Student leader explains action taken on meningitis scare
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students will be briefed on meningitis by officers from the campus health centre soon, said the students representative council president, Mohd Nasir Othman today.
"The council has not set the date for the meeting, but I am going to meet the university administration to arrange this meeting," he told malaysiakini .
Two students died a fortnight ago due to the contagious airborne disease.
Loy Cheah Kee, a third-year computer science undergraduate and Thiyagarajan, a third-year diploma in agriculture student, died in their rented houses in Serdang on June 27 and 29 respectively.
Their death caused much anxiety in campus as the university authorities did not issue a widespread notice on the disease.
Students also complained about the lack of information channels on meningitis in order for them to identify the symptoms and take the necessary precautionary steps.
Commenting on this, Nasir said he has not received any formal complaint letter.
He added the council has a complaints counter for students to voice out any dissatisfaction.
"The problem is the students do not take the initiative to come over to ask for the information they require," he said.
Special task force
On the actions taken by the council, Nasir said they helped the health centre to circulate information about the disease.
"To date, my exco members and I have explained it to six colleges of on-campus hostel students," he said.
Asked why such alert actions were not launched when the disease was first detected, he said the council cannot release any statement before the health centre issues a formal statement to the public.
He said the council has been asked to join a special task force formed by the university to look into the incidents.
When asked, Nasir said he hasn't gone for the medical checkup at the health centre.
All students discharged
Another student representative claimed he approached the agriculture faculty last Wednesday to ask for a thorough screening for all students there since one of those who died was from the faculty.
"I urged the faculty to take precautionary steps and release a statement on the death of the two students and the disease," said Chin Wai Hoe.
However, he claimed that the dean, Dr Mohd Khanif Yusof, said it was difficult to do a thorough screening since the faculty has so many students.
He also said that some students are afraid to attend classes and even had to go back to their hometowns after the university confirmed the cases reported in the media.
Meanwhile, there has been no new admission of suspected patients today at the Kajang Hospital which has seen four students admitted over the past week, one yesterday.
When contacted, head nurse Salmiah Kassim said all students have been discharged.
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