two from Kuching - were removed from their quarantine in government hospitals today.
In Johor Baru, the woman was quarantined at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) yesterday afternoon after developing fever. She however tested negative for the A(H1N1) virus today.
Johor Health Department director Dr Mohd Khairi Yakub said the woman was now placed in an open ward and expected to be discharged soon.
According to a Bernama report, the woman had been on home quarantine with three other passengers, two men and a woman, since Friday before she developed fever.
"The three other passengers are being home quarantined until Wednesday," he said.
Khairi also said that two foreigners, who were vacationing at one of the islands in the state, had been quarantined at their hotel since Saturday.
He said they had yet to show any symptoms of the viral infection but the health department would be monitoring them closely.
Seven in home quarantine in Sarawak
And in Kuching, Sarawak, two passengers of flight MH091 who were admitted to the Sarawak General Hospital have also tested negative for the A(H1N1) virus.Housing and Public Health Assistant Minister Dr Soon Choon Teck said the duo, a man and a woman in their 20s, were cleared after tests showed that they had not been infected by the virus.
The woman, who was admitted to an isolation ward on Saturday and the man yesterday after both developed a fever, were among nine passengers from Sarawak who boarded flight MH091.
"There is no more suspected H1NI cases at present," Soon told today.
Soon said the remaining seven passengers were now under home quarantine for seven days.
He said the authorities had successfully traced all the nine passengers from the state, who were told to seek treatment immediately if they felt unwell.
The high risk flu reached the Malaysian shores on Friday with a passenger from the flight being admitted in the Sungai Buloh Hospital, in Selangor for treatment.The next day, his friend who was in the same flight was admitted in Penang and tested positive for influenza A(H1N1).
She had travelled to Penang from KLIA via AirAsia and health authorities are now urging all passengers in that flight to come in for checks. They are looking for 76 passengers from both the Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia flights.
Free of local transmission by Wed
In another development, Deputy Health Director-General Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that Malaysia can be declared free of local transmission of the A(H1N1) virus in two days if there are no local cases detected during the period.
He said this was based on the calculation on the virus' incubation period, which is seven days from the day the first case was detected on May 13.
"So far there are no signs of the virus spreading locally," he said, adding that the two cases detected so far involved people returning from overseas.
"After May 20, we can declare that Malaysia is free of local transmission of the virus," he was reported to have said by Bernama.
Ramlee said the country, however, could not declare yet that it was free of the virus because infection could still occur on people returning to the country from overseas.
He added that a total of 111 people had been admitted to isolation wards in hospitals but all were tested negative, except in two cases involving a male student and his friend who had returned from Newark, US.
He said that the two were recovering well and that their families, who were under quarantine, were also healthy.
VIDEO l 2.25 MINUTES
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